Literacy Now

As an adult reader, I am allowed the luxury of reading at my own leisure. There is no one monitoring my progress or checking my fluency. There is no one to make corrections to my pronunciations or miscues, or interrupt my reading by asking me questions, especially when I’m immersed in the best part of the book.

Most kids, especially those in the first few years of learning how to read, are not allowed these reading pleasures. We as educators and parents hover over their little shoulders ever-ready to make corrections. We have our own goals to reach that are dependent on these young readers to excel. But what many children need most is a stress-free, friendly, and safe learning environment with a non-judgmental friend—“man’s best friend”, a dog.

Welcome to Reading with Rover.

Reading with Rover is a community-based literacy program that reaches out to young struggling readers all across the Northwest. The program trains dogs and their owners to become Reading with Rover D.R.E.A.M. Dog teams. After they have completed all of the training requirements, they are allowed to visit schools, bookstores, and libraries to listen to young boys and girls read books to them.

The young readers are not judged on their reading level or skill. Instead, they are given the freedom to simply enjoy books of their choosing and at their comfort level with their new friend. The dogs are calm, responsive, and ever so attentive to the child and their chosen books!

For younger siblings, there is a Coloring Corner where they can sit and color puppy pages with an adult supervisor. They are in the same space as the Reading with Rover dogs and their owners so they receive some of the same benefits, but at a short distance.

Reading with Rover in the Classroom

The beauty about Reading with Rover is that it is not only for young readers just learning how to read. I had an opportunity to visit a designated Reading with Rover location in Redmond, Washington. I spoke with a second grade teacher who has a group of four to seven Reading with Rover dogs and their owners that visit his classroom each week. The teacher said he also invites the older students from the EBD (Emotional Behavioral Disorder) classroom to join this group of readers. He shared with me how the interactions between the younger students, the dogs, and the older students benefit everyone. They all enjoy learning and especially learning how to read together. The younger students like having an older buddy to read with them and their dog. The EBD students are calm, open to learning, and act as mentors to the younger students. Everyone is at a different stage in their reading ability but at the same stage of reading enjoyment!

This is a quilt that was made by the second grade students. The quilt was auctioned off at a school fundraiser. Unbeknownst to Mr. Daly, his parents were the winning bidders! They in turn gave the quilt back to his classroom.



Community Service

At the same location in Redmond I also met Gaby and her dog Ruby.

Gaby is a high school senior who chose Reading with Rover as her community service senior project. Gaby and Ruby were acting as a Greeter Dog team. Their job was to greet the children and their parents as they joined other Reading with Rover dogs and their owners who had completed their required training. Acting as a Greeter Dog team is one of the requirements before becoming a full-fledged Reading with Rover D.R.E.A.M. Dog Team. Soon, Gaby and Ruby will be able to read with children in the main reading room.

Reading with Rover provides a wonderful opportunity to capture the interest of teens and young adults and the importance of literacy and becoming life-long readers.

Reading with Rover in Your Neighborhood

If you are interested in learning more about Reading with Rover and all the fabulous benefits for children, dogs, and adults, I suggest you begin by visiting their website at http://www.readingwithrover.org.

Live outside the Pacific Northwest? There are similar animal-assisted literacy programs in operation all over the globe! Try entering “reading to dogs program” and your geographic location into your favorite search engine to see what’s available near you.

Kathleen A. Hunter, MS is a literacy tutor and aspiring children's book author. You can visit her online at www.KathleenHunterWrites.com.

Being a teacher means embracing constant change. Yet all too often, teachers are told when, how and why to change. In this monthly column, Mrs. Mimi takes on creating change for herself by rethinking old practices and redefining teaching on her own terms.

Last month I visited a classroom where a teacher was using Google Docs to conduct writing conferences with her students. We’re talking live G-chatting with the teacher, amazing evidence of the evolution of a piece in the form of highlights and rewrites, plus a record of the phenomenal dialogue between a student and her teacher held in the comments section alongside the student’s actual writing.

