Literacy Now

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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. 

It’s SUMMERRRRR! Shall we shout it from the rooftops together? One of my favorite things about teachers is that if you ask most teachers what their plans are for the summer, many of them will say, “Reading!” Okay. Most teachers will say “sleeping late” and then they will say, “reading,” but you get what I mean, right?

My summer reading plans are intense. I have had a growing stack of books on my nightstand for weeks that has climbed to perilous heights over the spring. I have collected books recommended by friends, a couple of books that were gifts, two new books by my favorite authors, and a few gems I discovered by pouring over book reviews online. I also have a list of titles going on my phone and several downloaded books waiting for me on my iPad. Don’t even ask me about the pile of professional books on my desk—those are definitely in the mix too.

I was laying in bed trying to decide which book to turn to first. Did I want to read something light or something more involved? Did I want to read to learn or to be entertained? Whose world did I want to dive into first? I took some time to luxuriate in the decision—after an entire school year filled with making a million decisions every minute, this was one decision I wanted to linger over.

As I looked through my carefully curated titles, my mind began to wander to my students. (Another reality of summer: our students and classrooms are never that far from our minds, are they?) With the go-go-go climate that has been created in schools, do my students have the opportunity to luxuriate over the decision of which book to read next? Are they free to carefully curate a selection of books to put on their “Read Next” pile? Am I taking enough care to help them develop their reading preferences and identities in the face of such an intense focus on data, testing, and accountability?

I took a quick moment and jotted down all the purposes for reading represented in the pile I had collected over the last few weeks. I also jotted down how I found the various titles in my pile. I want to be sure to capture my reading life as authentically as possible so that I can help my students recreate these experiences and opportunities in our classroom. Where can I create spaces for children to share their book recommendations with one another? Am I helping them to cultivate favorite authors and genres? Am I providing spaces for them to read for a variety of purposes?

There is nothing we can do about the larger school climate or your particular school’s fixation on data. I mean, I guess we could wear head-to-toe leather and stage a political uprising, but I’m tired, aren’t you? It was a long school year. However, we can use our summers wisely to rejuvenate ourselves and refocus our instruction on a broader goal for the teaching of reading beyond passing to the next level. Our primary job is to create lovers of reading who are capable of selecting, engaging with, and using text in dynamic ways. A great starting point is to think about why we love to read and how we began our love affair with books.

No matter how late I sleep and how many times I go to the grocery store in the middle of the day (!!), my teaching is always on my mind. Summer is the perfect time to find a bit of mental space to reflect on how I can improve on my practice and bring back some much needed authenticity and joy. Sometimes you just need to sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and a good book to be a better teacher.

And while we are on the subject of summer reading, did you know that yours truly has a book coming out this August? Well I do! And it’s all about how to find and maintain your own fabulousness—because you are and you owe it to yourself to let it show.

Pre-order Jennifer's book, "Be Fabulous: The Reading Teacher's Guide to Reclaiming Your Happiness in the Classroom" now and look for its release in August!

Mrs. Mimi, a.k.a. Jennifer Scoggin, is a teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of the upcoming “Be Fabulous: The Reading Teacher's Guide to Reclaiming Your Happiness in the Classroom” and“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.

Have you ever thought about where fonts come from? They’re just on your computer, right? But, how do they get there and who created them? Is it possible to make your own?

As a former first grade teacher, I made a lot of charts in my classroom. Teachers, and students, would tell me all the time that I had really nice handwriting. I didn’t really think too much about the compliments until I purchased my first iPad a few years ago and stumbled upon a font creation app in the App Store called “iFontMaker.” This purchase was a major game-changer for me and my students and was an inexpensive investment for the high yield return.

Basically, the app turns your handwriting into a font. The app provides one space per letter, punctuation mark or symbol, which the app calls a “glyph.” Using either your finger or a stylus pen, you “pen” each capital letter and lowercase letter of the alphabet, each number 0-9, and every punctuation mark and symbol that is contained on a keyboard. Once you have finished the 96 glyphs per complete font, you are ready to export and create your font. As fast as you can hit the curvy arrow in the upper right corner of your iPad, your font is created and saved on the app’s server. If you choose to “publish” your font, or make it public, it is stored in the app’s gallery (2ttf.com/gallery). Over the last two years, I have created over 190 fonts to use in my classroom. I know you are thinking, “how is it possible to create over 190 fonts that are that different?” But, you can and I have. Like authors, illustrators, typographers, even greeting card designers are coming to realize, fonts play an important role in text display and text meaning. Some fonts are thick, some are thin, some have a fill, some have curls or even dots—the creative possibilities are endless. Have you checked out the new paper bags at McDonald’s lately? Most of the fonts used on the bag look like hand drawn fonts. The way the font is positioned on paper also lends to the mood and message of the text, which are all considerations and text features we want students to pay attention to while reading.

