Literacy Now

We’re nearly halfway through the International Literacy Day 60-for-60 challenge and had a blast with our “word of the day” activity for two weeks.

Every day social media strategist Jayme Gravell e-mailed the entire International Reading Association (IRA) staff with a word and its definition. (She also shared them via our Twitter account.) Some were obscure, some were fun to pronounce, some were downright difficult.

We made the word our own in a few different ways. Some responded to Jayme with a sentence using the word. Others took to social media to share the word of the day with friends and followers, and others worked it into conversation as much as possible, like Wes Ford, IRA digital projects manager.

“‘Hempy’ was probably my favorite word—both the sound and the definition (mischievous; often in trouble for mischief) appeal to me, being a bit hempy myself, but alas I failed to actually use it in conversation,” he said. “‘Rapier’ (extremely sharp or keen) was the one used most often the day it was announced, I think, but with a rapier wit like mine, this is not surprising.”

“Chansonette” (a little song; ditty) may have had the largest reach, spurring an extensive all-staff e-mail chain about a certain IRA director who is known for breaking into one at the drop of a hat. (Dan Mangan, we’re looking at you!)

Our challenge continues! For the next two weeks, IRA employees will be asked what sort of things they would bring if they were headed to the International Space Station for a yearlong mission. This was inspired by the “Pack It Up” activity in our 2014 kit. This week, we’re focusing on items for the Personal Belongings Locker; next week, we’ll turn our attention to the Personal Preference Kit, the items for which must be contained in a 3” x 3” bag.

The Personal Belonging Locker is tight for space, but astronauts have been known to pack books. So of course we asked our staff for three books that would be a must.

Several staffers said they would take the Bible, both for spiritual and literary reasons, in addition to selections including Shakespeare, a favorite installment of Harry Potter, Anna Karenina, and, naturally, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Which three books would you take? Let us know at social@reading.org.

April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be contacted at ahall@reading.org.

Join us Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET, for our first-ever Google Hangout “on air,” which will be streamed on International Reading Association’s YouTube channel. Our one-hour panel will include “writing thief” Ruth Culham and acclaimed authors Kate Messner, Lisa Yee, David Harrison, and Varian Johnson. Jayme Gravell, International Reading Association’s social media strategist will moderate the discussion.
Ruth Culham is a recognized expert in the writing assessment field and is known for conducting lively teacher workshops. Her current book, The Writing Thief, gives insight on how to use reading to practice writing skills. Writing “thieves” read extensively and use great texts as models for their own writing. The book uses text citations, narratives, and informational teaching concepts to give advice on making the most out of writing instruction. It also provides updated literacy research and thoughts about Common Core State Standards.
Culham’s work draws from over 90 different books to show how adept readers can acquire proficient writing skills and reach their full potential. It discusses how to find the right mentor texts to share with students and how to incorporate traits of writing, such as organization, voice, and word choice, into various styles.

• Messner’s book, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. was the winner of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers.
• Yee’s novels, including Millicent Min, Girl Genius and Absolutely Maybe, have won several awards.
• Harrison is a well-known writer in the literacy world as an author of more than 75 books. His literacy program is the award-winning Sky High on Reading. 
• Johnson is the author of The Great Greene Heist, a Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book of 2014.

Culham will kick off the event with an exercise from The Writing Thief. The panel will go on to discuss the importance of finding great mentor texts and using reading to promote writing abilities. No pre-registration is necessary. Send you greatest challenge in using mentor texts to social@reading.org by Oct. 10 and your issue might be addressed by our panel. Settle in for the stream and work through Culham’s exercises and get the advice of not just one expert, but five. Watch the Hangout live and find out how you can win a free virtual visit from one of our authors.
The Hangout will be aired on the IRA YouTube page at 8 p.m. Oct. 28, but will be archived to watch any time. The virtual visit contest, however, is only available during the live stream.

Are you afraid of Captain Underpants, lead character of Dav Pilkey’s series of the same name? Does a superhero clad only in his underpants spark offensive language, violence, and danger? According to the American Library Association’s “Top Ten Challenged Books 2013”, the Captain Underpants series does that in the mind of many. It was the most challenged book last year and from the most well-known children’s books to relatable young adult novels and classics, books in schools are challenged for sexual explicitness, offensive language, and racism among a host of other reasons.

