Tag Archives: teachingstrategy

category SLIS as Experienced Teacher

Read Alouds & Free Reading in the School Library

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Read Alouds & Free Reading in the School Library - No matter your grade level, School Librarians can engage students with the power of reading using a combination of read-alouds and free reading time...but the read-alouds must be relevant and the free reading needs to be longer than just 10 minutes at the start of a class period! #NoSweatLibrarySchool Librarians love books and tend to be prolific readers. One reason we became School Librarians was to share our joy of reading with others. Any elementary School Librarian can tell you that an effective way to ‘hook’ students into reading is to read a story aloud.

Young students never seem to tire of read-alouds, but many folks may think once students move beyond the elementary years, their fascination with read-alouds dissipates, but I can assure you that secondary students love them, too!

OLDER STUDENTS ENJOY READ-ALOUDS! 

When I returned to education after a ‘mom’ hiatus I taught in an alternative high school. It was truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. The 15-19 year-old students in my school were “at-risk” of not graduating high school for a variety of reasons that made for poor performance in the regular classroom:

  • Poor reading or math skills, some as low as 2nd grade
  • Jobs to help support their family that kept them up late or missing days
  • Extended stay in a hospital for severe illness/accident or in rehab for addiction to drugs/alcohol
  • Lack of interest in or depression about the regular classroom, including social trauma

I learned early on that many of these kids had severely dysfunctional parents, and many never had a parent read to them as a child. One of their happiest memories was an elementary school teacher or librarian reading aloud to them.  Each teacher had an Advisory of 8-10 students that met daily, so I introduced my Advisory to books my own children had enjoyed and that these students had probably never heard.

image of book cover-500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. SeussThe first book I read aloud was an early Dr. Seuss book, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, because I felt the theme of the story—perseverance in spite of criticism and intimidation—would inspire these kids. It was such a hit that I reread it each year to my Advisory, and even though some had heard the story before (we had our Advisory kids until they graduated) they loved hearing it again. I also read aloud other topical Dr. Seuss and Caldecott titles, almost all of which generated fascinating discussions among these high school students. That experience convinced me of the simplified presentation of complex issues through children’s books, and I continue to use them as a middle school librarian, to equal success.

READ -ALOUDS AS PART OF SCHOOL LIBRARY LESSONS

Make a read-aloud of Perrault's original Cinderella the focus of an ELA school library lesson. #NoSweatLibraryA particular middle school read-aloud success is during my 6g Multicultural Cinderella lesson. This collaborative co-taught lesson is designed to illustrate plot elements using the original Perrault Cinderella story as an exemplar. The 6g ELA Teacher introduces each plot element, and I, the School Librarian, read the associated story segment. While most students are familiar enough with Cinderella, many have never heard the original story. Though abbreviated for time, the read-aloud had students rapt with attention!

For the follow up activity students choose a multicultural Cinderella picture book on their table and, in pairs, read it to compare and contrast various cultural elements with the original story. The group discussion afterward emphasized to me that, not only do students enjoy being read to, but the combination of read-aloud and self-reading increases comprehension of concepts.

Make a Read-Aloud the Focus of a School Library Lesson - Here's how a School Librarian uses a read-aloud as the basis for 2 different School Library Lessons, one with 6th grade English Language Arts and one with Newcomer English Learners. #NoSweatLibraryRead-alouds are particularly powerful with ESL/ELL students, who need to hear English spoken in a fluid manner to fully grasp the rhythm and flow of their new language. My Newcomer ELLs experience read-alouds for their first 3 library visits of the school year, all designed to make them comfortable with me and with using the school library.

I also read aloud every week to our lowest-reading-level SpEd students who struggle with comprehension. Their teacher tells me what they are studying that week and I choose a story to support the subject area classroom activity. This wide range of read-alouds stimulates these students to explore the subject on their own, especially since I always pull a few fiction and/or non-fiction books on the topic for them to browse and check out.

PUT FREE READING INTO LIBRARY VISITS 

Our middle school ELA teachers all have classroom libraries, but they don’t compete with a good School Library. No matter how spacious a classroom, a teacher can only stock a few hundred books for her students; even a small middle school library can offer several thousand current Fiction books. My ELA teachers understand the difference, so that is why they schedule regular library visits every other week throughout the year.

