Summer Assigned Reading

 Calling All Teachers:  I Need To Hear Your Voice

Since the school year finished, I've been hearing lots of complaints from families about assigned reading taking all the fun out of summer experiences with books.  There are two camps:

1) the parents who kids love to read and will read all summer but feel "constrained" by a book list, required reports to "prove" their reading or assignments during the vacation months.  These moms and dads are telling me that making reading an "assignment" creates an environment where children see it as a chore rather than an adventure.

2) families who don't have a personal connection to the importance of reading for recreation during the summer to protect the reading gains a child has experienced during the school year.  For these families, reading is also a labor, not a pleasure, an assigned task that someone always seems to slip through the cracks with other time demands and distractions.

What Do Researchers and Experts Say?


There are several studies relating to this topic but one I find helpful in addressing our first group is from the American Library Association.   Their findings took into consideration both teacher and student perspective.  This study also provides insight into the use of technology. 

Did you know that there is a research brief on a website called Summerlearning.org?   These ideas began at John Hopkins and you'll find plenty here to raise your level of understanding.  And June 21 of this year, they are sponsoring a Summer Learning Day.  You can visit their website and share your ideas or read to the end of this blog where you'll find a free, grassroots way to touch a child.

Reading is Fundamental, so often in touch with the communities that surround our at-risk populations also comes through with an interesting article entitled A Primer on Summer Learning Loss.  What I appreciated in this article are not only the statistics about summer reading loss which we all know too well but the solutions framed from real schools and school districts.  Duplicating best practices for those who have gone before us AND been successful is one of the best resources we have.

Kids are making a splash with reading in Kansas this summer.  I think any student would find at least one activity at their local library that they would enjoy.

Even Michelle Obama is speaking up on this issue.  Regardless of her husband's politics, she's taking her stand against obesity and pairing it with the idea that summertime is reading time.  Learn more about her support of United We Serve's Let's Read, Let's Move initiative.

Here's a novel idea:  take the ideas from this research and make them a part of a short "mini-study" for yourself, a personal investment in your own professional development this summer.  It will put you in a position to positively impact the summer slump next year.  Set yourself up to start planning to prevent the summer slump at the beginning of the school year.  Make it your goal to not only teach all the strategies and skills but to help your children fall in love with reading and find the book that will get them hooked.

How Do We "Make" Them Want to Read?

I really believe the answers lie in the arena of motivation.  We must give children an authentic, a good reason to read when they are outside the academic arena.  That's why I love Donalyn Miller's approach during her instructional year (you can learn about it in her book, The Book Whisperer and her blog).  She begins working toward summer reading the first day of school by daily crafting her instruction so she builds that key motivation all year long.  She listens to their voices and learns herself how to more strongly motivate students from year to year.  Any student  is much more likely to read if he or she has been in the habit and found it enjoyable and stimulating throughout the school year.  Unfortunately, we seem to separate these key ideas more and more as we become more "curriculum driven" in the classroom.  Don't get me wrong: curricula are good tools but we cannot ignore the motivational piece of the puzzle.  We don't seem to think much about summer reading until it's time for the school year to end.

Answering the question: "why should I read anyway?" honestly and, for our more at-risk students, with a certain level of support, is essential.  Too many "checks" or "requirements" can take the fun out of reading and demotivate rather than motivate. 

But If We Don't Make Reading Assignments, How Are We Going To Know If They Read?

What is your answer to this question?  I'd love your take on your personal experiences with assigned summer readin's effectiveness and the research you have seen (if any) on this subject. What does your specific school or district do ? What would you say to one or both of these families when you send home the "required" reading lists?  Do we have an authentic answer?

A POST SCRIPT

If you are on Facebook, I invite you to visit The Literacy Ambassador's K-6 Summer Challenge cause page and take up the challenge of finding a child to turn on with a book this summer. 

Teachers - Light Your Spark with Families for the Summer Months

Let's Keep Them "In the Pool"

We all know how important the summer months can be for students.  With little stimulation or opportunity, they can lose more than 3 months' progress during the time they are away from school.  Today's post will share resources and information on how you can use these last few weeks to impact summer learning.

I'll begin with a wonderful list of articles, websites, and research from the the State Library of Alaska.  You will find familiar names like Dr. Richard Allington and Steve Kreshan and a few new ones there. 

Here are a few more tools for supporting and encouraging students to read during the summer:

Connect with your local library and other organizations that may be promoting reading with school aged children in your community (booksellers like Amazon and Barnes and Nobles are on board).  Find out what they are doing and publicize those activities and resources with students and families.   My own local library, Huntsville/Madison County Public Library (AL), is offering an End of the Year Summer Reading Party!


Make reading a social event.  Give your students a few extra minutes every day to talk about what they are reading.  Use colorful, florescent index cards or post its and create a cool "What's HOT?" bulletin board. 

Blog or text with your students about what you and they are reading (and viewing) this summer.  You'll need parent permission, but even a core group can make a difference.  I know that you want to be "away" for a while just like the students do but a small investment can yield big dividends.  Set a few guidelines such as how often to post and encourage the online conversation to weave between story lines and characters and what your students are doing during their summer vacation.  You might even see some text to self and text to world connections and squeeze in a bit of authentic writing practice!

Get Families Involved


Families may not understand what can be lost during the summer without reading and writing.  Be sure you share with them a few bits of information and some encouraging resources.  Check out Summer Reading to help moms and dads, grandparents, and caregivers tap into the joy, exploration and fun of reading.
 

Explore the Internet as a Source for Engaged Reading

Hook reading to the Internet!  PBS, Scholastic, and The Collaborative Summer Library Program (an initiative in Minnesota) have all provided online resources and fun stuff to connect to reading. 

ALERT!  Our Voices Need to Be Heard Now

Finally, I 'm asking families to support educators through my blog for parents this week   I'd encourage you to visit and see how you can communicate to your congressmen and representatives in your state about an important amendment being added to the current jobs bill.  It affects your directly!  Letters and sharing need to happen before Tuesday, May 25, as that is the day the amendment will be voted on.  Visit my parent blog and you'll find out more.  While you are there, share the link with families through your classroom newsletter.  They'll be a part of an important "voice of the people" AND find lots of family-friendly resources and ideas for encouraging reading with kids of all ages.

