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After reading Mary Ann Zehr’s (2010) article, “Reading Aloud to Teens Gains Favor Among Teachers,” I decided that I wanted to research this topic a bit further and got my hands on a copy of Jim Trelease’s book, The Read~Aloud Handbook.  I have always been a supporter of reading aloud to kids of all ages (even my 8^th grade students when I was still teaching), and still read aloud to both of my children, ages 8 & 10.  Trelease’s book is one that really must be read not solely by teachers and librarians, but by parents.   It is a how-to book on reading aloud, and most importantly, stresses why it is so important for children of all ages to be read to, and documents and supports his claims with letters from teachers and parents.

I think that the other reason that I really enjoyed Trelease’s book is that he talks about one of the reasons that parents are reluctant to require their children to read, “The reason parents avoid forcing reading is fear that the child will grow to hate reading and eventually stop” (p. 90).  He equates the task of reading with other tasks such as the brushing of teeth and changing of underwear.  These are things that children must do.  So why the hesitancy in requiring reading? Trelease also compares learning to read with learning to ride a bike without training wheels.  He asks, if your child falls down once or twice and then wants to give up, do you let them?  No, you insist on practice, practice, practice!  It is the same with reading.  The more you practice, the better and more fluent you become.  Why should reading be treated any differently?  Trelease simplifies this cycle:  “The more you read, the better you get at it; the better you get at it, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it” (p. 3).

Trelease’s book covers so many questions and concerns beyond reading aloud.  Not only does he define stages of reading aloud, but he offers dos and don’ts, connects it to silent sustained reading, and answers questions about reading in general.  Trelease also shares the many letters he has received over the years from parents who attended his speaking engagements and how they really listened to him and followed his suggestions with their own children.  The success stories are too many to list.  The Read~Aloud Handbook also offers a “Treasury of Read-Alouds” that spans over 100 pages that includes information on each book as to its type, the designated age group, and a description.  This alone is an excellent resource.  I guess this post is turning out to be more of a book review than anything else, but I think that Trelease’s book is an important handbook that should be read by teachers, librarians, and parents.

Trelease, J. (2006). The Read~Aloud Handbook 6th edition. New York: Penguin.

Zehr, M. A. (2010).  Reading Aloud to Teens Gains Favor Among Teachers.  Education    Digest, 7
(1), p. 4-7.  Retrieved from EBSCO

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http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/epals-integrates-lms-provides-dell-connected-classroom-with-a-total-e-learning-platform/4543?tag=nl.e623

BrainHoney!



While doing some research for my other course, I came across BrainHoney~a site that can be used for teachers to design and implement lesson plans, both online and within the classroom. I  spent some time exploring the site, which is quite easy to use and can definitely be useful in aiding the creation and/or organization of lesson plans for teachers.  Lesson plans can be directly linked to State standards, depending what subject area you are teaching.  There is also a gradebook that helps to assess whether or not students have successfully reached the standards that your lesson is focused on.   BrainHoney refers to their site as a way to achieve "Blended Learning."  Allowing students to access course materials online from home in order to review and keep up with the class (also if they are absent), as well as a tool for giving students immediate feedback and recognizing individual student needs.

It's pretty interesting and you can organize your lessons in any way that you wish-there are a lot of options and tools to use to fit each individual teaching style.  Check it out!

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Update! 

I was able to track down the webinar by Michael Cart and listen to it since it was archived.  I found it at the following address:  http://infopeople.org/training/teen-literature-update-2011/webinar-0

Michael Cart starts his webinar by taking viewers on a tour through the decades of YA Literature, pointing out popular titles such as S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, and other titles that have stood the test of time.  He discussed current trends, which include what he calls Speculative Fiction and include Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror.  He also sees that there are more Romance titles, more Series, and more Retail Titles.  Cart points out that current trends also include very long YA books-and he feels that books are way longer than they need to be.  He claims Harry Potter is the cause of this, along with Twilight.  He also calls these books “unedited.” ?  He also uses the term “product” when referring to books-saying that books are being written so that they can be turned into films. 

So far, this webinar seems to have a negative vibe as if Cart isn’t happy with current YA trends.  He also discusses what he calls “Genre Bending and Blending” with a sort of obvious disdain for the topic.  Cart describes finding an entire section in Barnes and Nobel that was called Paranormal Romance-blending zombies and romance, vampires and romance, werewolves and romance, etc.    I ask ~what’s wrong with that?  Cart also negatively discusses book awards & prizes, stating that there are too many, which causes publishers to publish more books in order to make money. 

On a more positive note, Cart discusses in length the various awards and what books can receive them.  He also explores many books that he promotes as YA realistic fiction.  It is worth listening to just for this section-Cart does a great job of reviewing these books and sparking interest.  I know that I would like to read some of the titles that he mentioned that I haven’t gotten to yet. 

Now at the end (within the last 8 minutes or so), Cart finally gets to the topic that piqued my interest at the start, which asks the question:  Is Reading Online Reading?  Reading, but a different form of reading is what some say.  Others say this type of reading could impact the development of the mind?  According to Cart, we will have to watch the evolution of this topic.

That is basically all that is said about reading.  Ok, big disappointment in that sense, but otherwise worth watching for the book reviews.  :)  Take a listen if you want to learn about some new YA titles.

