How can we help students become lifelong readers
Conducting interactive read-alouds
Teachers can allow students to do during reading.
. Interrupt
. Insight readers
. Open-ended, exploratory talk
. Symbolic story representation
. Drama (role play)
Discussing books
Teachers can help students learn how to discuss texts they read.
.Literature study group
.Critical literacy
.A series of questions
Encouraging independent reading
Teachers can help students organize their personal reading.
.Community reading time
.Focus lessons
.Student-teacher conferences
“The sense you make of a text does not depend first of all on the marks on the paper. It depends first on the sense you bring to it.”
Until recently, we have thought of the reader as a loner.
Talk is important to the growth of thought.
Talking about books – children’s talk- is the most important
aspect of their learning.
Different communities have different attitudes toward language
learning.
Language differences must be respected.
™Children’s talk
Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky:
Thought does not express itself in words, but rather realizes
itself in them. That is, until we talk, we cannot really know what
we think.
Lawrence Sipe:
Oral language in social setting is a profoundly critical
component of children's cognitive development and one of the
most important factors in their learning.
Louise Rosenblatt:
A text is just a "blueprint, a guide for the selecting, rejecting
and ordering of what is being called forth" in the reader's mind.
and ordering of what is being called forth" in the reader's mind.
Example book:
™Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms by Shirley Brice Heath.
™Ways with Words: Language, Life, and Work in Communities and Classrooms by Shirley Brice Heath.
"Ways with Words" is a classic study of children learning to use language at home and at school in two communities only a few miles apart in the southeastern United States. "Roadville" is a white working-class community of families steeped for generations in the life of textile mills; "Trackton" is a black working-class community whose older generations grew up farming the land but whose current members work in the mills. In tracing the children's language development the author shows the deep cultural differences between the two communites, whose ways with words differ as strikingly from each other as either does from the pattern of the townspeople, the "mainstream" blacks and whites who hold power in the scholols and workplaces of the region. Employing the combined skills of ethnographer, social historian, and teacher, the author raises fundamental questions about the nature of language development, the effects of literacy on oral language habits, and the sources of communication problems in schools and workplaces.
The Importance of Interactive Read-
Alouds
™
Teacher read-alouds in the classroom can provide much to students. To Enjoy.
A model of enthusiasm.
Learn new vocabulary.
Value children’s exploratory talk- rough draft conversation – try out new ideas on the listener.
The best advertisement for reading.
More seduction than instruction.
A model of how to read and respond to a book.
Teacher can help students learn how to look through a book – its structures, pictures, chapters, headers and resource pages of an information book.
Reading aloud to children daily – provides them with the sense that, along with the teacher, they are part of a community of people who read and think and talk about literature together.
How to Conduct Read-Alouds
Teacher read-alouds in the classroom can provide much to students. To Enjoy.
A model of enthusiasm.
Learn new vocabulary.
Value children’s exploratory talk- rough draft conversation – try out new ideas on the listener.
The best advertisement for reading.
More seduction than instruction.
A model of how to read and respond to a book.
Teacher can help students learn how to look through a book – its structures, pictures, chapters, headers and resource pages of an information book.
Reading aloud to children daily – provides them with the sense that, along with the teacher, they are part of a community of people who read and think and talk about literature together.
How to Conduct Read-Alouds
Read-aloud should occur everyday in 5-30 minutes for listening
develops.
The teacher should read with expression, drama, and
excitement in order to help the children listen well.
Read-aloud should be interactive. (Research by Lawrence
Sipe)
That children can be more insightful readers –particularly of
visual texts- than their teachers are. (Research by Morag Styles
and Evelyn Arzipe)
What is interactive read-alouds?
Interrupt (respond “in the moment”).
Insight readers - particularly of visual texts – than their
teachers.
Listens to students’ responses and give them time to think.
(Open-ended, Exploratory) talk is valued.
Symbolic story representation. (drawing)
Drama (role paly) can help order students be the book.
Example book:
Children are capable of much more than people think they are.
The creative aspect of children’s minds is very exciting.
The gap between the pictures and the words. It makes children
concentrate on looking well. They are taught that looking isn’t
as important. It’s the most important thing in the world.
™Zoo by Anthony Browne.
Read-aloud should occur everyday in 5-30 minutes for listening
develops.
The teacher should read with expression, drama, and
excitement in order to help the children listen well.
Read-aloud should be interactive. (Research by Lawrence
Sipe)
That children can be more insightful readers –particularly of
visual texts- than their teachers are. (Research by Morag Styles
and Evelyn Arzipe)
What is interactive read-alouds?
Interrupt (respond “in the moment”).
Insight readers - particularly of visual texts – than their
teachers.
Listens to students’ responses and give them time to think.
(Open-ended, Exploratory) talk is valued.
Symbolic story representation. (drawing)
Drama (role paly) can help order students be the book.
Example book:
Children are capable of much more than people think they are.
The creative aspect of children’s minds is very exciting.
The gap between the pictures and the words. It makes children
concentrate on looking well. They are taught that looking isn’t
as important. It’s the most important thing in the world.
