Brian Thomas

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Knowles, Liz. (January 2009). Differentiated instruction in reading; Easier than it looks. Teacher Librarian. 25(5) Retrieved April 8, 2009 from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/hww/results/external_link_maincontentframe.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.30

 

 

Differentiation is important to providing different teaching techniques to support different student learning styles. The author explains that this is due to each child’s different backgrounds of knowledge, skills, and interests. The article breaks the differentiation method into three areas, content, process, and product. This all brings us back to assessment. Differentiation requires that teachers assess students from the start to finish, changing techniques to fit the students learning style.

Educators can discover this by performing several informal assessments to learn what students find easy and difficult. Some key elements to success are respecting the learner, challenging the student, providing stimulating and thought provoking material while supporting those who need additional assistance.

The author then explains the best practices for developing reading skills. Some of the important factors are access to reading material, blocks of time set aside for reading, and rotating classroom collection. Parental support is also very important at an early age. The article states that students need time to discuss books with a partner, in small groups, and in the form of book talks in groups. Reading out loud should continue past third grade. Reading logs should be kept that share the readers’ reflections.

The author’s advice includes replacing phonics with word analysis as early as first grade. Reading is more important than doing worksheets and drills. Strategies must be created for dealing with challenging text, unfamiliar material, and important information. A variety of sources must be used to connect with every student.    

The article continues by pointing out the importance in differentiated instruction in reading is student choice in selecting. Teachers should help students in discovering what books posses the qualities which are “just right for them” in order to select challenging books that interest them. Library Media Specialists assist in this process by providing exciting choices for the students. They are familiar with each student’s reading habits and explore the latest books to help guide their selection. They run national programs in their school for the entire student body. Most of all, Library Media Specialists are an example by sharing their reading with others.

Library Media Specialists are also essential in assisting students in understanding and selecting the right resource for any project. Students receive instructions on how to use cataloging systems, databases, search engines, and web sites from librarians. Librarians provide instruction on quick ways to searching within books by using the table of contents, indices, glossaries, and reference lists. Librarians are important in differential teaching.  

submitted by: Shanin Fox

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Lu, Ya-Ling. Engaging Students with Summer Reading: An Assessment of a Collaborative High School

Summer Reading Program. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science Education,

Vol. 50, No. 2 – Spring 2009. p.90-104.

 

Students, teachers and the school librarian work together on improvements for a school summer reading program.  Teachers and the school librarian made recommendations and students voiced their opinions by helping with the selection process and writing annotations for each of the books that they recommend.  Ultimately, a booklist was compiled on the schools summer reading website.  As a result, this article focuses on two primary questions to examine this collaborative project: 1. How does a collaborative summer reading program affect the reading behavior of adolescents?  2. What are some of the learning outcomes from this collaborative summer reading program?  Allowing students to collaborate gives them “free choice” to choose from a book list in which they have a voice confirms their motivation for literacy and that student learning is active.  Students also recognized that they had several various types of achievements, including life long lessons and new insights into personal challenges through reading. 

 

submitted by Margaret Martin, April 14, 2009

 

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Trinkle, Catherine.  Reading for Meaning: Synthesizing.  School Library Media Activities Monthly, XXV (7), March 2009, p.49-51.

The current focus on reading skills includes using strategies such as graphic organizers, note taking, skimming, questioning, and summarizing.  When readers use multiple reading skills, they are synthesizing and bringing together new ideas and information along with their prior knowledge and understanding of content and the author’s purpose.  Library media specialists teach these skills through the research process and project-based learning in the library media center.

All teachers must teach reading strategies continuously over time in multiple classrooms and across grade levels.  This is perfect for librarians because they are often the only teacher students see from one grade level to the next.  The research process is perfect for students to synthesize or merge new knowledge with their prior knowledge from a plethora of resources offered at a multitude of reading levels.  The new standards address the research method and reading strategies for students.  Both reading and research involve asking and answering meaningful questions, summarizing and note taking, connecting prior knowledge to new information, visualizing, predicting, rereading, skimming and scanning, using keywords and text features and determining importance.  I like how teaching reading strategies is directly tied to the importance of the librarian and the library.

submitted by Kim Harris 4/13/09

 

Washor, Elliot, Mojkowski, Charles, and Foster, Deborah. (2009) Living Literacy- A Cycle of Life to Text and Text to Life. Phi Delta Kappan, March 2009, pp. 521-523.

Here, the authors explore the connection between life experience and literacy.  The point is made that kids often associate reading with schooling and not with learning about things they find interesting. Teachers, albeit unintentionally, perpetuate this idea by focusing on reading as a set of skills that must be mastered and not encouraging kids to read about what they are interested in.  The authors write of a 4th grade student who had read the state standards and thus declared that he was no longer going to read big, thick books because the state standards said he should be reading forty books a year. He didn’t think he could read forty big books, so he was going to switch to skinnier books.  Scary!! I found this article very thought-provoking. Submitted by Michele Gilchrist, 4/13/09

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Haug, James (2009).  Innovative high school library fuels enthusiasm for reading,

High school library boosts reading by capturing students' imagination.  Las Vegas Review Journal.  Mar 2009.

I know we all have seen the gleam in the eye of a student, reluctant as a reader, when he/she eyes a comic book.  How many school libraries offer these as a choice?  The following is one such school library. Jamie Smith is the librarian for a vocational high school in Las Vegas which has an enrollment of 1,800, but students already have checked out 15,000 books this school year. They're on pace to surpass last year's total of 18,000.  In an indication of their enthusiasm for reading, students are known to line up outside the library at 6:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Fridays to get books for the weekend, especially stories with cliffhanger endings and continuing story lines.  The school library is a cross between a comic book store and a basement den with its mishmash of sofas, recliners and chaises donated by teachers or purchased at yard sales. Students are encouraged to put their feet up and read.

