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WOW! JUNE...reading motivation
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From: Shutta Crum <shutta>
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:51:52 -0400
June--it was so good to get your post! I wish I were a kid again and in your school. No kidding!
I think the most important of all these things your school does is to emphasize that teachers (and other adults, too?) read. As responsible adults we need to model the behavior we expect, and express openly the joy we get out of life so kids can see that. There is much joy and community to be gotten from reading. I'm so impressed.
I love the listings of things you do, and the alternatives to AR. And I love that you have independent reading time.
I think all my books now have AR tests to go with them. As a librarian, a former teacher, and a writer--this makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
What a joy to hear your school's success story.
Keep up the good work, Shutta Crum
www.shuttacrum.com Spitting Image (Clarion, 2003.)
Message----From: JuneCL at aol.com [mailto:JuneCL at aol.com] Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:05 PM To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] reading motivation
I am librarian at a K-5 school with a heterogeneous population. We use no reading incentive programs and very few basal readers, but all of our students read. Here are some of the important reasons (not prioritized) why I think kids at our school are readers: 1. All of our teachers read. It is common to have teachers standing in the
halls talking about the newest book by Spinelli, or another popular author, or for groups of teachers and students to be talking about a book or author. Sometimes the teachers are talking about adult authors. There is constant
"book talk." 2. In all classrooms, K on, we have read alouds. We all know the importance of reading aloud. 3. In all classrooms, K on, we have independent reading time. Independent reading time, silent reading time, whatever you call it, is a time when students have choice in their reading; everyone must be reading, but students have some choice about what they read. Teachers are conferencing with individual
students or reading themselves--they are not correcting papers. Students record their reading in different ways. I am a firm believer in the importance of choice in developing readers, coupled with providing an abundance of excellent selections with expert guidance as needed . 4. Students in the younger grades participate in shared reading using big books and participate in various activities: drama, art, and variations on the big book. 5. From grade 1 on, students are involved with research projects--reading nonfiction books, web sites and magazines, taking notes, producing a product, making a presentation. 6. From grade two on, all students are involved with literature discussion groups, sometimes led by a teacher, sometimes of the literature circle variety with rotating responsibilities among the group members. 7. Students are expected to read as part of their homework assignments. Many teachers use literature logs where the students respond to an open ended question about their books and the teachers answer their entry. 8. We have well stocked libraries and a summer reading program that I organize when all children borrow 4 books to read during the summer, and write a postcard about their reading to a school adult of their choice, and the adult responds to them. 9. Many classrooms subscribe to news magazines for all their students and it is part of their classroom or homework reading. 10. From K on, students are involved with studying authors and illustrators.
Our students read--stickers, pizza and computerized tests are unnecessary.
In addition, as a technology mentor in my district, I view AR as a superficial use of technology. Students can respond to literature and learn much more about technology by doing PowerPoint book talks, iMovie book commercials, Inspiration character webs, or other open-ended, thoughtful projects.
June Locke Belle Sherman El. School Ithaca, NY 14850
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Received on Sun 17 Oct 2004 07:51:52 PM CDT
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:51:52 -0400
June--it was so good to get your post! I wish I were a kid again and in your school. No kidding!
I think the most important of all these things your school does is to emphasize that teachers (and other adults, too?) read. As responsible adults we need to model the behavior we expect, and express openly the joy we get out of life so kids can see that. There is much joy and community to be gotten from reading. I'm so impressed.
I love the listings of things you do, and the alternatives to AR. And I love that you have independent reading time.
I think all my books now have AR tests to go with them. As a librarian, a former teacher, and a writer--this makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
What a joy to hear your school's success story.
Keep up the good work, Shutta Crum
www.shuttacrum.com Spitting Image (Clarion, 2003.)
Message----From: JuneCL at aol.com [mailto:JuneCL at aol.com] Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 8:05 PM To: Subscribers of ccbc-net Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] reading motivation
I am librarian at a K-5 school with a heterogeneous population. We use no reading incentive programs and very few basal readers, but all of our students read. Here are some of the important reasons (not prioritized) why I think kids at our school are readers: 1. All of our teachers read. It is common to have teachers standing in the
halls talking about the newest book by Spinelli, or another popular author, or for groups of teachers and students to be talking about a book or author. Sometimes the teachers are talking about adult authors. There is constant
"book talk." 2. In all classrooms, K on, we have read alouds. We all know the importance of reading aloud. 3. In all classrooms, K on, we have independent reading time. Independent reading time, silent reading time, whatever you call it, is a time when students have choice in their reading; everyone must be reading, but students have some choice about what they read. Teachers are conferencing with individual
students or reading themselves--they are not correcting papers. Students record their reading in different ways. I am a firm believer in the importance of choice in developing readers, coupled with providing an abundance of excellent selections with expert guidance as needed . 4. Students in the younger grades participate in shared reading using big books and participate in various activities: drama, art, and variations on the big book. 5. From grade 1 on, students are involved with research projects--reading nonfiction books, web sites and magazines, taking notes, producing a product, making a presentation. 6. From grade two on, all students are involved with literature discussion groups, sometimes led by a teacher, sometimes of the literature circle variety with rotating responsibilities among the group members. 7. Students are expected to read as part of their homework assignments. Many teachers use literature logs where the students respond to an open ended question about their books and the teachers answer their entry. 8. We have well stocked libraries and a summer reading program that I organize when all children borrow 4 books to read during the summer, and write a postcard about their reading to a school adult of their choice, and the adult responds to them. 9. Many classrooms subscribe to news magazines for all their students and it is part of their classroom or homework reading. 10. From K on, students are involved with studying authors and illustrators.
Our students read--stickers, pizza and computerized tests are unnecessary.
In addition, as a technology mentor in my district, I view AR as a superficial use of technology. Students can respond to literature and learn much more about technology by doing PowerPoint book talks, iMovie book commercials, Inspiration character webs, or other open-ended, thoughtful projects.
June Locke Belle Sherman El. School Ithaca, NY 14850
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Received on Sun 17 Oct 2004 07:51:52 PM CDT