A New Look for Book Reports AND An Opportunity to Combine Standards Across Strands

The Brochure Book Report

Do you get groans from students when you announce it's time to write?  Are you running out of ideas for teaching writing?

Now more than ever it is important for teachers to find authentic engaging ways for their students to write.  Otherwise writing becomes a "forced" activity with little perceived value to the student.  And when that happens, little learning is likely to occur and those standards we are so intent on teaching will not likely be internalized.

This past fall in my 10-week writing classes for 3-6th graders and 7-9th graders, one particular assignment became the most popular writing project.  It's a twist on the standard book report and one that your students are bound to find engaging and maybe even fun.

Before Any Assignment, Review Your State Standards

Take a few moments to review the writing standards for your state.  I have chosen to highlight writing standards from the state of GA, likely similar to the writing standards in your state:

ELA5W2:  "The student produces informational writing . . . "  and

chooses a speaker's voice,
develops a controlling idea that offers a perspective,
creates an organizing structure appropriate for the purpose and audience,
includes appropriate facts and details,
excludes extraneous details,
provides a sense of closure, includes appropriate word choice.

ELA4W4 focuses on the writing process and includes elements such as being able to appropriately plan and draft, revise, edit, and publish.

Guidance for the Teacher


One of the most important keys to writing instruction is to be a writer yourself.  Do you write articles for your state IRA affiliate's journal, do action research and document it, write for personal pleasure (a diary or journal, blogging, etc.)?  When you do, you can bring an authenticity to the writing experience. 

For example, I always say to my students early on that "I've been writing for 47 years and I'm not the best writer I will ever be."   Then I add that everyone in the class is likely to be at a different place as a writer but my goal for them is that each will move further down the reading road.  That first statement always surprises my students but it emphasizes the importance of making effort and growing.  The second encourages them and lets them know my focus and commitment to them.  With that approach and a true "writer's workshop" environment, I find that even reluctant writers leave my classes excited about writing and having the skills to be a more competent composer.


To Begin . . .

Ask each student to choose a book to read (choice is very important for students this age).  If they need assistance, chat briefly so you know where their interests lie and recommend a book that matches those interests. Set a specific but reasonable amount of time for them to read the entire text and set aside "snippets" of time (5-10 minutes on a regular basis) for them to read in class.

Once the students finish the assigned books, you'll be ready for the book report assignment,  but it doesn't follow your normal one or two page essay format.  Lakewood Public Library in Lakewood, Ohio has created an online student guide that highlights the main components in a book report of any sort.  The brochure format I've chosen to highlight here offers unique opportunities for writing instruction.

Before your students begin to write their own brochure book reports, bring a collection of locally available brochures (of any sort) to the classroom so students can preview formats, etc.  Allow them to help in collecting these samples as a cooperative approach.

Once they are collected, hand out the brochures to your students in a small group exercise.   Have them highlight together the essential elements they see commonly used in the various types of brochures.  This exercise helps your students identify specific formatting that is used for these types of materials and that they will want to incorporate into their own brochure. 

From this small group activity, take students back to whole group to create a list or even a rubric of essential elements or characteristic of brochure writing together so the entire class will have this at their disposal when they begin to create their individual book report brochures.  Here are a few important characteristics in the brochure format to get you started:

Short paragraphs.
Consistent formatting (paragraph indentations, etc.)

An engaging hook at the beginning that makes you want to read more.


TIP:  You may retain the best examples of commercially-produced brochures from year to year, and "samples" of the best of students' finished work.

Use A Template to Incorporate Technology

Microsoft Office or Word (or most other word processing programs) have templates of brochures that will help students visually organize their brochure book report.  Students may include their own illustrations scanned and inserted, plus photos of the author, etc.  Using the template helps students create strong writing segments with carefully chosen words to make the most of limited space.  Students also love using technology, although you may want them to begin drafting or planning on paper.  Decide ahead of time the point at which you want to introduce the technology piece.

Also use this writing project as an opportunity to review and encourage use of the writing process -- plan and organize, draft, revise, edit and publish (you may have slightly different terms).  Assign one portion of the process at a time, providing writer's workshop opportunities and consultations with the teacher throughout the process to maximize learning and progress.  You may even want to create a time line for each part of the process through which your students will move

The use of technology to create the brochure will also offer you an opportunity to evaluate the students' individual revision abilities if you have them turn on the "track changes" tool in their word processing program (which strikes through but retains anything deleted and highlights in a color any added text). If students are still writing on paper at this point, make sure they provide you with the draft as well as the first revision so you can compare.  This is a terrific tool for honing in on what individual students need to learn in the revision part of the process.

ICING ON THE CAKE

After students have created (and perhaps shared with the class) their brochures, add a unique final step (keep this to yourself until the end).  Your students will probably already be excited about sharing their brochures with one another, but now ask them to write the author a letter, sharing the brochure, and perhaps asking a question or two if the student would like. Have them enclose a copy of their brochure for the author to see.  Most authors are happy to receive a letter from "fans" and many will respond.  Make sure you use this lesson early enough in the year to allow for response time.

Students love this part because it shows them an authentic use for their writing.  They will also be thrilled to share responses they received from real authors and may even want to create a book or hall bulletin board as a class to highlight the responses received.  If you have students who have chosen an author who is not longer living, have them pen a letter "to the author" and ask a special services teacher (librarian, reading specialist, etc.) or public library or local author to respond on behalf of the author of their book (in the author's voice).

I hope this gets  your juices flowing. 
Have you used this format before for book reviews? 
What were your experiences? 
Do you have additional tips that you want to share for the benefit of your fellow followers of this blog (and me)?

I welcome your additions in the comments area.

Additional resources:


IRA/NCTE provides an alternative approach to writing brochures at ReadWriteThink.