™Zoo by Anthony Browne.
Dad, mum and two brothers spend a day at the zoo, looking at
the animals in the cages - or is it the animals that are looking at them?
the animals in the cages - or is it the animals that are looking at them?
The importance of students’ talk during read-aloud time (Lawrence Sipe)
Teachers play five different recognizable roles when conducting story read-aloud time.
Readers
Managers
Clarifiers
Fellow Wonders
Extenders
Children respond to read-alouds in five different ways.
Analytically
Intertextually
Personally
Transparently
Performatively
The Importance of Discussing Books
Literature study groups
Literature study groups
Encourage students to talk about books and encourage them to become lifelong readers.
They are small, self-selected groups of children who read various texts together, talk and think critically about book.
They meet for approximately 30-50 minutes.
Literature study groups are built with three key principles in mind :
Reading is a process of constructing meaning.
Literacy is social and classroom talk is important.
Teachers and students need to negotiate power issues so that their community can be more equal and dynamic.
™
Example book:
the Classroom by Cynthia Lewis.
This book examines the social codes and practices that shape the literary
culture of a combined fifth/sixth-grade classroom. It considers how
the social and cultural contexts of classroom and community affect four
classroom practices involving literature--read aloud, peer-led literature
discussions, teacher-led literature discussions, and independent
reading--with a focus on how these practices are shaped by discourse and
rituals within the classroom and by social codes and cultural norms beyond the
classroom. This book's emphasis on intermediate students is particularly
important, given the dearth of studies in the field of reading education that focus
on readers at the edge of adolescence.
K-6 Classrooms by Vasquez.
Discover the potential of children's literature as a tool to teach critical literacy in K-6 classrooms. This book tells the story of eight teachers who work in a variety of schools serving diverse populations. These educators used critical literacy discourse to frame classroom conversations about children's literature, prompting students to critically examine the meaning of the texts they read. By putting this critical edge on children's talk about books, the teachers enabled students to examine and act on social issues that emerged from their conversations. The book shows critical literacy in action through many classroom vignettes and offers a variety of other resources that are the hallmarks of the Kids InSight series, including Reflection Points, examples of students' work, annotated booklists, and information boxes.
The International Reading Association is the world's premier organization of literacy professionals. Our titles promote reading by providing professional development to continuously advance the quality of literacy instruction and research.
Research-based, classroom-tested, and peer-reviewed, IRA titles are among the highest quality tools that help literacy professionals do their jobs better.
Some of the many areas we publish in include:
-Comprehension
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy
The Importance of Independent
Reading Experiences
suggests a series of questions children can be taught to ask,
in order to help them become more aware of what a text is
trying to persuade them to believe.
In this lucid book, Lissa Paul writes with insight and authority about a matter all
English teachers will find compelling: how the ways we analyze and teach
literature shape our views and expectations of the world.
Paul urges us to give the texts we teach sensitive multiple readings. She points
out that variant versions and different editions of classic children's stories hold
different meanings. From a feminist perspective, Paul considers such questions
as : whose story is this? who is the reader? when and where was the reading
produced? who is named and who is not? who gets punished and who gets
praised? who speaks and who is silent? who acts and who is acted upon? who
looks and who is observed? who fights for honor and who suffers?
This accessible book will sharpen literary sensibilities and enhance our teaching
by making us more responsive to such key questions.
A series of questions children can be taught to ask.
Whose story is this ?
Who is the reader of the story ?
When and where was the reading produced ?
Who acts ? Who is acted upon ?
Whose voice is heard ? Whose voice is silent ?
Who is named ? Who is not ?
Whose reality is presented ? Whose reality is ignored ?
Whose voice is being ignored in this story ?
Example book:
™Sleeping Beauty
You thought you knew the story of the “The Three Little Pigs”… You
thought wrong.
In this hysterical and clever fracture fairy tale picture book that twists point of
view and perspective, young readers will finally hear the other side of the story
of “The Three Little Pigs.”
“In this humorous story, Alexander T. Wolf tells his own outlandish
version of what really happens during his encounter with the three pigs….
Smith's simplistic and wacky illustrations add to the effectiveness of this
fractured fairy tale.”
—Children’s Literature
“Older kids (and adults) will find very funny.”
—School Library Journal
Independent Reading by Barbara
Moss and Terrell A. Young,
suggest ways of structuring independent reading
experiences so that students are more excited about
reading on their own.