We discovered that 10 minutes of reading at the start of each class period is not enough “free reading”. For students who have never had regular free reading, giving them 10 minutes a day to read is a great way to begin, but it can’t be the end goal. Ten minutes isn’t long enough to truly become engaged in a story: prolific readers want to read longer, and reluctant readers just want to get through the time, often jumping from one book to another and never finishing any of them.

Give Students the Gift of Silent Sustained Reading - Build student reading endurance & enjoyment by embedding extended free reading into every ELA library visit. #NoSweatLibraryTo really build readers we give students a 30-minute time period to become immersed in a story. When ELA teachers bring students to the library every other week for book return/checkout I occasionally have a lesson, but it’s a very small portion of the 50-minute period. Students always have 7-10 minutes to browse for books, and then sit down to read for the rest of the class period. During the last 10-15 minutes of the period I go to a couple tables at a time, signaling students it’s their turn to check out. This orderly checkout preserves the quiet reading atmosphere.

With a longer reading time, students become involved in the stories, continue to read on their own, and finish their books faster. Some students decide after a few minutes they don’t like the book they’ve chosen, and they still have time to find a new one and get started reading it. ELA teachers also provide a 30-minute reading time in the classroom during the interim week between library visits. The success of this strategy became evident to us with improved word recognition and reading comprehension, and we raised State Reading Test Scores. Interestingly, one year our district insisted on using the first 10 minutes of ELA periods for reading, but before the end of the first semester our ELA teachers realized it was a disaster, so we abandoned it and went back to our tried-and-true method with greater success.

My experiences as a high school teacher of at-risk students and a middle school librarian has convinced me that, no matter the grade level you teach, you can engage students with the power of reading using a combination of read-alouds and free reading time!

line of books laying down

You can find my Multicultural Cinderella lesson and my ELL 3-visit Library Orientation lesson in NoSweat Library Lessons, my TeachersPayTeachers store.
No Sweat Multicultural Cinderella & Fairy Tales Library Lesson - Students know the Cinderella story, but examining its story elements through an interspersed read-aloud gives it new meaning. Students then read other cultural renditions of the story, and make comparisons to identify the diversity of cultural elements. #NoSweatLibrary No Sweat ELL Newcomer School Library Orientation - 3 School Library Lessons where students hear Tomás and the Library Lady, Librarian From the Black Lagoon, and The Library Dragon read aloud by the School Librarian followed by a hands-on activity to build vocabulary & comprehension. Product includes the Library Lesson Plan with WIDA-ELD Standards, ELA Common Core Standards, and National School Library Standards.

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Social Media, Cloud Computing, and School Library Lessons

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Social Media, Cloud Computing, and School Library Lessons - Lessons using social media are abundant, but School Librarians need to inculcate the wider concept of “cloud computing” so students truly understand such technology. This model for teaching the elements of cloud computing makes tech integration more effective. #NoSweatLibrarySocial media is always growing and changing. There are so many ways it can be used in education:

  • As part of a teacher’s or librarian’s Professional Learning Network (PLN)
  • To inform parents and the community about school-related events and information
  • As an engaging technology tool for students in the classroom.

Many educators don’t realize that it’s a School Librarian’s responsibility to teach students about social media!

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS TEACH SOCIAL MEDIA

AASL School Library Standards logoAccording to the American Association of School Librarians (a division of the American Library Association) and National School Library Standards, the School Librarian is tasked with teaching students the responsible use of social media, evident by these 5 references:

  • III.B. School Librarians demonstrate the importance of personal, social, and intellectual networks by modeling the use of a variety of communication tools and resources.
  • III.C.1. The school library provides opportunities for School Librarians to connect and work with the learning community by facilitating diverse social and intellectual learner networks.
  • V.C.1. The school library [and School Librarian] prepares learners to engage with a larger learning community by modeling and promoting the use of personal and professional learning networks.
  • VI.A. School Librarians promote ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information by directing learners to responsibly use information, technology, and media for learning and modeling responsible and ethical use of information, technology, and media.
  • VI.C. The school library [and School Librarian] encourages participation in a diverse learning community to create and share information by providing both online and physical spaces for sharing and dissemination of ideas and information.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (another division of ALA), offers a 13-page downloadable PDF “Teens & Social Media Toolkit” for teaching students positive ways to use social media. The document suggests helping teens “learn about a variety of social media technologies,” which includes “photo-sharing technologies, …video creation technologies, …image editing. …connect with favorite authors, artists, musicians, and so on via Twitter, Facebook and personal blogs.”