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I just stumbled upon a webinar that I would definitely have been interested in attending, had it not already happened on April 12th.  I was reading through some of the publib postings and found that this webinar looked quite interesting and planned on addressing some questions that I have actually been researching and thinking about.  The webinar was conducted by a well known YA author, Michael Cart, and it was called Teen Literature Update 2011.  I thought that the questions mentioned in the promotion of the webinar were quite interesting-they were as follows:

• What the latest thing in YA literature is?
• Who are the emerging authors, and the ones falling out of favor?
• What are the best resources for evaluating books for YA?
• If graphic novels are just comic books in disguise?
• If reading online is really reading?

I would really be interested in the discussion surrounding the last two questions and would add some questions of my own, such as - even if graphic novels are comic books in disguise-are they not considered reading?  And why not?  I guess with all of the current technology trends, these issues are going to be debated again and again.  I think that it all comes back to the same thoughts that I explored in my literature review, which recognize that we have to redefine what reading is along with our definitions of literacy.  Evolving and adapting is necessary!

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/01/uk-publishing-ebooks-idUSLNE73004820110401

To App or not to App??  This article explores the ideas of NY publisher Nicholas Callaway and the changes that have impacted publishing over the last 30-40 years and even more recently with the explosion of technology.

Yes, we are being introduced to new forms of storytelling, but does that necessarily mean the death of the book must occur?

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Reading Aloud is for all ages, not just elementary school kids!

While doing research for my Literature Review, I came across this article that didn’t really fit into my particular topic, but it’s something that I think is very important.  In Education Digest, Mary Ann Zehr (2010) published an article, “Reading Aloud to Teens Gains Favor Among Teachers.”  In this article, Zehr explores the positive feedback received from teen students when their teachers read aloud to them.  The particular quote that caught my attention was something that was said by Jim Trelease, author of the Read-Aloud Handbook, "If the only thing a teacher shares is from a textbook, how are you going to get students excited about reading?" he said (p. 1).  Trelease really hits the nail on the head with this statement.  We want students to be excited about reading, but then why do so many teachers assigned Acts and Scenes from a play for students to read on their own?  These writings are meant to be read aloud with drama and feeling!  When I was teaching middle school English, I regularly read aloud to my students.  I would read poetry to them, various picture books, and we also would take turns reading novels together-I would allow the students to take over, read a bit, and then pick someone else to continue.  I have personally found that picture books can sometimes be the link to getting students interested in reading more about history.  When working with the other teachers on my team on a unit on the Holocaust, for example, there were plenty of picture books that we read aloud together to introduce students to the topic.  It’s a good starting point, and Zehr discusses some examples that teachers have shared with her regarding their uses of picture books with older students.

Part of the problem is that teachers seem to shy away from reading aloud once students hit an age where sitting on a colorful rug in a reading corner doesn’t always seem appropriate.  Just because students aren’t eager to gather on the floor at your feet while you read doesn’t mean that they don’t like to listen to someone else read.  The other part, according to Zehr, is that reading aloud hasn’t really been sufficiently studied beyond the elementary level.  Zehr refers to a study that was done by a Lettie K. Albright, a professor at Texas Women’s University, “In that article, she summarized research showing that the practice builds middle school students' knowledge in content areas, helps them have positive attitudes toward reading, and helps increase their reading fluency” (p. 2).  I think that reading aloud to students is a good way to get them started on whatever unit or theme the class is planning to study.  If it is introduced this way, it helps to prepare students for whatever type of reading they will be doing independently-whether it’s a textbook or a novel.

Zehr, Mary Ann.  (2010).  Reading Aloud to Teens Gains Favor Among Teachers.  Education Digest, 76 (1), p. 4-7.  Retrieved from EBSCO

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Teaching for Social Responsibility or just plain teaching for thinking?

I wanted to reflect upon some of the responses that I received when I used a particular article for my abstract.  I read and created an abstract for an article in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy by Steven Wolk (2009) called “Reading for a Better World:  Teaching for Social Responsibility with Young Adult Literature.”  I felt that his article was entirely appropriate, and the basic premise of his idea is that through the use of literature, teachers need to make students more socially sensitive and aware of what is happening in the world around them.  The responses that I got from my group, however, varied quite a bit from what I expected.  I noticed that quite a few comments had to do with the opinion that it is primarily the parents’ responsibility to teach for social responsibility, and the conversation also lead to discussions of teen behavior.  I guess my concern is that you really need to read the article in order to get a clear understanding of what Wolk is suggesting.  He’s not preaching, but discussing how important it is to make teens aware of what is going on in the world~and what better way to do this but through the use of literature? Doesn’t interest in reading occur when readers make a connection with the characters, thoughts, or feelings expressed within a book?  Why not use literature that portrays social issues in order to help to encourage these connections?  Exploring social responsibility through literature is also a way to spark conversations among teens-with each other and with the teacher.  It’s especially significant if the issue is dealing with topics that are directly relevant to students’ lives. 

As I said in my notes on this abstract, I feel strongly that teaching for responsibility is partly a teacher’s duty, and that students will better understand as well as question and think about what they see within society if they are exposed to issues within the classroom.  As I have said before, when students can read about issue that they may be dealing with in their own lives, it helps them to understand their situation as well as to know that they aren’t alone in this world.  I think that literature is a great way for teens to find out who they are and where they stand within their lives.

Wolk, Steven.  (2009).  Reading for a Better World:  Teaching for Social Responsibility with Young Adult Literature.  Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52 (8), 664-673.  Retrieved from EBSCOhost