Author archive

ruthannhorn

In the April edition of “The Reading Teacher,” this article caught my attention.  Since evaluating the Saxon Phonics program, I continue to look for literature to review on how should we be teaching reading.  According to this article, we have a great deal of research on teaching reading which should help us get every child on reading grade level by the end of first grade.  However, it states that almost no schools in the U.S. have anything in place that looks like what the research says young children need to become engaged readers.

The article goes on to say that the writer hopes to convey what the research has indicated in plain language.

What went wrong?  Much emphasis was placed on explicit and systematic phonics instruction.  Effective decoding instruction is a small part of every kindergarten and first grade reading lessons.  Then decodable texts were listed as being needed; however, no research indicated that decodable texts were necessary or useful in beginning reading instruction.  Then children were taught to pronounce decodable nonwords.  This too is not effective.

The article goes on to summarize that children need a stead diet of high-quality reading lessons, lessons in which they have texts they can read with an appropriate level of accuracy and in which they are also engaged.

Many things stated in this article are not what we found in our literature review for what helps young children read.  There are many differing opinions.

ruthannhorn

Another great article in IRA’s Reading Today magazine (October/Novermer  2012).  Teachers can foster critical literacy practices by guiding students to examine the events that occurred during historical periods.  Children’s literature can be integrated through read-alouds, independent reading, literature circles, and text sets.

Text sets are composed of several books on a similar topic that represent a range of reading levels and genres.  A comprehensive text set can be developed on a particular topic by selecting approximately 20-25 texts that represent a diverse range of reading levels and genres.

This author chose books under 5 themes:  Popular Colonial Americans in the Revolutionary War, Women in Revolutionary America, Young People in Revolutionary American, African Americans and Native Americans in Revolutionary America, and The Loyalists vs. the Patriots.

Sample Selections for the American Revolution:

How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning, The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, George Washington’s Teeth, Patriots in Petticoats:  Heroines of the American Revolution, They Called her Molly Pitcher, Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride, The Winter of Red Snow…and many others.

I believe that more of our children would enjoy history if they were immersed in historical fiction selections instead of reading a dry textbook…..

ruthannhorn

How they croaked:  The awful ends of the awfully famous.  This is a book written by Georgia Bragg (2011) that was an IRA winner.  The written description of the book caught me right from the beginning.  This book describes the deaths of 19 of history’s most famous individuals.  It includes eye-popping illustrations as well as lists, facts, quotes, and charts.  These stories would certainly catch the attention of reluctant readers.  I’ll be ordering this book!

ruthannhorn

When catching up on reading the IRA Reading Today magazine (October/November 2012), I came across this article that was very interesting.  It starts out with asking adults to remember what they think of when you mention children’s literature.  Most people remember a book from their childhood that left an impression on them.  It might have been the language, the antics of the characters, the imagination it evoked or the message portrayed in the plot, whatever it was it left a vivid memory on our brain.  It’s not enough for the author to write these books, someone has to bring the book alive to the reader and in many cases that person is a classroom teacher.

So the author of this article explored how do teachers ignite a fire that kindles a love for books and reading and learning.  What do teachers know and do that enables them to not only use children’s books for direct instruction but they also light a spark that opens the door to a world of journeys for readers.

These teachers:

1.  Know their books.

2.  Know their students.

3.  Know the value of a library.

4.  Know the power of choice.

These teachers:

1.  Do promote a lifelong love for reading.

2.  Do read aloud.

3.  Do provide time.

4.  Do immerse kids in talking about.

5.  Do reinforce skills and strategies.

6.  Do teach kids how to select the right book.

All teachers need to know and practice this instructional tool.  Showing students the power of books and how they can take you place, teach you lessons, and stay with you the rest of your life!

ruthannhorn

Just watched this webinar on “Pioneering Literacy in the Digital Wild West: Empowering Parents and Educators,
Source: Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, New America Foundation, Joan Ganz Cooney Center – Retrieved January 11. 2013.

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, the New America Foundation, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center have published a new report that looks at a variety of technology-based products and technology-assisted programs designed to improve the early literacy skills of children from birth through age 8. The report provides information about what is currently available to parents, educators and children, as well as what may be missing in current uses of technology by children. See Pioneering Literacy in the Digital Wild West: Empowering Parents and Educators (December 2012) by Lisa Guernsey, Michael H. Levine, Cynthia Chiong & Maggie Stevens.

This campaign focused on helping children become on-grade level readers by the end of grade 3 by using digital media.  They identified 4 guiding principles:

1.  Skills & knowledge:  reading requires both;  2.Technology by itself is not the answer; 3.  Parents are crucial; 4.  To ignore technology is to allow gaps to widen

The webinar talked about an “Apps Gap” where high-income households 55% use eletronic media and 22% of low-income households use eletronic media.  80% of the top selling paid apps in education target children and 72% of these target pre-school.  The eletronic media targets products, apps, e-books, games, and websites.  The popular apps target very basic literacy skills.  Websites target larger range of literacy skills.  E-books in the app store offer many features.

Parents prefer participating in activities with their children that involve older media; watching TV 89%, reading books 79%, and playing board games 73%.

Programs listed as good literacy experiences:  Tootastic (tell stories and extend story telling, Children’s Literacy Initiative’s Compass, Success for All (augmenting reading lessons), and iRead.

Promoting personal connections (social networking and texting); reinforcing basic skills (app games that test phonics knowledge, flashcards for sight words); building background knowledge (video field trips, children’s literature available as e-books); and improving the workforce.