Young adult favorite The Hunger Games made the list for containing religious viewpoints and being unsuited for the 12-14 age level the story targets. Jeffrey Wilhelm, English professor at Boise State University and author of more than 20 literacy books, taught The Hunger Games as a lead-in to George Orwell’s 1984, a frequently challenged classic. He described how, by reading both books, students were interested in the topics at hand and reading strategy improved. “Reading [both texts] taught current culture and predictions of what might happen, making a text to world connection,” he says. “It is important to have [students reading] books related to their current state of being.”

Here’s the 2013 challenged book list:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence
2. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
   Reasons: Nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
   Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
6. A Bad Boy Can Be Good for A Girl, by Tanya Lee Stone
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
   Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
   Reasons: Occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
10. Bone (series), by Jeff Smith
    Reasons: Political viewpoint, racism, violence

Banned Books Week (Sept. 21-27) is meant to raise awareness of how books are still challenged or even removed as an option for school children. And, of course, there is no shortage of educators willing to speak out against book banning.

Many banned books deal with social issues children and teenagers are faced with. The censorship of such novels hinders students from gaining support through characters that reassure them they are not alone, experts say.

“I think it is a wonderful idea for students to be able to read and discuss books that are ‘edgy’ so once they leave their community to enter the world, they will be prepared to understand people and be tolerant of lifestyles and ideas other than their own,” says Nancy Bauman,  retired librarian and literacy consult. “Books can help students through problems they aren't able to discuss with others, and helps them to feel they are not 'alone' in having feelings that may be different than their peers or community.”

“I see it as limiting the intellectual freedom of students and teachers and an attempt to keep certain points of view from being expressed. By doing so, aren’t we banning ideas and limiting the free discussion of different ideas and viewpoints?” asks Barbara Ward, literacy professor at Washington State University and chair of International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Special Reading Interest Group.

“The honest truth is that there is probably something offensive in just about every book being published,” says Ward. “To try to stick to the safe book means lulling yourself into a false sense of complacency and refusing to stand up for anything. That’s a terrible lesson to learn or to teach to someone else.”

Morgan Ratner is the communications intern at the International Reading Association.

There is nothing International Reading Association would ask educators to do that we aren’t willing to do ourselves. So when the International Literacy Day 60-for-60 challenge was launched, asking teachers to engage their students in an extra 60 seconds of literacy-focused activities every day for 60 days, we wanted to get in on the fun, too.  As a staff, we agreed to take part in the challenge and squeeze an extra minute  into our days. Every weekday for 12 weeks, we’ll complete an activity from the ILD 2014 kit (get yours here). The kit contains suggested activities for ages 4 to 15+, including a category that’s appropriate for students of all ages. We’ve chosen variety of activities from each of the age groups and are tackling them in two-week intervals. For example, today we are finishing up the “Would You Rather…” activity (from the ages 4 to 8 section). Every day our social media strategist, Jayme Gravell, sent a question to the entire staff at IRA. We took a minute to think about it and debate our answers with co-workers and/or email a response to Jayme.

Here’s a sampling of our questions and answers:

Would you rather watch a Quidditch match or the Triwizard Tournament?

Anette Schuetz, creative services manager: "Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on broomsticks. Having been accused of riding a broomstick to work, I find this sport engaging!”

Would you rather live in Narnia or Oz?

Sara Long, web content manager: “That is a really tough question! I definitely wouldn't want to live in Narnia when it's winter all of the time without Christmas. After spring returns, though, Narnia is beautiful with all of the talking animals and creatures, but so is Oz. I guess I'd choose Narnia because I'd rather live in a place with a powerful Aslan than a bumbling Wizard.”

Would you rather take a ride in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Stephen King’s Christine?

Vicki Morris, accounting and finance assistant: “This is an easy one for me. I would rather ride in Christine since I am a huge Stephen King fan (and I would be nice to her), as opposed to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (I don’t fly in anything anymore).”

Would you rather have the power of invisibility or the power to fly?

