We Give Books & Read for the Record

Are you familiar with We Give Books–a Pearson Foundation Initiative? If not, let me tell you a little bit about it. We Give Books has several literacy campaigns and they have several high-quality books on their website for you to read. What do you do? Select a book from their growing library and read it. Once you finish reading the book, select a literacy campaign you would like to support. A book will be donated for every book you read online. Yes, it’s as easy as that to support literacy around the world!

To learn more about We Give Books and Jumpstart’s Read for the Record (which happens today, October 6, 2011), click here: http://www.wegivebooks.org/. The book that millions around the world are pledging to read today is “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney.

Because I am not currently teaching little ones, I thought I would videotape myself reading it and share it with you. Perhaps you have some little ones that might like to hear it. Here is my reading:

Being a lover of comedy and sign language, I will also share this video of comedian, Keith Wann, reading the book in American Sign Language:

Llama Llama Red Pajama – ASL Version with Keith Wann from Keith Wann

© TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jumpstart's Read for the Record, Llama Llama Red Pajama, Read Alouds, sign language, Videos, We Give Books

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What I Wanted

If you have followed the TWRCtank for awhile, you know that I had a long list of resources in the sidebars on the right-hand side of this blog. Several people mentioned they did not like all the scrolling and they wished there was a way to indicate that I added new resources to the list. Over the past few months, I’ve played around with many technology tools trying to figure out the best way to share resources for teaching reading/language arts with you.

Many of these these tools are called social bookmarking tools. By social, I mean that you are able to easily see other people’s public bookmarks and they can see yours. (Most of the sites I tried allow private and public bookmarking, but some force all your bookmarks to be public.) Social bookmarking tools also usually allow you to follow and be followed by people with similar interests.

The tools I tested are Delicious, Diigo, Pinterest, PortaPortal, Scoop.It, Sqworl, Symbaloo, WordPress pages, and the WP-Table Reloader plugin. Obviously, there are pros and cons with each tool and they will vary depending on your wants and needs. I wanted a technology tool that:

• Created a visually attractive end-product
• Was not intimidating to non-users
• Allowed me to annotate each link
• Was relatively easy to use
• Could easily be shared with others
• Did not require a lot of scrolling
• Had some capability of indicating when I added new resources

Why Social Bookmarking?

It is impossible for one person to find all the great resources on the Internet. Luckily, social bookmarking is an easy way to share and keep up with the latest and greatest, as well as with the golden oldies. (I am a big fan of shared knowledge.) Until this point, I’ve been collecting and storing my links to literacy resources in an almost unmanageable number of folders in my email account. Now that I have found the tools I want to use, I can start going through them again and bookmarking them publicly. I also look forward to finding out what others are bookmarking about teaching reading/language arts.

In case you haven’t tried these tools yourself, but you are interested in social bookmarking, I created a table of pros and cons. Keep in mind that my research was not extremely thorough and some of my information may be inaccurate. That said, if you are ready to venture out into the social bookmarking world to start sharing your knowledge, I hope the table will help you select the tool that best matches your wants and needs.

My Evaluation of Each Tool

I tried to bookmark the same ten links so I could better compare the end product of each tool. In doing this, I sadly discovered that some tools would not allow me to bookmark all ten links. I will share the end product for each tool below the table of pros and cons. The ten links I tried to bookmark are about reading comprehension.

Pros & Cons of Link Curation Tools

The End Products of Each Technology Tool

Here is a Symbaloo I curated that will show you the end product for each of the of the tools discussed in the above table. However, I did not use the WP-Table Reloaded plugin with the same ten comprehension links because I had already created a simple WordPress page for that. Therefore, I’ve included that in the Symbaloo, along with a tile showing the end product for vocabulary resources compiled using the WP-Table Reloaded plugin. Click on each tile to see the end product for each tool.

In case the Symbaloo does not display properly, here is its URL: http://www.symbaloo.com/embed/socialbookmarkingtest

Your Thoughts & Shares?

What ways do you think you could use these tools? How have you used them already? What end product did you like best? How do you you share great resources you’ve discovered?

If you have already started curating public links related to literacy, please share a link to them in the comments below. I can’t wait to find more people on these social bookmarking sites who share my passion for reading/language arts. And remember… sharing is caring.

*Note: I would like to give a shout out to the folks in the We’re Bloggers group on the WeTeach Ning for helping me think this through. I really appreciate your time and feedback! Another shout out to Tobias Bäthge. I love your WP-Table Reloaded plugin and all the help you give over the Internet.

© TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2011. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Delicious, Diigo, Pinterest, PortaPortal, Resources for Teaching Reading/Language Arts, Scoop.It, Social Bookmarking, Sqworl, Symbaloo, WP-Table Reloaded

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Reading Aloud + Talking with Children = Off to a Great Start! (photo from Natalie Maynor on Flickr)

Below is my response to a great question posed by Amy (aka @teachmama) on the “We Teach Reading” group in the We Teach Ning. You can find that question here: “Learning During Read Alouds.”

Hi Amy,

If there was one thing I wanted parents to know, it is that the amount of talk that happens in the home is correlated to the size of their children’s vocabulary as they enter school and that the size of their children’s vocabulary is strongly correlated to reading comprehension and overall academic success.

Letting parents know that they need to talk with their children is especially important for those parents who come from a culture where they think it is strange to talk to children and for those parents who grew up in homes without a lot of talk. I would also let them know that reading aloud to children (or discussing pictures for parents who struggle with reading) offers reasons to talk about many things with their children and that it will feel natural once a routine is set in place.

Reading aloud to children also builds knowledge of the world and knowledge of the word (vocabulary) which are necessary to make inferences (or read between the lines) while reading or listening. Not being able to make inferences (or connect-the dots) between what is written (or said) and what is implied (or left unsaid) means that comprehension cannot happen. Authors and speakers imply; therefore good readers and listeners must infer to make sense of the message. The more we know, the more quality inferences we can make.

To say this in another way, if parents do not read and talk a lot with their children before they enter school, their children will be at risk for school failure. It would be difficult for even the best teachers who use the best intervention programs to help these students ever catch up with peers who have had many stories read to them and who have heard a lot of talk in the home.

One thing I would always start with is a picture/text walk and making predictions. As I read, I would discuss whether the predictions should be modified, rejected, confirmed, or if it was still too soon to say. Of course these decisions should be based on evidence in the text and from our background knowledge, or personal experiences. That evidence should be discussed to help promote good thinking skills.

Making predictions may have led to a reason, or purpose, for reading the text. If it didn’t, I would be sure to set one and share it with the child. In other words, “Let’s read to find out _____.” Having a purpose for reading leads to more engaged reading. More engagement with the text leads to better comprehension.

Although it is not necessarily the most difficult “strategy” to tackle, I think one of the most important things we can do is to encourage children to wonder as they read and for us to share our own wonders, too. It is important to teach children that not all wonders can be answered, but that good wonders lead to great (and exciting) thinking. Discussing answers to the wonders in terms of what is possible and plausible helps build critical thinking skills. Discussing where the answers (if any) might be found helps develop research skills which are needed for academic success.

One Sentence Summary: Read to your child often and talk about what you read.

I’ve blogged about the importance of talk before. If you are interested, see What Happens in the Home Before Kids Start School Affects Their Vocabulary & Overall Academic Success for the research behind my thoughts.

If you could only share one thing with parents that you think would really have an impact on their child’s academic success, what would it be?

© TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Achievement Gap, Background Knowledge, Comprehension Strategies, Early Literacy, Help for Parents, Reading Aloud to Children, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary

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Teaching in the Reading/Language Arts Masters Program

Congratulations on the
Outstanding Contribution to Reading Award, Erica!
You are a phenomenal mentor!