While Smith has sometimes removed books for "dicey" content, he has never encountered any resistance against stocking the library with comics.  "Reading is considered reading," Smith said.  Retrieved April 13, 2009 from

http://www.lvrj.com/news/41196682.html

Barbara Bulkin 4/13/09

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James, J. (2003, April/May). Changing students' attitudes about reading through book clubs. Library Media Connection, 21 (7), p. 30-32. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database March 16, 2009. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database March 16, 2009.

Jacqueline James, a former teacher and media specialist (at the time the article was published), offers a strategy to reignite students joy of reading—book clubs. Three media specialist join forces to form a inter-school book club. The preventive cost of visiting each school in person presents the opportunity to establish a virtual book club for fourth and fifth-grade students. James outlines the weekly format of the book club and includes a list of the title selected each month. Two more schools joined the successful book club following a presentation at the Georgia Children's Literature Conference. And two of the three founding schools received reading grants. References are included.

 

 

AuYeung, C., Dalton, S., and Gornall, S. (2007). Book buzz: Online 24/7 virtual reading clubs and what we've learned about them. The Canadian Journal of Library & Information Practice & Research, 2(2), p. 1-19. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database March 16, 2009.

Three Canadian librarians recount their experience and lessons learned from developing Book Buzz, an online book club site. Reformatted for a reading audience, the presentation was originally given at the Ontario Library Association 2007 SuperConference. The report describes the planning stages, design phase, and day-to-day operation of the virtual book club (e.g. moderation, promotion). Nine charts, two graphs and references are included.

Fister, B. (2005, Summer). Reading as a contact sport: Online book groups and the social dimensions of reading. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 44(4), p303-309. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database March 16, 2009.

Guest columnist Barbara Fister explores the success of an active virtual book group. Founded in 1999, 4_Mystery_Addicts (4MA) brings together a strong contingent of mystery book readers who are engage in organized book discussions. Volunteers develop and post a set of discussion questions over the course of ten days. Readers post responses to the questions and reply to each other’s posts. Off-topic dialogue also includes inside jokes, personal observations. Book club members reportedly enjoy the friendly virtual exchanges and in some cases, provide emotion support to one another. The author includes references.

posted by Emma Moore April 11, 2009

 

 

Gardiner, S (2007, February). Librarians provide strongest support for sustained silent reading. Library Media Connection, 16-18.

This article, written by a classroom teacher and author, speaks of the value of the school librarian in supporting Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) programs. On the downside, the article is light on data/hard evidence (makes a lot of claims like if students do SSR, “it is only logical that…” their literacy skills and test scores will improve). It is worth a read, however, because it includes some very interesting and often surprising anecdotal evidence from this (Montana) school’s experience with SSR, such as the fact that the librarians observed that the SSR program increased demand for nonfiction books, and the fact that the school has noted an increase in students coming in with requests for specific books and authors (because their friends or teachers are recommending them), and an improvement in their skills at using the web catalog to find these books. The library also began to do a lot of interlibrary loans, as they were unable to fulfill all student requests, and they eventually became a “net borrower”—they borrow more books from other libraries than they loan out! A striking element of this case is that the school library was forced to change many of its policies dramatically in response to the development of the SSR program, but they embraced these changes with open arms because they could see the positive changes that SSR wrought in their students.

Contributed by Allyson McAuley, 10 April 2009

Tags: SSR, Sustained Silent Reading, interlibrary loan, independent readers, reading for pleasure, reading programs, school libraries

 

Brewster, L (2009). Reader development and mental wellbeing: The accidental bibliotherapist. Aplis. 22 (1).

I was intrigued when I came across this article from Great Britain because I had never heard of bibliotherapy, which, according to Brewster, means providing health information and support through books. Brewster identifies three types of bibliotherapy:

1.self-help bibliotherapy: what people would think librarians traditionally do—help folks find information to help themselves through books. Depressed client comes in searching for book about depression, we help them find it, etc.

2. creative bibliotherapy: “the use of fiction, poetry, biographical writing and creative writing to improve mental health and wellbeing”

3. informal bibliotherapy: “the use of creative bibliotherapy techniques in an unstructured manner, including reading groups, recommendations from staff and displays in the library.”

This article reinforces what most librarians anecdotally know—that reading helps people, whether it is through giving them information, letting them know they are not alone, or allowing them to express themselves. When we recommend the perfect book for someone or we host a spoken word event that allows them to present a poem about something personal, we do a lot more than it would seem on the surface. We can be improving self-esteem, reducing a sense of isolation, or building community, for example. “While librarians are not medical professionals, we need to remember that mental health is a continuum—there is not just ‘poor mental health’ and ‘everyone else.’” Librarians can be part of making our whole communities a little healthier through reading.

Contributed by Allyson McAuley, 10 April 2009.

Tags: bibliotherapy, reading, mental health, self-esteem, benefits of reading

 

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Creating readers: Part III, Teacher Magazine, September 19, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2009 from http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/09/19/06millermentoriii.h19.html

     This is the last of the three “Ask the Mentor” column in which Donalyn Miller shares her "secrets" in turning non-readers into readers. Miller is asked more questions on this last column and provides short but insightful answers to all of them. Personally, I have really come to love her column because she really puts inspiring the love for reading on the top of the list. Love for reading goes way before comprehension, reports, tests and so on. This lady really tries to inspire love of reading for the pure reading and no more. Obviously, she is not for reward systems.