Are you blown away yet?

Because you should be.

Now I know many of you are out there reading this while shaking your heads and thinking, “Well, I couldn’t do that because we only have four computers in my classroom. Three of them work okay, I guess, but the other one? It seems to only work every other Tuesday when the moon is full, so that just isn’t an option.” And to you I say, “I hear you. Some schools really need to step up their technology game.”

Maybe better technology in schools is similar to Kevin Costner’s FIELD OF DREAMS. “If you build it into our curricular plans, more reliable technology will come.” Or better yet (and perhaps more accurate because we teachers—including yours truly—have been known to get our complain on from time to time) “If you complain about it enough, more current technology will come…and you will have to use it!”

So let’s release ourselves from the budgetary upgrading nightmare that is getting all of our schools equipped with current, reliable, and worthwhile technological tools and instead focus on how we might just use them to improve our practice.

Let’s go back to the example of the rock star teacher who utilized Google Docs to transform her writing conferences with students. This teacher’s purpose was two-fold. First, she wanted a tangible record of her dialogue with students, something that went beyond your average conference notes. Second, she wanted to encourage her students to be more at ease with drafting and revising directly on the computer. So for this teacher, using Google Docs was purposeful—the result of a well thought out decision to integrate new technology into the classroom in meaningful ways.

I’m going to be honest with you for a moment—brutally honest. I like shiny new things. A lot. So when someone wheels in a new computer, a new scanner, a new digital camera, a new digital recording device, a new video camera…essentially anything new and shiny and still in its original packaging…I must use it and I must use it now. This love of all things shiny has not only led me astray in the form of bad impulse purchases at the mall, it has also created situations in my classroom where I used the technology just to say I was using the technology and….well, it’s so shiny!

While some technologies shaped my practice in exciting ways, others created headaches, confused my students, and added nothing substantial to my instruction.

Last week, I visited a classroom where the teacher was using an anchor chart on plain old chart paper. We’re talking Magic Marker, amazing quick reminders in the form of silly drawings, and phenomenal evidence of an instructional artifact that grew from the students themselves in the form of kid-friendly language.

This teacher’s purpose was two-fold. First, she wanted to create a resource for her students to refer to in meaningful ways as they worked independently. Second, she wanted this artifact to represent her students, their thinking and their process. So for this teacher, using Magic Markers and chart paper was purposeful—the result of a well thought out decision to integrate reliable teaching practices into the classroom in meaningful ways.

Are you blown away yet?

Because you should be.

Now I know some of you are reading this while shaking your heads and thinking, “Charts are so outdated! Magic Marker is a thing of the past.” And to you, I say, “Some things never change and isn’t that wonderful?”

Mrs. Mimi is a pseudonymous teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of IT'S NOT ALL FLOWERS AND SAUSAGES: MY ADVENTURES IN SECOND GRADE, which sprung from her popular blog of the same name. Mimi also has her doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

by Denise H. Stuart

Collaboration is the pronounced theme of the classroom website Students for Tomorrow developed by Social Studies teachers Garth Holman of Beachwood Middle School and Michael Pennington of Chardon Middle School. Not only did they develop this multimedia site together but it has become a platform for their students, in two different school districts, to collaborate on projects integrating reading, writing and history content with web 2.0 and multimedia technology. Garth describes the work of blog buddies where “they are writing historical fiction stories in first person about the Middle Ages and then getting feedback on the blogs from the opposite school.” Parents are invited to be a part of the process with a link to a page that describes 21st Century Skills. Videos, podcasts and sample student work enrich the rationale for how and why social media is used in the classroom.