My first semester as a professor is quickly coming to a close. The only thing I have left to do is grade my students’ final papers (due by midnight this Saturday). After that, I should be able to invest more time on the TWRCtank until the next semester begins on January 20, 2011.

Teaching next semester is not a guarantee. However, if all goes well, I will continue teaching READ 508 – Teaching Reading in the Elementary Classroom in the spring. I’ve been co-teaching it this semester with Dr. Erica Bowers (pictured above right) and there is a possibility of co-teaching another course with her next semester. (Yes, I’m keeping my fingers crossed–she has been a phenomenal mentor to me over the years and I would love to co-teach with her again.)

Since these are online courses, I really needed to learn some new technology. Thankfully, members in my Twitter PLN have kept me current on the many different technology tools they use in their classrooms. Had it not been for them, I would have been completely overwhelmed. Google Docs is one tool I had heard about for a long time, but never took the time to learn. Finally, I jumped on the Google Docs bandwagon and I am in awe. The collaborative nature of this tool is perfect for online teaching! We only used it for a few projects this semester, but I have already dreamed up more uses for it for next semester. (This was the first semester that courses in this program were offered online.)

I also had to familiarize myself with how to use Blackboard as a teacher. Unfortunately, the university will upgrade to the newest version (or switch over to Moodle) meaning I’ll have some more learning to do. In Blackboard, we had weekly forums to discuss such things as videos we watched, required readings, and teaching reading in general. Students were required to start a thread by Tuesday and respond to two of their peers by Saturday. I stayed out of the conversation (for the most part) until Sunday. Then, I wrote up my TWRCs about the learning unit. Much of what I wrote will eventually show up in future blog posts.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I also learned how to make screen cast videos. They are so much fun to make and are a real asset in the online environment. One assignment also required students to make a Wiki. I hope to incorporate that more in the future, too.

If you have recently taken an online class or you teach online, I would love to hear your thoughts–pros, cons, and suggestions on how to make it more interactive.

The Orange County Reading Association

Dr. Erica Bowers, Julie Niles Petersen,
Dr. Elfrieda H. Hiebert & Megan Sommers
O.C.R.A.'s 47th Annual Fall Conference
October 23, 2010

My presidency for the Orange County Reading Association will also be coming to a close soon (May, 2011). Our fall conference is our largest event and it was a great success. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Elfrieda (aka Freddy) H. Hiebert. I have heard her speak many times and I honestly believe her session at our conference was the best I’ve ever heard. She never fails to push my thinking while making me laugh at the same time. Thanks a million for everything, Freddy!

@teachingwthsoul @TWRCtankcom & @flourishingkids

Not only was I honored to introduce Freddy, but I also had the opportunity to meet two very passionate educators from my Twitter PLN in person–Joan Young and Lisa Dabbs. I was delighted they also presented for us. I just wish I was able to attend their entire sessions and spend time with them after the conference. Being the president, I had to make sure everything ran smoothly which it did thanks to so many of our wonderful OCRA volunteers.

Other people who so graciously volunteered to speak at our fall conference included: Amy Adams, Ron Boren (the inspiration behind my blog title), Dr. Linda Clinard, Kim Hanley, and Karin Foster. Although I did not get to hear their entire sessions either, I heard great things. A big thank you to all of you! Click here to find all available presenter handouts from OCRA’s 47th Annual Fall Conference.

Our second big OCRA event will be held on March 24, 2010. Our keynote speaker will be Kelly Gallagher. I have heard him speak once before and he was amazing. I can’t wait!

After learning all about Google Docs for my online course, I also created an account for OCRA. I spent numerous hours converting and organizing all the Microsoft documents I have compiled for OCRA over the years to Google Docs. Other volunteer members are doing the same. Although this project is nowhere near completion, it has already proved advantageous and I am so excited for the future. It should save us so much work and let us collaborate much more effectively. Thank you, Google Docs!

Attending Dr. P. David Pearson’s Inaugural Webinar

Sharon, P. David Pearson & Julie Niles Petersen by the Golden Gate Bridge
(Photo taken on 06-07-2006 during a Comprehension Institute at the
University of California, Berkeley)

On October 5, 2010, I attended P. David Pearson’s inaugural webinar, “Reading Comprehension: The role of talk, text, task.”* I have learned so much about reading comprehension from Dr. Pearson and have been one of his fans for many years. This webinar didn’t disappoint me, but it disappointed him that his videos wouldn’t play. He informed us that if we wanted to watch the videos, we could watch them in a video of a live presentation he recently gave at the University of Wyoming, “Rich Talk about Text,” because it was basically the same presentation. Although it is over an hour, I highly encourage you to watch one of them because they are fantastic!

You can find more resources from Dr. Pearson on his website at http://www.scienceandliteracy.org/research/pdavidpearson.

*Thank you International Reading Association for making so many great resources available to us! Another thank you to Dr. Pearson for sharing his wealth of knowledge with us!

The California Reading Association’s Professional Development Institute

Dr. Donald R. Bear at CRA 2010

On October 15-16, 2010, I attended the California Reading Association’s Professional Development Institute. I went to Regie Routman’s keynote speech, “Accelerating Achievement for All Learners: What Does It Take?” I also attended sessions by Lori Oczkus, Dana Grisham, Donald Bear, Shane Templeton, and Elfrieda Hiebert and loved each of them. I may write more about the sessions at a later date.

Wouldn’t you know, I ran into another person from my Twitter PLN, @Cathy_Blackler. What a treat! Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time at CRA. You can click here to access all available presenter handouts from the California Reading Association’s Professional Development Institute.

CRA: Thank you for putting together such an intellectually stimulating PDI and for compiling these great resources!

The TWRCtank and Future Endeavors

First, let me just say that if you emailed me through the TWRCtank or Twitter and I did not get back to you, I apologize. Not only was I overwhelmed with OCRA and learning how to teach online, but I was also going through a cancer scare. I realized I could not do it all and I had to let some things go. I’ve saved your emails and will get back to you once I finish grading my grad students’ final papers. I hope you understand.

Next semester isn’t that far away and I’m guessing I’ll be less active on the TWRCtank during that time, but I hope my absence won’t be as great. However, if I end up co-teaching the second course, I know there will be a lot of learning going on with that one, too.

Overall, I think I really like teaching online–especially since READ 508 was my favorite course when I was in the masters program. On the other hand, I have to admit… I really miss working with struggling readers–especially in one-to-one or small group situations.

I have continued looking for a full-time reading specialist position to no avail. Our nest egg is shrinking rapidly and my health insurance through COBRA is running out so I’ve had to do some serious thinking about my plans for the future. Here are some things I have been considering:

• Tutoring via Skype. I really love tutoring and had considered tutoring full-time in the past, but I didn’t like that the hours coincided with the time I normally spend with my husband. If I figured out how to tutor online, that would no longer be a problem because I could tutor English speaking students all over the world during daytime hours. If you have ever tutored online, I would love to hear about it.




• Consultations via Skype. This would probably be with people who are concerned with a struggling reader. I know I’ve helped parents by giving them suggestions in parent-teacher meetings, so imagine I could do the same thing via Skype.




• Products. I’ve considered selling things like pencils, stickers, and mugs with the TWRC acronym, but I’m not really sure how to go about doing this. If I did this, would you consider buying them?




• Sponsors. I’m not sure how I would go about finding people who are willing to sponsor this blog, but it could be a viable option. Are you interested?




• Monetizing this blog. I will probably add an Amazon store and Google AdSense ads in the near future.




• Donations. I will probably also add a donation button just in case someone is feeling nice.

