Reading:Literacy and Literature

York Summer AQ

2009

Sharon Mills, Program Coordinator

TDSB

Reading LiteracyReading Literacy

CollaborationCollaboration

Information Literacy

Information Literacy

Information Technology

Information Technology

School Library Program

Assumptions Card – Stack and Shuffle

Create a stack of cards that contain your individual assumptions about literacy.

Write only ONE assumption per card.

Place all cards in a pile in the middle of the table.

What Does the Research Show?

• The size of a library media centre staff and collection is the best school predictor of academic achievement.

• Students who score higher on standardized tests tend to come from schools with more school library media centre staff and more books, periodicals and videos – regardless of other factors, including economic ones.

• Access to a school library media centre results in more voluntary reading by students.

What Does the Research Show?

• The richer the print environment, the better the literacy development.

• Children read more when they see other people reading.

• Reading behaviours such as reading enjoyment, reading diversity and time spent reading for enjoyment has strong effects on reading, mathematics, and science results.

EQAO recommends that teachers:• use a variety of reading materials across genres

and employ teaching strategies to motivate and interest both girls and boys

• have students focus on understanding the different organizational and presentation forms (non-fiction, for example) or understanding graphic organizers and how they connect information in boxes and sidebars to the information in the text.

• continue to read aloud to students throughout the elementary grades and emphasize to parents the importance of reading aloud to their children at home

National Middle School Assoc.

recommends:

• Schools provide ample opportunities to read and discuss reading with others

• Schools provide access to a wide variety of print and non-print resources

• School-based professionals should model reading in various forms

OSSLT recommends teachers:

• recognize the strong connection between literacy and the use of technology

• determine how students' home reading especially in information text can be used to encourage to develop more effective reading strategies, increased reading comprehension and a greater enjoyment of reading

• extend the reading development strategies in Ontario's Early Years Reading Strategy across all grades (eg…a variety of reading materials for all students)

Creating a Culture of Literacy

Culture of Literacy

“an atmosphere that promotes and enhances activities related to reading and writing for all members of the learning community”

Think about the literacy culture at your school.

• What would people see as they walked through the school? Through your library?

• What would people hear?

• Identify any barriers to creating a culture of literacy at your school. Discuss possible solutions.

Think/Pair/Share

Implications for SLIC Program

SLIC Action Plan

• Build Access:– Collection Development

• Environment – Motivate Reading

• Program – Instructional Strategies

What do the experts say?

Emphasis is on schema - background knowledge that enables the reader to make predictions for more successful interactions

Emphasis is on looking at inferences, reading for details, and questioning as a part of reading.

The Literature Experience: Literature-Based Learning

Key Messages:

• Saturate the environment with books

• Use literature in the curriculum, in areas from reading to math, science to social studies

• Allow students to respond to their reading through discussion, drama, art, etc.

David Russell, Literature for Children: A Short Introduction 2005

Reader-Centred Approach:Role of the Reader

Reading a text is a complex process, involving collaboration between:

• the writer (who has a message)

• the text (consisting of the symbols used by the writer)

• the reader (who receives, interprets and embellishes based on own thoughts, experiences and beliefs)

David Russell, Literature for Children: A Short Introduction 2005

Response-Centred Literature

Objectives:• encourage individual readers to feel

comfortable with their own responses• encourage readers to better understand their

responses and themselves• encourage readers to recognize and respect

different responses• encourage readers to recognize similarities

among peopleDavid Russell, Literature for Children: A Short Introduction 2005

Strategies for Making Connections

• Reading aloud

• Storytelling

• Book discussions

• Questioning

• Writing Experiences

• Dramatic responses

• Artistic responses

Picture Storybooks

• combine art of storytelling with illustrations

• wide variation in theme• range from simple repetitive patterns to

complex social issues• suitable for all ages• utilize conventions of colour, space,

angle to expand understanding

Poetry• Narrative poetry - tells a story in verse

• Lyric poetry - describes emotions or observations

• Sonnets

• Haiku - rhythm without rhyme

• Free verse

• Limerick

• Humorous verse

Fantasy• Animal Fantasy

• Toy Fantasy

• Magical Fantasy and Tall Tales

• Enchanted Journeys & Alternative Worlds

• Heroes and Quests

• Supernatural

• Space Fantasy - Science Fiction

Realistic Fiction: Contemporary & Historical

• attempts to portray the world as it is

• depicts ordinary people going about the business of daily living

• over the past 150 years subjects, language and character development portrayed with greater candor

