Literacy Now

by Judith Hayn

Cremer, A. & Levithan, D. (2013). Invisibility. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Stephen and Elizabeth share a love story set in NYC; however, this 16-year-old boy was born invisible, and new neighbor Elizabeth is the only human who has ever seen him. Told in alternating first-person accounts, the story follows the pair as they determine to free Stephen from his grandfather’s punishment. The vengeful old man cursed his wayward daughter through a cloak of invisibility for her son. Indeed, Stephen is the focal character here, and his voice is poignant and powerful; he lives isolated in an apartment although financially supported by an absent father who remarried after he left them. His mother has died, and he is indeed alone, wandering the city isolated in his own shell.

This changes after Elizabeth, her mother, and younger brother Laurie move to NY from Minnesota after Laurie was savagely beaten by gay bashers. Her mother works many hours, which leaves the trio of teens able to focus on the curse and attempt to reverse it. Cremer and Levithan create a tale of love and magic in their first collaboration. Traveling with this paranormally gifted couple through a city populated by cursecasters and spellseekers results in a tension-filled tale as the inevitable violence threatens and then erupts. Can the forces of justice ever truly prevail over the malevolent? Can love really conquer all? Fans of the genre will love this riveting novel.

Dr. Judith A. Hayn is a professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

This article is part of a series from the Special Interest Group Network on Adolescent Literature (SIGNAL).

 

 

by Regie Routman

None of us perform or learn well in a culture where fear trumps joy and mistrust prevents risk taking. Yet, strict accountability measures for teachers and principals are making our educational climate one of increasing apprehension and distrust. Fueled by a belief that teachers aren’t competent enough, rigorous and scientific evaluation systems are being touted as the route to more effective teaching and higher student achievement. Teachers are increasingly being evaluated under tougher, more complicated guidelines with an overreliance on test data to measure student growth. While principals may gain useful data with the new systems, the cost is high. The additional evaluation pressures on teachers and principals are leading to increased job loads and unhealthy, intimidating school cultures that are driving competent educators away from the profession. 

Let’s imagine another scenario and mind set. Instead of beginning with required evaluations, official observations, and worry about meeting the new Common Core State Standards, we begin with celebration and what’s going well—noticing and commenting on the principal’s, teacher’s, and student’s strengths. Starting with genuine celebration is a necessity for creating a school culture where raising and sustaining student achievement is possible. Teachers, principals, and students need to feel they belong to a collaborative community where their unique talents are recognized and appreciated. In my forty-five years of teaching, coaching, and leading, I have never seen increased and sustained literacy achievement without a collaborative, knowledgeable, and trusting school–wide culture.

What Real Celebration Is

Noticing and celebrating what students and teachers are doing well is not a frill or mere paying of compliments. It is honestly and specifically acknowledging a positive behavior, action, or learning activity. It requires re-visioning what we see, say, and do when we walk into teachers’ classrooms. It is how we must begin every professional development encounter and meeting, by celebrating something—a task, part of a lesson, work sample—that a teacher or student has tried, accomplished, risked, or succeeded at. It is only when we feel valued that we are open to suggestions and can willingly consider necessary changes. Starting with celebration makes it possible to build a climate of trust where the principal is welcome in the classroom every day, teachers share collective responsibility for all the school’s students, and learning from and with each other is part of the school’s culture.

I apply celebration to all the work I do in schools, and it is the first step for raising expectations for what’s possible. For the past fifteen years, I have been working in diverse schools and classrooms in the United States and Canada. Using a weeklong residency model where I gradually release instructional responsibility to teachers, the principal, and the students, each morning teachers at and across grade levels are released to observe me teach reading and/or writing to the same class of primary students and to a separate class of intermediate students.