Traci Keith, a teacher in the Gorman Independent School District (TX) , also shares an extensive study of the book Bud, Not Buddy on her district web page.  She includes not only brochures and pamphlets but games and other styles of reports.  If you are doing an in depth study over an extended period of time on this book, this is an excellent guide to a variety of activities.

Katherine Chapman who teaches fifth grade at a private school shares a number of genre book report ideas on her Upper Elementary Book Report Ideas posting. 

Finally, my columns for Educationworld.com recently included details about teaching the writing process.  My favorite part is revision where you can really see writers grow and develop as they put the polish, change, add, subtract and move around paragraphs, words, phrases, etc. to make their writing better.  If you use the 6+1 Traits framework and language, revision can be focused on through the lens of word choice, voice, sentence fluency and even organization.

Don't forget: I'd love to hear from you and know your experiences with this unique approach. 
Happy teaching!

The Little Engine That Must: Inspiring Young Readers

I just spent a terrific hour talking with J. Renee Gordon of the BlogRadio show,  
Empowering Educators.

We talked about

- the importance of early childhood learning in both preschools/child care centers and at home

- what is essential for kindergarten readiness (and partnerships that foster that) and

- placed a special focus on literacy for children ages 3-6.

Whether you joined us live on the show or want to listen to the podcast later, you'll find information and resources right here.

Findings of The National Early Literacy Panel (2009)

Six early skills predictive of later literacy achievement

1. Alphabet knowledge
2. Phonological awareness
3. Rapid automatic naming of letters or digits
4. Rapid automatic naming of objects or colors
5. Writing or writing name
6.  Phonological memory

Five early skills modernately predictive of later literacy achievement

1. Concept of print
2. Print knowledge
3. Reading readiness (usually a combination of alphabet knowledge, concepts of print, vocabulary, memory and PA)
4. Oral language
5. Visual processing

Studies conducted by Hart and Risley (1995) showed that three-year-old children of professional parents had larger vocabularies than children of parents on welfare.  This finding is less shocking when considered in light of another:  children in professional homes heard 382 words an hour while children raised in welfare homes heard an average of 167 words an hour.  There can be a gap of as much as five times greater in vocabulary between these two groups by the time children reach kindergarten.  This doesn't have to be economically driven, if we can help families, in a supportive way to experience literacy with their children.  If you'd like to do more reading on this research, check out this summary of Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children or find the book itself (a good choice for staff development discussions at your school.  .

On average, according to the American Association of Pediatrics, preschool children watched 2.6 hours of TV on weekdays and 2.7 hours on weekends.  This association, however, recommends that children under 2 years old watch little or no TV.

Here are additional resources to check out on these topics:

PreK Now is an advocates of high quality early childhood experiences for young children

Harlem Children's Zone - 100% of their children are ready for kindergarten for the 7th consecutive year!


100% of third graders at Promise Academies I and II tested at or above grade level on the math exam, and in the English and Language Arts (ELA) over 93% of the Promise Academy I third graders tested at or above grade level, outperforming New York State, New York City and District 5 peers.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children addresses the needs and education of children ages zero to eight.

Want to be inspired?  Visit Inspiringteachers.com.  You might start with The Power of Teaching. 

Don't forget to visit Share A Story:  Shape A Future.   Whether you are a parent or a teacher or just someone how loves children and wants to share the incredible gift of literacy with a child, you should visit this live, week-long (March 8-12) virtual event sponsored by my friends at
The Reading Tub.

While you're on the inspiration channel, join my revolution!   

Whether you are a parent or an educator, you CAN make a difference with your child (or children) when it comes to reading.  The first step is to ENGAGE them, reach out to families and schools and children with the message that reading IS for everyone.  These tools will help you do just that.

Educators, librarians and parents can all benefit from this annotated list of over 180 picture books that can be used with 5-18 year olds to introduce knowledge as a base to understanding textbook contents in science, history, art, math, etc.

Extensive indexing gives educators, librarians and parents a variety of ways to use a picture book a day with great results. The 1-180 listing also provides a convenient "one picture book for each day" approach that follows many familiar themes (such as Grandparent's Day, winter holidays, etc.) throughout the school year.
Available through Inspiringteachers.com. 

Two guidebooks, designed to be used in tandem, one for preschool and kindergarten teachers (Before They Read) and the other for parents of 3-6 year olds (Anytime Reading Readiness).

Here's what others say:

“If you want to turn your preschooler into a lifelong reader, you need Anytime Reading Readiness. It skillfully guides parents as they create a pressure-free love of language and learning in their child.” – Susan Newman, Ph.D., social psychologist and author of Little Things Long Remembered: Making Your Children Feel Special Every Day

“This book is chock full of great suggestions for helping children learn how to read. It includes all you need to put together a wonderful research-based program—a must-read.”
—Susan B. Neuman, former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education

Final Words

In closing let me invite you to post your own comments about these topics and to share my parent blog full of fun, practical ideas and information, as well as this teacher blog, with those you know who play those roles. 

One question to ponder that arose during the show:

Does coloring have anything to do with literacy development?  Is there research out there to address this question?

My sense was that it is certainly a pre-writing experience that builds muscles in the hands.  I also know the importance of eye-hand coordination in coloring and in reading, so I see some anecdotal connections there.  If you know of any research, please share it.  Here's a good article about how learning across many spectrums works in early childhood, from ReadingOnline.

Are you inspired?   

A Quicky: Engaging Students - What Does That Have To Do With Literacy?

Yesterday, I was talking with a friend of mine who related 
a simple story to me which bears repeating.

As a storyteller, my friend often visits schools with no more than her voice and her body, charged with the task of entertaining and engaging students with stories for 30 minutes.  She is superb at what she does and, after her presentation, she overheard this conversation.

"I just don't get it," said one teacher to another.

"What?"

"We have all kinds of bells and whistles, quick response exercises, hand and sound signals, technology and yet our kids are always all over the place.  This lady comes in with her voice and a story and suddenly then are mesmerized.  What's with that?"

What is Engagement?