     The first question she tackles is on SSR. She tells her readers that SSR should really be pure SSR and that it should not be tied to difficult assignments such as comprehension reports which can de-motivate kids. Kids will tend to focus on the reports and will not be able to “develop any personal connection to the act of reading” (¶ 1). She recommends personal response journals, sharing books with a friend or with a teacher in a short conference instead of more difficult tasks would take up the enjoyment of reading. Along the same line, she puts down Accelerated Reading.

     Miller also really believes in being an example of someone that enjoys reading and sharing her readings with her students. There really is no better way of teaching than through examples. She also notes that teachers have to set aside time for reading at schools to show students how reading is important. The same advice goes to the principal along with advice on how to support teachers with funding, professional development and parent-education programs.

     Miller also provides her readers with lists of books for different ages.

 

Contributed by Jung Ah Lee on April 8, 2009

 

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Twait, M. (2009). If they build it, they will come. College & Research Libraries News,   

     70(1), 21-24.

The author describes her experiences teaching a month-long class to self-described non library users. Students were expected to learn about the cultural, historical, and social roles of the library as they cooperatively created a redesign of their college library.  Students met with many experts from the community and made use of research resources in the library. At the end of the course, students expressed a new appreciation for the for how libraries function. The instructor gained an appreciation for the perspective of the students who use or don’t use the library. 

Carla Colburn submitted 4/7/09

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Creating readers: Part II, Teacher Magazine, September 12, 2007. Retrieved April 7, 2009 from http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/09/12/06millermentorii.h19.html

 

     This is the second out of the three “Ask the Mentor” column in which Donalyn Miller shares her "secrets" in turning non-readers into readers. Miller is asked questions on how to make some of the most non-interested students to read. In general she says that we need to start with the basics: “reading out loud to them; letting them read with a friend, an audio tape, or a podcast; reinforcing that reading is pleasurable and social; removing the pressure and risk by deemphasizing comprehension tests and reports” (¶ 4).

    Miller is asked about boys with no interest in reading. I think what Miller is saying can be boiled down to this: find out what interests them - sports, great sports figures, the outdoors, adventure, humor, nonfiction? Instead of disapproving some of the types of reading that some boys do, we should encourage them to read what they enjoy reading, even if some might contain a few off-color language.

    For the “dormant” and the “developing” readers, as Miller calls them, Miller conducts an interest survey to find out what interests the students e.g. “how they spend their free time, what subjects they enjoy both in and out of school” (¶ 8) and what movies they’ve seen (¶ 9) instead of asking what books they want to read. For the ones that say reading is “boring,” she suggests that “boring” might mean “too difficult.” She recommends audio books or podcasts that they can listen to.

 

entry made by Jung Ah Lee on April 7, 2009

 

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Krashen, Stephen. (2006, September 1). Free Reading. School Library Journal, Retrieved on March 18, 2009 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6367048.html.

 

     “If there were a surefire way to help kids become more literate, would you ignore it?” (¶ 1). Krashen starts out with this question to make sure his readers realize the importance of what he calls “Free Reading” - which is often referred to as Sustained Silent Reading. Krashen states that “research strongly suggests” that SSR is the source of vocabulary, spelling and reading comprehension development. He says “children become better readers by reading” which really makes sense.

     Krashen provides details on how SSR works. He says to “take anywhere from five to 10 or 15 minutes out of each school day … and let students read essentially whatever they want (within reason!), including comics, catalogs, manuals, graphic novels, and magazines. There are no book reports, no assignments, and no grades. And students aren’t required to finish their selections if they don’t want to: they’re free to choose something else to read” (¶ 3). It seems like what I often do not see at our school is that the library media specialists and teachers do not set an example of “reading for pleasure” during this SSR time. In addition children often cannot find what they want to read because the teachers only work with the tiny classroom collection that they have.

     I am in total agreement with Krashen. However, what research is he referring to when he says that “research strongly suggests” SSR is “surefire way to help kids become more literate”? Krashen really convinces his readers by providing an overview of the research that has been performed over the past 20 years. He provides the results of the research that best supports the benefits of SSR in which “students who read recreationally outperformed their counterparts in classes that lacked leisure reading” (¶ 5). He also provides the results of the research that least supports the benefits of SSR. However, even in the least supportive results, SSR and comparison groups made the same gains (¶ 7).

     He goes on to explains the results of the research from the National Reading Panel which is quite often misunderstood to be negative finding about SSR. He explains how the NRP’s report is “simply shows that SSR is as good as traditional instruction and, at times, superior” (¶ 8) and how NRP’s report is flawed because it overlooked many studies that showed the benefits of SSR.

     Krashen concludes by providing tips on how to get kids to read voluntarily. Again, his point here is that “amount matters.” According to Krashen, “many studies have shown that children with more access to books read more, and as we have seen, those who read more, read better” (¶ 14). As McQuillan found in research: “more access > more reading > better reading!”

     The article ends with 10 secrets of success to SSR provided by Elizabeth Hamming. Some of these include:

   1. Get the principal involved.

   2. Share the research that shows pleasure reading “results in significant increases in every aspect of literacy” with teachers and staff.

   3. Have a consistent time set aside for SSR.

   4. Be a model.

 

entry made by Jung Ah Lee April 7, 2009

 

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Preddy, L. (2009). Social Reading: Promoting Reading in the Millenial Reader. School Library Media Activities Monthly, 25(5), 22-25. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from the Education Full Text database.

 

In this article the author argues that in order to get today’s learner to read and get excited about it, it needs to become a social activity and involve human interaction. If you look around at how students behave, you can see the multitasking constantly, talking and texting at the same time, surfing the web and watching TV, so why not capitalize on this to get them reading?