I developed this professional development model when I realized teachers and administrators needed to see “What does it look like and sound like to teach reading and writing effectively?” and “What does it look like and sound like to celebrate a teacher’s efforts and a struggling child’s learning?” Teachers and the principal observe the impact of genuinely celebrating each child as a writer and reader and each teacher as a professional. After each lesson, we meet as a whole group to debrief, and our professional literacy conversations extend throughout the day and week.

Still smiling after a long day: Teachers at our February 2013 writing residency in Winnipeg, Canada

Instructional Walks

A crucial part of the residency work is ensuring that the principal is a positive and strong instructional leader who knows literacy. Therefore, every afternoon, I demonstrate and coach the principal in what I call instructional walks. I enter each classroom with a mindset of what the teacher is doing well, whether it be some small aspect of the classroom environment, student engagement, level of questioning, or purposefulness of the work. I model the language and demeanor of what to say to the teacher and how to say it, what to look for in a highly functioning reading-writing classroom, and how to take specific but nonjudgmental notes that comment primarily on what the teacher is doing well while also noting particular concerns and school wide patterns of strengths and needs. Starting with what’s going well building-wide, we present our school wide observations, without blame, to the whole staff and jointly decide—considering all available sources of data—what our school wide focus needs to be.

The tone and purpose of these instructional walks is paramount. It is not a “gotcha” situation. Many teachers who are used to a walkthrough process that feels judgmental have told me how devalued they have previously felt from negative feedback or the lack of feedback and/or fearful about how the observational information might be used.

Our first purpose in the instructional walks is to build on teachers’ expertise and gain their trust; I find something to celebrate and honestly comment on it. It is likely that if students are doing something well, it is because of the teacher’s behaviors and actions. I never leave the classroom without speaking directly to the teacher about something positive I have noticed. There are several reasons for that decision. I believe it is disrespectful to come into a teacher’s classroom, take notes, and leave without giving positive feedback. Also, as with students, every time I am in a classroom is an opportunity to teach. Thirdly, I know from experience that giving positive but honest feedback builds a trust and gives dignity, energy, and encouragement to teachers. Someone has noticed what the particular teacher is doing well, and that genuine respect can be transforming.

Transformative Feedback

A few years ago, on an instructional walk, I celebrated a teacher for her demonstration writing, which was highly visible on a chart stand in her classroom. Clearly, she had been attending to the morning’s demonstration on writing for an authentic audience and purpose and was following our recommendation of “try it, apply it.” Her writing, where
she thought aloud in front of her students as she wrote, was full of vivid language, cross-outs, and additions that showed rethinking and revisions, and a compelling lead and satisfying conclusion. Her first response when I commented specifically on all she had done well was, “This isn’t very good.” But once convinced that I was sincere, she burst into a big grin. Sensing I had her confidence, I asked, “Would you like any suggestions?” She was hungry to know how she could improve her writing and the students’, and we engaged in a lively conversation.

In a follow-up residency a year after that instructional walk, the teacher confirmed that the positive, specific feedback she received that day was a life-changing turning point for her. Not only did she develop into an excellent teacher of writing who is always striving to get better, she became a leader in the school change process. In fact, she moved from a teacher who had been viewed by some colleagues and administrators as difficult and a resister to one who is now seen as inspirational. She has become a positive team player who reaches out to colleagues to share her knowledge and to encourage and support them. She is a valued and trusted member of the learning community, and her transformation has impacted the entire staff.

Additionally, because of her close bond with her principal, which began through frequent instructional walks and the corresponding celebrations, she now welcomes her principal into her classroom as a trusted colleague and coach. Formal evaluation visits are separate, and because of the shared trust that has developed between the teacher and the principal, these evaluations are not seen as threatening or devaluing but, rather, as helpful.