Realistic Fiction - Coming of Age

• main character grows from self-absorbed or immature individual into evolved person concerned with the welfare of others, and his or her place in the world

• self-awareness comes with a struggle

• “en route” to adulthood

Realistic Fiction: Humour

• Humour of Character

• Humour of Situation

• Humour of Language

Realistic Fiction: New Realism

• 1960s

• frank language, honest emotions,

• issue focussed - death, racial prejudice, homosexuality, drug abuse, child abuse, mental illness

• “problem” novels

• “modern family” stories

Realistic Fiction:Popular Genres for Children

• Mystery or detective stories

• Adventure and survival stories

• Animal Stories - real or romantic

• Sports stories

Historical Fiction

• set in a time period earlier from the time the work was written (at least a generation)

• faithfully recreates the cultural, social and intellectual atmosphere of the time period

• historical details do not overshadow the the story

• plot grows out of the historical period• dialogue is credible

Biographies• Authentic - factual

information about a person’s life

• Fictionalized - lively dialogue or dramatic scenes made up to add interest

• Biographical Fiction - builds a story around a character’s life, altering facts to suit the narrative need

• Complete - covers cradle to grave

• Partial - covers only one phase of the subject’s life

• Collective - covers several people linked by a common theme

Information Books

• History and Culture

• Science and Nature

• Humanities, Arts & Leisure

• Human Development & Behaviour

What Makes a Good Information Book?

• material suitably adapted for age level• terms are clearly defined• details illustrate most important points• details are accurate and up to date• logical and easy-to-follow pattern• illustrations clear and have artistic merit or

historical significance• writing style is clear and direct• supplemental materials for older readers

Let’s go Shopping!

• Use the criteria on the previous slide to evaluate one of the titles available.

Matching the RIGHT book

with theRIGHT Reader

• One on one conversations• Book Talks (How to ‘sell’ a book)• Displays• Book Lists• Professional Resources • Online tools

KNOW your collection

Have LOTS of recommendations handy

Book Talks that “Sell”

• Know your books and your students

• Sell the book with your enthusiasm

• Identify the audience; make connections

• Share just enough information to grab interest

• Vary your delivery style

• Use props to create interest

Readers

Types of Readers Reluctant Readers Boys and Reading Gifted & ESL

What are the implications for the

SLIC program?

Types of Readers

• Avid• Dormant • Uncommitted • Unmotivated • Unskilled

Dr. G. Kylene Beers

Into Focus: Understanding and Creating Middle School Readers, 1998

Dr. G. Kylene Beers: Types of Readers

• Avid - enjoy reading, have positive feelings about people who enjoy reading and like to talk to people about their reading

• Dormant - like to read but school and life are too busy at the moment

• Uncommitted -don't like to read but are open to change their mind if someone would just give them something interesting to read

• Unmotivated -do not like reading, prefer TV and video, have difficulty imagining the abstractions, people, and events in literature

• Unskilled - difficulty reading, do not read often, read to practice skills

Reluctant Readers

• Ron Jobe and Mary Dayton-Sakari. Reluctant Readers, 1999

• Ron Jobe and and Mary Dayton-Sakari. Info Kids: How to Use Nonfiction to Turn Reluctant Readers Into Enthusiastic Learners. 2002

Ron Jobe: Types of Reluctant Readers• I can’t readers - passive, avoidance experts, afraid to

take risks• I don’t know how readers -easily frustrated, reliant

on teacher, not responsible• I’d rather readers - hands on, interested in the world,

like arts and crafts• I don’t care readers - disinterested or bored, habitual

failures, expert at coping skills, usually older readers• I don’t understand readers -lack vocabulary, lack

cultural meaning• The real I have problems readers -specific physical

or mental disabilities, inability to use language effectively, possible visual or hearing difficulties

Jobe: Recommended Resources for: I can’t I’d rather

I don’t know how I don’t care

High interest, low vocabulary materials Wordless books Pattern and alliteration books How to books Interactive books Non fiction books

I can’t I’d rather

I don’t know how I don’t care

Cool books and comics Peer recommended materials, pop music, raps Computers and the Web Real life materials-job applications, manuals,

forms

Any book that catches their interest!

Jobe: I don’t understand readers • lack vocabulary, lack cultural meaning

Resources: Picture dictionaries with illustrations and

labels Graphic information books Sophisticated alphabet books Any book that catches their interest

Jobe: The real ‘I have problems’ readers

• specific physical or mental disabilities, inability to use language effectively, possible visual or hearing difficulties

Resources: Predictable pattern books Computer programs with voice Wordless picture books Taped books Any book that catches their interest

Info Kids

• students who rarely or never read picture books and novels

• students who often gravitate to information books.