Now certainly familiarity may be a part of this equation but I believe the question is worth pondering.  I also see it, not so much as a judgement of tools, but as a question - how do I engage my students?  Certainly with our tech savvy children of today, our various technology tools are important.  But there is something deeper behind whether those tools work in classrooms or not.  The real questions are

"What authentic teaching can I do that will capture their interest?": 

"Am I so much on the "delivery" channel that I've forgotten the power of teaching?"

The topic is certainly a bit broader than literacy but I see literacy as the doorway to engaging students. What about you?

Michigan State University's National Center for Research on Teacher Learning attacks the issue with some important information:  "Faced with the concerns for classroom time and "effective" use of it, can put difficult demands on teachers.  What it often comes down to is how good are we at helping students construct meaning, including having time to discuss and explore?

Take that back to literacy.  

Are we so into "drill and skill" - repeat the rule back fast - that we forget that education includes thinking?  I've met children who are compliant word callers and decoders but they don't have a clue of how to use reading as a tool to get information they need, to analyze and synthesize what is presented in the text.  Here are a few literacy-related questions to think about in your own teaching:

1.  Do you use read-alouds daily to engage and foster thinking about text?  Engaged Interactive Read Aloud techniques, covered in my new book Before They Read, are a most efficient means of exposing to student what great readers do when they read).

2.  Do you let the size of the class keep you on the "controlling" channel instead of the learning, exploring channel with students?  Professor Deborah Ball shows us how to avoid this pitfall. 

3. What is your goal for any literacy lesson you teach?  The goal MUST always be to nurture and foster the growth of an independent, thinking reader.  It can never simply be what I call "reguritation of facts" even when we are teaching facts.  What do those facts mean?  What is their significance?  Those are much more improtant questions..

4.  What does your writing instruction look like?  Writer's Workshop is a terrific approach to that authentic, engaging, interaction that needs to happen when students are creating text.

Introspection Improves Teaching

Dr. Deborah Stipek of Stanford University says,

 Teachers can motivate students only if they themselves are motivated.  They can make students feel valued and secure only if they feel valued and secure; they can foster enthusiasm for learning in students only if they are enthusiastic about teaching. The school culture can make or break a teacher in the same way that the classroom culture can support or undermine students' efforts to learn.

This thought-provoking paragraph is from her book Motivation To Learn:  Integrating Theory and Practice.

Why not use these questions as a basis for a staff or grade-level meeting?  They really boil down to whether we as teachers are sending learners to the next level or out into the world or whether we are so focused on them passing the "eternal test" that we end up providing only short-term memory/learning.  These questions also tie to the reality of the most common subjects of those meetings: 

how do we get more students to "benchmark" or pass the assessments?

Are you motivated?  If not, how do you change that?

Engagement for both students and teachers is key.

How do you motivate yourself for the challenge of the daily classroom?  How have you equipped yourself with a mastery of the subject matter so you have the freedom to engage your students and teach?  Share your secrets.

Your comments as the authentic voice in the classroom every day is essential on this topic.  I look forward to reading your posts.

Literacy As A Doorway for Family Engagement /Parent Involvement

I'm a regular follower of Dr. Catherine Snow's work at Harvard's Family Research Project.  When I talk with everyday teachers, I always hear strong feelings that family engagement might be a good thing but who has the time with all the other requirements and pressured placed on educators.  Do you feel like that?

Let me suggest a different perspective. 

Consider that every time you effectively engage families in their children's learning, you lessen your workload.  You expand the horizons of a student and, especially among those who are termed "at-risk", you foster an extra level of intervention; you find a new resource for helping you bring more children to competency in the standards you are required to teach and in benchmarking those important assessments.

The secret is not to expect the parent to do what you do.  Meet them where they are, not where you want them to be.  That mostly just takes a little thinking time.

Families have important but unique roles, especially when it comes to literacy.   Early elementary school teachers have a special job since they are often the first face of education new parents in the school meet.  Take a little time to get to know your students' families early in the year and resist the temptation to write off those who don't come to the first open house.  Find out through a simple survey or a brief 1-2 minute chat what questions they have about their children's learning and what their goals are for their child.

A tiered, systematic approach works best, no matter what grade you teach.  

Tier #1:

For those that come to the school regularly and are comfortable, all you really need to do is to provide resources (books, a BIT of information about what assessment results mean and areas that they might help their child with at home).  They will take that information and run with it.

Tier I 2:

Send a personal note to every parent who wasn't able to attend.  You can get inexpensive, custom designed postcards or even business-card sized notes from Vistaprint (they even run specials where you can get as many as 100 postcards free, only paying shipping). 

In that note, voice your genuine regret that they were not able to come and share some small tidbit of information that they can use at home. It might just be that the family wanted to be there but they had a sick child, couldn't get a ride to the school or had to work.  Don't assume that an absent face is an uninterested one.  You're beginning to build a positive face for your classroom and your school.  Remember that busy or stressed families need regular encouragement to move them toward engagement.

Tier #3:

Determine that you will continue to send positive encouraging messages, even when you get no response, on a regular basis.  Schedule it into your calendar and stagger the notes so that you are only sending out a few a week or certain times of the month. 

An absence of response is not a "get away from me, I don't want any part of this" like we can assume too often.  It more likely reflects a negative experience with authority or schools on the part of the parent (either as a mom or dad or as a student when they were young), an incredible personal struggle just to put food on the table and a roof over their family's head, or some other personal barrier.  In a national study by Projectappleseed.org, fewer than half of all parents had been formally asked by schools what assistance they might need to be more involved in their child's education.  That's a place to begin.

Literacy As the Doorway
 Every family has literacy in some form; it just may not be the formal, academic literacy we focus on in school.  Hook on to that literacy, at whatever level you find it.  It may not be reading with their children, the traditional place we want families to start.  If that is not a part of their everyday lives, finger wagging and nagging them to do it is not going to be effective.  We have to start at a place that connects more to the current experiences of that family.

The National Center for Family Literacy has a wealth of information and ideas to help you get started.  Here are a few additional examples:

 Building on Parent Strengths to Promote Literacy is full of ideas that reach out to families.

