MORE IDEAS TO IMPROVE LITERACY AND SUPPORT READING
TLs can:
Teachers can:
Students can:
Principals can:
promote a principal's reading challenge that allows students to set and meet their own targets and be acknowledged for their efforts with a certificate from the principal. If you use a prescribed list of must-reads, ensure that the books are available from the library, that the students have input into the list, and that they are not restricted within it by arbitrary levels or lexiles.
Teachers and TLs together can:
Develop a joint English unit: Have students create their own e-books and e-picture books. Then have them chose the best way to promote it. Get them to do the research, make this part of the assessment - use peer assessment as well and turn this into a real teaching opportunity - metacognitive/reflective practice - why was this the best way for them? what would they do differently? Take literature and literacy a step further than just playing with the technology which is so user friendly there is no understanding anymore. Include teaching moments dealing with design, layout and display and copyright law. This is a collaborative program with the English learning area, assessable under the Australian curriculum and includes embedded technology use. It is also about designing a program that includes the generic skills of information literacy and higher order thinking - analysis and metacognition. Move this beyond show and tell using technology to thinking about "why I did it this way," how the technology (a tool) allowed greater expression of both the book's content and reaction to it.
Lastly, teachers, teacher librarians, principals, parents and students can participate in the activities of Love2Read . And use these blogs and websites to Love Reading!
TLs can:
- create a booklead wiki with links to author blogs, book-related podcasts, ebook portals
- provide books in digital formats to be listened to or viewed by the class so that nonreaders and non-English speakers can share the story
- ask a class to create a display for the library or a book widget on the subject, theme, or genre that it is studying
- publish "If you liked …, then try. …" lists and having these prominently on display and on your website. Ask the students for their input or have them produce their own lists.
- create a display/blog with the theme "You've seen the movie, now read the book!" It is amazing how many do not realize that the book came first.
- establish a web page or blog from your library site where student reviews of the library's latest purchases can be published.
- construct a list of activities that are not book reports that teachers might use if they need proof that a student has read a title
- cooperate with your local public library to produce and promote a summer reading program. Link to the library website.
- create bibliographies of related subjects that support common curriculum themes as well as specific titles for the library website
- make grab bags of seven selected stories so a busy parent can just grab one and have a quality read-aloud for every night of the week
- provide computer, iPad or e-reader e-books for new readers or struggling readers, or more visual or kinesthetic learners.
- supply learners with downloadable audio books, Playaways, Kindles, iPads, Nooks.
- share ebook apps with students for their iPhones, droids, and iPads and other mobile devices
- use desktop screensavers to promote great reads
- link to available free ebook collections using such tools as Google Books, International Children’s Digital Library (See ebook pathfinders.)
- embed ebooks on your websites to encourage reading and support learning
Teachers can:
- be involved when students are borrowing books because the teacher will always know the students' abilities, interests, and needs better than the best teacher-librarian
- have regular lunchtime story sessions to share their favorite read-alouds with students
- create a display/webpage of their favorites from childhood and their current favorites, including photos of themselves reading the books
Students can:
- participate in Kids’ Lit Quiz coming to Australia for the National Year of Reading 2012
- organise Literary Luncheons to discuss books, listen to authors or hear a guest read a special title – invite other schools to join in, esp those which feed into the local high school so friendships can be forged early
- participate in organizing an author visit by providing input into selecting the author, fund-raising, creating advertising posters and displays of the author's work, preparing a literary luncheon to talk with the author in an informal setting, introducing and thanking the speaker, and purchasing and presenting a gift
- be involved in the selection process and have the first read of the book
- read to younger students at regular lunchtime sessions, individually or as a small group
- make book trailers and have these on a continuous loop to inspire interest
- develop advertising campaigns to showcase a particular author’s work, genre, illustrative style, topic
- share books using social networking tools like Shelfari, Good Reads, or LibraryThing.
- blog or tweet or network in some way about what they are reading
Principals can:
promote a principal's reading challenge that allows students to set and meet their own targets and be acknowledged for their efforts with a certificate from the principal. If you use a prescribed list of must-reads, ensure that the books are available from the library, that the students have input into the list, and that they are not restricted within it by arbitrary levels or lexiles.
Teachers and TLs together can:
Develop a joint English unit: Have students create their own e-books and e-picture books. Then have them chose the best way to promote it. Get them to do the research, make this part of the assessment - use peer assessment as well and turn this into a real teaching opportunity - metacognitive/reflective practice - why was this the best way for them? what would they do differently? Take literature and literacy a step further than just playing with the technology which is so user friendly there is no understanding anymore. Include teaching moments dealing with design, layout and display and copyright law. This is a collaborative program with the English learning area, assessable under the Australian curriculum and includes embedded technology use. It is also about designing a program that includes the generic skills of information literacy and higher order thinking - analysis and metacognition. Move this beyond show and tell using technology to thinking about "why I did it this way," how the technology (a tool) allowed greater expression of both the book's content and reaction to it.
- organise video conferences with an author and another school especially after the kids have read the author’s work and drafted questions
- support teaching units with appropriate fiction for read alouds and construct a display and/or website on a current curriculum theme that includes related fiction and suggestions for further reading
- gather a selection of books to be used in class for 6 weeks or so and then swap for another selection--the rotating classroom library
- develop an interactive competition based on a book or a series, such as Deltora Quest, which requires the students read and reread, use higher-order thinking skills, and get one clue at a time
- create an across-grade challenge by having classes not only predict the ending to a book that you are reading to all of them but also make a display/widget around their ideas
- set up hypothetical dilemmas that favorite characters might face and ask students to solve them. These might involve giving advice, constructing something, or being a helping hand.
- create a literature-based quiz (with prizes)
- advertise the dates and details of your state's or territory's readers' choice awards, and your Premier’s Reading Challenge, purchasing the books and setting up activities that support participation of these.
- connect with local sports teams to build partnerships between athletes and students.
- hold parent participation programs to help parents read with their children at home
- organize book fairs for parents and students
- meet bi-weekly with literacy specialist to brainstorm ways for the library to support guided reading
- connect literature with geography and social studies through bookmapping
- connect science and foreign language classes with fiction
- visit the class and book-talk a few of the titles in the rotating classroom or regularly read aloud
- suggest new read-alouds per age group, including suggestions for how the books might be used within the curriculum
- get students to participate in book raps
- collaborate on a unit on the Little Prince which includes ICT activities incorporating e-literature
- celebrate Indigenous Literacy Day
Lastly, teachers, teacher librarians, principals, parents and students can participate in the activities of Love2Read . And use these blogs and websites to Love Reading!
