Welcome Back! A New Classroom Tool.

After a long break (one school year), I'm back!

Now at the end of the school year I am reflecting on what I want to change for next year. One of the main things I want to change in my class is my library system. This year I have used a regular pen and paper checkout system. Students find a book they want to checkout and then write their name, the date, and the book title on a list located near my desk. This has worked pretty well but I feel as if it can be more efficient.

While perusing one of my favorite websites (The English Companion Ning), I found a link to website claiming to be a classroom library organization tool. Let me say, I have become skeptical when it comes to these classroom "tools". Usually, they are either lacking information or extremely expensive. This tool, however, is proficient in both knowledge and free-ness.

BookSource's "Classroom Organizer" is, simply, amazing. It allows teachers to scan books through their iPhone/iPad (free App) to create an online catalog. Students can then login to the website to checkout and return books. It allows you to set rules and gives students all kinds of information on the books they are interested in, such as AR points, length of the book, and recommendations. For those of us who are lacking in the tech department, "Classroom Organizer" allows you to manually log books as well.

Check out the below videos for more information on "Classroom Organizer".


Has anyone found anything like this or better? I'd love even more wonderful classroom tools!

 

Modeling Literate Lives from Choice Literacy

Donalyn Miller, author of the acclaimed bestseller The Book Whisperer, chats with Franki Sibberson about the importance of teachers modeling their literate lives for students. You can visit Donalyn's blog here. Below is the transcript of their podcast conversation, enjoy.

Franki Sibberson: Donalyn, you mentioned that you're interested in modeling literate lives for kids. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Donalyn Miller: Well, I think that many children do not have reading role models. We would hope that they do but sometimes they don't. So if they don't have reading role models at home, I think it's even more vital that they have reading role models at school, and that means teachers, librarians, administrators modeling for kids what a literate life looks like. And for even those children that have parents at home that read, and siblings that read, they still need that support at school. I think that they need to get it everywhere.

Franki: So what do you see as your role, as the teacher's role in doing that in the classroom?

Donalyn: Well, I think we have to live our lives open for the kids, and talk to them about what we are reading, what we are writing, what we are getting out of our reading and writing ourselves, not just in an academic context but how reading and writing enrich our lives personally, and what we find interesting about it.

Franki: Do you think that it's different the way we model for students who do have literate role models outside of school versus those who don't?

Donalyn: Well, I think we need to have awareness first off, do they have reading role models at schools? That's not always easy to get. We may not always know if parents are readers or not. At my school we have a lot of parents that are bilingual and they're immigrant parents, so they may be literate in their native language but not as much in English. So I think the first key is for us to find out what we can about the literacy support and role modeling that they have at home. But as far as how that looks for me on the teaching end, I don't see much difference other than being aware. I think we just need to be that literate person for all the kids.

Franki: Right. And are there certain things that you do to model for your students? Are there certain things that you do to - I guess, two parts. Are there certain things you do to find out about their literate lives outside of school, and then are there certain kinds of things that you do to model?

Donalyn: Well, when I confer with kids during reading conferences sometimes that information comes out. Sometimes people tell me that they've shared a book that they've read in class with a parent or with a sibling. I get e-mails from parents that ask me questions, because they seem to think that I might know books for them to read, so I get a little bit of insight from the kids and the parents that way. But I also think it's important just to have a lot of conversations with parents, so I send out e-mails with literacy news and tips for parents. I just sent one about the importance of reading aloud, even to older children, because what I've found, Franki, is many parents want to help; they just don't really know what to do.

Especially as children get older, they depend more and more on teachers in schools to take over that role of role modeling literacy for kids, because they're not really sure how to go about it. You know, when children are little and you put them on your knee and you read to them, parents understand that. But when their child is 11 it doesn't look the same to them. Sometimes they just want guidance and support.

Franki: Right. It feels different. So how do you balance this goal with the more skills? How do you fit it all into your 90-minute block of making sure you're teaching kids what they need to be readers but you're also finding time to model your literate lives in the classroom?

Donalyn: Well, to me it's about a third and two-thirds. I think it's two-thirds academic reading and focusing on skills, literary elements, comprehension, and the things that we are required to teach them, and that students need to know. But I think about a third of the class time, overall, I would spend on life-long literacy, on reading habits, on role modeling, on conversations with kids about why they need to read, showing them how to find out about books, and learn more about authors, and the things that they need to have some capacity as readers, for reading as a lifestyle, not just as something that they do at school.

Franki: I love that you gave that a one-third, two-third. How did you come up with that? Have you just been observing?