Start at a level where parents are comfortable.  One principal in California began a storytelling festival at his school which eventually led to his students documenting their parents' stories and writing them down for a school-specific book that could be shared over and over again.  Everyone has at least one story to tell.  Think baby steps to move families a little closer to understanding your challenges and standards in the classroom.

The Council for Exceptional Children has an excellent, brief article with even more ideas to get you started.  Consider taking this resource and others you find here to your principal and asking if you can devote at least part of a staff meeting to discussing this important issue and what might work at your school with your population of families.  Not possible or the administrator not on that "channel"?  Take it to your grade level meeting and start there.

Involve your PTA/PTO (they support family involvement).  But ask them to think off the volunteer and fund-raising channel.  The voices of parent peers can sometimes be more effective than educators and they often know their communities, especially in these days where teachers may not be living in the neighborhoods where their schools are located.  If you aren't a member, join.

Ask the more involved parents, PTA/PTO or not, to reach out to a specific number of families (maybe only one other, or maybe two or three, as their time allows).  The ripple effect of this personal contact, without taking time away from your teaching, is an untapped resource.

Finally, if you have parents who are computer-savvy, send home a few assignments that create learning together opportunties at home. 

Thinkfinity.org
FunBrain.com
and Adprima's resource list of free websites that are child and family friendly

The main consideration that educators often ignore is that presenting literacy in the light of real-life skills rather than an academic exercise is more meaningful to parents.  Think about literacy activities that will promote communication and relationship with their children, are fun and interactive, and connect to their everyday environment.

As you try these resources, I encourage you will also share your own through posts to this blog. 

Don't forget to visit Share a Story: Shape A Future  this week and share this family-friendly resource with the parents and caregivers you interact with.  It's a virtual blogging tour talking about all kinds of connections with reading and writing, brought to you by the Reading Tub.

Gettiing Back on Track

The new year has started and well on it's way so I realized it was time I came back and started posting more frequently to this blog.  Please forgive my absence; we have some exciting new resources to share with you!

TEACHER RESOURCES

This past weekend I was privileged to see my friend, Dr. Steven Layne, at a conference here in Alabama.  Many of you may know him if you are members of IRA.  Wow! 

I never cease to be inspired by Steven's passion for literacy.  The fact that a partnership to produce a book and the related friendship helped draw him from the brink of death is an amazing story.  In addition to all the wonderful picture books and books for young adults Steven has written, he now has a great new book out entitled Igniting a Passion for Reading, for teachers.  In it, he asks an important question:  "how can we teach the 'how' without the 'why'?

Perhaps at no time in history is that more important to ask as our literacy requirements and the definition of literacy expands and the motivation to read seems to get so little attention.  If we do not give children authentic, meaningful-to-them reasons to read, then they will not choose to be readers.  And what a limitation that puts on the future of our world.

My question relating to this topic is:  are you as a teacher a passionate reader?  Do you read yourself?  Do you share that passion in the middle of decoding and fluency lessons with your students?

I just finished Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer, which is another title I would heartily recommend on this neglected subject.  Miller is a 6th grade teacher in Texas that takes what some might consider a quite unorthodox approach to teaching reading and social studies.  Yet, in this world of "teaching to the test" she has incredible results on her student's state assessments without doing so (in four years ALL of her students have passed the state reading assessment - not one failure to meet "AYP"!).




Both these books send strong messages:

MOTIVATION HAS A PLACE                 INSPIRE!

We must pay attention to the motivation of our students to learn to read and to sharpen their reading skills.  Dr. John Guthrie has been studying motivation of students for a very long time and, if you need research to back your attention to this element, and to "justify" its inclusion to your administration, he's the one to reference.

Teachers can include both instruction in the mechanics AND create a strong rich environment that draws children of all ages and of all backgrounds to the reading table. 

Of course, it is challenge to do more than deliver a script, teach a lesson or assess our students, especially with the varied and heavy responsibilities all teachers face.  Many educators can get easily frustrated, discouraged or dulled by ignoring the part of them that drove them to be a teacher in the first place. In fact, what brought you to teaching in the first place was the same thing that we are talking about - a spark, motivation to make a difference, a love of learning. 

I encourage each of you to read these resources and others and recapture that spark in your teaching.  That is when we will have children benchmarking assessments, we'll have the wisdom to know how much assessment is essential and how much is counterproductive for our students, we'll get to know the needs of our students, have the standards stamped in the back of our minds and go out and teach.

RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES

Now that I've given you a few resources for yourself, I'll list a few ones for your students (and their families):

The Reading Tub, a family and educator-friendly nonprofit, is adding more and more book reviews and resources (for children of all ages). 

You can subscribe to their Scrub A Dub Tub Blog to get a regular dose of what's available.

Do you know that they have an Author's Showcase (which I'm excited to be participating in this week!)? 

They also have community projects you can involve your students in like Read it Together and Use Your ABCs?  And a newsletter called The Wash Rag?

Adlit.org (from the same people who bring us Reading Rockets) has terrific book lists for those teaching tweens and teens. Don't forget that among your "assigned" readings, you need to give your students at least a snippet of time to read something of their choice.

You can meet authors of nonfiction (how many kids do you have that like to read the real stuff) and get their insight into teaching and using nonfiction books at I.N.K.'s blog.  They share even more resources for using nonfiction to teach at their INK THINK TANK.

Don't forget your parents. 

If you teach kindergarten through 3rd or 4th grade, you have quite a bit of engagement and involvement from at least a core group of parents. 

1.  Encourage them to play a unique role with their child's literacy development (not the one you do with lessons and worksheets, etc.). 

2.  Help them learn to help their children use reading and writing in authentic, everyday situations. 

3.  Let them know it's OK not to like a book and to choose another. 

4.  Surprise them by telling them that you want them to have fun with reading and books, play games, and use the time they have with their child to strengthen their relationship (real chats with their children can do that and grow vocabulary).

If you teach 4th grade or above, children are becoming more independent and many parents don't see a role they have in continuing to support their child's literacy development.  Certainly the "snuggle and cuddle" bedtime reading doesn't work for many of them any more. 

