This post is all about links. I have shared these resources with many teachers this year. It is listed on our staff wiki as well. There are a variety of resources–some are strategies, some philosophical and others somehow related to literacy.
Reading in the content area.pdf
A large PDF with numerous reading strategies. This document provides explicit instruction on how to teach reading as well as ready to print materials to support this instruction.
Book reviews I have completed for my staff. I need to update this one!
Our media specialists book blog.
Culture of Literacy-A school’s story
One schools story on their journey towards literacy excellence.
time_to_act.pdf
A Time To Act
Carnegie Institute’s watershed report on literacy
time_to_act_content_area_companion.pdf
A Time To Act–Content Area Literacy
N.Y. Times Learning
A great resource for articles from the NY times WITH lesson plans included.
Lexile.com
Information about selecting the right books/articles based on current student need.
Effective vocabulary strategies for reading in the content area
All kinds of graphic organizers and an explanation on how to use them effectively.
Read alouds for middle school: By teachers for teachers.
This link will take you to conversations from practicing teachers on read alouds that worked for them.
Website with ready to go literacy based lesson plans for all subject areas
by the International Reading Association an the NCTE.
Free Reading–A great article with proven results
What other links should I be sharing with my teachers?
In my quest to highlight the importance of literacy at my middle school, I have been trying to practice what I preach. I have been talking to just about everyone about the value of reading. I am letting my teachers know it is O.K. to allow students to read in class (see last post). I am also encouraging the teachers to read and talk to the kids about what they are reading.
I gave each teacher a book list to post in their classroom, visible to the students. I have challenged them to read at least 25 books. I want the student’s to see that we all value the power of reading. I also have the same book list posted outside my office door in the main office. I have currently read 21 books since the start of the year. Here is what appears on my list to date ( I may miss a few since the list is back at school and we are on break!):
The major focus at my school this year has been literacy. I fully believe this is the key to unlocking learning potential for all students. This can be a tough sell at the middle school level, but it is worth the journey. We all agree that students need to be able to comprehend what they read, but the disagreement starts when discussing on how to get there.
I know that literacy does not solely include reading. However, that is going to be the focus of this article. Reading is explicitly taught in the elementary grades. However, literacy instruction seems to take a quick drop once students leave the fifth grade. Data has continuously pointed out that student reading achievement declines steeply after the fourth grade.
Once students reach middle school, they are confronted with all types of new vocabulary words. Content specific words fill their texts and often leave kids struggling to comprehend. I think it is safe to say the vast majority of middle school students can decode words, but comprehension is a whole different story. We are trying to re-energize our approach to middle school literacy.
The first step in focusing on literacy this year has been to bring it to the forefront of our conversations. We are constantly talking about books with both teachers and students. This includes book talks about professional books, personal favorites and books that appeal to our students. I talk to students about books everyday. This might include a, “Hey, what are you reading” as a pass a student in the hall or appearing on our news show talking about a specific book. One of my favorite principal activities is dismissal duty. I cover a duty post and assist our students in safely crossing the busiest street in our city. Each day I remind the kids to read that night. You can often overhear me and the other staff members asking the kids to give us at least 30 minutes of reading once they get home.
The constant conversation has to be on literacy. I have created a staff wiki this year and there is an entire section devoted to literacy. It contains links to articles and lessons that incorporate literacy. Keeping the conversation is just a start.
We are using Plugged Into Reading this year. We are just getting started, but it has increased the amount of time spent reading in our school. Many times we feel pressured to “cover” the curriculum and it is easy to push reading aside. However, I feel it is essential to allow kids to read in school. We have to find the time to incorporate reading during the school day. In a perfect world, students would be reading at home, but we know this is not always the case. I have given my teachers permission to allow reading in their class. This reading should consist of content area reading, including articles, blogs, and anything else content related as well as novels. Students should have choice regarding which novels they suggest.
It is important that teachers take the not to light, not to hard approach to teaching literacy. As Kelly Gallager points out, we need to find the sweet spot of literacy instruction. We can not allow our students to wander around aimlessly, but we can not over teach as well. It is a fine line and it is hard to decipher too much from too little. We want to teach our kids reading strategies, but we do not want to kill the joy of reading.
Two books that have inspired me in my quest to learn about literacy are The Book Whisper and Readicide. I encourage you to take a look at these books. They are top notch!
This is the first post in a series of literacy articles. I would love to hear from you about what your school is doing to address the literacy needs of your students
Testing 1,2,3
I know there are a million posts on state assessments all over the blogospehere. I think I have even posted one or two. However, a news article from Florida caught my eye the other day.
Testing, testing, testing. Has this become the sole focus of education today? There was an interesting news article out of a school district in Florida a couple of weeks ago. The School Board told the district to de-emphasize the FCAT (Florid’a state assessment). They did not say to just cut out the hoopla and glitz. They made it pretty clear–do not allow the FCAT to consume day to day instruction.
Since the big surge of state assessments have grown into the mega institution they are today, I have always been for them. I thought they would force schools to improve and in turn increase student achievement. We have all heard the endless scream from parents about the negatives of high stakes tests. My mother is included in this crowd. She always lets me know of the story of the 10 year old getting physically sick due to the anxiety that some feel during testing. She includes stories of schools dropping just about everything for extra “test prep” time (i.e. some elementary schools dropping recess or offering very little while our country faces an obesity crisis). I always kind of just listened and said, “Yeah, but…”
I wonder how the board will react if the scores go down due to the decreased focus on the FCAT?
Is this happening in your area? What do you think?
