Meadville LibrariesWorking Together

by Courtney Balk, Sarah Prokop, Linda Sawyer and Laura Schuler

Our Spaces

● Due to a generous grant from our PTO we purchased new comfortable seating for our two school libraries.

● We also reallocated space in our libraries to house our newly formed world languages collection which contain many bilingual items.

Comfortable Seating

World Language Collection

Computer LabThanks to a grant from the Gates Foundation we have upgraded our computers to help our students become 21st century learners.

Facts About English Language Learners

● Multiple studies have proven that when language-minority children spend more time learning in their native language, they are more likely to achieve at comparable and even higher levels in English (Sadker, 2008, p. 81).

● Hispanic, Native American, and African American students score consistently lower on standardized tests than do their Asian and white counterparts (Sadker, 2008, p. 69).

● Spanish speaking population at our school has grown from 40% to 55%

Support for English Language Learners

● The school library is an important resource for English language learners. It may be the first place many students and their families get experience using a lending library.

● We strive to develop collections that reflect the growing diversity in our school

● We are developing our collection to include other languages along with Spanish, such as Arabic, Hindi, Polish and Mandarin

Authentic Multicultural Literature

“I was a child who could not find myself in the literature [I read]. There was no one telling my story. I don’t want that to ever happen to any child… To really see yourself as nonexistent is the worst kind of insult that a person can have” -- Esmerela Santiago (As qtd in Naidoo, p. 133).

Audio Materials

Audio materials can be very helpful to ELLs, from books on CD to free podcasts. However, some students will not have the electronic devices required to play the materials at home. Here are some ways that we work around that:

● Playaways®: These are audio books that are preloaded on a portable player.

● Library-owned CD players, MP3 players, or iPods: We are using technology to support ELLs' language acquisition.

● Library computers: Students can use headphones to listen to free podcasts or watch educational videos.

(Jules, 2009)

Public Library Collaboration

Public Library Collaboration

Field Trips

● Opportunity to check out books● Register for library cards

o library card application included in school registration packet

● Become familiar with public library resources and staff

Back-to-School Night @ the Library

● Shuttle bus to library to introduce families to public library resources

● Tour the facility

Communication

● Assignment alerts● Promote events

and resources foreach other

Author Visits

● A partnership between the school and public library allows the two entities to pool together their money and resources.

PartnershipsMore possibilities!

Our Community is changing

❖ Each school has 400 students. Our population is not too large, but our town is spread out.

❖ Our rural area is being enriched by the growth of diverse newcomers mainly Spanish speakers.

❖ A proposal: interaction between elementary and middle school students.

Reading Buddies/Enlaces de lectura

❖ The school library’s mission is to serve all our students.

❖ A creative way to increment all the students reading levels is to make a program that we have called:

Reading Buddies/Enlaces de Lectura

The Reason for Choosing This Model

According to Stephen Krashen, Free Voluntary Reading or FVR is a very effective tool to increment the reading level of any student, especially those learning a second language. The Power of Reading, Krashen, Stephen

Our collection is culturally varied and covers all subjects.The students are “free” to choose anything they wish to read.

Goals for Reading Buddies/Enlaces de Lectura

Reading Buddies/Enlaces de lectura is a bilingual program that:❖ pairs emergent readers with older

students: K-1, to 6th to 8th ❖ this interaction is reciprocated as

the English speakers work with Spanish speakers

❖ Both participants benefit equally from this interaction.

CULTURAL MUTUAL ENRICHMENT

By offering a plethora of diverse literature, we are fostering life-long readers that enjoy reading for the joy of it. Later on, this reading ability will help the students to search for information and write in a cohesive manner.

MEASURING THE OUTCOME

❖ At the start of the program, the teacher will time the student to see at what rate per minute(rpm), he or she is reading.

❖ At end, the teacher again will time the student and gauge improvement. If done in a graph format, the graph will show a line going up as the RPM goes up.

❖ This graph can be very encouraging for the student as he/she can color it. The students will be able to see their reading growth.

SAMPLE OF A GRAPH MEASURING TOOL

This is measuring graph.The fun part is that bothstudents will see andCelebrate the readingprogress as the days goby. They can mark it in colorsAnd it will look very nice.

ADVANTAGES

❖ Increase the reading in Spanish and English at the elementary level.❖ Keep the Heritage students at par with their Spanish❖ The betterment of the Spanish Students (this would be a good time to practice with

a young native speaker). ❖ Help both of the interacting Reading Buddies/Enlaces de Lectura, in finding reading

fun so that they can be long-life learners.

SourcesHumes, K., Jones, N., & Ramirez, R. (n.d.). Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010. U.S.

Jules, Jacqueline. "10 Ways to Support ELLs in the School Library." Colorín Colorado

. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/33

Krashen, Stephen D. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. Westport, CT: Libraries

Unlimited, 2004.

Print.

Naidoo, J. C. (2013). Diversity in Youth Literature: opening doors through reading. Chicago:American

Library

Association.

Nilsson, N. L. (2005). How does Hispanic portrayal in children's books measure up after 40 years?

The answer is "It

depends.". Reading Teacher, 58(6), 534-548.

Sadker, D., Sadker, M., & Zittleman, K. (2008). 3. Teachers, Schools, and Libraries (8th ed., pp.

80-82). New

York: McGraw-Hill.3rd ed. Canton: Illinois School Library Media Association, 2010. Print.