            Studies show time and time again the importance of reading, how it affects income level, self-esteem and ability to get and maintain work. This is all the more reason for educators to do what they can to get learners reading. The author recommends taking fifteen to twenty minutes out of the school day for reading as well as getting students to keep home reading logs. In the classroom students can develop ‘reading relationships,’ when they get together with other students and discuss what they are reading. The goal is to get students to talk about reading just as easily as they talk about the tv shows they watched the night before or the newest movies or video games. The more students talk about reading, the more it becomes a part of their lives. As a teacher or reading motivator, you need to share you reading experiences with students too. You need to participate in the book talks going on in the classroom and hallways and get involved in reading board games.  Another idea is to get students together in groups to start their own books clubs. Let them have control over their reading by choosing the books on their own.

                This article provides realistic and helpful examples of how to get students engaged in reading and make it a social activity. Making reading fun for students is so very important.

 

 

Added by Janice Hodge 4/6/2009

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Carla Colburn submitted 4/5/09

 

Polanka, S. (2009). Off the shelf: Patron-driven acquisition. Booklist, 105, 121.

 

With the invention of the Kindle and the increasing use of online and downloadable formats in younger generations, school libraries need to adapt digital readers. This article explains the process of patron-driven acquisition of e-books. The role of the librarian in setting and adjusting a purchase profile is essential. Selections within the profile are offered to patrons through MARC records. Patrons determine acquisition through user downloads. Different purchase plans allow library to purchase e-books on first use or make payments for downloads with ownership coming after a set number of downloads. User patterns should be evaluated to adjust purchase profile as needed. This method of selecting books puts the patrons in control. If a book doesn't interest anyone, it doesn't get purchased. More titles can be offered without financial risk. Instead of putting suggested titles on a list and waiting for the library to review, order and process requested books, readers can choose from this wide selection and get instant access.

 

 

Constantino, R. (2005, February). An examination of print environments between high and low socioeconomic status (ses) communities. Teacher Librarian, 32(3), 22-25. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=16251574&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

Over a period of 2 years, the author looked at the access that 60 students (ages 7-12) had to books.  This included their homes, classroom libraries, school libraries, public libraries, and bookstores. The Los Angeles County communities compared were Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Compton, south Central L.A., Watts, East L.A., and Compton. The differences in access were staggering. For example, each of the students from the affluent communities had an average of 414 books in their homes, 658 books in their classroom libraries, and over 11,000 books in their school libraries. The low SES communities had an average of less than 7 books in their homes, about 51 in their classroom libraries, about 1,700 in the school libraries. The author comes to the conclusion that students “in poor communities are denied not only the opportunity to become readers, but also the opportunity to love reading.” State standards have many requirements for phonemic awareness or rules of syllabification, but “nowhere in the state's standards are children to get lost in a book. Nowhere in the standards are children to stay up all night reading the last of Judy Blume or Artemis Fowl. Rich children get lost in a book, at the same time that poor children are waiting for the popular books and reciting vowel sounds.” 

Submitted by Sylvia Cieply

 

 

Constantino, R. (2008, March). It’s not rocket science; students know what is good for them: The efficacy of a quality school library. Knowledge Quest, 36(4), 60-63. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=33061349&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

The author describes a program called Access Books and the results of reading surveys taken before and after implementation. She explains that children in poverty have little access to books outside school.  Students didn’t enjoy going to their school library because it had too few copies of the books that students wanted and a stifling atmosphere. They didn’t enjoy reading because it always resulted in a test of some sort. Many knew where the public library was located, but they rarely went there. To participate in this particular program, the schools were Title I schools, lacking in books. They had to agree to let students check out books regardless of their past history, and they were not restricted to certain areas of the library. The program added an average of 10 books per student to each school. 2,000-3,000 books went to the library and the rest went to classroom libraries. A couch and some chairs were added to the library to create an inviting spot to read. After only 2 months, students were re-surveyed and the resulting attitudes were markedly different. A majority enjoyed the library and visited more frequently, voluntarily. They requested the library be open more, with more seating and suggested an outdoor reading area. The surveys indicate that when students have access to the books they want and can self-select their reading material, their attitudes about reading improve. 

Submitted by Sylvia Cieply

 

Garan, E., & DeVoogd, G. (2008, December). The benefits of sustained silent reading: Scientific research and common sense converge. Reading Teacher, 62(4), 336-344. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=35534026&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

The     The authors look at a report that examined studies done about SSR (defined as 15-30 minutes of time set aside for silent reading, usually a book of the students own choice), which determined there was no absolute evidence as to its effectiveness. The authors though, point out reasons that it is nearly impossible to show conclusively that such programs are effective or ineffective. One problem cited is that the researchers were looking for improvements in fluency, not comprehension. The report ignored the fact that correlational studies show that students who read more are better readers and students who read less aren’t. Another factor is that proof beyond doubt would involve a control group who are not only not encouraged to read in class, but also discouraged from reading outside of class. And, if we are to accept this lack of conclusive proof that SSR improves reading, than why have sports, or music, or phonics worksheets, or math homework, or test prep for standardized tests without conclusive proof of their benefits. . In addition, teachers can and do bring their own influence to bear on these programs, tweaking them to suit their needs and the needs of individual students.

            Submitted by Sylvia Cieply

 

            de Groot, J. (2006, December). Social responsibility and school libraries: A case for children's literature as a powerful teaching tool. School Libraries in Canada (17108535), 26(2), 52-61. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25160872&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

The author relates her experience of teaching 6^th graders about a 12-year-old boy who started an organization to stop child labor in under developed countries. The author’s students were fascinated and wanted to hear more.  She read them a few chapters from his book and several went on to read the book in its entirety and to collect school supplies for the organization. This, in the author’s eyes, was an ideal example of books demonstrating social responsibility. The author feels that school libraries are in a unique position, ideally placed to help students become informed about the world and their role in it as global citizens. Reading aloud or having students share the same book in some way makes the information contained a scaffold for the whole class, a common knowledge base, from which student’s understanding can broaden and from which their interests can be explored. De Groot does not recommend that literature be used in isolation, but as a part of the curriculum to broaden and support understanding. 