This year I played around with students creating their own font when publishing their own pieces of writing. When I say this app is a game-changer, it really is, times 10, for students. Talk about buy-in to the writing process and the publishing stage, students are much more eager to write when they know their own personally-created font is waiting for them on the computer. (Once the font goes to the app’s server, you have the option to download the font as a true type file, (.ttf) which is stored on the user’s hard drive in the computer’s Font Folder. Once installed to your computer, your font will appear in the drop-down menu of fonts in all word processing and word publishing programs.)

In addition, when students create a font, they become close observers and readers of font details in texts they read. Students will have a deeper understanding and appreciation for different attributes of fonts, and a font’s role in a text. Frank Serafini wrote, “traditional fonts used in many written texts were naturalized to the point that readers were not expected to pay attention to their design, rather they were expected to look past the typeface used to retrieve the content represented.”
Therefore, if these font features are elements we want students to pay attention, what better way to bring this to their forefront then letting them be the creators of their own fonts? When students become creators of their own fonts, they pay attention to font attributes including size, color, style, thickness, shadows, and mood of the font. Students are now in the driver’s seat to create fonts to help create the mood and meaning of their own writing. Students can create fun, playful fonts when they want to send a fun, playful message. Students can create thick, bold fonts when they want to send messages of a character’s power and greatness.

Like anything, creating a font takes some practice—students can either sketch out their font on paper first, or “have a go” at creating it right in the app because the undo button is an option on every glyph. Students today are not afraid to “do it wrong” thanks to the undo button. So give it a go yourself, and then hand the font creation process over to your students, and watch their own writing and reading become more empowered.  Personalized fonts are also compatible with Wordle and photo apps like Phonto. These two applications allow users to upload their own fonts for more personalization.

Jen Jones is a K-5 literacy and intervention specialist in Raleigh, N.C. You can follow her on Twitter at @hellojenjones. Her blog is Hello Literacy.

In schools around the world, teachers and administrators are participating in professional development. It is a term beginning to be thrown around lightly. “I think I am going to take off Friday so I can skip PD.” “The students have the day off so we can attend yet another pointless professional development.” Although professional development is aimed towards improving teaching practices, some teachers see PD as a common time where teachers can catch up on grading papers, check their emails, or use the time to scroll their cell phones to see the latest trends in social media.

Professional development is supposed to be a time where educators acquire new skills or knowledge. This could come in the form of watching a video, reviewing an article, listening to a guest speaker, observing strategies being modeled, or receiving training on a new program being implemented at their school.

Instead of leaving PD complaining, “I can’t believe administration has us trying something else new. We have enough to do as it is,” educators should walk away excited and eager to implement something that will improve student learning. Morale should be high. Teachers should be collaborating with one another to find ways they can make these new ideas work. PD is not about racing to Teachers Pay Teachers or Pinterest to find new activities. Instead, it is about acquiring new knowledge to enhance professional growth, eventually leading to improved student achievement.

When planning for a PD, make sure it is meaningful for teachers and administrators. Is there something they can walk away with or is it something that will take up time because the district scheduled a mandatory PD day?

When attending PD, don’t go in with a negative attitude. Be excited. When you leave, ask yourself: What did I learn? What new strategy or idea can implement? How can I use this to grow as an educator? The teaching profession is not stagnant, we cannot be either. We must challenge ourselves to improve and grow. If you have doubts, remember, the kids are counting on us to brighten their future, to instill skills to be successful. They are future leaders.

Brandi Leggett is a National Board Certified Teacher as a Middle Childhood Generalist. She received her master’s in Elementary Education from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. She currently teaches third grade at Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee, Kan. Follow her class during the school year at Team Leggett.

The International Reading Association is always eager to give our members tips and tricks for the classroom and for their own development. Our monthly e-newsletter, Inspire, is one of the tools we use to share best practices. In our efforts to keep the voice and advice found in Inspire fresh, we have invited three new voices to contribute to the newsletter and are excited to share their expertise in the coming year.

Cathy Collier is a certified reading specialist at Great Bridge Primary School in Chesapeake, Va. with an additional 15 years as a kindergarten teacher. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Special Education and is the immediate past president of the Virginia State Reading Association. Read more at her blog, The W.I.S.E. Owl “Where Instruction Supports Excellence.” On the site she shares best practices with fellow educators, with a focus on emergent readers. Follow her on Twitter at @Wiseowlcathy.

Brandi Leggett is a National Board Certified Teacher as a Middle Childhood Generalist. She received her master’s in Elementary Education from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. She currently teaches third grade at Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee, Kan. Follow her class during the school year at Team Leggett.

Laren Hammonds teaches eighth grade language arts at Rock Quarry Middle School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her interests include media literacy, cross-curricular collaboration, and the design of learning spaces. Connect with her on Twitter where she goes by @_clayr_, or read more at her blog, Game to Learn.

Inspire is just one of the many benefits member access through the members-only section of Reading.org. If you don’t have access to the current or pasts issues of the newsletter, become an IRA member at /join.