 

A visit to this site will inspire one with the many student projects like the above tagxedo, developed from words submitted by all students, collected on a google doc. Garth and Mike put to action their expressed beliefs in constructivist learning by providing students with a wealth of resources to support deep learning. Embedded in the site are teacher made videos demonstrating use of web 2.0, social networking and other digital tools such as building a voki, using diigo saving an iMovie to quicktime, and tagging and taking screenshots on Google Earth. A group diigo develops social bookmarking between Chardon and Beachwood Middle Schools. Unit centered activities like the Middle Age Quest engage students to listen, view, blog, search, read and write comments through 10 quests to learn about the Middle Ages. The Wall encourages use of social media to text in ideas, described on Garth’s and Mike’s teacher-centered website Teachers for Tomorrow.

This classroom website celebrates the possibilities of learners of the 21st Century. A powerful page was added in recent months that features student made videos, songs, writing, and drawing, as well as photos and YouTube videos from the world community when Chardon tragically experienced the loss and injury of students in a shooting at the High School. In Memory 2.27.12 shows the reach of the collaborating Beachwood class in sending thoughts of care to their partner school. This page became a place for many to express support for the losses of the Chardon community. 

 

Denise Stuart is from The University of Akron, Ohio.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

On Monday, April 23, President Obama delivered an address at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum commemorating the Holocaust of World War II and outlined efforts to honor the pledge of "never again" by developing a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to genocide and mass atrocities. The Reading Today Online reviews from the International Reading Association Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group this week reflect Days of Remembrance as authors from various genres contribute their stories through poems, memoirs, biography, picture books, historical fiction, nonfiction research and more. 

Learn more about the Holocaust of World War II at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website: http://www.ushmm.org.

GRADES K-3

Russo, Marisabina (2011) I Will Come Back for You; A Family in Hiding During World War II. New York; Schwartz & Wade.

(Picturebook)

Based on the author’s family and the Holocaust experience of her mother in Italy, the story begins with a young girl asking her grandmother, Nonna, about the charms on her bracelet. Each charm has its tale of the grandmother’s escape from the Nazis in wartime Italy when she was a child. Her Papa is sent away to be detained in the mountains and is eventually sent to a concentration camp where they never see him again. At one point her mother is in danger of being deported and so goes into hiding; another experience has the children hiding in a pig cart, and thus the pig charm on Nonna’s bracelet. The gouache artwork is childlike in that it creates the story from a child’s point of view. End papers with family photographs add to the reality of this fictionalized memoir. View the book trailer.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

GRADES 6-8

Alban, Andrea . (2011) Anya’s War. New York: Feiwel and Friends.

(Historical fiction)

Based on the author’s own story, Anya Rosen and her family fled from Odessa, Ukraine, and the evil pogroms of Stalin and the Communists  in 1937. Their refugee journey took them to Shanghai, China, along with many other fleeing Jewish refugees from Germany who were escaping the Nazi persecutions there. As Anya and her family create a new life in a very different culture, they find themselves living in the French Quarter where Italian, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian, and Chinese mix together to create an eclectic community but now with the threat of a Japanese invasion. Anya experiences many cultural differences especially as she witnesses how little the girls in China are valued when she finds an abandoned girl baby left on the streets of Shanghai. Throughout the story Anya often refers to the bravery and adventuresome spirit of Amelia Earhart. When Earhart’s plane goes missing, Anya begins to question her own future and what might be ahead for her plans to attend college in America.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Borden, Louise. (2012). His name was Raoul Wallenberg. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

(Nonfiction)