Getting the Full Measure

You cannot get the full measure of a teacher through lesson plans, extensive checklists and rubrics, and time-consuming evaluations. In fact, such evaluation can be counterproductive. In focusing on checking off all the bits and pieces, you lose the essence of the individual you are observing. The whole truly is larger than the sum of its parts. The effectiveness of a teacher, like the effectiveness of an artist, musician, or any other professional, cannot be quantified through a formula or composite of complex, evaluative measures. Whatever evaluation process we eventually wind up with, it must be respectful to the teacher, principal, and student and worthy of the time and effort that process takes. And it must begin with celebration!

Regie Routman is a national teacher and author whose current work involves weeklong school residencies where she demonstrates effective literacy teaching in diverse classrooms. Her latest book is Literacy and Learning Lessons from a Longtime Teacher (International Reading Association, 2012). Visit her website at www.regieroutman.org for more information on her PD offerings, books and resources, and blog. She can be reached at regieroutman@gmail.com.

This article was published in the June/July 2013 issue of Reading Today. IRA members can read the interactive digital version of the magazine here. Nonmembers: join today!

by Clarisse Olivieri de Lima

As the technology coordinator of a private K-12 school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I face lots of challenges every day, trying to find new and creative ways to use technology effectively to improve learning. However, there is a special issue related to students' literacy skills that worries me.

I have been noticing that the massive use of technology for the so-called digital natives is affecting the way students develop their composition tasks. It is common, for example, to hear students asking teachers, "Can I write this 'normally' or should I write it like an essay?" Interestingly, "normally" refers to their current "dialect" based on interactions through the Internet, where the use of acronyms and words such as blog, wiki, or chat is predominant.

A 2006 Pew Internet report titled "The Future of the Internet II" suggested that Internet use might create new dialects in the English language. But as I have observed, these changes in dialect seem to be happening in every language. It seems that the Internet and the use of new digital media is creating a whole new language to promote collaboration and communication. My fear is that this new internet-based-common-media-language may cause the disappearance of more formal written language, as I see happening on a daily basis in my students’ written work at school. These observations cause me to wonder: Where are we headed in thinking about the skillful use of written language? What is the future of literature and other narrative genres in an Internet-based world?

Intrigued by these questions, I am constantly looking for new ways to integrate technology into the curricula, especially into the language arts curriculum. One of the projects that I put together along with an interdisciplinary group of Portuguese science and arts teachers involved the creation of concrete poetry.

By definition, concrete poetry (or shape poetry or visual poetry) is poetry whose visual appearance matches the topic of the poem. The words form shapes, which illustrate the poem’s subject as a picture, as well as through the literal meaning of the selected words. And concrete poems don’t have to rhyme! You can learn more from Poetry4kids.com’s How to Write Concrete Poetry.

In my school, 6th graders crafted concrete poetry examples like the ones shown below as part of a unit about deforestation and its consequences for people. Using a presentation program, students wrote their poems using clear descriptive language and shaped their sentences in the format of pictures related to the theme (respectively a tree and an axe). They chose the size and colors of the words, and the best disposition for the elements in the poetry. Then they animated each section, which added a rhythmic element to their poem.

During the project, students were able to hone a variety of literacy and language skills such as synthesis, analysis, clarity, and creativity while they developed new conceptual ideas about deforestation in their writing in a very enriching way. 

To get you thinking about the possibilities with your own students, you might enjoy exploring examples of student-created concrete poetry compiled at Poetry Soup, or you might be inspired by extension activities such as the Wild About Woods Concrete Poetry website or those from IRA’s ReadWriteThink website, including an Interactive Theme Poem Generator for younger students or Discovering Poetic Form and Structure Using Concrete Poems for older students.

In summary, I believe this type of concrete poetry project provides a model for teachers who wish to improve students’ written language usage while also using technology to engage them in animating the words and sentences in order to provide movement to their poetry. In addition, this form of writing offers a creative outlet for students to communicate their thoughts, stimulate their autonomy, and promote the skillful use of narrative language.