Any thoughts on my ideas or suggestions for things I haven’t considered would be greatly appreciated. I really love teaching reading and hate to think that due to the economy and education budget crisis, I might end up having to give it all up to go back to the world of business.

Finally, one thing I plan to change on this blog is to add a new page for my resources. I recently attended a webinar on easy technology tools and learned about www.portaportal.com. I think it will be a really nice addition. Have you ever used it?

© TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Reading Association, Cathy Blackler, Consulting, Dana Grisham, Donald Bear, Elfrieda "Freddy" H. Hiebert, Erica Bowers, Google Docs, Joan Young, Karin Foster, Kelly Gallagher, Kim Hanley, Linda Clinard, Lisa Dabbs, Lori Oczkus, My Background, My Personal Learning Network (PLN), Orange County Reading Association, P. David Pearson, Presenter Handouts, Reading Comprehension, Reading Conferences & Conventions, Regie Routman, Ron Boren, Shane Templeton, Skype, Struggling Readers, Teaching Online, Technology, Tutoring, Twitter, Webinars

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The Versatile Blogger Award

Back on July 16, 2010, I was overjoyed to find out that my blog was nominated for another award, “The Versatile Blogger.” What made it even more special was that this award was first given to Susan Dee (aka @literacydocent), who then passed it along to me. Why was that special? Well, Susan and I started blogging around the same time and I am glad her blog received this recognition. I am grateful to her for the support she has given me ever since I began following her on Twitter. I consider her a valuable member of my Personal Learning Network (PLN). I believe it is from her that I found one of my new favorite phrases, “pushes/expands my thinking.” (Thanks, Susan!)

Susan blogs about children’s literature and teaching at The Book Maven’s Haven. I have subscribed to her blog feed in Google Reader and I always look forward to reading her posts. Just yesterday, I discovered that she also has a Facebook page and I became a fan.

Here is how this award works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order…)
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Part One


Thank you so much for passing the award along to me, Susan. I am honored and it really made my day! I really enjoyed reading the seven things you shared about yourself in your post about the Versatile Blogger award.

Part Two

Deciding on seven things to share about me was challenging. I thought creating a list might help–I am famous for my lists… and spreadsheets, too. On the list, I included things I thought would give you a laugh like my orange chicken fiasco. I also included things about my personality, like that I am a perfectionist procrastinator who after some reflection will answer you honestly if you ask, “So what do you think?” (Trust me, this is not always a good thing!) After looking over the lengthy list, I decided to follow Susan’s lead and share things that led me to where I am today in my career and why I blog. Here they are:

1. The first time I can remember wanting to be a teacher was in the third grade. My third grade teacher, David Borke, made learning so much fun and I am delighted that he is now one of my Facebook friends. Thank you for the inspiration all those years ago, Mr. Borke. I’ve had many teachers over the years and you remain one of my all-time favorites!




2. In high school, I enrolled in the secretarial/clerical program at our local vocational school and loved it. I was a great typist and loved learning all the latest technology–including how to use a standalone word processor which was basically a typewriter that displayed your typed words on an LCD screen. It also had a backspace key which eliminated the need for correction tape and allowed you to save your work. It was very high tech at the time! I also learned some computer programming skills and created my very own programs in DOS. My, how times have changed. While enrolled in the secretarial/clerical program, I also took French in high school and loved it. I thought I should combine the two loves and become a secretary in France. Then, I realized that to do so, my grammar would have to be impeccable and since that isn’t even true in English, I realized it was probably not a viable pursuit.
   
   
   
   

   Early Stand Alone Word Processors
   Were All the Rage!

   
   
   

   Note: Check out the programs currently offered at this vocational school. If teaching had been an option while I was attending, I wonder how my life would have changed. I am such a fan of this school and wish every high school student had the opportunity to take classes of this caliber for free. I know I benefited greatly from attending. Thank you, Mr. Chris Korbel and so many others at TBA Career Tech-Center! By the way, Mr. Korbel… I rarely say “ain’t” anymore. But, when I do, I think of you!




3. In high school, I also took some sort of community service class where I volunteered at a local elementary school and my passion for being involved in the schools was reignited. At the same time in another high school class, I had to pretend to have a disability for a day. I chose to be mute. Wouldn’t you know that very same night, I ended up running into two people who used sign language to communicate. Because I had not forgotten the sign language alphabet that either Mr. Bourke or Mrs. Craker (my wonderful 5th grade teacher) taught me, I was able to communicate with them through finger spelling and a great friendship developed. Spending time with Harold and Kari led me to want to become a sign language interpreter in the schools. I researched colleges that specialized in this and found Golden West College in California. I moved to Orange County two weeks after graduating from high school, but had to wait one year to enroll to avoid paying out-of-state resident fees.




4. While waiting to enroll in college, I worked as a clerk typist, putting my secretarial/clerical skills to work. During break times at the “roach coach,” I began speaking with people from the neighboring company who also came out for a mid-morning snack. This included the vice president of the company. He found out I grew up in Michigan and recruited me by saying their company sent trainers all around the United States–including Michigan! I was intrigued and became a medical billing software trainer a short time later. Yes, I went to Michigan and many other places around the United States for this company and loved it. But, all the traveling made going to college difficult, so I dropped out. However, after years of training people how to use our computer software, I realized that teaching was indeed the path meant for me. I left the company and went to school full-time to work on earning my teaching credential.




5. Knowing I needed to make money to pay for school, but needing a position that was flexible and not too taxing on the old noggin, I took a short bartender’s course and became a bartender at a very friendly neighborhood bar that had its very own Norm. I am so grateful for the owners’ flexibility with my schedule and for all the customers who cheered me on while going to school. After completing the work for my teaching credential, I taught first grade and loved that, too–especially the teaching reading part… and teaching 40 first graders how to do The Riverdance for International Day! After five years, I realized I needed to learn a lot more about teaching reading to really help my students, so I enrolled in a master’s program for teaching reading.




6. While completing the work for my reading specialist credential, I tutored students in reading. Obviously, part of the reason I did this was to make money to pay for my education. Surprisingly, I think it was one of the best things I could have done. Tutoring students of different ages with different strengths and weaknesses in a one-to-one setting while completing the masters program allowed me time to delve deep into the intricacies of teaching reading. When enrollment at the tutoring center declined, I put my secretarial/clerical skills back to work and worked as an office temp because it gave me the flexibility I needed. This also proved to be another great career move because I learned all about spreadsheets. Keeping track of data and being able to analyze it is very important for a reading specialist. After completing the work for my master’s degree and my reading specialist credential, I worked with struggling readers (K-6) for four years in the public school system. You can read all about how I lost that position here.




7. And that brings us to the present time… For the past fourteen months, I have been looking for a reading specialist position. The severe budget cuts and teacher layoffs in California have made finding a position difficult, to say the least. When open positions are advertised, they are usually restricted to applicants who were laid off from the hiring district, making applying for positions nearly impossible. Trying to stave of boredom while looking for a full-time position, I began blogging about teaching reading and learned how to use Twitter and Facebook to push my thinking. I had no idea that this would be another surprising career move. It still amazes me how invaluable Twitter is to educators!
   
   

   Finally, in August, I was offered a teaching position. Yay! I am now teaching teachers online in the very same masters program from which I graduated. Guess what? I love it–especially learning how to use all the technology I’ve been reading about on Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately, it is only part-time and does not include health benefits. With my Cobra running out at the end of November and the job market the way it is, I am very concerned. My husband is a Mercedes mechanic and health benefits do not come with the job. Although I may be offered to teach more courses next semester which could lead to health benefits, there are no guarantees. My husband and I are now considering a move to his homeland, Denmark, because having health insurance would not be an issue–all Danish residents are entitled to free health insurance.