Why would a man born to privilege near Stockholm, Sweden, risk his life to rescue Jews in Hungary during the Holocaust?  In the case of Raoul Wallenberg, heir to a banking family, the influence was probably his beloved grandfather, “a man of bold ideas” (p. 7) who wanted his grandson to become a citizen of the world and not simply a citizen of his own country. In brief text set up to resemble a novel in verse, the author describes the early upbringing of this world traveler who eventually was able to communicate in five languages. Since Sweden remained neutral during WWII, it would have been easy for Raoul and his fellow Swedes to remain detached from the events of the Holocaust, but the sense of justice, honor, and duty kindled in his youth compelled him to travel to Budapest at the behest of the Swedish and American government once the Nazis occupied Hungary. Working in the Swedish embassy, he gathered staff members and created documents called schutzpasse protecting the bearer and his/her extended family under the auspices of the Swedish government. These official-looking documents saved thousands of lives. Readers can’t fail to be moved by this man's bravery and his determination to do the right thing even as his actions became riskier and brought him to the attention of the Nazis. Since the story is told in simple fashion as the Nazis move inexorably closer to Wallenberg’s activities, his disappearance is not all that surprising. But the fact that he ends up arrested and taken to Moscow in 1945 where all traces of him vanished seems surreal. Because the text is sparing and the book is filled with several photographs, illustrations, and actual schutzpasse, readers are likely to feel that they are looking at a scrapbook representing important moments in someone’s life rather than reading a dry text.

-Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

GRADES 8-12

Janeczko, Paul B. (2011) Requiem; Poems of the Terezín Ghetto. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

(Poetry)

Janeczko thoroughly researched this dark period of Holocaust history to recreate the voices of the victims imprisoned in the Czechoslovakian concentration camp, Terezín. Used as a Nazi propaganda tool to make the Red Cross inspections seem that Terezín was an internment camp for artists and intellectuals from Prague, Terezín provided a respite for a short time for so few. After performances were given, most of the intelligentsia were shipped off to the death camps where they perished. Illustrated with drawings and artwork found after the war and created by actual inmates, the poetry, through fictional characters based on real experiences in the camp, expresses the fears, the loss, the despair of the prisoners. Janeczko has captured the raw emotions of the people connected with this camp including children, prisoners and guards. Listen to the author read some of these poems. Notable Books for a Global Society Book Award 2012. 

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Kacer, Kathy. (2011) To hope and back; the journey of the St. Louis. Second Story Press.

(Grades 5-8  Nonfiction) 

The journey of the ill-fated luxury liner, the S.S. St. Louis in 1939, sailing from Germany to Cuba with Jewish refugees is a story of which many people know so little. In trying to escape Nazi persecution, the nearly one thousand passengers aboard the St. Louis were seeking asylum but upon reaching harbors in Cuba and then on to New York City, were denied entry. The ship had no choice but to return to Germany where at least a third of the Jews were immediately sent to concentration camps and perished; others managed to escape, some found passage in other indirect ways. The story is told through two young survivors, Sol Messinger and Lisa Avedon, interspersed with the captain’s journal expressing his frustration at being unable to find safe harbor for his passengers. The photographs are from The U. S. Holocaust Memorial Collection. For more background information or for school trips visiting Washington, D.C. and the Holocaust Museum, visit the online exhibit, “Voyage of the St. Louis” found at the USHMM.

-Karen Hildebrand – Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Robbins, Trina. (2011) Lily Renée, escape artist; from Holocaust survivor to comic book pioneer. Pencils by Anne Timmons. Inks by Moh Oh; Lettering by Felix Ruiz and Cayetano Garza, Jr.; Graphic Universe. 

(Gr. 5-8 Biography/Graphic Novel) 

Lily Renée Wilheim was 14 years old when she escaped Austria in 1939 on the Kindertransport headed for England. Her parents stayed behind frantically trying to find a way to escape. When Lily arrived at her pen pal friend’s home, she learned that she was expected to live like a servant. After the war and several more domestic homes that were mostly kind, she immigrated to the United States where her parents eventually joined her. Part of the value of this book is to show how displaced persons survived when war had decimated their families and their lives, as well as their livelihoods. Once in America, after seeing an ad in a newspaper, Lily Renée became a self-taught cartoonist where she pioneers women in art and popularizes the cartoon character Seorita Rio, a Nazi-fighting spy. Back matter for the story and these historic times is included. Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Older Readers 2012.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Rubin, Susan Goldman. (2011). Irena Sendler and the children of the Warsaw Ghetto. Illus. by Bill Farnsworth. New York: Holiday House.   