Submitted by Sylvia Cieply

 

Willi     Williams, L. (2008, September). Book selections of economically disadvantaged Black elementary students. Journal of Educational Research, 102(1), 51-64. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34217660&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

This study focused on book selection by African American students, ages 8-12. From my own experience, it is not surprising that the students were drawn to select books that they were familiar with through mass marketing and the media. Those that were about famous singers or that were familiar from TV shows were popular. The author points out that multicultural education theorists think it is important to give students access to material that is about people like them, who share their culture. But, the author points out that there is little empirical evidence to support this. Although a seemingly logical conclusion, little empirical evidence exists to support this concept. Williams says that perhaps their “identity connection stemmed from media and mass marketing interests." Unfortunately,  students rarely took the reading level into consideration when selecting a title. While educators should continue to try to broaden readers’ interests, they should not dismiss the lure of books associated with popular culture for their students. 

Submitted by Sylvia Cieply 

 

Cho, K Cho, K., Choi, D., & Krashen, S. (2008, May). An experimental study. Knowledge Quest, 36(5), 69-73. Retrieved March 19, 2009, fromhttp://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=33131815&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost-live

 

This is about a study that links achievement in second language development with listening to read-alouds and storytelling in conjunction with a voluntary SSR program in the second language. This study took place in Korea with 6^th grade students learning English.  Thos who listened to read-alouds in English used their spare time to do voluntary reading in English more and came away with more ability and confidence. To me, it hints that there is nothing wrong with a good story, capably read in the library. This is especially true where ELLs are involved! I read something about another trial with which Krashen was involved where adults learning English were given Sweet Valley Twins or Sweet Valley High books to read and discuss.  Their simple sentence structure and use of sight words improved the adults’ English acquisition! 

Submitted by Sylvia Cieply 

 

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Creating readers: Part I, Teacher Magazine, September 5, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2009 from http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/09/05/06millermentor1.h18.html

 

     This is an “Ask the Mentor” column in which Donalyn Miller shares her "secrets" in turning non-readers into readers. Donalyn Miller is a 6th grade language arts and social studies teacher in Texas and the author of "The Book Whisperer." According to the article, the students at her school reads between 50 to 60 books a year on average and 300 being the highest. Donalyn Miller shares her secrets as she answers a series of questions in this article.

     Miller shares top 5 things that she does to inspire children to read. First, she believes that all children are readers and can become more active readers. She lets her students know this. She does not use terms such as"struggling" or "reluctant" but prefers the terms "dormant" and "developing" when she talks about her readers. Second, she lets her students know that she is a reader just like they are. She keeps up with juvenile literature by reading them herself and shares with her students. Third, she gives her students the power to choose! As we all know, "choice is a powerful motivator for students." Fourth, she has her students take time to read in class the books that the read outside of class. Fifth, she lets her students know that any free time in her class is spent on reading.

     I especially love the part when she says that her students "read until I start the instruction for the day. If they finish an assignment, they read. If the projector breaks, they read. If a teacher or a parent comes to speak to me, they read. There are no 'free' time or 'when you are done' activities, only their books." I also love it when she says that she does not "teach books." She says that she "uses the students’ independent reading to reinforce the skills and concepts that I am teaching."

     Interesting enough, this language arts teacher works with her class book collection instead of working with the school library. Imagine how many more students would benefit if her books were used more widely.

 

entry made by Jung Ah Lee April 4, 2009

 

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Submitted by Mary Weyant 

Pachtman, Andrew B. and Wilson, Karen A. (2006). What do the kids think?.  The Reading Teacher, 59(7), 680-4.

This article was written because so often students are left out when evaluating the efficacy of reading instruction.  The findings indicate that kindergarteners select books based on familiarity, predictability, and book size.  Junior high students reported that time to read and time to practice were two aspects that improved fluency and reading speed.

When students read in class and at home the volume of materials read increases and so does student success.  When the expectation set by the teacher that students will read a lot, then students will meet the challenge.  Student choice is a source of intrinsic motivation.  Students choice also fosters a sense of ownership, so that students read more and enjoy reading more.  A child’s perception of accomplishing the task also increases intrinsic motivation.  Providing students with a purpose for reading, such as sharing with peers the books they liked, will increase their engagement.

Allowing students to discuss their reading with their peers brought out more information about the story and more engagement with the text in contrast to assigning book reports at the end.  It also increased the number of books students read.  Ultimately, students liked having access to books in their own classroom.  Ease of access was very important.   Allowing students to choose their own books was rated second in importance, along with keeping track of the number of books that were read and the celebrations that followed.  Third was reading for homework. 

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Manley, Will. (2008 December). A Child Shall Lead Them. American Libraries.

            39, 72.

Diana Miranda

When one thinks of a library, in this case a public library, images of equal access and general knowledge come to mind. In this bit of commentary, Will Manley comments on a new generation of  well to do parents who have an affinity for artsy educational material for their young children. He says that these middle and upper class parents can have a definite impact (positive) on budgets if they are onboard. There is a small cartoon included in the article of a parent asking the librarian for picture books by Picasso or Monet for an infant which further  highlights this new elite interest in education.  Although, School Librarians have some standards as  to what they can include in their library, the point of appealing to this new generation of parents is something to think about when advocationg for Learning Commons.

 

Chan, C. (2008, December). The impact of school library services on student achievement and the implications for advocacy: a review of the literature. Access (10300155), 22(4), 15-20. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.