“Superworm” (Arthur Levine Press, 2014)
Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Pre-K through Grade 6 

“Superworm” is the story of an ordinary worm who chooses to use his talents in unusual ways.  The book has a wonderful sense of rhyme and plays well into repeated reading for the children to join in. The lively, moving story will capture children’s attention as the summer time gets closer and help pull them in to reading and activities.   The worm, Superworm, is friends to many different kinds of creatures and helps them to get out of some difficult circumstances.  For example, when a toad gets stuck in the road, Superworm lassos him and pulls him to safety, and when the bees are bored, Superworm becomes a jump rope.  One of the creatures in the book, Wizard Lizard, is a villain who captures Superworm to force him to locate treasure underground.  All his friends must work together to save Superworm from being lost to the magic forever. 

The illustrations add a priceless part of the story and will keep the children’s attention, in addition to the fun rhymes and songs.

Cross-Curricular Connections: Science, Art, Social Studies, English, Math

Ideas for Classroom Use: 

Earthworm Treasure Map
The purpose of this activity is to create mathematical concepts of space and order by designing a treasure map for Superworm. Prior to reading, discuss where earthworms are usually found and what role they play in everyday life.  Encourage children to share stories of their experiences with type of earthworms.  If students are unsure of earthworms, take time to introduce them to a natural earthworm.  Having this background knowledge will help the book come to life.  Ask student to watch carefully for the times when the earthworm was underground and trying to find the treasure.

As a closing activity, discuss the pages where the worm is underground again.  Have students brainstorm a path around the “junk” to find the treasure.  Encourage students to create their own maze, or treasure map, for the Superworm.  Have them designate a path to take and then add distractions to make him turn around, modeling their map after the pictures in the book.  As time allows, have students walk through their treasure map telling what Superworm found instead of the treasure and where he finally found the treasure.  This activity can constitute an alternate ending to the story where the friends don’t catch the magic lizard.

Worm Farm
The purpose of this activity is to observe, record, and evaluate earthworms in their natural state.  After reading SUPERWORM, ask students if the character’s behavior is what they have seen a worm do in their own environments.  Make a list of what the students know about earthworms, what they want to learn, and then allow for recording lessons learned through the creation of a worm farm.  Watch videos on creating a worm farm and learn what worms like to have in order to be happy.  In a clear container, have students layer soil and sand to create a base for the worms.  Moisten each layer of soil and add a few banana peels to the center for food.  Cover three sides of the box in black construction paper.  Purchase worms (or, if you’re feeling particularly brave, dig some up) and add them to the top of the container.  Record daily where the worms can be seen and any unusual activities.  Record the amount of food the worms are eating and add moist foods like fruit and veggies leftovers to the top as needed.  After tracking for several days, discuss the observations in a large group and ask what the students learned by watching the worms.  Review the questions that were written prior to the creation of the farm and answer any that have not been answered yet.

Having each student keep a daily or weekly log of earthworm activity, and save appropriate scraps, will help students take ownership of the project.

Create a Superhero
The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to think about other creatures in new ways.  After reading Superworm, discuss as a large group some other creatures that could become heroes.  Encourage thinking outside of the box like what happened with Superworm.  As students come up with more ideas, have them create their new superhero.  These creations can be painted, drawn, modeled, etc.  Encourage students to choose a mode of art that connects them to their hero.  Recyclable materials may work well for this project.  As the creatures are finished up, have younger students dictate to an adult and older students write a synopsis of their superhero.  Tell about what they are and how they can rescue or save the day.  Encourage playfulness and creativity.  Allow students to display their work where other classrooms can view it and read about the newly discovered heroes. As the summer draws closer, the more creativity and freedom allowed to explore, the more engaged the students should become.

Additional Resources and Activities: 
Worm Farm
This video documents Kevin’s creation of a worm farm to help to compost organic materials.  The page details what he did to build a worm farm, what he found out, and how to create your own worm farm.  He gives helpful tips to sustain the worm farm long term.

The Adventures of Herman
This page provided by the University of Illinois Extension provides an in depth look at the lives of worms.  The page follows Herman the Worm by looking at his history, his family tree, and his anatomy.  The page has sections for worm habitats, importance of worms, and what the worm likes to eat.  A link to fun activities and more web links is also provided.  This page will provide information in an engaging way. 

Fact or Fiction: Learning About Worms Using Diary of a Worm
This lesson plan link from Read*Write*Think looks at the Book Diary of a Worm and teaches the students how to determine real facts from fiction.  This same idea can be applied to Superworm in determining whether or not any of the information in the book is factual.  The students can use this to supplement the knowledge they need to build a worm farm, and will provide practice in critical thinking.

Kathy Prater is a Reading Specialist who works with students with dyslexia, an Adjunct Professor at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi, and a full time pre-kindergarten teacher at Starkville Academy in Starkville, Miss. Her passions include reading, writing, tending her flock of chickens, and helping students at all levels to find motivation for lifelong reading and learning. She believes every child can become a successful reader if given the right tools and encouragement.