Clarisse Olivieri de Lima is the Technology Coordinator of a private K-12 school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

On a visit to the home of one my Hmong students ten years ago, his father and I had this conversation (through an interpreter):

p: Enokson via photopin cc

FATHER: I love what my son showed me he was doing in the school computer lab last week during Open House. I wish we had a computer here so I could use it to learn English—the adult school is so far, I don't have a driver’s license because you need to speak English to pass the test, and the bus takes so long.

ME: Do you think other Hmong parents feel the same way?

FATHER: Oh, yes. We were all talking about it at the Open House.

ME: Well, if you could bring them together for a meeting, maybe I could get the principal and other teachers there, too, and we could see if there would be something we could do together to get computers in homes. I can't guarantee anything, but it's worth talking about.

FATHER: Yes! How soon could we meet?!

That conversation led to a pilot project where our school provided computers and home Internet access to twenty families, and then an expanded program doing the same to fifty more. Immigrant students in those families quadrupled the progress in English assessments made by students who did not have home Internet access. We had, and continue to have, a school-wide commitment to improving reading by encouraging students to read high-interest books of their own choosing. Though the use of technology, our immigrant students were able to access thousands of higher-level "talking books" that provided audio and visual support for text, along with benefiting from numerous other online tools.

Our program was named the 2007 Grand Prize Winner of the International Reading Association Presidential Award for Reading and Technology.

We subsequently expanded it even further by cooperating with the Sacramento Mutual Housing Association, a nonprofit housing developer which housed a number of our families (and others) to provide more in-depth computer skills training along with English support at their affordable housing complexes.

The brutal impact on school funding caused by the recession forced us to stop our home computer project three years ago, though its loss for our families has been somewhat mitigated by a number of factors:

The increasing affordability of computers and Internet access, and its increased accessibility due to the FCC's new rules on cable companies providing hardware and DSL to low-income families, particularly those with school-age students.

The advent of smartphones, though they also offer their own challenges to student use.

The dramatic increase of free online sites that allow teachers to set-up virtual classrooms and allow them (and parents) to monitor student progress. During the life of the home computer project, parent commitment to accountability was key to its success, and these new sites make it even easier.

Recent well-publicized studies report that just providing free computers to students does not generate academic gains. Those results should be no surprise to educators.

The key to the success of our home computer project, and the continued use of technology by our students to enhance reading and other English skills, is twofold:

Training for teachers, parents and students and weekly monitoring and accountability.

Building a partnership between those same three stakeholders in developing all aspects of the program, including weekly monitoring and accountability, so that it meets the self-interests and helps further the goals of everyone involved.

Without both of those key elements, it's unlikely that just about any program—technology or nontechnology related—is going to be successful.

For further information, a collection of resources, including in-depth descriptions and research on our home computer project and similar programs, can be found at The Best Resources For Learning About Schools Providing Home Computers & Internet Access to Students.

Larry Ferlazzo has been a teacher at Luther Burbank High School is Sacramento, California for the past ten years. He's authored five books on education, writes a weekly teacher advice column for EDUCATION WEEK TEACHER, and a monthly post for THE NEW YORK TIMES on teaching English Language Learners.



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The arts are integral to our daily lives and culture. We’re surrounded by colors and designs, listen to music on the radio, and tap our feet or move to the rhythms we hear. The meanings communicated in different art forms, such as music, dance, paintings, written language, or sculpture, are unique. The meanings expressed in a piece of music, for example, do not have equivalent meanings in drama and the meanings expressed in dance cannot be duplicated in the same way in a painting. Sometimes, though, the importance and relevance of the arts are minimized and not appreciated. In this week’s book review column, members of the International Reading Association's Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group highlight the role the arts play in our lives and also hope to spark the imagination of readers to consider and try other varied ways to share meaning.

For classroom ideas see ReadWriteThink.org's lesson ideas featuring the arts.

 

GRADES K-3

 

Daywalt, Drew. (2013). The day the crayons quit. Illus. by Oliver Jeffers. New York: Philomel Books.