Donalyn: Well, I am thinking quite a bit these days about how do we transition children from school reading to life reading, and asking my questions, "Okay, so what is a good balance for them?" and I think that's about what I've hit on. I might change it tomorrow but I don't think I will.

Franki: No, that is so smart. I really never expected you to give me such a firm number and I love it because that makes sense, and if you think about it like that it's easier to think through your year. Do you have anything else that you want to add about modeling literate lives?

Donalyn: Well, we talked a bit about the importance of it, but what does that look like? What does role modeling a literate life look like? You know, it's telling the kids that I've stay up until 2:30 in the morning reading Mockingjay, and how much I loved it, and then us holding a drawing to see who gets my copy that I just finished. It's letting them know that reading is something that I find is worth losing sleep over. I come in with a box of books almost every Monday, of books that I've found in various places on the weekends. We open up the books and look at them and talk about them. It's just building that excitement because I'm excited about it, and showing them that reading is something that I really love and enjoy, at a personal level. It's not just me, the teacher, standing off to the side and saying, "Hey kids, you need to read because it's good for school." It's about telling them, "Hey kids, I want you to read because it'll add so much to your life."

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1375.cfm

The Power of Literature Circles in the Classroom by: Elena Aguliar

My six-year-old son has finally, really started reading. It's thrilling to watch him grab book after book off his overflowing shelves and read stories he's been hearing for years. Now he wants to take books to school so that during recess, he can entice his friends to sit together and read. He says it will be called the "Reading Club."

"I was in a book club once," I said, explaining how a group of friends read the same novel and then discussed it over dinner. My son loved the idea and immediately started brainstorming who he'd invite, when they'd meet, what they'd read, and what they'd eat.

But the rabbit hole of nostalgia that I tumbled into was of my experience as a teacher facilitating literature circles. I get kind of giddy and dreamy-eyed when I remember what it felt like to circulate through a class of seventh graders meeting in lit circles, when I remember their arguments about a character's actions, or the post-its covered in notes that stuck out of the pages, or the pleas for a few more minutes when I'd say we were out of time. During literature circle meetings my classroom vibrated with learning, passion, and joy.

Why Literature Circles?

I promise to provide practical resources on the how, when, where, what of lit circles, but let me first make a case for why every K-12 classroom should institute some version of literature circles.

Reason #1: Literature circles can be a place for cooperative learning. Students help each other understand a text and make sense of it. Lit circles teach kids how to use each other as resources and become independent learners. Of course, in order for them to be an effective structure for cooperative learning, the teacher needs to intentionally develop them as such. Without guidance, modeling and support, they aren't automatically places of collaboration.

Reason #2: Literature circles allow students to make choices about their learning. Students are usually given the opportunity to select one of several books that they'd like to read. They can also have a say about who to be with in a book group. All children desperately need more opportunities to make choices in school. Choice leads to deeper engagement, increased intrinsic motivation, and an opportunity for guided-decision making.

Reason #3: Literature circles are fun, in part because they are social experiences. Students are expected to talk a lot, (in contrast to the rest of their time at school) to debate and argue their ideas. Students are invited to bring their experiences and feelings into the classroom and to share them. Reading has to be fun some of the time; if we don't make the experience enjoyable, our students are not likely to continue it once they're released from our grip.

Furthermore, when we experience joy or pleasure, we feel more connected to a place, and to the people in that place. It was an imperative that my middle school students felt connected to school and had positive academic interactions with their classmates. As in many urban districts, the drop out rate in Oakland, California is terribly high; research reveals that students drop out primarily because they don't feel connected to a place or its people.

Therefore I'll argue that a structure like literature circles, when functioning as a place of connection and fun, can serve to anchor our kids in school. Our students will not master standards and perform on exams if we cannot keep them in our classrooms; lit circles can help do that.

Reason #4: Finally, because they are fun, because students have choice, and because they are a cooperative learning structure, literature circles are powerful experiences for reluctant and/or struggling readers. Literature circles have to be differentiated; by nature each group will read books at different levels on different topics. Struggling readers can select a text at their level; the teacher can provide direct support to that group or can include a couple of higher-readers.

One important note (now moving into the details): students should be offered many genres -- "literature circles" does not imply only fiction. My struggling readers (often boys) wanted mostly non-fiction. (A fascinating book on this topic is Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men.)