In a time when reading instruction is being marginalized and replaced with
scripted reading programs, Creating Lifelong Readers Through Independent
Reading gives concrete suggestions for creating independent reading programs
that make a difference. In a hands-on, approachable style, authors Barbara
Moss and Terrell Young show you how to effectively reestablish independent
reading as a central focus in your K-6 classroom. A thorough, research-based
discussion of the benefits of independent reading is combined with the following
practical tools to help you fit it into a jam-packed classroom schedule:
Tips for creating a sustainable, effective classroom library and maximizing the school library resources
Helpful guidelines for teaching students to self-select appropriate reading materials
Numerous suggestions for building effective independent reading time into your daily schedule even during content area instruction
Lesson ideas for incorporating strategy instruction into independent reading time
An extensive literature list, graphic organizers for the classroom, and reproducible handouts for parents
Helpful guidelines for teaching students to self-select appropriate reading materials
Numerous suggestions for building effective independent reading time into your daily schedule even during content area instruction
Lesson ideas for incorporating strategy instruction into independent reading time
An extensive literature list, graphic organizers for the classroom, and reproducible handouts for parents
Plus, insightful interviews with literacy leaders Richard Allington, Linda Gambrell, Tony Stead, Sharon Taberski, and Myra Zarnowski tie together key points about the importance of independent reading.
The International Reading Association is the world's premier organization of literacy professionals. Our titles promote reading by providing professional development to continuously advance the quality of literacy instruction and research.
Research-based, classroom-tested, and peer-reviewed, IRA titles are among the highest quality tools that help literacy professionals do their jobs better.
Some of the many areas we publish in include:
-Comprehension
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy
-Response To Intervention/Struggling Readers
-Early Literacy
-Adolescent Literacy
-Assessment
-Literacy Coaching
-Research And Policy
According to Moss and Young, there are a few key
components of an independent reading program.
Community reading time
Book talks
Book sharing
Interactive read-alouds
Time for reading
Focus lessons
Teachers can present in these lessons include:
. How to select a book that is appropriate for
them?
. How to evaluate peer-recommended texts?
. How to use online resources to select books?
Focus lessons might include helping students with aspects of
reading itself, such as:
. How to use headings to organize the reading of informational
texts?
. How to think about characters as they read?
Student-teacher conferences
For Students:
Helping young students decide how to choose a book to read.
Helping the students feel like he or she is part of literate
community.
For Teacher:
Providing the teacher time to listen to her students read and
assess their comprehension.
Providing time for the teacher to show she is interested in what her students are reading and how they are responding to that
reading.
Book Frenzy
In Donalyn Miller’s new book The Book Whisperer, she
describes beginning each year of new sixth graders in a kind of
“book frenzy.”
Shares enthusiasm for reading with students.
Provides students choice in their reading.
Makes it clear that she believes in students as readers.
Stars students to becoming a community of curious, thoughtful,
insightful, critical, meaning-making readers.
Example book:
The Book Whisperer by Dnalyn Miller
Donalyn Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn't turn into a reader. No matter how far behind Miller's students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller's unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets that make reading a chore. Instead, she helps students navigate the world of literature and gives them time to read books they pick out themselves. Her love of books and teaching is both infectious and inspiring. The book includes a dynamite list of recommended "kid lit" that helps parents and teachers find the books that students really like to read.
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Two orphaned brothers, Prosper and Bo, have run away to Venice, where crumbling canals and misty alleyways shelter a secret community of street urchins. Leader of this motley crew of lost children is a clever, charming boy with a dark history of his own: He calls himself the Thief Lord.
Propser and Bo relish their new "family" and life of petty crime. But their cruel aunt and a bumbling detective are on their trail. And posing an even greater threat to the boys' freedom is something from a forgotten past: a beautiful magical treasure with the power to spin time itself.
Stargir by Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’ s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first.
Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the perils of popularity and the thrill and inspiration of first love.
Don’t miss the sequel, Love, Stargirl, and Jerry Spinelli’s latest novel, The Warden’s Daughter, about another girl who can't help but stand out.
“Spinelli is a poet of the prepubescent. . . . No writer guides his young characters, and his readers, past these pitfalls and challenges and toward their futures with more compassion.” —The New York Times
The View from Saturday by E.L.Konigsburg
HOW HAD MRS. OLINSKI CHOSEN her sixth-grade Academic Bowl team? She had a number of answers. But were any of them true? How had she really chosen Noah and Nadia and Ethan and Julian? And why did they make such a good team?
It was a surprise to a lot of people when Mrs. Olinski's team won the sixth-grade Academic Bowl contest at Epiphany Middle School. It was an even bigger surprise when they beat the seventh grade and the eighth grade, too. And when they went on to even greater victories, everyone began to ask: How did it happen? It happened at least partly because Noah had been the best man (quite by accident) at the wedding of Ethan's grandmother and Nadia's grandfather. It happened because Nadia discovered that she could not let a lot of baby turtles die. It happened when Ethan could not let Julian face disaster alone. And it happened because Julian valued something important in himself and saw in the other three something he also valued.
Mrs. Olinski, returning to teaching after having been injured in an automobile accident, found that her Academic Bowl team became her answer to finding confidence and success. What she did not know, at least at first, was that her team knew more than she did the answer to why they had been chosen.
This is a tale about a team, a class, a school, a series of contests and, set in the midst of this, four jewel-like short stories -- one for each of the team members -- that ask questions and demonstrate surprising answers.
Summary
This is one reason that it is important to encourage students to engage in purposeful, supportive, exploratory talk about texts in the classroom.
Great children’s books can help children and young teens learn what it means to be human.