So there you have it… seven things about me you may not have known and may wish you did not know. (I bet you have also figured out by now that I am a bit wordy.) If you want to learn even more about me and this blog, please visit my “About” page.

Part Three:

Although the directions state that the blogs are listed in no particular order, everything in my being cringes at such a lack of organization. Therefore, I am listing them in alphabetical order. I am also purposefully not repeating any of the literacy related blogs I listed here, or any that were on Susan’s list even though I really wanted to include, Look At My Happy Rainbow: My Journey as a Male Kindergarten Teacher.

1. Beginning Reading Help
2. Blogging through the Fourth Dimension: Education musings, technology, and lessons; my life as a teacher
3. Chocolate for Teachers: Sweet stuff from funny kinds
4. Dr. Goodreader: Teaching readers how to diagnose and cure reading “clunks”
5. First Grader…at Last!: Inspired by Junie B, but created for the real first graders…
6. Ginger Snaps: Tidbits and treats for teachers
7. How to Teach a Novel
8. Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: For Teaching ELL, ESL & EFL
9. Literacy Builders: for the love of learning”
10. Lori’s Lessons
11. NancyTeaches: A Teacher Who Loves to Learn
12. Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud
13. Teach with Picture Books
14. Teach Mama: learning in the every day
15. Vocabulogic: Bridging the Verbal Divide




I hope you check out these blogs. I also hope you will share your favorites in the comment section below. Finally, I hope you did not find the “seven” things I shared completely boring. It was really difficult to decide. Although it is clear that I love learning and doing new things, I want you to know that talking about teaching reading is my number one passion and I do not think that will ever change. (Well, talking about blogging is kind of fun, too!)



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© TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blog Awards, Blogging, Facebook, Literacy Related Blogs, Master's Program, My Background, My Personal Learning Network (PLN), Susan Dee, Twitter


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]]> http://twrctank.com/2010/09/11/versatile-blogger-award/feed/ 6 http://twrctank.com/2010/08/29/comprehension-strategy-instruction-what-do-you-think/ http://twrctank.com/2010/08/29/comprehension-strategy-instruction-what-do-you-think/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:39:29 +0000 Julie Niles Petersen http://twrctank.com/?p=2916 Continue reading →]]>




Dear TWRCrs,



Some of you may know that I have just begun teaching an online course in the master’s program in teaching reading/language arts. Familiarizing myself with the university’s website and all the new tools has kept me extremely busy this week.



I even made my first screencast video using Jing. (That was really exciting!) If you are interested in learning more about it, take a look at these great video tutorials from Russell Stannard.
The other instructor of the course uses Screencast-O-Matic and we have been trying to figure out which one is better. If you use any screencast video software, I would love to hear your thoughts about pros and cons.



Why am I telling you all this? Well, because I don’t have the energy to write a new post this week. Fortunately, I ran across a comment I wrote way back on November 1, 2009 in response to reading comprehension strategy instruction. It was probably one of the first comments I posted on the Internet. Although my reply is a bit off topic, I put a lot of effort into it and think it is worthy of reposting to this blog. It was originally posted in the “All About Teaching Reading” group on “The Educator’s PLN” Ning.



I would love to dialogue with you about the TWRCs I shared in this comment. They definitely deserve further exploration. Here is my comment in its entirety:




Hi Melanie,



It’s so nice to hear about successes and excitement in the classrooms from both you and Dodie. I must admit that teaching comprehension is the area in reading where I am the least confident. I have heard and read about strategy instruction misuse and it shaped my thinking. I will admit that when I first began teaching strategies, I was on strategy overload. Here is an article from Choice Literacy that talks about this point: http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/853.cfm. By no means am I trying to deter anyone from using strategy instruction, but I think it is an important read.



P. David Pearson, a leader in the comprehension field, said at our local reading association conference that clarifying is the most important strategy. I agree and I think kids who struggle have the most difficulty with this because they are not used to reading making sense to begin with. In addition, I’ve found they don’t even understand the word “clarify.” To get them to understand that, I always taught them that “clarify” means “to make clear”. To exemplify, I would say a sentence such as, “Go get it.” Then I would ask my students, “Is that clear?” They would say, “No,” and I would ask, “Why not?” They should reply, “It’s not clear because we don’t know what ‘it’ is.” Obviously, this is clarifying at the sentence level, but I think it is best to start small.



I have read a lot about how students struggle with anaphoric references (like in my previous example with “it”) and I really trained students to look out for when writing did not make sense. Strugglers need to know that sometimes writing does not make sense because the writing itself is unclear. In other words, it’s not them; it’s the author. My students delighted in sharing how they could make the writing clearer than the author could in some cases. Making things clearer also transferred over to their writing (to some degree) which was a treat to see. I would so love to see more research on anaphoric references. Maybe I spent too much time with it, but watching the changes in their comprehension makes me think it was time well spent.



Another thing I did which I think was successful was teaching my students that good readers “TWRC” (think, wonder, reflect, and connect). For the most part, kids understand these words–reflection being the hardest. The “wonder” is really the questioning in strategy instruction and I think it is also another important part of comprehension because when we wonder, we think deeper and those wonders lead to better learning. After reading a passage with the group, I would make them all share a wonder. In the beginning, their wonders were things like, “I wonder if he has a brother,” “I wonder when is his birthday.” In other words, their wonders were very superficial. I would model deeper wonders and let them know that good wonders do not usually have answers. When sharing mine, I would have to remind them in the beginning that I was not looking for an answer, but that I was just wondering. After much modeling, it was such a delight to hear their well-thought out wonders. It was also a delight when their peers would say, “Oooooh! That’s a great wonder!”



In regards to activating background knowledge, I also found it necessary to remind students that we all have knowledge in our head that is accurate and inaccurate and that when we read about new things, we must decide if what we read confirms our existing knowledge, or if we need to refine our existing knowledge. Struggling kids seem to believe that everything they “know” is true. We also discuss considering the source when altering existing knowledge.



Making inferences is another thing strugglers have a lot of difficulty with and I wish there was more research on this. One thing that stands out in my learning path was when I heard that, “Authors imply, therefore readers have to infer.” It is a continuous thing we do in everything we read. Anaphoric referents require it. Young kids do it with body language. It is everywhere! Taffy Raphael’s work really influenced me here. She said that a discovery she made was that many struggling readers either thought that answers to questions about what they read came from the book, or from their head. They did not seem to realize that they could come from both (inferential thinking). I love her Question-Answer-Relationships (QAR) and I often used this with them. I think this positively affected their comprehension in a big way. It took me a while to get the hang of how to teach it, but boy once I did; I saw a huge difference in their ability to answer questions correctly. I will upload the chart I used.



Lastly, I plan to attend the International Reading Association convention this year and I plan to take the comprehension strand, because as I’ve said, I do feel this is my weakest area in teaching reading, which is sad since comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading! Oh, and to get them to understand what “comprehension” meant, I would refer to the Spanish equivalent, “Comprende?” They loved it and it seemed to sink in. It amazed me that 4th, 5th, and 6th graders did not understand the word “comprehension” before this.




Note: I hope you read the Choice Literacy article. I think it is a very important read.



My questions for you: How do you feel about comprehension strategy instruction? Have you noticed that teachers are spending too much/too little time teaching comprehension strategies? If you had to pick four words to remind students of the most import things they need to do in order to comprehend what they read, what would they be?



As always, I would appreciate it if you could take a second to rate this article on a scale of one to ten using the stars below.



TWRC on!