When Duncan goes to take his box of crayons out of his desk, he finds a stack of letters with his name on them. The twelve letters were written by his crayons, each detailing a complaint or demand. Red, for example, feels it works too hard, especially on holidays. Purple likes to be neat and wants Duncan to color in the lines. Beige is proud of itself and doesn’t like being second place to Brown. Gray is tired of coloring big animals. And Yellow and Orange are involved in a dispute over the color of the sun. Duncan finds a creative way to color and make his crayons happy at the same time. Jeffers’s colorful and playful drawings make the personalities of the crayons come to life. This is a fun book about color that is sure to spark the imagination of young readers.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Kulling, Monica. (2013). Lumpito and the painter from Spain. Illus. by Dean Griffiths. Toronto, Ontario: Pajama Press. 

Inspired by a true story, Monica Kulling tells the tale of Lump, a dachshund who lived in Rome with David, a photographer. Lump’s life was not easy because of David’s other pet Big Dog who continually annoyed Lump. One day David went on a journey to visit Pablo Picasso in France and took Lump with him. Lumpito, as Picasso called him, loved the villa, surrounding grounds, and Picasso himself, and Picasso loved Lumpito, even when he destroyed a paper rabbit. And while Picasso had another dog and a goat, the three animals were instant friends. Seeing how happy Lumpito and Picasso were together, David decided to leave Lumpito there since he traveled a lot and Big Dog was not kind to Lumpito. Lumpito can be found in several of Picasso’s works. Griffith’s beautiful watercolors add to the richness and beauty of this tender and delightful story.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Trice, Linda. (2013). Kenya’s song. Illus. by Pamela Johnson. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing.
 
In this follow-up book to Kenya’s Word (2006) Kenya is faced with a homework assignment to identify and bring her favorite song to school to share with her class. Kenya’s mother and sister suggest their favorite song and her father plays other possibilities on the piano, but none of these are quite right. The next day Kenya accompanies her father to the Caribbean Cultural Center where she experiences music from Cuba, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. On her walk home with her father, listening to the variety of sounds around her, Kenya is inspired to create, with her father’s help, her favorite song:

English, French, Spanish, too —
Music’s how I speak to you!
Doesn’t matter where you’re from —
Just sing your song and play your drum!

Kenya’s Song is a heart-warming story that celebrates the diverse music found in different cultures.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Tullet, Herve. (2013). I am Blop! New York: Phaidon Press.

This light-hearted, fun book is the latest imaginative creation from French artist Herve Tullet, author/illustrator of Press Here (2011). Blop is a shape, similar to a butterfuly or flower, that comes in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and textures. In addition to the diversity possibilities for appearance, Blops do a range of things, including grow and learn, and they live in such places as families, the sky, museums, the countryside, and cities. This book will have readers discovering Blops around them and imagining what else Blops can be and do. The book itself is an odd rectangular-type shape which adds to the creativity the book inspires. The final pages of the book include Blops that can be punched-out and a series of questions not in the book, such as “What do Blops eat?”, to spark readers imaginations.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Verde, Susan. (2013). The museum. Illus. by Peter Reynolds. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

In this delightful book readers visit an art museum with a young girl who describes what she sees and how she feels. The text begins with “When I see a work of art, something happens in my heart” and with that the girl whirls and twirls through the museum galleries. As she views the various works, her feelings and emotions in response range from sadness to  hunger to joy to fear to happiness. The girl stops short, though, when she comes upon a large blank canvas and wonders what it means. When she realizes the canvas is hers to fill, she is overjoyed and leaves the museum knowing, “[The museum’s] rhythm exists in all I see. The museum lives inside of me.”  Reynold’s pen-and-ink drawings with some color added bring Verde’s rhymed text to life. The front end-papers show Reynold’s renderings of various works of art and the back end-papers are blank canvases to inspire readers’ creativity.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

GRADES 4-6

 

Bryant, Jen. (2013). A splash of red: The life and art of Horace Pippin. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. New York: Knopf Books.