Chan describes some qualitative and quantitative research done to examine the successful link between school libraries and student academic achievement. While the are substantial results, “dry statistics” (17) is not enough to engender support to those who believe that school libraries stand apart from school wide curriculum.

Diana Miranda 

Baldini, M. (2008, Fall2008). The Principal's Project: helping administrators to better understand the role of the certified library media specialist. Ohio Media Spectrum, 60(1), 24-27. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.

The Institute for Library and Information  Literacy Education  highlights and validates the need for a Library  Personnel. This article also details how administrators can work together with the Librarian to increase educational achievement. The article also provides many links to where one can find additional information and resources.

Diana Miranda  

 

 

Previous semester's Reading 

 

Whelan, D. L. (2009, February). A dirty little secret: Self-censorship is rampant and lethal. School Library Journal, 55(2), 26-30. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from

          Academic Search Premier database.

 

In this article Debra Lau Whelan (2009) discusses the common yet dangerous practice of self-censorship that occurs in school and public libraries across the nation.  Unfortunately this type of censorship can be the most damaging because it is difficult to track why a library does not have a particular title on the shelf.  The reasons for self-censorship often involve librarians attempting to prevent controversy by avoiding titles that will assuredly result in angry parents.  In a survey of 655 media specialists, School Library Journal found that “70 percent of librarians say they won't buy certain controversial titles simply because they're terrified of how parents will respond” (p. 28).  Even libraries that purchase a controversial title might shelve it with books for older readers or even place it in a restricted area behind the circulation desk, which also amounts to censorship.  In the current economic climate, many librarians are afraid to challenge the community and put their jobs at risk.  The problem is so rampant that even authors begin to question whether they should discuss disputed issues in the books they plan to write in the future.  When artists and creators begin to self-censor intellectual freedom is in jeopardy.  School librarians are finding that they are forced to put restrictions on students because of parents that are out of touch with the realities of life.  Whelan suggests that the best way for librarians to protect themselves is to “make sure your school has a written selection policy and reconsideration policy that addresses written challenges to books” (p. 30).

 

Submitted by Matt Souza, March 27, 2009

 

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Michele Gilchrist March 27, 2009

Sullivan, Michael. (2003) Connecting Boys with Books- What Libraries Can Do. Chicago: American Library Association.

Boys tend to fall behind girls in reading, both in test scores and in their interest in reading. This book addresses that fact. Written in a lively, engaging style, this book is not at all text-bookish. It looks at the differences between boys’ and girls’ learning styles. Boys tend to need more structure and have to fight stereotypes of what it means to “be a man.” To many boys, reading is not seen as “manly.” Library programs tend to be aimed more at girls, possibly because many librarians are women or perhaps because more girls make use of the library, so the library’s programs are aimed at its patrons. While unintentional, many boys feel alienated in libraries. Therefore, libraries need to reach out more to boys by making them welcome, giving them a role in planning and preparing for library activities and having more of a male presence in the library. Boys tend to choose non-fiction over fiction, so the collection should reflect that. Other genres that boys tend to find appealing include: humor, sports and outdoors, and fantasy.

This book is full of lots of great recommendations for roping in the boys and working their interests into library programs (both public and school) that will encourage them to use the library more and thus, read more. I particularly liked t he section on how boys and girls respond differently to book talks. It included tips for adapting book talks to be more appealing to boys.

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Submitted by Mary Weyant on March 25, 2009

Gadberry, Ellen. (2003).   Librarians' and Teachers' Perspectives on Accelerated Reader.  Journal of Children's Literature 29 no2 46-9

This article provides insights into the pros and cons (well represented) of Accelerated Reader (AR).  The article presents several opinions from teachers and librarians about their experience with AR as a reading tool.  Ellen Gadberry is a former teacher and now current librarian who shares her view of AR and concludes that adopting AR as a learning information system is insufficient if used by itself.  The other components of the reading program must be presented as well.  These components that are included with Reading Renaissance are:  “literature appreciation for its own sake, cross-curricular literature tie-ins, and the teaching of necessary and required local/state curriculum objectives through literature-centered lessons.”  She distills AR to be reading practice with an accountability piece that is measured in points.   The article’s merit lies in the honest opinions of teachers and librarians who have a working knowledge of AR.

 

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 Krashen, S.  (2008).  The Case for Libraries and Librarians.  Article retrieved from Stephen Krashen’s web site on March 24^th.

http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/case_for_libraries/index.html

 

            Krashen argues in this paper submitted to the Obama-Biden Education Policy Working Group in December of 2008 that libraries are fundamentally linked to good readers and reading achievement. Children who read more become better readers.  The best places for children to get books are the public and school libraries. Krashen cites several studies that link good quality libraries to student reading scores.  He cites the study done by Lance in 1994 that stated that the more books libraries had on a state level, the better readers children were. McQuillan also did a study in 1998 that noted that reading scores improved at the state level when libraries could supply more books to children. This is especially true for children who live in poverty and do not have access to books at home. Thus their only access to good quality books is the library. However, Krashen did a study in 1996 that showed children who live in poverty have very little access to good quality libraries.  Krashen goes on to argue that it is not only access to good books but also access to trained librarians that help with reading achievement. Librarians help children find books at their level and they also work to collaborate with teachers to help children read more. He cites a study by Keith Curry Lance that states that librarians are essential in helping children find good books. He notes that children who live in poverty most likely don’t have school libraries that have a credentialed librarian. This way reading levels don’t increase.  He notes that 48% of students said in a survey done by Scholastic that they read books based on recommendations from librarians. Thus Krashen argues that there needs to be more funding for both public and school libraries in order to improvement reading achievement in children.  Submitted by Joanne Maher on March 24th, 2009.