(Picture book biography) 

This little known story about the brave actions of an incredibly courageous and determined Polish woman adds another chapter to the body of Holocaust literature in breathtaking fashion.  Irena Sendler, a Gentile with a keen sense of right and wrong, took action when others were reluctant to do so simply because she knew it was the right thing to do. Convinced that she could not remain passive as the Nazis rounded up the Jews, this brave woman risked her life countless times in order to smuggle out at least 400 children from the ghetto in Warsaw during the Nazi regime. She used ambulances, toolboxes, and false identities to spirit the children out of the ghetto and found temporary sanctuary for them. The author creates a sense of urgency in the story by describing how the Gestapo eventually discovered what this social worker was doing and questioned her, even breaking her limbs in an attempt to break her spirit. The story is made even more poignant by the details provided by some of the children she saved during WWII, still remembering her bravery decades later. The illustrations feature many scenes painted in dark colors to represent the darkness of that period of history juxtaposed against Irena’s stoic face.

-Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Thomson, Ruth. (2011) Terezín: Voices from the Holocaust. Candlewick Press

(Gr. 5-8  Nonfiction) 

The small Czech fortress town of Terezín became the ghetto Theresienstadt when the Germans took over in 1940. This became a different kind of concentration camp unlike all the others that Hitler created. Often referred to as a model camp, it was a ruse used to make the Red Cross and other visiting dignitaries not see the actual atrocities occurring in the camp. Many gifted artists, musicians and writers, both adult and children, were “housed” at this camp, only to be deported later to Auschwitz and other camps in the Nazi network of death. This book uses quotes, photographs, paintings, diaries and journals and other objects left behind from the many talented prisoners who left their legacy in Terezín. The oversize papers and the number of black and white as well as color photographs give this book life. This book is the perfect companion for Janeczko’s  poetry in Requiem or the earlier I Never Saw Another Butterfly (Volavkova), as well as picture books f  Brundibar (Kushner & Sendak) and The Cat With the Yellow Star (Rubin & Weissberger). Orbis Pictus Honor Book 2012; Notable Children’s Book 2012. 

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

YOUNG ADULT

Dogar, Sharon. (2010) Annexed; a novel.  Houghton Mifflin

(YA Fiction)

The Diary of Anne Frank is a staple in Holocaust literature. This new story now tells the Anne Frank story but from the point of view of 15-year-old Peter van Pels. Peter is very resentful to go into hiding. He would prefer to fight. As his days and weeks of confinement become months and years his frustration grows as he feels penned up and that is youth is being wasted. When he and his family first move into the annex, he is sorely annoyed by the other people sharing these close living quarters, especially boisterous Anne and her annoying diary, Kitty, where she seems to spy on everyone and record their every move. As Peter and Anne move from an antagonistic relationship to friendship and then even the beginnings of a romance, they become even more annoyed at their ever-present parents and also the irritating habits of Dr. Pfeffer. Interspersed within the novel, in italics, is the voice of Peter later imprisoned in Mauthausen as he reflects on their time in the attic. As the book reaches it conclusion and the italics are ever more present we learn about the raid on the attic and how each of the characters are taken away to concentration camps. For readers of The Diary, this adds a new perspective on the Anne Frank story of the hidden annex. Teacher’s guide available at the publisher’s website. ####################  Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2011.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Munn, Heather and Lydia Munn. (2011) How Huge the Night. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

(YA Fiction)

This novel is based on the 1940 true story that took place in the small town of Le Chambon in France, the only French town honored by Yad Vashem in Israel for their rescue of Jews during the Holocaust to provide a safe haven for Jews from the Nazis. The story begins as Julien and his family leave Paris to escape the Nazis and move to a small village in central France. As Julien struggles to fit in, he meets Nina and her younger brother who have fled Austria to escape Nazi persecution. On his deathbed, Nina’s father tells her to burn her Jewish identity papers and leave the country. When she arrives in Tanieux, ill and desperate, Julien struggles with his own fears and yet knows what is the right thing to do to save them.

