Teaching Teen Readers:A Top Ten Toolkit

Longwood Summer Literacy Institute July 2011

Why is Adolescent Literacy Important?

• “Learning to read and reading to learn are no longer seen solely as traditional

academic processes. To fully prepare students for life now and in the future, educators need to ask different questions:– What will students need to know in order to

participate more fully in a technological world?– To act as productive citizens?– To become critical users of information? And– To live high quality personal lives?”1

Reading is a SKILL• National Center for Educational Statistics (1997) “states that reading attitudes deteriorate

and voluntary reading drops as students progress through school.”

• Students haven’t been taught to value books.• Most students don’t describe themselves as

readers at all, let alone readers for life. 2

Reading ResearchThere is a co–relation between high youth literacy rates

and low crime rates, low unemployment and dependence on social welfare, and low health care expenditures. Similarly, high levels of adult literacy are associated with higher levels of employment and wages, lifelong learning activities, participation in society, and level of health. A strong correlation has even been found between literacy levels and the likelihood of time spent in prison (National Endowment for the Arts, 2007). 3

In other words….

•We need to teach reading!

• These strategies offered here to help you with that.

Toolkit #1- Interest Inventory

• Allows you to see where their interests lie and find reading material that connects to that child. • Two types–Teacher created–Student self-assessments

Reading and Research Correlation

Sociological research of the digital divide has suggested online research skills are often not well developed among people who are online (Hargittai, 2002). When it comes to university students, especially beginning undergraduates, they are typically content to make do with simplistic “good enough” information search strategies — ease of access to information often continues to be more important than the accuracy of that information (Currie, et al., 2010; De Rosa, et al., 2006; Nicholas, et al., 2009; Weiler, 2005). 3

Toolkit #2- Catalog Searching in the Library

• Collaborative lesson with school librarian

Search strategies using OPAC

Practice search activity

Independent search activities

Self- Assessment4

Toolkit #3 – Shopping List

Collaborative Lesson with School Librarian.

• Shopping List sheet• School Librarian will pull books from all genres and reading levels• Reading Teacher and Librarian will model Previewing Books

– Title– Author/Illustrator– Dedication– Front Jacket Flap– Cover– CIP Page– Back Jacket– Chapter Titles– Interior Graphics2

• Students fill out Shopping List

Toolkit #4 – Library Scavenger Hunt

Collaborative lesson with School Librarian

• After completing the library catalog search activity and shopping list, students are ready to explore the physical plant that is the library.

• Students will complete a scavenger hunt to find books to check out and create their Someday List.

• Self-assessment4

Toolkit #4 – Library Scavenger Hunt

Toolkit #5- Someday List/Recommendation Lists

• Through the Shopping List and Scavenger Hunt, students can create a Someday List of books they might want to check out.

• Book talks, read-ins, think-pair-share activities allow students to share ideas and books in a safe environment.

• This can be done in the classroom and/or library.

Toolkit #5- Someday List/Recommendation Lists

Toolkit #6- Read-ins

Directions for read-in:1.Select a book to read2.Read for 5 minutes3.Write on an index card

something new and interesting you read about.

4.Share something you learned from the resource with others

5.Begin again with a new book

Toolkit #7- Book Talks

What is a book talk? Any discussion held about a book. For example, a teacher or librarian who is trying to encourage others to read a certain book.

Example of a student book talk.Book talk rubric

Toolkit #8- Read Alouds

This isn’t your grandmother’s read aloud!!!

Interactive Read Aloud:

Demonstrate your thinking out loud.

Model specific reading strategies.

Promote rich oral language and content area vocabulary.

Toolkit #9-Most Read Books Binder

We call it our Check It Out Binder!

Students record a rating and several comments about a recently completed book.

Students use the book to help them find something they might want to read.

Toolkit #10- Using Children’s Books to Inspire Writing

1.Choose a story that relates to a topic of study- either as an introduction or review.

2.Set the students up with an anticipatory set to lead into the reading of the book

3.Read the book aloud to students4.Introduce the writing assignment.5.Resources for lessons:

1. CHILDREN'S LITERATURE OPENS DOORS TO MATHEMATICS2. Steven Layne’s site3. US History and Children's Literature4. Specific Novel & Picture Book Activities

Bibliography

1. Ivey, Gay, and Douglas Fisher. Creating Literacy-rich Schools for Adolescents. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2006. Print.

2. Layne, Steven L. Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2009. Print.

3. Cull, Barry. "Reading Revolutions: Online Digital Texts and Implications for Reading in Academe." First Monday. University of Illinois at Chicago, 6 June 2011. Web. 13 June 2011. <http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3340/2985>.

4. Harada, Violet H., and Joan M. Yoshina. Assessing for Learning: Librarians and Teachers as Partners. 2nd Revised ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2010. Print.

Thank you! Jan Collins, Reading Specialist and Lori Donovan, NBCT School

Librarian Thomas Dale High School

Chesterfield County Public Schools

Jan_Collins@ccpsnet.netLori_Donovan@ccpsnet.net