 

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Novelist K-8 (SJSU and LAPL Database)

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lapl.org/novelistk8/search?vid=2&hid=108&sid=01358557-9120-4401-a780-152f6fb59ea3%40sessionmgr107

 

    Novelist K-8 is a great source for reader’s advisory, author biographies, reading lists, discussion groups and more. The search engine allows users to search by author, title, series, or describe a plot. The results can be limited to teens, older kids, and younger kids. Once a title or author is found, a summary, reading level, and related information is provided. More importantly, a list of similar authors and topics is provided. So a child who finds interest in a book can find other books with a similar topic. Once they find a topic of interest, they can add it to their folder so they will have a compilation of books that are of interest to them. If the search is done through the LAPL database, users even have the option of searching the library catalog.

 

The website is divided into five sections:

•    All Award Winners

•    Teens (13-18)

•    Older Kids (9-12)

•    Younger Kids (0-8)

•    Working with Kids

 

The Working with Kids section provides a wealth of information on how to create interactive reading programs that will entice children to read. Each age level section has a Recommended Reads and Award Winners. The Recommended Reads are then divided into genres. Another portion of the homepage consists of the Spotlight. The Spotlight includes information and resources for a reading/holiday theme or event. Although I have found this to be a fabulous resource for helping kids find books they are interested in, this is only a guide to fiction.

 

Marisa Reyes 3/21/09

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Roberts, Julia (2006).  Building a community of high school readers.  Knowledge Quest 35(1), 24-29. Retrieved March 14, 2009 from Library Literature & Information Science Full Text.

 

                Julia Roberts was a librarian at a high school located in Danbury, Connecticut.  When she came to the position she was distrubed by the number of students who were not passing reading proficiency tests (only about 24% of 10^th graders were).  She knew that for many reasons teenage students did not read for pleasure.  Reasons could be lack of time, lack of interest, or lack of interesting materials.  She also knew that if students were not pleasure readers they would not have as much success at being analytical readers.  She notes “ reading comprehension was not only key to doing well on tests, it was vital to success in many careers” (p.26).  So she decided to do something about it.

                Along with an English teacher friend, Roberts brainstormed why she was an avid reader who spent much of her free time reading or talking about reading.  Together they also wondered why students lacked this particular desire.  This brainstorming question led to the focus of a 3 year action research project that began with the addition of desirable titles to the library.  Much fundraising was done to purchase the books, because the budget Roberts had to work with was minimal. In the end, about $150,000 was raised.  The majority of this money was spent on books, and Roberts would often purchase multiple titles that were sure to be popular including 35 copies of the book Monster at one point.

                Roberts also became a strong advocate for the library, or as she put it “my inner drama queen” surfaced” (p.26).  She attended meetings, gave presentations,  booktalks, and promoted SSR in classrooms to get students reading.  At the end of the first year the library’s circulation had risen by 400%.

                In the second year, Roberts attempted to figure out what students disliked about reading in order to try and work to make reading more enjoyable.  Students were interviewed and encouraged to make comments and suggestions.  New books were prominently displayed in the library.  Often times new books would be purchased from the local bookstore and handed to the student who requested it the next day, without it ever having been catalogued.  Roberts learned that “putting the students enthusiasm and interests first created a synergy between the library staff and students, many of whom had been leery of the library media center” (p.27).  At this point teacher began to notice the enthusiasm the students were having for reading, as they would pull out books at the end of class just to get in a few more paragraphs.

                Momentum carried through the third year, even with a change in principal.  A manga group was formed and an art teacher offered to have her students create ALA READ poster to be put up in the school.  After the three years were up, scores on the proficiency tests improved and students who once identified themselves as reluctant readers were not longer quite so reluctant.  Even the public library noted a rise in teen readership that Roberts feel confident her program was a part of.

 

posted by Katie Gallagher, March 19, 2009

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Whelan, D. (2009, February 2). A dirty little secret: Self-censorship. School Library Journal. Retrieved February 11, 2009 from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6582438&articleid=CA6632974

 

 

This article featured in American Libraries Direct brings attention to an issue I hope we get to discuss in our class, self-censorship (private censorship of controversial books by school librarians). Barry Lyga and several other writers of young adults novels which have been contested or banned are interviewed here about the effects of censorship on their writings and their determination to stay true to their original ideas (while still understanding their responsibility to teens). A few surveys that the School Library Journal has conducted regarding school librarians and the frequency with which they censor books they fear will be controversial are mentioned here, as well as the primary reasons why they do so (including fear of losing their jobs). The concluding paragraphs remind school librarians the importance of creating clear, written selection and reconsideration policies and our responsibility to provide students with materials that are age appropriate and beneficial (regardless of disapproval of content). It also states in the second to last paragraph of the article that in loco parentis “only applies to school librarians when it comes to the safety and health of their students, not when it comes to censorship” (Whelan, 2009). This is coming from a former school librarian and first amendment advocate. I wonder if anyone has ever had any problems with “controversial” books in their libraries and if self-censorship is common but never talked about.

 

I should also add that this article mentions some controversial titles and specific issues that elementary and middle school librarian deal with. For example, how does a middle school librarian know when a title is appropriate for her/his students when professional reviews vary on the recommended age level (for tweens or teens)? Also, are elementary school librarians quietly censoring picture books with prominent gay characters to avoid parent complaints?

 

Erica Dietz

February 18, 2009

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Catherine, Trinkle. (2009). Reading for Meaning: Questioning. School Library Media Activities Monthly, v25n5p48-50 Jan 2009.