Again, go back to that theme or authentic experiences.  Every family has to grocery shop, pay bills, do laundry and run errands.  Literacy is right in the middle of all of that.  Making lists, reading labels, checking figures and reading statements, checking labels so we don't shrink shirts or turn underwear pink, reading street signs, maps and billboards - that's the stuff real-life reading is made of. 

A CAVIAT:

It's easy to make the mistake of trying to teach parents techniques, strategies, etc. that you have learned are effective in the classroom but you will limit the number of parents who want to be engaged in that.  If we are going to help our most at-risk and struggling students, we provide more than rigorous classroom instruction.  We must draw families into the experiences that will create life-long readers, writers and learners.

For more authentic ideas for families, 

1)  share my blog for parents which fluctuates between postings from that "sit with your child and read" stage to the support of independent older readers. 

2)  If you teach children in kindergarten, Anytime Reading Readiness, my new book for families of children ages 3-6, is chocked full of quick, easy, ready-to-use ideas.  It's partner book, Before They Read, is a guidebook for teachers in preschool and kindergarten.

3)  The National Center for Family Literacy has a free newsletter for parents. 

4) Even if you choose to use "educationese" with your families (and they are receptive to that), make sure you translate that into family-friendly terms and activities.  The South Shore Regional School Board in Canada has put together a guide to do just that with parents who have K-6th grade children.  

5) The Peel District School Board has put together a rare guide for parents of independent readers in middle and high school that you must check out.  It's one of the best I've seen.

THIS BLOG NEEDS YOUR VOICE

This blog is established as a sounding board, a collaborative tool, a chance for a community of teachers to find resources AND communicate questions, comments, encouragements and challenges. It will only improve with your input.   Feel free to share your comments about this important subject.

Invite a teacher friend to follow the blog and add their input as well.  If each of you do this, we can grow this community and spread important messages.  I can't do it without you!

Resources for Busy Reading Teachers (and we're all busy AND reading teachers)

As you take a short break in your teaching to enjoy the winter break, I want to say to every reader "thanks and lots of love" for all your efforts in and out of the classroom.

Every week I talk with teachers face-to-face and virtually.  Even at conferences, when I ask teachers to talk with me about their work, so many say, quite frankly (when I tell them I'll keep their name out of it), that they are up to their eyeballs in staff development:

too much of the wrong sort,
too little that is meaningful and
expectations that teachers will be able to absorb what they need from a conventional presentation when they have already been in class all day or feel pressed for time. 

I also hear that too often, these professional development settings are designed and solicited with little input from the teachers receiving the training.

Here is my holiday gift to you:

A few resources I have found that will help you discover valuable information to enhance your teaching while allowing you to set your own timetable, accessing when it is convenient and meaningful for you:

IRA READING RADIO - I was thrilled to see that the International Reading Association has partnered with BAM! Radio to provide the first resource from IRA that you can listen to anytime.  The initial show features Peter Johnston, professor and Chair of the Reading Department at the University of Albany (NY), talking abou the need to redefine literacy in modern terms, and is hosted by IRA's executive director.

NINGS, Networks, and Listservs:

Social and professional networking are growing by leaps and bounds.  Just look at your students who are blogging, responding on Facebook or Twitter, connecting with those who have common interests.  Teachers can do the same.  With a commitment of only minutes a day, you can create dialogues, ask questions of peers or more experienced teachers, all without the worry of "what will those I work with every day think".
Check out these and share others you know about in comments on this blog:

The National Council of Teachers of English's ning (a virtual, member-based platform for setting up a venue for interaction on the Internet)

IRA, NCTE, NAEYC and many other professional teachers' groups have their own groups on the Linkedin network.  Although Linkedin contains people from all walks of life, you can choose those you wish to interact with.  You are alerted to news, job offerings, and postings from other members on any level you wish.  It does require you to sign up, as do most online communities, but you control how much you interact.  The advantage to Linkedin over Twitter is that you can actually write a sufficient amount of test to thoroughly explain your question or comment.  Others join in and share information, based on your post.  I don't know about you but I don't have time to idly chat online; I need to have a purpose for the time I devote and I sometimes need a pat on the back, a voice of understanding and support from outside my immediate world, a confirmation of my professionalism and expertise.  You can get all that from these sorts of interactions.

Yahoo also provides a variety of discussion groups including one for IRA as well as specific groups for teachers who use various teaching strategies like Four Block or the 6+1 Traits of Writing.

CAVEAT:  As with any networking on-line, there are a few cautions:

Set personal guidelines to limit your time on these sites (it's too easy to loose time surfing "eternally")
Decide ahead of time what you want to gain from this sort of interaction and let that guide your involvement.
Ask others about their experience or visit as a guest initially until you are satisfied it is the group for you.
Consider whether starting your own blog or ning is positive for you.

BLOGS

My use of blogs is two-fold:

I have three blogs to serve those whom TLA supports (one for preschool teachers, the one you are reading for K-12 teachers, and one for families).  I post occasionally now but in 2010 will be ramping up to share content at least three times weekly.

I also spend a bit of time each week searching out great resources that others are providing in a blog format.  Do you know that there were 112.8 million blogs as of 2007 (no telling how many there are now)?  That means there is probably a blog out there that contains just what you need.  Here's a half dozen samples to get you started:


Picture Books to Teach the 6+1 Traits of Writing
A Blog from Real Teachers Who Love Reading
The Dream Teacher
If Bees Are Few (inspirational)
The Reading Tub's Blog (bringing reading home to families - and a great resource for teachers)
I.N.K., Interesting Nonfiction for Kids

I encourage you to let one of your new year's resolutions be to grow as a professional and not depend solely on what you might have access to through your school or school district.  You're likely to become a better teacher for the effort!

Remember, we always love comments.  If you've had a great experience with some personal "PD", share what you learned with the rest of us.  Happy holidays (and well deserved rest during the winter break).

