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reluctant readers, etc.
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From: mlgav <mlgav_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:21:15 -0800 (PST)
As a librarian in a middle school (grades 6-8) I am faced daily with trying to recommend books to our students. Through Star Reading (please no boo ing or hissing about AR) we have determined that the reading range of our students to be 1-12 grade.
I had always suspected that we had some students on the low reading range, but not that low. I am trying to find books they can read (on their l evel) that aren't too "babyish" and it's quite a problem. How a student can get to 8th grade and only read on a 2rd -4th grade level is beyond my u nderstanding but I am trying to get books into their hands.
Also through this discussion, I have been trying to find more ARCs for my l ibrary. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
Being a school librarian in a rural school has alway poised problems for me . Can't have cussing, too much sex or violence in the books for the student s. Yet, that's exactly what they want to read.
Enjoy these discussions and they help confirm that I am doing the right thi ng for my student to keep up with reading trends and books. My students love the Hunger Games series and the genre of Steampunk.
==mary gavlik librarian chuckey-doak middle school afton, tn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dancing in our heads...We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams... Albert Einstein
--- On Wed, 2/9/11, Sarah Mulhern wrote:
From: Sarah Mulhern Subject: Re:
reluctant readers, etc. To: ccbc-net_at_lists.education.wisc.edu, "Cynthia Grady" Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 1:15 PM
Cynthia, I completely agree! I am appalled by the number of teachers who will sit in a department or faculty meeting and proudly declare that they do not like reading. Or will talk about children's literature like it is gum on the bottom of their shoe. Having an opinion is fine, but putting it down is awful.
Children and teens need to see reading modeled. They need to know that " readers in the wild" (a term stolen from Donalyn Miller) exist! We all k now that kids have a tendency to rebel against their parents, so seeing oth er adults in their life read can have a huge influence on them.
Even more importantly, a well-read teacher/librarian is able to converse wi th their students, make recommendations, and help them find books they enjo y. We need a culture change amongst teachers-in-training. They need t o be told how important reading is. College education departments need t o offer children's lit courses and require that they be taken! Teachers should also be made aware of the vast blogging world out there online, beca use those bloggers can serve as reviewers and guides. And fostering relatio nships between teachers and school librarians is something that must be don e on the district level. Obviously, we can't all read every book that is pu blished, But what we can do is make sure that we are informed.
Sarah Mulhern Gross thereadingzone.wordpress.com
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 13:21:15 -0800 (PST)
As a librarian in a middle school (grades 6-8) I am faced daily with trying to recommend books to our students. Through Star Reading (please no boo ing or hissing about AR) we have determined that the reading range of our students to be 1-12 grade.
I had always suspected that we had some students on the low reading range, but not that low. I am trying to find books they can read (on their l evel) that aren't too "babyish" and it's quite a problem. How a student can get to 8th grade and only read on a 2rd -4th grade level is beyond my u nderstanding but I am trying to get books into their hands.
Also through this discussion, I have been trying to find more ARCs for my l ibrary. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
Being a school librarian in a rural school has alway poised problems for me . Can't have cussing, too much sex or violence in the books for the student s. Yet, that's exactly what they want to read.
Enjoy these discussions and they help confirm that I am doing the right thi ng for my student to keep up with reading trends and books. My students love the Hunger Games series and the genre of Steampunk.
==mary gavlik librarian chuckey-doak middle school afton, tn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dancing in our heads...We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams... Albert Einstein
--- On Wed, 2/9/11, Sarah Mulhern wrote:
From: Sarah Mulhern Subject: Re:
reluctant readers, etc. To: ccbc-net_at_lists.education.wisc.edu, "Cynthia Grady" Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 1:15 PM
Cynthia, I completely agree! I am appalled by the number of teachers who will sit in a department or faculty meeting and proudly declare that they do not like reading. Or will talk about children's literature like it is gum on the bottom of their shoe. Having an opinion is fine, but putting it down is awful.
Children and teens need to see reading modeled. They need to know that " readers in the wild" (a term stolen from Donalyn Miller) exist! We all k now that kids have a tendency to rebel against their parents, so seeing oth er adults in their life read can have a huge influence on them.
Even more importantly, a well-read teacher/librarian is able to converse wi th their students, make recommendations, and help them find books they enjo y. We need a culture change amongst teachers-in-training. They need t o be told how important reading is. College education departments need t o offer children's lit courses and require that they be taken! Teachers should also be made aware of the vast blogging world out there online, beca use those bloggers can serve as reviewers and guides. And fostering relatio nships between teachers and school librarians is something that must be don e on the district level. Obviously, we can't all read every book that is pu blished, But what we can do is make sure that we are informed.
Sarah Mulhern Gross thereadingzone.wordpress.com
---Received on Wed 09 Feb 2011 01:21:15 PM CST