A very important literacy skill is asking questions.  Students need to be informed that they should ask questions throughout their research. Library media teachers are not reading teachers, they do however work with students to become better readers. Library media teachers can help students compose good questions and read for meaning. Library media teachers can become both a collaborator and a vital resource for students and teachers. In the library media center, reading strategies and writing skills are embedded in the research process and reading comprehension strategies taught by language arts teachers.  In this article, the author takes reading comprehension strategies from Ellin Keene's "Mosaic of Thought, The Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read" (2000) and Robert Marzano's "Classroom Instruction that Works" (2001). They are also each deeply embedded in the new "AASL 21st-Century Standards" (2007). The author also presents information from "AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" which supports the importance of questioning during any research process.

Barbara Bulkin 

February 21, 2009 

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DelGuidice, M. (2007). Cultivating a Spanish and bilingual collection: Ensuring the information literacy connection. Library Media Connection, 26(3), 34-35.

 

            I included this article in our synthesis wiki because I’m looking for as much information as possible in creating a bilingual or multilingual collection and obtaining the best resources to help ELL and bi/multilingual students. I found this article to be interesting because the author describes her experiences as a brand new LMS, there’s evidence of collaboration between her and teachers to develop the collection, and she gives some tips on dealing with vendors and obtaining money through grants. As far as digital resources, she doesn’t make any big improvements, but it’s a start for her school library.

 

Summary:

            The author of this article, Margaux DelGuidice, began her career as a library media specialist (LMS) in a school in New York. At this school, there were several “Dual Language Classes” composed of middle school students. These students were a mix of ELLs and English-speaking students and engaged in daily lessons requiring the use of English and Spanish (DelGuidice, 2007, A New Job, A New Population section). The author also taught a class of beginning English language learners, most of them Spanish speakers. DelGuidice realized that the library’s current collection of bilingual and Spanish resources was completely inadequate, and so, with the help of her colleagues, she set out to provide helpful resources for this student population.

            One recommendation given to the LMS was “to include folktales, fairy tales, and stories that would be familiar” to ELL students, as mentioned in the section Small Steps (DelGuidice, 2007). Then, the author set out to purchase materials that would assist the Dual Language Classes in their curriculum and leisure reading. It’s important to note that DelGuidice presented this list to the Dual Language teachers and asked for further input. With this information (a needs assessment), the LMS went to her district grantwriter to acquire the funds to make purchases. In this case, the grantwriter was successful in obtaining the funds. To school librarians who do not have grantwriters in their district, the author recommends looking for grant opportunities in listservs, professional articles, conferences, and from the public library.

            From working with the vendors to purchase materials, DelGuidice gives a few recommendations for building a bilingual collection. First, she suggests buying materials at varying learning levels since the grade of a student does not necessarily correlate with her/his reading level. Second, she recommends utilizing a variety of vendors, not only the ones you’re familiar with, and to get information on cataloging before purchasing. Third, create a large and inviting space for students in the bilingual collection area. In this article, the author also mentions how she updated the school’s online resources to include a Spanish encyclopedia and instructed students in accessing the public library’s Spanish and English resources via remote access.

 

Erica Dietz

March 4, 2009 

 

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Sanacore, J. (2006, June). Teacher-librarians, teachers, and children as cobuilders of school library collections. Teacher Librarian, 33(5), 24-29.

 

 

            This highly informative article encourages educators to factor children’s reading interests into the selection of print materials for school libraries, and provides suggested actions with which to determine these interests.

            The introduction to this article argues that including reading materials in school libraries that are of high interest to children is an absolute must. Some of the reasons for this are obvious in today’s school libraries; they offer a limited supply of high-interest books and books for reluctant readers, limited school funding restricts material purchases, and, furthermore, some families are unable to purchase books for their children. Using formal and informal research ideas, the article then continues to present a variety of ways in which educators are able to determine children’s reading interests.

            Observing students as they interact with books is one way to determine these interests. By watching students as they peruse through various reading materials (both books and periodicals) and listening to them talk about their favorite subjects and authors, one can discover their likes and figure out other resources that may appeal to them. Similar to this technique is observing children as they share their favorite reads in small groups. This peer sharing activity can be conducted in the school library and/or the classroom. Not only will children become more enthusiastic about reading and peer-recommended titles, but the observant teacher-librarian can collect information about children’s independent reading preferences. Another great idea is to hold individual conferences with students. The teacher-librarian or classroom teacher can get a better sense of children’s reading levels and the books that are most appealing.

            Administering surveys to children about their reading interests is another suggested way to collect needed information. These interest inventories can be accomplished in a number of ways. However, the author emphasizes the need to include clear, specific questions in these surveys in order to gather useful information. Two other relatively easy ways to determine children’s reading interests are to evaluate children’s learning portfolios and to ask for parents’ help in gathering children’s interests. Many school utilize now utilize student portfolios to demonstrate a student’s academic growth. Teacher librarians may be able to extract reading interests and levels from these portfolios. In addition, schools can request information from parents on their children’s independent reading interests. These forms can be conducted through the classrooms, conferences, email forms, or any number of ways. Finally, there are many other creative approaches to gathering children’s reading interests. With the assistance of new technologies, teachers and teacher-librarians can create a variety of engaging reading activities that will help to collect more information.

            I should mention that this article did not argue that including multiple copies of high-interest books in school libraries will solve all reading difficulties among children. Of course, the assistance of educated professionals to help students become more avid and successful readers is necessary. However, the author’s argument to include more books of high interest to kids is compelling. I plan to use several of these techniques in order to select high-interest titles for the library’s collection. I also hope to work collaboratively with teachers to carry out these activities, by either administering these activities jointly or collecting the results. I couldn’t agree more with the author about the sad state of some school libraries, especially those in inner city schools. This article presents what I believe are effective techniques in order to figure out what kids would like to check out from their school libraries.

 

 

Erica Dietz

March 10, 2009

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