ISTE Standards infographic

Click to enlarge

The International Society for Technology in Education has 3 Standards for Students that directly relate to social media:

  • Digital citizen – Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
  • Creative communicator – Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
  • Global collaborator – Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.

SCHOOL LIBRARIANS: TEACH CLOUD COMPUTING

Lessons using social media tools are abundant in print and online, but these rarely give students an understanding of the larger concept of cloud computing. And, as online tools steadily replace desktop apps, School Librarians need to emphasize Cloud Computing, so students learn the responsible use of ALL online tools.

Teach Students the Concepts of Cloud Computing Instead of Tools - School Library Lessons about social media need to focus on the type and purpose of digital services, rather than brand names, so students know when and how to use any tool responsibly. Read about forms of interaction, presentation, transmission, and more... #NoSweatLibraryFor every School Library Lesson we can provide a deep understanding of cloud computing as a prelude to introducing a digital tool. I teach each different aspect of cloud computing by focusing on the type & purpose of digital services, rather than brand names, so students learn how & when to use a particular kind of tool regardless of who makes it.

For my School Library Lessons I group cloud computing tools into 3 types of services:

  1. Personal services: individual tools for organization, communication, and learning—email, drop box, digital documents, digital storage.
  2. Presentation services: tools to create and publish original multimedia products—blogs, audio podcasts, slide shows, videos, webinars, live broadcasts.
  3. Group services: tools for collaborating with others—chat rooms, discussion forums, wikis, social networks, video conferencing.

Within and across these 3 groups I teach the specifics which differentiate the services and individual tools from each other:

  • Audience interaction —
    • 1-to-1 (personal individual tools)
    • 1-to-many (presentation tools)
    • many-to-many (group tools)
  • Method of delivery —
    • 1-way transfer (drop box, digital storage, podcasts, blogs, slide shows, videos, live broadcasts)
    • 2-way exchange (email, some digital documents, all group tools, webinars)
  • Transmission interval —
    • synchronous (chat rooms, some social networks, video conferencing, webinars, live broadcasts)
    • asynchronous (email, discussion forums, wikis, some social networks, blogs, podcasts)

Next I decide whether to teach the scope of a tool—all its potential uses—or the efficacy of a tool, that is, its best use. I make that decision based on the purpose of the library visit, as noted in my Library Lesson Matrix, and then I create the lesson with my Library Lesson Planner.

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY LESSON

Consolidating all online tools under the umbrella of Cloud Computing allows me to introduce a variety of media for students to express themselves, add creativity and value to student assignments, and inculcate responsible online behaviors. I can keep lessons short and simple, focused on the purpose of the library visit, with a classroom-related activity so students can practice what they learn.  Often my Library Lessons help teachers understand Cloud Computing and see how to integrate it into their own lessons.

Cloud Computing is my first technology lesson of the school year with Spanish and Art classes, and I’ve also incorporated the concept into lessons with core subjects, ESL, and Special Ed. Using just a few slides, I introduce the concept, types of tools, their purpose, and form of audience interaction.

First 2 slides that begin every Cloud Computing lesson.
Types of Cloud Computing Cloud Computing Tools

The best way to teach technology is to demonstrate how to use it, so I close the slide presentation and open the online service. I distribute a handout showing images of the tool to help students follow my demonstration. Then students use the rest of the period for a daily grade activity that guides them through 2 features chosen by the teacher which they will use throughout the school year to respond to assignments.

Often after the lesson students ask other teachers to give them assignments using the tool, so the teachers come to me for help, and I’m able to expand student use of the service through short lessons during library visits with other subject classes.

Other ISTE Resources:

line of books laying down

 

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