Lara Deloza, communications manager: Hands down: power to fly. Because who wants to be invisible? Sure, it SOUNDS good in theory, but in practice? You’d end up seeing things you could never unsee, hearing things you could never unhear. Plus, flying is just awesome. And you’d save a heck of a lot on gas.

Would you rather take Ophelia or Juliet to the prom?

Bill Hyman, purchasing/facilities/contracts manager: “Can I go with neither? I mean they both died, and who needs that aggravation, am I right?”

Play along with today’s question: “Would you rather have street smarts or book smarts?”

As for our next activity, Jayme will send out a “word of the day” and its definition to staff. The challenge will be to see who can work the word into conversation as much as possible each day. Want to join in? Follow @IRAToday on Twitter starting Monday, September 22. Tell us how you’ve made the word yours over the course of the day!

Don’t forget to share all of your 60-for-60 activities with us. Email stories and photos to social@reading.org or post them to Twitter or the IRA Facebook page using the hashtag #ILD14.

April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be reached at ahall@reading.org.

As teachers, we are fortunate to see positive change in our classrooms every day. To make a difference in my community, I look to my local council, the Toledo Area Council of the International Reading Association (TACIRA) in Ohio, to volunteer my time. And this year’s council service opportunities really touched my heart.

In 2013–2014, TACIRA collaborated with Cancer Connection of Northwest Ohio (CCNWO). Our work together has made our members aware of several important issues within our community. We have now learned that there are not many resources for children with cancer, there are very few resources for teachers who may have a student with cancer and there are many misconceptions about cancer,
especially childhood cancer.

We supported CCNWO by offering resources to assist with teacher education about cancer and share the goals of raising awareness for children with cancer in the Toledo area. We also offered insight into creating a cancer awareness program for schools with resources found on teacher websites, assisted with research to help CCNWO reach educators, and sought out materials from other cancer agencies to help with teacher education about students with cancer. Our members even worked together to reach out to our local chemotherapy patients served by CCNWO. TACIRA opened our September meeting during National Childhood Cancer week to be the first organization to view the CCNWO PowerPoint presentation.

In September, I met a 7-year-old girl, Zoey, by chance.

She was at the hospital to give out her rubber band bracelets to patients while visiting and comforting her grandfather who was undergoing chemotherapy. Zoey was asked to leave the cancer hospital due to an emergency at the facility. I got in touch with Zoey’s family to see if she would like to sell her bands
for the Toledo Council’s Childhood Cancer Awareness project.

The Zoey Band sale was very successful, and the Council sold out at our first meeting. The money raised was used to purchase the materials for the holiday ornament project to reach out to chemotherapy patients at several clinics and hospitals.

Hundreds of area students made handmade ornaments and cards with a positive message using readwritethink.org’s interactive tool to create theme poems. We were able to purchase 200 ornaments thanks to Zoey Bands. This Childhood Cancer Awareness project resulted in additional supports from Mercy College of Ohio, who attended our TACIRA meetings and presented to their students about the efforts of our local IRA council and sold Zoey Bands there at the college. CCNWO was awarded funds to support the needs of children with cancer in part due to our work to spread the word. Several members of the medical college and Cancer Connection of NWO are now members of TACIRA.

The children served by CCNWO were invited to attend our May 2014 Children’s Literacy Day event at the Wildwood Metro Park, a collaboration with Metro Parks of Toledo. More than 600 parents, teachers, and students attended the event to meet award-winning Ohio Author David FitzSimmons (Curious Critters series), and many of our members purchased and donated Curious Critters books for the children attending!

To further connect literacy with healing, I collaborated with Jean Schoen, founder and director of CCNWO, to develop a children’s book for cancer awareness. Created by CCNWO, Someone I Know Has Cancer helps children who may have loved ones with cancer. We are very proud of all that we were able to do to help CCNWO, and we hope to continue making a difference in our community. For more information about our council, see www.tacira.org. To find your local IRA council, see /councils.

Julie Greenberg is the TACIRA President, a reading teacher and intervention specialist at Coy Elementary, Oregon City Schools, and has been an IRA member since 2008.