For teachers who like anticipatory activities, use this video to introduce the book.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Sharenow, Rob. (2011) The Berlin Boxing Club.  New York: Harper Teen.

(YA Fiction)

Karl Stern is a teenager in 1934 Berlin, Germany. Though his family has never practiced their Jewish faith with father claiming to be atheist and mother agnostic, Karl has never considered himself Jewish. As Hitler’s rise to power overshadows Berlin and persecution of the Jews begins, bullies at school discover Karl’s Jewish background. After several beatings from the Hitler Youth, he is finally expelled from school. Through his father’s art gallery, Karl meets the prize-winning boxer, Max Schmeling. Schmeling offers to give Karl boxing lessons in exchange for a painting and so begins Karl’s new regime of boxing. The story continues over four years that includes Schmeling’s first win over American Joe Louis but onto the next fight with Louis where Louis is the winner. The book concludes with Kristallnacht and the story of Max Schmeling helping the Stern children escape, but the parents are not so lucky. The author has included historical information about the time and the career of Max Schmeling, who never joined the Nazi party to Hitler’s fury. An addition to the storyline is Karl’s cartooning ability and his particular speciality is Superman. His cartoons are threaded through the book and have direct messages about the racism and prejudices of the times. Students might find it interesting to watch the Schmeling vs Louis fights. The Sydney Taylor Book Award for Teens 2012. 

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Voorhoeve, Anne C.  (2012) My family for the war. Translated by Tammi Reichel. New York: Dial Books. 

(YA Fiction) 

Franziska Mangold is ten years old when on November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glasses erupts in Berlin. Her father is arrested so her mother frantically makes arrangements for Ziska to get passage on the Kindertransport, the train that eventually takes over 10,000 German Jewish children to London to find safety and hopefully good homes until after the war. Ziska is adopted by a kind Orthodox Jewish family and given the loving protection she seeks. Never having been part of her Jewish religion growing up, her new religious experiences with this family bring an awakening to her. Her adoptive parents have given her a new name, Frances. The war continues to rage and news of the deportations and camps become increasingly heart rendering. At one point when London is under attack, Frances is sent to rural England to live with a family who resent her being Jewish and German and bringing all this trouble to their country. She eventually returns to her London family but throughout the books she deals with tremendous guilt on many levels – from her best friend who did not make it onto the transports to her self-centered birth mother to the fresh look at her Jewish faith that had been denied in her former life.

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

ADULT/PROFESSIONAL

Spiegelman, Art. (2011) MetaMaus. New York: Pantheon Books.

(Adult/Professional Graphic Novel/Nonfiction)

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the only graphic novel narrative to win the Pulitzer Prize, author/illustrator Art Spiegelman has created a companion volume to Maus I and II  to explain, discuss and answer the many questions provoked about his work, including chapter titles entitled: Why comics? Why mice? Why the Holocaust? The book also contains a DVD that includes audio interviews with Art’s father, piles of art work and cartoons, photographs, letters, more interviews with family and more. This exhaustive explanation of Spiegelman’s approach to his own family history and the Holocaust through the comic or graphic art form is discussed in great deal and will give teachers the background for using the Maus books in any Holocaust study. The Maus books are also tremendously popular with students and especially for those aspiring artists, MetaMaus will give the complete background of the creation of this story. A video book trailer narrated by Art Spiegelman that includes small pieces from the DVD can be found here. National Jewish Book Award Winner. 

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Rigor. Text complexity. College and career readiness. Range of reading. These are words that swirl in and around our professional discussions no matter where we are. Professional journals are filled with articles related to these words and curriculum materials are being produced each day that claim they are “aligned with the Common Core State Standards.” The Common Core State Standards define and set expectations for what students should be able to do, so I have been giving a great deal of thought to what the common ground should be in this decade of common standards.