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Post tags: Anaphora, Anaphoric References, Background Knowledge, Choice Literacy, Clarifying, Comprehension Strategies, Existing Knowledge, Inference, International Reading Association (IRA), Jing, Master's Program, My Background, P. David Pearson, Question-Answer-Relationships (QAR), Questioning, Reading Comprehension, Reading Conferences & Conventions, Reflection, Russell Stannard, Screencast Videos, Screencast-O-Matic, Struggling Readers, Taffy Raphael, The Educator's PLN, TWRC, Videos, Wonder, Writing


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Anaheim Convention Center
One Week after MLB's All-Star Game





I attended the United States Department of Education’s Reading Institute in Anaheim, California July 19-21, 2010. It was the first institute I attended from the United States Department of Education and it was phenomenal! I wrote a little bit about it in a previous post.



The presenter handouts from this institute are now available online at http://www.mikogroup.com/2010ReadingInstitute. At this link, you will find close to ninety presenter handouts and a handful of webinars on topics such as:



• The big five areas of reading instruction (i.e. phonemic awareness, phonics/decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.)
• Early learning and literacy
• Engaging and empowering parents
• Title I
• Literacy coaching and literacy coaches
• Reading in the content areas
• Professional development
• The common core standards
• Response to intervention (RtI)
• Informational text
• Enhancing oral language
• Differentiating instruction
• Working with English language learners (ELLs)




I originally thought writing a post about the link to the presentation handouts would be easy, but then I began perusing the handouts from the sessions I did not attend because I wanted to highlight a few for you. Well, let’s just say I ended up spending hours reading them. They have to be some of the best handouts I have ever seen from a reading convention. Not only are they from top notch presenters, but most of them can be easily understood without having attended the session.



I am breaking the highlighted handouts into two sections–sessions attended and sessions not attended. In the section on sessions I attended, I am including a few notes, pictures, and a favorite quote or two from each session. I hope to do a more thorough write-up of the sessions at a later time.



SESSIONS I ATTENDED & ENJOYED



#509 – Questioning Skills for Coaches by Stephen Barkley. Stephen is on Twitter as stevebarkley. Favorite quote? “If you read without asking questions while you read, you don’t get insights.” Here is a photo I took of this very funny and energetic presenter:





Stephen Barkley





#538 – “There’s More than One Research-Based Approach to Teaching Decoding.” by Irene W. Gaskins I have been a fan of Gaskins’ work for a long time. This is the second time I heard her speak in person, and she did not disappoint. I particularly enjoyed being able to speak with her one on one before the session began. We spoke about why she created the Benchmark School and decoding by analogy–including important research and researchers in this area. My favorite quote from my notes? “You will never hear Benchmark teachers say, ‘Sound it out.’ We say, ‘What have you already tried?’” Here is a photo I took of her before the session:





Irene Gaskins





#571 – Keynote Speech – Common Core Standards: Implications for Instruction by Michael Kamil. Lately, I have been reading bits and pieces about the common core standards. I felt this was a nice overview. Instead of a favorite quote, I like that he pointed out an unfamiliar website to me: Doing What Works: Research-based Education Practices Online (not to be confused with “What Works Clearing House.”) At http://dww.ed.gov/, there are three sections: 1) Learning what to do, 2) Seeing what to do, and 3) Doing what to do.





Michael Kamil





#645 – Keynote Speech – Implications of Reading Next for Primary Reading Instruction by Catherine Snow. I have heard her speak several times and she always makes me TWRC. I think she is the one who originally led me to the Hart & Risley study which I wrote about at length in this post. I was pleased that she talked about it once again and that so many other presenters did, too. Favorite quote? “Increase the kinds of books that encourage deep reflection.”





Catherine Snow

#649 – Generative Vocabulary Instruction: Teaching Core Academic and Content-Specific Academic Vocabulary to Native-Speaking and English Learners by Shane Templeton. I really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Templeton one on one before the session began. You can find him on Twitter as WordsTheirWay and on Facebook as Words Their Way. Favorite quote? This is not word for word, but he said we need to let kids know that we learn how to spell by meaning, rather than by sound. (ex. sign/signature) His handout is probably my favorite out of all of them. It is fabulous! Here is a photo I took of him:





Shane Templeton





#651 – Increasing Reading Comprehension with Higher Order Thinking Skills by Alice Thomas. I do not recall ever reading Thomas’ work before, but the title of her session and a little bit of Internet research made me think that the TWRCr in me would love her. I was right. She was phenomenal and I will now seek her out at reading conferences. She pointed out that the amount of information in the handout could be used for a two-day session, but that the slides on the end should stand alone. Favorite quote? “You’re teaching them there’s more than one acceptable answer. That’s how you get thinkers. If you tell them, ‘You’re wrong,’ you kill the thinker.” A favorite quote from the handout? “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ~ Albert Einstein. Here is a photo I took:





Alice Thomas





#670 – Implications of the Evolving Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf. I loved that when I was taking her photo, she said, “Someone is taking my picture!” Then she looked at my name tag and teasingly said, “Oh, Julie!” In general, her session was a bit over my head, but her humor was very much appreciated! Favorite quote? “The heart of expert reading is time to think new thoughts.” Here is the picture I took:





Maryanne Wolf





GREAT HANDOUTS FROM SESSIONS I DID NOT ATTEND



#504 – Dynamic Vocabulary Instruction by Anita Archer. If you click on her name, you will find six literacy related videos. I have heard teachers rave about her, but have not yet heard her in person. People at the institute raved about her sessions, too.



#521 – Verbalized Vocabulary (Grades K-4) by Susan Ebbers. I mentioned that Susan has an outstanding blog about vocabulary in another post, but I will mention it again here. Be sure to check out her blog, Vocabulogic.



#522 – Outside-In Strategy: Morphemic Analysis in Context (Grades 2-12) by Susan Ebbers.



#578 – Collaborative Strategic Reading by Janette Klingner. The wonderful website, Reading Rockets, has a great post on the Collaborative Strategic Reading strategy by Janette Klingner and Sharon Vaughn. Click here to read it.



#614 – Effective Teaching of Fluency: The Neglected Reading Goal by Timothy Rasinski. You might want to click on his name and then “Presentation Material” to see some more great handouts.



#652 – Neuroscience Approach to Differentiating Instruction by Alice Thomas.



I hope you looked at the entire list of handouts, not just the ones I highlighted. To make it easier, think about a topic you have a lot of interest in and hit the “Control” button while also hitting the “F” button. Then, type your topic in the “Find” box. Since I did not look through them all, I would love to hear about any handouts you found particularly interesting.



Note: I love shared knowledge and shared reflection. If you have something to share or something that pushes thinking in any way, I would love to hear about it. If you do not have time to do that, can you spare a second to click on the stars below to rate this post on a scale of 1 to 10? Thanks a bunch and happy TWRCing!



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Post tags: Alice Thomas, Anita Archer, Catherine Snow, Collaborative Strategic Reading, Common Core Standards, Comprehension Strategies, Content Area Reading, Direct Instruction, Early Literacy, Engaging & Empowering Parents, English Language Learners (ELLs), Fluency, Hart & Risley, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Irene Gaskins, Janette Klingner, Literacy Coaches, Literacy Coaching, Literacy Related Blogs, Maryanne Wolf, Michael Kamil, Morphemic Analysis, Non-Fiction/Informational Text, Oral Language Development, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics/Decoding, Presenter Handouts, Professional Development, Reading Comprehension, Reading Conferences & Conventions, Response to Intervention (RtI), Shane Templeton, Sharon Vaughn, Stephen Barkley, Susan Ebbers, The Benchmark School, Timothy Rasinski, Title I, U.S. Department of Education's Reading Institute, Vocabulary, Webinars


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Buckingham Fountain
in Chicago, Illinois




Back in May, I wrote a six part series about the institute I attended at the International Reading Association’s 55th annual convention in Chicago, 2010, Revisiting Silent Reading: New Directions for Teachers and Researchers. I promised I would include a link to the handouts once Elfrieda H. Hiebert posted them in her library on her website, www.textproject.org. Although I am a little late, I am now following through on that promise (Freddy posted them in June).