How can teachers and teacher librarians capitalize on the keen interest Info-Kids have in the factual and use it to build equally strong literacy skills?

David Booth. Even Hockey Players Read Looks at:

*What factors in the home and in the classroom influence the literacy lives of boys?

*Why do so many boys select different reading materials than girls?

*Why do girls score higher than boys do on tests of reading achievement?

*Why do so many males consider themselves non-readers?

*Are society's expectations for boys' and girls' literacy lives different?

*Do we minimize the literacy needs of girls if we focus on the difficulties with boys?

Taking gender differences into account in the classroom…. Smith and Wilhelm, 2002, p. 10)

With respect to achievement:• Boys take longer to learn to read than girls do.• Boys read less than girls.• Girls tend to comprehend narrative texts and most expository texts significantly better than boys do.• Boys tend to be better at information retrieval and work-related literacy tasks than girls are.

With respect to attitude:• Boys generally provide lower estimations of their reading abilities than girls do.• Boys value reading as an activity less than girls do.• Boys have much less interest in leisure reading than girls do, and are far more likely to read for utilitarian purposes than girls are.• Significantly more boys than girls declare themselves to be non-readers.

• Boys . . . express less enthusiasm for reading than girls do.

University of Victoria Study Morphing Literacy: Boys Reshaping Their Literacy 2002

• The study found that boys can read, but are selective in what they read.

boys are less interested in fiction or traditional literature

boys are engaging in literacy outside of the classroom

boys use texts as a point of connection they use reading strategies that they have adopted

in school and have "morphed" them to help make sense of new literacies that appeal to them

boys displayed expertise and interest in digital literacies

http://www.schoolinfo.ca/boysreading/

Strategies for Success:Me Read , No Way

1. Have the right stuff: Choosing appropriate classroom

resources for boys, variety and choice

2. Help make it a habit: Providing frequent opportunities to read and write -competition, events, challenges

3. Teach with purpose: Understanding boys’ learning styles (chunk, time)

4. Embrace the arts: Using the arts to bring literacy to life

5. Let them talk: Appealing to boys’ need for social interaction

6. Find positive role models: Influencing boys’ attitudes through the use of role models

7. Read between the lines: Bringing critical-literacy skills into the classroom

Strategies for Success8. Keep it real: Making reading and writing relevant to boys

9. Get the Net: Using technology to get boys interested in literacy

10. Assess for success: Using appropriate assessment tools for boys

11. Be in their corner: The role of the teacher in boys’ literacy

12. Drive the point home: Engaging parents in boys’ literacy

13. Build a school-wide focus: Building literacy beyond the classroom

Be wary: of overly simplistic solutions that suggest

that boys can be motivated to read simply by introducing "boy-friendly" literature

to be wary of literature that serves to reinforce undesirable stereotypes for boys

of putting “boys” and “girls” into rigid, gendered categories

What about ... Gifted Readers

• opportunities to pursue areas of interest in depth • opportunities to pursue independent projects over a long

period of time • ability grouping for discussion purposes • guidance in critical reading • guided study of literature genres • use of higher-level questioning techniques • involvement with literature discussion programs • self-selected reading experiences

From Janice A. Dole and Phylliss J. Adams, "Reading Curriculum for Gifted Readers: A Survey," Gifted Child Quarterly 27 (Spring 1983).

What about ...ESL ReadersExtensive Reading Approach • students read as much as possible• variety of materials on a wide range of topics & levels

(print: illustrated, series, native, dual language books, magazines, newspapers, audio, video)

• SSR: Freedom to choose select stop • reading for pleasure, information and general

understanding and are determined by the nature of the material and the interests of the student.

• teacher reads aloud, models

From FORUM, Reaching Reluctant Readers, Day & Bamford, , Vol 38. N0 3, July--September 2000

“ No single place at the school is more important in

developing reading than the school library.”

(Paul Kropp)

From: Reading Doesn’t Matter Any More…

I am so thankful for those librarians, both school and public, who find the books, read the books, stock the books and celebrate the books with the young people they serve. They are our connection to the literature of the new world, and they will extend the literacy limits of so many, helping them move into… uncharted territories.

David Booth

‘Light’ Professional Reading

The Teaching Librarian

Vol. 16, no. 3

Success with Reluctant Readers

Where Have the Parents Gone in YA Fiction

Drawn to the Form