Reading Loud with Today's Children - The Technique of EIR

Did you know that reading aloud has the potential to be the greatest instructional tool in your teacher's toolbox?  It connects to more levels of learning than any other single activity you can do in your classroom today (according to the landmark report, Becoming A Nation of Readers.  And it helps students see how the strategies and ideas they are learning in the skill-based instruction you provide apply to real reading.  Here are just a few of the benefits:

Exposes students to a richer vocabulary than they may encounter in leveled text (they can often understand up to two years higher in their listening vocabulary than in their own reading vocabulary levels.  You can learn more about this in Reading and Vocabulary Development from The Journal of Instructional Psychology)

Stretches and expands the number of words a child knows

Develops a strong concepts of story and how print works

Demonstrates proper grammar and sentence structure and exposes students to more complex levels than they can manage independently in print.

Exposes students to a variety of different types of stories, informational text and rich literature

Reinforces letter sounds and blending sounds into words (essentials in how our language works in print)

Gives opportunities for students to practice prediction and the order or sequence of stories and learn to evaluate together the validity of predictions as one moves through text

Builds background knowledge

Strengthens listening skills and the ability to understand what they hear

Puts a strong model of fluency (and thinking) in front of children

Encourages higher level thinking while freeing the brain to concentrate solely on understanding the story without the "burdens" of fluency and decoding.

Increases attention span

Builds excitement about learning and reading.

I expect you can find even more connections to your standards and those outlined by a joint listing from the International Reading Association and the National Council for Teachers of English in this simple activity.  When you give students a daily diet of read alouds, especially the Engaged Interactive type, you set a class culture, you layer and support the instruction you do at other times in the day and you promote motivation, as essential a component as the sub-skills we teach if we are to create lifelong readers.

"The truth is, if we can't find time for anything else, we should find time for reading aloud," says nationally  board certified Master Reading Teacher, Lisa Frase.   I couldn't agree more!

Now you are ready to try an EIR in your classroom:

Choose 5-10 minutes (write it in your lesson plan or it gets squeezed out)

Preview the text to look for those connections to your standards, your goals for learning in your classroom.  Look for places that are natural opportunities for you to split open your brain to show students what is going on when you:

predict
question - especially "how" and "why" questions
visualize
re-read
self-correct
think, wonder and ponder
pay attention to context clues to understand vocabulary

Take time to explain what you are doing in quick interjections into the storyline.  It may take you a few times to fine-tune the balance between insertions and moving the story along but today's students are used to a back and forth, multi-tasking, quick approach.  EIR fits that to a T.  It may take a bit more practice on your part if you are used to "sit still and listen" read alouds.  Your students can tell you when the fit and balance are correct by their level of engagement.

To learn more about how to select the right books for this type of read aloud, contact me at cathypmiller@comcast.net.

ONE LAST TIP

Remember when you are planning to deliver an EIR, that it's easy for mature readers to rely on the automaticity with which we use these strategies.  However, those readers who are still growing need explicit examples of how to apply those strategies in real reading situations.  Dr. Michael Pressley speaks to that in his chapter in the Handbook of Reading Research (check out particularly the segment on "what comprehension instruction could be).  EIR gives them that!

NOW YOU TRY!

How does this compare to the reading aloud you do in your classroom?  Has the strict scripting of reading programs and tightly scheduled dates given you the mistaken idea that you don't have time for reading aloud with students?  I'd love to hear questions and comments about what is happening in your school.

Combine Writer's Workshop and the 6+1 Traits for Great Results

One of my favorite things to do when I teach young writers is to write with them. Just as it is important for teachers to be readers, it is also important for them to be writers. Do you write with your students? Here are a few ideas:

When your students are writing in class, at least some of the time, let them see you writing too. You can be jotting down ideas for a new action research project, making notes for your lesson plans for the future, or maybe, yes maybe, writing the same assignment that you just gave them.

Spend time celebrating writing in your class. One of the most important ways to cultivate writers is to create a classroom environment of risk-taking and cooperation instead of one where students are afraid of criticism or being made fun of. You can find something, even if it is a diamond in the rough, to celebrate in any student's writing. Give your students chances to share their writing and to cooperatively discuss revisions.

Play a game to emphasize avoidance of the "I don't say anything" word, "GOT". We use it frequently in our oral language but it is such a lazy word. Write a simple sentence with "got" as the verb and then have your students play "hot potato", tossing a ball or other object around. Whenever a student catches the object, they must give an active verb to replace "got" in the sentence. Have a brief discussion about levels of meaning (good word choice) afterwards.

For more ideas on writing, visit my columns at Educationworld.com. Another great resource is Purdue University's OWL writing lab. Til next time!

A Treasure Chest of Nonfiction Resources

Nonfiction writing for children represents a pool of unique tools for educators teaching knowledge learning areas. Certainly nonfiction gives educators ways to build content knowledge. Don't forget that it also serves as a window of opportunity to motivate all students, to turn them on to reading. I've always said, "there's a book for every child" and, when you open the selection to include nonfiction texts, you raise the likelihood that each student finds that book.

I know educators and librarians don't have a lot of time to find these gems on their own so here are a few great new resources that will help you in your search:

My friend, and author, Vicki Cobb, and many of her fellow non-fiction authors just this week introduced a brand new database, website and blog, dedicated to helping busy educators and librarians tap into this world. To quote their introduction on their INK THINK TANK website "The real world has never been so interesting!"

Search this resource by subject area, national standard, grade level and much more on the database included here. There are more than 20 different contributing authors on almost any subject matter you can think of. They also have a corresponding blog where the authors of these great tools visit, share ideas and thoughts, and help us all maximize resources.

Ever feel as though your students have no hook, no foundation of knowledge, on which to build new content area knowledge? Need a quick tool to find picture books to use when introducing that content area subject matter? Powerful Picture Books: 180 Ideas for Promoting Content Learning is an environmentally-friendly, easy-to-use resource you can reference all year long. An annotated list of over 180 quality picture books, suggests one title to read for every day of the typical school year. Most of the entries represent picture books readily available in your local public or school libraries. Read aloud book 1 to book 180 in your classroom or use the interactive index to help you select the content area you need.