Resources for the "Who, What, When, and Where"

Of course, in order for lit circles to be fun places where students learn cooperatively, there's a lot that a teacher needs to do. Fortunately, there are many resources for creating high-functioning literature circles. To start with, try checking out these resources:

• Some years ago, I created a Web site about literature circles. It's not a comprehensive guide, but provides some ideas about how to get started.
• My favorite book is the classic, Literature Circles, by Harvey Daniels.

Readers: I'd love to hear about your experiences with literature circles. Why and how have you established them in your class? What happened? What were some challenges? There's so much more to say on this topic (perhaps in a future blog post!)

In the meantime, I'm off to cook up some green soup for my son's first book club meeting. They're starting with a classic: Green Eggs and Ham. My son plans to debate the ethics of eating animals. I can't wait to hide in the hallway and listen.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literature-circles-how-to-and-reasons-why-elena-aguilar?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+spiralnotebook+%28Spiral+NoteBook%29

Literacy Facts on "International Literacy Day"

According to researchers Hart and Risley findings in the U.S., professional families

children hear an average of 2,153 words per hour, in working class families 1,251 words

per hour, and in welfare families only 616 words per hour. The relationship of illiteracy

and poverty is undeniable. The International Reading Association culled the following

literacy facts from lists assembled by ProLiteracy Worldwide, Alliance for Excellent

Education, and AmericaScores.

From ProLiteracy Worldwide:

In the U.S.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, workers 18 and over with a bachelor's degree

earn an average of $51,206 a year, while those with a high school diploma earn $27,915; those without a high school diploma average $18,734

• American business currently spends more than $60 billion each year on employee training, much of that for remedial reading, writing, and mathematics.

• Annual health care costs in the U.S. are four times higher for individuals with low literacy skills than they are for individuals with high level literacy skills.

• Women in the U.S. who have little formal education are more likely than educated women to be in abusive relationships.

• One-half of all adults in U.S. federal and state correctional institutions cannot read or write at all; 85% of juvenile offenders have reading problems.

(From ProLiteracy Worldwide: Facts about Literacy, www.proliteracy.org)

From Alliance for Excellent Education:

• More than eight million students in grades 4-12 read below grade level. Most are able to sound out words—the challenge isn’t to teach them to decode text but, rather, to help them comprehend what they read.

• Only 31% of America’s 8th-grade students—and roughly the same percentage of 12th graders—meet the National Assessment of Educational Progress standard of reading “proficiency” for their grade level.

• Among low-income 8th graders, just 15% read at a proficient level.

• A mere 3% of all 8th graders read at an advanced level.

• On average, African-American and Hispanic 12th-grade students read at the same level as white 8th-grade students.

• The 25 fastest-growing professions have far greater than average literacy demands, while the fastest-declining professions have lower than average literacy demands.

• Roughly 23% of high school graduates are not ready to succeed in an introductory- level college writing course.

• About 40% of high school graduates lack the literacy skills employers seek.

• Employment projections indicate that jobs requiring only a high school degree will grow by just 9% by the year 2008 while those requiring a bachelor’s degree will grow by 25% and those requiring an associate’s degree will grow by 31%.

• Male and female students with low academic achievement are twice as likely to become parents by their senior year of high school compared to students with high academic achievement.

• For juveniles involved in quality reading instruction programs while in prison, recidivism was reduced by 20 % or more.

• High school dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested in their lifetimes.

(From Alliance for Excellent Education: http://www.all4ed.org/publications/FactSheets.html)

From America SCORES:

• In 1996, 25 to 34 year olds who had dropped out of high school were more than three times as likely to receive public assistance as high school graduates who did not go on to college (12% verses 4%).

• Children in families below poverty are less likely than higher-income children to have a diet rated "good." For children ages 2 to 5, 19% of those in poverty had a good diet in 1994-96, compared with 28% of those living above the poverty line.

• Activities such as reading and singing songs vary by maternal education, family type, welfare receipt, and race/ethnicity. Children whose mothers have lower levels of education, single mothers, families reporting receipt of welfare services, and black

parents are less likely to be read to every day than those with mothers with higher levels of education, two-parent families, families without welfare support and white, Hispanic, and Asian parents (respectively).

• Children who watch four or more hours of TV per day spend less time on school work, have poorer reading skills, play less with friends, and have fewer hobbies than children who watch less TV.

(From America SCORES Literacy Facts and Figures: www.americascores.org)

Compiled by International Reading Association, a community of reading professionals with over 85,000 members

and institutional subscribers in more than 100 countries including 82,000 members in the United States.

http://www.reading.org/downloads/meetings/ILD2007_literacy_facts.pdf