Click here to go to the 51 page pdf document of presenter handouts from that institute.
In the document, you will find the following presentations:



1. “Silent Reading Pedagogy: An historical perspective” by Susie Goodin and P. David Pearson. I discussed this part of the institute in part one of my six-part post.




2. “Silent Reading for Special Populations: Supporting Struggling Adolescent Readers in Digital Contexts” by Elfrieda H. Hiebert and Katherine Bach. I discussed this part of the institute in part six.




3. “A Comparison of Oral and Silent Reading Development” by Kathleen Wilson, Elfrieda H. Hiebert, and Guy Trainin. I did not discuss this part of the institute in my posts.




4. “Eye-Movements and Reading: Without them you cannot read” by S. Jay Samuels. I discussed this part of the institute in part two.




5. “Increasing Eyes on Text in High Impact Schools” by Devon Brenner. I discussed this part of the institute in part three.




6. “Silent Reading and Online Reading Comprehension” by Jacquelynn A. Malloy, Jill M. Castek, and Donald J. Leu. I did not discuss this part of the institute in my posts.




7. “Why So Much Oral Reading” by Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen. I discussed this part of the institute in part four.




8. “R5: A Sustained Silent Reading Makeover” by Michelle J. Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace. You can find my discussion of this part of the institute in part five.




9. “Assessing English Language Learners’ Silent Reading: Problems, Perils, and Promising Directions” by Gary J. Ockey and D. Ray Reutzel. I did not discuss this part of the institute in my posts.




10. “Silent Reading for Struggling Readers: Pitfalls and Potential” by Sharon Vaughn, Nicole Pyle, and Colleen Reutebuch. I did not discuss this part of the institute in my posts.




In addition to this handout, Freddy also posted a pdf copy of chapter five that will appear in the book, Revisiting Silent Reading, edited by E.H. Hiebert & D.R. Reutzel and published by the International Reading Association. It is due to be published in September, 2010. I found this to be a very interesting read about how to stop the summer slide for poor children. Click here to access, “Can Silent Reading in the Summer Reduce Socioeconomic Differences in Reading Achievement?” (White & Kim).



In response to that chapter, Freddy created a webinar about the summer slide. Click here to access the webinar, “Stopping the Summer Slide with SummerReads™” and the SummerReads™ text she created for children for these purposes. The materials for children are free!



I wish I had posted this earlier because the summer is almost over for American students. However, perhaps you can use them on a holiday break during the school year or remember them for next summer. If you have used the texts with your own children or recommended them to your students, I would love to hear about it! If you have not heard Freddy speak before, I think you will find interesting tidbits about reading instruction throughout the webinar.



Note: I love shared knowledge and shared reflection. If you have something to share or something that pushes thinking in any way, I would love to hear about it. If you do not have time to do that, can you spare a second to click on the stars below to rate this post on a scale of 1 to 10? Thanks a bunch and happy TWRCing!



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Post tags: Achievement Gap, Anne McGill-Franzen, D. Ray Reutzel, Devon Brenner, Donald J. Leu, Elfrieda "Freddy" H. Hiebert, Gary Ockey, Guy Trainin, Help for Parents, IRA's 55th Annual Convention - 2010, Jacquelynn A. Malloy, James S. Kim, Jill M. Castek, Katherine Bach, Kathleen Wilson, Material for Students, Michelle J. Kelley, Nicki Clausen-Grace, P. David Pearson, Presenter Handouts, Professional Book Chapters, Richard Allington, S. Jay Samuels, Silent Reading, Summer Slide, SummerReads, Susie Goodin, TextProject.org, Thomas G. White, Webinars


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Harry Potter deserves a spot in Hollywood. This book series has turned many reluctant readers into a lifelong readers.





I think children who do not struggle with decoding the words can find reading boring for many reasons. Here are three of them:



1. They have not found the right book. The right book would be one that interests them for some reason. Some reasons may be they like the topic, author, genre, or need to find an answer to a problem. Reading about things of no interest is boring.




2. Their limited word and world knowledge makes many texts too difficult to understand because they cannot connect the dots (i.e. the necessary inferences required to understand). Reading without comprehension is boring!




3. They are so used to reading not making sense, that they do not put much energy into making it make sense. Without TWRCing (thinking, wondering, reflecting, and making connections) while you read, reading is boring.




Suggestions for Children Who Do Not Struggle with Decoding, But Think Reading Is Boring



• Be sure to TWRC with your children as much as possible and not just when you are reading. (“TWRC” rhymes with “work” and stands for think, wonder, reflect, and connect.) The more you model good TWRCs, the more your child will see how dots are connected. Further, great TWRCs lead to great thinking and more engagement.




• Help your children improve their vocabulary. This topic is beyond the scope of this blog. However, if you look on the right-hand side of my blog and scroll down, you will find the heading, “External Link Categories.” Then, you can find some more information about vocabulary under the subheading, “Vocabulary.” A sure way to help improve their vocabulary is by discussing the meanings of unfamiliar books while you read aloud to your child. As mentioned in part one of this post, be sure your children have student-friendly dictionaries close to them when they read.




• Ask your children, “If you could be an expert at anything, what would it be?” I heard somewhere that if you study a topic for 10-15 minutes each day, it will help you become an expert. I have read about teaching reading for more than 10 – 15 minutes almost every day since I began the master’s program in reading. Although I wouldn’t really call myself an expert, I feel confident in talking with those who are (and I really enjoy it, too!)
  
  

  My point? The drive to become an expert on something is pure self-motivation. If your children want to be experts on dinosaurs, ask teachers, librarians, and those who work in bookstores to help you find a lot of reading material on dinosaurs. Look for great websites and blogs on the topic, too. Be sure to keep abreast with what your children learn and celebrate their new-found knowledge. Let them know when they start teaching you things, too! You may also want to introduce them to friends and family by something like, “This is my son, Bob. He is/is becoming an expert on dinosaurs.” That should invite conversation about what he reads, associating more positive feelings with reading.
  
  

  Here are two great quotations that are somewhat related to self-teaching:
  
  

  The true university these days is a collection of books. ~Thomas Carlyle
  
  
  If we encounter a man of great intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
  
  

  You may also want to check out these links: Self-Education Resource List and 100 Amazing How-To Sites to Teach Yourself Anything.




• Let your child watch book trailers and listen to booktalks in order to discover good books. Book trailers and booktalks are similar to movie trailers and friendly recommendations because they try to entice you to check out the product. Think about it. How do you decide what movie you want to see? Are you more likely to go to the movie theater without knowing what you want to watch, or knowing what you want to watch? I would guess most people go to the theater knowing exactly what they want to watch and that they learned about it from a movie trailer or a friend’s recommendation. Thinking about reluctant readers, I would guess that many who do not have difficulty reading, are reluctant simply because they are not aware of good books. I know I was saddened by how many great books were unfamiliar to the struggling readers with whom I worked. My point here? We need to be sure reluctant readers know about good books–especially those that would be of interest to them.
  
  

  I first discovered book trailers from @KeithSchoch on Twitter when he shared this great post, “Coming Attractions: Book Trailers.” Since he shares so many good resources, I will not share any more. Let me just say that after reading his post, I thought, “Wow! Whoever began creating book trailers was a genius! They should benefit reluctant readers tremendously!”
  