What the Standards Don’t Do

While the debate is on about what the CCSS do and don’t do, one thing is clear to me. The CCSS do not give teachers instructional strategies to help students meet these standards. From my point of view, this is the common ground that needs our continued focus.

For many years, we have had the gift of rich research and solid classroom examples of instruction that lead to increased academic achievement for all students. We can see practical and effective instructional strategies by watching Kelly Gallagher help his high school students do a close reading of text, or we can watch Cris Tovani help students develop independent strategies for cracking the code of complex informational text. We have professional books and journals, online resources, and empirical studies to provide us with significant research to support our work.

So, my first teaching tip is for all of us to find common ground in our districts, schools, and classrooms by investing our time in becoming more expert at the instructional strategies we employ to help students achieve the kind of academic progress they need to be ready for the choices they will make for post-secondary education and work. In the words of John Wooden, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

We know how to do it right and now is the time to do it.

Choosing What Matters

CCSS states that the standards “do not define the intervention methods or materials necessary to support students who are well below or well above grade-level expectations.” I certainly want all students to be competent and confident in choosing to read and being able to read increasingly complex texts. But, I think we can all acknowledge that we have thousands of students in this country who are reading well-below grade level, and thousands more who can read, but choose not to read.

For the past several years, discussions at curriculum meetings often centered around instructional strategies and curriculum materials that would increase students’ reading and writing engagement and proficiency. Today, as I sit in meetings, the conversations are often predominantly about the texts used as examples to illustrate the “complexity, quality, and range” of student reading in CCSS. Much time is spent debating which grade level might now read LITTLE WOMEN (Alcott, 1869) or “The Raven” (Poe, 1845). I am in no way denigrating these traditional texts but I think most of us can acknowledge that many of the examples noted in CCSS are not texts that will help struggling readers and writers increase the volume and diversity of their reading.

In addition, spending several days deconstructing and doing a close reading of these or any texts, if it occurs at the expense of students’ independent reading, may not be the most beneficial use of our time with our most-struggling readers and writers.

So, my second teaching tip is to maintain our focus on choosing what matters for all learners in our care. A decade ago, Richard Allington challenged us to imagine how we might meet the needs of our most struggling students:

“Imagine that we could design schools where 100% of the students were involved in instruction appropriate to their needs and development 100% of the day. Imagine how different the achievement patterns of struggling readers might be. I will suggest that the 100/100 goal is, perhaps, the real solution for developing schools that better serve struggling readers” (2001, 23).

As a new wave of educational reform sweeps across our nation, I believe we have to ensure that we don’t lose the progress we have made in helping all students become more engaged, and more proficient, readers and writers.

Finding and Cultivating the Common Ground

I believe that content literacy is the common ground in the CCSS. We now have a working document that will help us move forward in continuing professional conversations, developing instructional strategies, and choosing curriculum materials that demonstrate our understanding that literacy is everyone’s job. This document can provide rich ground for us to meet as colleagues to develop strategies to help our students read, write, talk about, and present learning from literature and informational texts.

Barber and Mourshed remind us that "the quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers" (2007, 8). For those of us who are fortunate enough to attend IRA’s Annual Convention, we are here because we believe those words.

I hope you will join me on Wednesday afternoon to continue this conversation as I share instructional strategies and engaging texts that can be used by all teachers to improve literacy and learning for our students.

References

Allington, R. (2001). What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs. New York: Longman.

Barber, M. & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the World's Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top. London: McKinsey & Co.

Janet Allen is a former reading teacher, researcher, author, and literacy consultant. She taught English and reading in Maine prior to teaching at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She has written numerous professional books and articles. She is the author of PLUGGED-IN TO READING and PLUGGED-IN TO NONFICTION, as well as a senior program consultant for Holt McDougal Literature.



The Common Core State Standards for Literacy: How Do We Make Them Work?