A Splash of Red documents the life and art of Horace Pippin (1888-1946), a self-taught African-American artist who “couldn’t stop drawing.” Jen Bryant beautifully tells Pippin’s story, including his passion for art that began at a young age, how he won his first set of art supplies through a magazine drawing contest, and how he quit school in eighth grade to work when his father left his family. She also shares how an injury while Pippin served in the Army during World War I threatened to end his ability to draw, but he found a way to continue his art. A United States map on the back end-papers indicates the major museums displaying Pippin’s work. Melissa Sweet’s mixed-media illustrations are stunning and include quotes that bring Pippin’s own voice into the telling of his story. The back matter also includes additional biographical information on Pippin and author and illustrator notes.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Ko, Alex. (2013). Alex Ko: From Iowa to Broadway, my Billy Elliot story. New York: Harper Collins.
 
In this inspiring autobiography Alex Ko details his life from his early years in Iowa to his starring role in Billy Elliot: The Musical on Broadway in New York. Ko describes his passion for gymnastics and dance/ballet even as a young child and how, with the support of his family, he was able to take lessons and enter competitions. His father’s death devastated Ko, but he worked through his sorrow and pain and later financial difficulties. At age 13, he got to Broadway and became the first replacement for one of the original the actors playing the role of Billy. Ko describes the pressures he faced, including practices and classes, but the joy and excitement he ultimately experienced with his first Broadway performance. Throughout the book Ko highlights the love and dedication of his family and emphasizes their critical role in his success. Ko’s commitment, strong faith, captivating personality come through clearly in the book, making this a compelling read. A photo album at the end of the book provides pictures of Ko and his family during his growing-up years.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

Maddox, Jake, & McDonald, Leigh. (2013). Dance team dilemma. Illus. by Katie Wood. North Mankato, MN: Stone Arch Books.

Hannah and Caitlin are excited to audition for the junior high dance squad, and they immediately begin practicing routines for their try-outs. Caitlin catches on easily while Hannah struggles to keep up, but they both make the team. After the first practice Hannah is concerned that she’s not as good as the other dancers and decides to have extra practices at home to improve her skills. Caitlin, however, wants to do other things, like go to the movies and the mall and spend time with Connor, the boy she likes. When Hannah has to choose between going with Caitlin to Connor’s house and practicing for her try-out for a solo, she decides to stay home and practice. Hannah lands one of the solos, and Caitlin doesn’t. Their friendship is strained at first, but in the end Hannah is excited to have her friend back and to dance a solo in the upcoming dance competition. This charming story focuses on balancing friendships and ambition and on the rewards of determination and hard work. The back matter includes a glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and information on different forms of dance.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

GRADES 7-12

 

Beram, Nell, & Boriss-Krimsky, Carolyn. (2013). Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by New York: Amulet Books.

Written in honor of Yoko Ono’s 80th birthday, this thoughtful biography chronicles her complex life from her birth to today. The chapters describe Ono’s privileged but troubled life as the child of wealthy parents in Japan, her fear and struggles during World War II, her marriage against her parents’ wishes, her difficult life in New York, her third marriage to John Lennon, her children, and her activities and exhibitions after Lennon’s death. Ono is portrayed as a creative, intelligent, strong-willed, independent woman whose unique forms of visual art, writing, music, and performance works have contributed much to our cultural history. Rich with photographs of Ono’s family and art and interesting details, the book offers an intriguing glimpse into the life of a well-known artist. A timeline of Ono’s life, detailed bibliography, and index are included in the back matter.

- Prisca Martens, Towson University, Towson, Maryland

 

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online. The International Reading Association partners with the National Council of Teachers of English and Verizon Thinkfinity to produce ReadWriteThink.org, a website devoted to providing literacy instruction and interactive resources for grades K–12.