  

  M. Dahms, another person I follow on Twitter, is passionate about booktalks, as am I, and she shared this post full of booktalk resources, “Reader’s Workshop Links: Booktalks.” Again, since she shared so many links I will not share anymore.
  
  

  I first learned about booktalks by Linda Gambrell at an International Reading Association convention. I am not sure why I hadn’t thought about giving them before, but I hadn’t. Instead of calling them booktalks, she calls them, “book blessings.” She mentioned that once you “blessed” a book, it usually flew off the bookshelf before the end of the day. I returned to the classroom and tried it out. She was right–they flew off the shelves.
  
  

  If you are a teacher, I beg you to give booktalks in your classroom as often as possible. In addition, set aside some time for your students to give booktalks. The books my students “blessed” also became hot-ticket items.




• Find some great book review blogs and read them thinking about your child’s abilities and interests. If you do a Google search of “book review blogs” or “children’s book review blogs,” you will find many from which you can choose.




• Be sure to ask your librarian for recommendations. A knowledgeable librarian who knows your child’s interests and reading level is invaluable. (Teachers, this includes you, too!) I thought I knew a lot about what books were popular with students until I spoke with one librarian in particular, Barbara. Not only did she pay attention to what books were checked out the most frequently, but she considered it her mission to keep up with all the new books being published that she thought would be popular with our students. She was a real powerhouse of knowledge and the books she recommended for my struggling readers were always a big hit. I also really enjoyed reading what she recommended.




• Here are some websites that should help you find great books your children will enjoy:
  
  
  
  
  1. www.kidsreads.com This site also helped me learn about books that are popular with children. It is a fabulous website for students, parents, teachers, and librarians! Be sure to check out their about page which lists other websites in their network, such as www.teenreads.com.

  
  

  2. The Series Binder. According to the site, it was “Created by the Webster Public Library Children’s department staff members, and maintained by users from all over the globe in order to help librarians, teachers, parents, and kids find the chronological and publication order of series books. The Children’s Series Binder seeks to create a comprehensive listing of series books for children ranging from toddlers to tweens.”
     
     

     After going to the Webster Public Library, I went to the “Parent’s Corner” page and then to, the “Books, Books, Books” page and I found a book search tool called NoveList. Although the website says, “NoveList will let you search for books by subject, grade level, and even number of pages,” I found so much more. The website also says that NoveList can only be used from computers at the library. It seemed to work just fine for me.

  
  

  3. www.guysread.com. This website was created by the very funny author, Jon Scieszka. According to the website, its mission is “to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.” It is a great website with a great mission! Jon is on Twitter.

  
  

  4. Lexile.com’s Find a Book Feature. According to the website, you “Enter your Lexile measure, select your interests, and find books you’d like to read! Whether you’re reading for school or for pleasure, you can use this site to build a custom reading list on the subjects that interest you the most.” You actually do not need to know your child’ Lexile (a number that indicates an approximate reading level). You can search by your grade level (K-12). Even better, you can indicate whether your child finds grade level material, difficult, challenging, or easy.

  
  

  5. Reading Is Fundamental’s Book Search Feature. This is what the website says, “Whether you’re looking for a book for yourself or for children, you’ve come to the right place. Browse our booklists, or use the tool below to search our book database by title, author, category, age level, or keyword.”

  
  

  6. Mid-Continent Public Library’s Reading Advisory. Some of the things you can do on this website are: 1) Search their databases for movies based on books, 2) Search their databases for series books for kids and teens, 3) Read lists of award winning titles for kids, teens, and adults, 4) Read suggested reading lists for kids, teens, and adults, and 4) Discover useful links from other libraries.

  
  

  7. Scholastic’s Teacher Book Wizard Although this is designed for teachers, I think it could also be very helpful to parents. There is so much you can do here. Luckily, they have a video tour.

  
  

  8. The International Reading Associations’ Book Choices Lists According to the website, “Each year, thousands of children, young adults, teachers, and librarians around the United States select their favorite recently published books for the “Choices” reading lists.” The lists are annotated, meaning they give you a brief summary of the book. You can find the lists for the current year’s choices, as well as lists from previous years.

  
  

  9. StorySnoops. This website was recently started by four moms in California. Here is their description of how it works, “Created by moms, StorySnoops offers children’s book reviews from a parent’s perspective. Want to find fiction that interests your 9-18 year old? Curious about its content? Find it on our site and we’ll give you the scoop! We read it so you know what’s in it.” Some things I particularly like about this site are, 1) You can search by the gender of the main character–boys often do not like reading books where the main characters are girls, 2) You can search by suggested reading (ex. Books about Kids like Yours, Noteworthy Books, Our Absolute Faves, Thought-Provoking Books, etc.) and 3) Content Type (ex. Tolerance, Body Image, Teen Issues, Death, Race Ethnicity, and Prejudice, etc.)

  
  

  10. What Should I Read Next? According to the website, “Enter a book you like and the site will analyse our database of real readers’ favorite books (nearly 70,000 different titles so far, and more than a million reader recommendations) to suggest what you could read next. (You can register on the results page and build your own favorites list.)”

  
  

  11. The Book Seer. Enter the title and author of a book you liked and it will give you book recommendations from Amazon and LibraryThing.

  
  

  Finally, here are some books you might like to read to learn more about great read alouds and helping your children find books that will keep their interest:
  
  

  • The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

  
  

  • Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox

  
  

  • The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller aka @donalynbooks on Twitter

  
  

  • Reading Ladders: Leading Students from Where They Are to Where We’d Like Them to Be by Teri S. Lesesne aka @ProfessorNana on Twitter

  
  

  You can find part one of this post here.
  
  

  How do you encourage reluctant readers?
  
  

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  © TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2010. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
  Post tags: Background Knowledge, Book Blessings, Book Recommendations, Book Review Blogs, Book Trailers, Booktalks, Donalyn Miller, guysread.com, Help for Parents, Inference, International Reading Association (IRA), Jim Trelease, Jon Scieszka, Keith Schoch, kidsreads.com, Lexile.com, Librarians, Libraries, Linda Gambrell, Lists of Recommended Reading, Literacy Related Blogs, M. Dahms, Matching Texts to Readers, Mem Fox, Mid-Continent Public Library, Motivation, NoveList, Reading Comprehension, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), Reading Volume, Reluctant Readers, Scholastic, StorySnoops.com, Struggling Readers, teenreads.com, Teri S. Lesesne, The Book Seer, The Series Binder, Twitter, TWRC, Vocabulary, Webster Public Library, What Should I Read Next
  

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  ]]> http://twrctank.com/2010/08/07/why-and-how-to-motivate-a-reluctant-reader-2-of-2/feed/ 17 http://twrctank.com/2010/08/01/how-i-lost-my-reading-specialist-position-what-makes-a-good-literacy-coach/ http://twrctank.com/2010/08/01/how-i-lost-my-reading-specialist-position-what-makes-a-good-literacy-coach/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:05:04 +0000 Julie Niles Petersen http://twrctank.com/?p=2495 Continue reading →]]>
  

  Thank You, Mrs. Petersen! (Note: Last names are hidden to protect the innocent.)

  
  
  

  I taught first grade for five years in a school where the majority of students were second language learners who qualified for free and reduced lunch. After realizing I needed to know more about teaching reading more effectively, I took a leave of absence to pursue my master’s degree in reading/language arts. While finishing coursework for my degree, I tutored students (K-7) in a one-to-one setting. Personally, I believe that all the tutoring I did while getting my master’s was one of the best things I could have done. I think I learned more during that short time than I would have learned in many years in the general classroom.
  
  

  Shortly after receiving my master’s degree and reading specialist credential, I worked as a reading specialist for four years in an affluent school district. I worked at two different schools. In the first school, the teachers had wanted a reading specialist for many years, but the opportunity never arose. When it finally did, they knew exactly what they wanted. They immediately flew the 50% contract position and began interviewing.
  