Each annotation includes the title, author, and publication details plus ideas (and some hyperlinks) for extending the learning. These recommended reads cover such content areas as history, writing, the arts, geography, science and more. You can find picture books applicable for use with elementary, middle and high school students.

Get your media specialist involved! Sharron McElmeel, from in Cedar Rapids Iowa Community School District, shares some great ideas for promoting nonfiction with the youngest readers in her article entitled A New Section for Young Readers: J is for Junior Nonfiction.

Maximize the use of nonfiction with your students and turn more of them on to reading as a tool for life, a way to feed their interests and explore new worlds.

Revisit the Read Aloud

Do you miss read alouds? In many of today's classrooms, reading aloud with children has been squeezed out or, perhaps even worse, has become a clinical, teacher-directed instructional piece to the point where it's lifeblood and impact have been depleted.

Take a look at an abbreviated list of values for reading aloud with students:

Pure enjoyment of great stories/growing motivation and interest in reading
Taking students to a different level of understanding of the story (Bloom’s
Taxonomy concepts)
Discussion and reinforcement of story elements
Reflecting on the text and searching for multiple meanings
Exploring the elements and format of print and story
Practicing and modeling specific comprehension strategies such as questioning,
predicting, clarifying, etc.
Building and activating background knowledge
Using inference
Understanding of the writing process, use of grammar, point of view,
writer’s voice, word choice and other writing-related skills.
Introducing and reinforcing vocabulary
Reinforcing content area learning
Modeling and Practicing “think-aloud” and visualization
Introducing and/or reinforcing summarizing skills

This list reads like a list of standards. I expect you can find at least a few of your state's embedded here.

So what's the deal? What I recommend to many teachers is to step back. Look at what you do as a reader when you read text. It is an active and interactive process. You draw on all you know about how to figure out those squiggles on the page and the meaning behind them, almost effortlessly. Our students are still learning about those through comprehension strategy instruction, decoding instruction and fluency practice. So open up your brain. Get off the "lesson" channel and just explore, think, wonder, figure out and celebrate great writing.

It doesn't have to take 30 minutes - try 5 or 10 (most picture books can be read in that length of time). Evaluate the "down times" in your day - waiting for students to arrive, during the "morning meeting"/first few minutes of class, before or after lunch, closing out the day. There IS time.

When you take this approach to reading aloud with your students, it will have an incredible impact.

Do you know about the research behind read alouds (there is actually quite a bit)? Dr. Wesley Sharp has written an excellent article summarizing some of it on Educationworld.com. Dr. Maryann Manning's take includes not only references to research but also personal experiences. My favorite principal of all time, Dr. Reba Wadsworth, has great insight into this area as well. One more resource: Katherine Goldner's action research in conjunction with her graduate studies. It so clearly illustrates the value of such "in the classroom" experiments and evaluation.

I'd love to hear from real teachers out there using (or not using) read alouds. What have your experiences been?

Enthusiasm is Key!

With all the competition with TV, video games, DVDs, texting, and the whirlwind of life in general, it is more important than ever that teachers are commercials for reading. When you read aloud (and I hope all of you use this terrific teaching tool no matter what age you teach), use your voice, speed up at the intense parts, building to a climax, slow down and even pause when you hit the parts that need to be savored.

Think aloud while you read (so you show students how expert readers do it). Being conversational with interjections and questions occasionally does not impact the story line or detract from it. In fact, the more you do this, the better you get at it. When I read picture books to teachers, modeling this approach which I call "engaged reading", I ask them at the end if they lost the storyline and they always say "no". Because they were engaged in the story and the conversation surrounding it.

I'd love it if every one of you added a title you can do this with to the blog this week. Include the interest level!

I'll start: I'm beginning to read "The Desperado Who Saved Baseball" by John H. Ritter. I'd recommend anything John has written (great for upper elementary and middle school, on into high school).

Here's my list of the benefits of reading aloud. No other instructional activity I know touches so many levels:

Purposes for Read Aloud for 3rd Grade and Up


Pure enjoyment of great stories
Taking students to a different level of understanding of the story (Bloom’s
Taxonomy concepts)
Discussion and reinforcement of story elements
Reflecting on the text and searching for multiple meanings
Exploring the elements and format of print and story
Practicing and modeling specific comprehension strategies such as questioning,
predicting, clarifying
Building and activating background knowledge
Using inference
Understanding of the writing process, use of grammar, point of view,
writer’s voice, word choice and other writing-related skills.
Introducing and reinforcing vocabulary
Reinforcing content area learning and building background knowledge
Modeling and Practicing “think-aloud” and visualization
Introducing and/or reinforcing summarizing
skills
Targeting a specific grade-level standard:_________________________

As we develop our list of books, I encourage you to pick one up and read it yourself. Just dive in and enjoy it. Later, after you've finished (and when you are closer to school beginning), go back and identify what you can teach by exploring this book with your students.

Happy Reading!

Student Overboard!

As the end of the school year closes, I start a brand new blog for teachers. There are all kinds of places you can go to learn about the newest research, techniques, and strategies for teaching the mechanics of reading. I do believe strongly in the importance of teaching those mechanics but it cannot be everything we teach. What we will do here is talk about "lighting the spark of literacy (reading, writing, listening, communicating and viewing) with children of all ages.

Why is that even important? I think the best way to answer this is to quote Jim Trelease. He says, "What we teach children to love and desire will always outweigh what we teach them to do." Now I know there are a few teachers who are just in the profession to do what is minimally required, just meet the standards and be done with it. But I also believe that most of you who are teachers are in it for more.

NCLB has been frustrating and curriculum driven instruction has become so often restrictive. My aim here is to talk about how to go beyond what is required and light a fire that will serve your students long after you are dust.

So, here's my question for you: Are you interested? Do you want to start a quiet (or maybe not so quiet) revolution? Do you want to learn what it takes to get kids fired up about using reading and writing as tools for life? Then you've come to the right place.

Feel free to post questions, comments, wisdom and ponderings.