  

  My first interview at that school only consisted of three educators (the principal and two teachers.) My second interview was made up of eight (the principal and one teacher from each grade level). Although it was slightly intimidating, I thoroughly enjoyed it because I could tell how passionate they were about finding the right person for their school and because they really made me TWRC (think, wonder, reflect, and connect). I was overjoyed when they chose me. I was also thankful that the principal had enough trust in me to design a program that I felt would be the most effective for their school. After a few months of working at the school, I was delighted when I was told that the upper grade teachers, who were infamous for complaining about everything, loved having me at their school.
  
  

  After two years of working in this dream position, I realized I wanted more than a 50% contract. At a nearby school, one of my former university professors was teaching Read 180. When she was asked to work full-time at the district office, she found out that I was looking for another 50% position. She recommended me for the position. A short time later, I interviewed with the principal and she hired me. After my first year there, she retired and a first-year principal took her place. The new principal informed me that she was unfamiliar with the Read 180 program, but was eager to learn more.
  
  

  Both schools used the Read 180 program. The first school also used the program I designed which consisted of using the QuickReads program in conjunction with a lot of work with Question-Answer-Relationships and the Nifty Thrifty Fifty. If you teach Read 180 with fidelity, students are pulled out of the classroom for 90 minutes, five days a week. In my program, students were pulled out of the classroom for 30 minutes, three days a week.
  
  

  Although I am not a statistician, I did receive honors in the one statistics class I took for my master’s degree. After careful analysis, it seemed that the students in the QuickReads program consistently outperformed those in the Read 180 program at both schools. I think this is significant because the QuickReads students spent much less time with me per week than the Read 180 students did. More importantly, they were able to spend more time in their general education classes learning all about the content areas, which play a significant role in reading comprehension.
  
  

  I mentioned this to the new principal at my second school several times and suggested ways I felt the Read 180 program could be improved. I even went so far as to print out spreadsheets so she could see the results herself. It seems that her position was that since I was hired to teach Read 180, I must teach it with fidelity. Keep in mind that I did not want to change everything about the Read 180 program, but I definitely wanted to incorporate the things I used at my first school that seemed so successful. One more thing to consider, is teaching a flawed program with fidelity always what is best for students?
  
  

  This brand-new principal who admitted that she did not know anything about the Read 180 program observed me just once in the classroom when children were present. I chose to teach a complicated lesson for the Nifty Thrifty Fifty. On her evaluation, I met or exceeded expectations in most areas, but she gave me an unsatisfactory in one because I was not on a certain page in the program. In all my years in the education profession, I had never received an unsatisfactory mark before and it really bothered me.
  
  

  I wrote a lengthy response to explain my rationale and asked that we meet in the spirit of professional learning. I also invited her to observe me again. She set up several meetings, but most of them were postponed and then canceled. Further, she never attempted to make another classroom observation. We finally met about two days before I was informed I would not receive a contract for the following school year. The reason given was that, “I was not a program match.” I can partly understand that, as I did not fully agree with the Read 180 program. However, I do not see how this decision should have affected my position at the first school, but it did and I lost that one as well.
  
  

  After word spread around both schools, the teachers with whom I worked were so shocked they thought I was joking. I was shocked, too. I wrote a lengthy letter to the board explaining my thoughts about the Read 180 program, and about what had transpired between the principal and me. The teachers sent a petition to the board requesting that they reverse their decision. Both were to no avail. The decision stood. Ironically, the Read 180 program disappeared from the entire school district the following year. From my understanding, a rationale for this decision was not given to the teachers.
  
  

  

  We'll Miss You, Mrs. Petersen! (Note: Last names are hidden to protect the innocent.)

  
  
  

  I have been looking for a reading specialist position ever since, especially one where the principal understands that that no program is guaranteed to help every student succeed. I am looking for a school where the educators are true thinkers who do a lot of wondering, reflecting, connecting, and refining–a true Professional Learning Community (PLC.)
  
  

  I have a master’s degree in reading/language arts and a reading specialist credential. I have served on my local reading council as registrar, vice-president, president elect, and currently as the president. I love to keep up with research in the field of literacy and have been to six International Reading Association conventions (Reno, 2004; Chicago, 2006; Toronto, 2007; Atlanta, 2008, Minneapolis, 2009; and Chicago, 2010); a four day institute at the University of California, Berkeley in July 2006 (Developing Tomorrow’s Thinkers: Comprehension and Beyond); and just recently, the United States Department of Education’s Reading Institute in Anaheim (July 2010). In addition to these conferences, conventions, and institutes I attend many literacy-related webinars, local conferences, and subscribe to “The Reading Teacher” and “Reading Research Quarterly.” While looking for a new position this past year, I created a Personal Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter and Facebook. The educators in my network consistently amaze me by the quality of resources they share, and by the amount of reflection they do together. The value of this new community is immeasurable and I am truly thankful I found them.
  
  

  Overall, I would consider myself very well read in the field of literacy. I believe I have excellent rapport with students and teachers. I also believe I have had a great rapport with four of the six principals with whom I have worked. (One was taken away in handcuffs.)
  
  

  So there you have it. That’s my side of the story. Now, I will get to the point of this lengthy post. I just found an opening for a literacy coach position. I have not been a literacy coach before and I know that different schools define the position in many ways. I am not looking for a position where the literacy coach is mostly a program fidelity monitor. From what I can tell, this position is not like that. Here is what it says,”
  
  

  Under the direction of the Director of the Title I school site administrator, to provide peer coaching (consultation, staff development, and instructional support) to K-6 teachers and school site teams to promote students’ academic literacy.

  
  
  Here are some of the requirements that I am not sure I meet:
  
  

  Recent training and experience (minimum 2 years) in coaching/mentoring, such as Support Provider, Master Teacher, Program Specialist, or Resource Teacher.

  
  
  I was the Title I Representative at my school for three of the four years, so I have a good understanding of how it runs and that should help. I was a master teacher and BTSA mentor when I taught first grade, but that is not recent. I also closely mentored a fabulous teaching assistant throughout my four years as a reading specialist at the first school. I am hopeful that together, they will meet the coaching/mentoring requirement.
  
  

  Here are my questions for you:
  
  

  1. If you are a literacy coach, what are your primary responsibilities? What qualities do you think makes a good coach? If it were up to you, what would you do as a literacy coach?

  
  

  2. If you are a teacher, I would love to hear your experiences with literacy coaches (the good, the bad, and the ugly.) I would also love to hear what you think makes a good literacy coach. If it were up to you, what would they do?

  
  

  3. Finally, and most importantly, do you think I have the potential to be a good literacy coach? Why or why not? If you choose to answer this one, please be sure to explain how you know me. Generalities can be used (i.e. where you taught first grade, the first school, the second school, Facebook, Twitter, local reading council, etc.)

  
  

  Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Literacy related job openings here in Southern California are rare these days and time is of the essence on this one.
  
  

  Sincerely,
  
  

  Julie

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  © TWRCtank for Resources for Teaching Reading, 2010. | Permalink | 89 comments | Add to del.icio.us
  Post tags: Becoming a Reading Specialist, Classroom Observations, Evaluations, Facebook, Fidelity, First Grade, Interviewing, Literacy Coaches, Master's Program, My Background, My Personal Learning Network (PLN), Nifty Thrifty Fifty, Principals, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), Pull-outs, Question-Answer-Relationships (QAR), QuickReads, Read 180, Reading Comprehension, Reading Conferences & Conventions, Title 1 Classrooms, Tutoring, Twitter
  

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