Promoting Reading in Schools
How do I promote reading in my school?
As a part-time teacher-librarian in an elementary school, here is what I do to help foster a reading culture:
provide a welcoming space
to read, select, discover, explore and enjoy books.- display new and recommended books / authors.
- participate in Battle of the Books - students read a set list of novels and in the spring they battle against other schools in our district by answering questions about the books read.
- author visits (coming up on Friday, October 16th - Canadian author Eric Wilson will be presenting to our intermediate grades)
- host 2-3 Book Fairs each school year (one in the fall, one in the spring and we usually host the Scholastic 50% off warehouse sale for the Interior)
- local Western Hockey League players visit and read to students
- buddy reading - intermediate students are teamed up with primary students and they read together once a week.
- at home reading awards - each month students who complete their at home reading for the month can enter for a chance to win a $10 Chapters gift card (one price for each grade).
What tools, strategies and resources can be implemented to encourage and support a school-wide reading program?
1. Start a graphic novel book club. By using graphic novels for a book club, I am hoping to encourage readers who normally wouldn't join to come out and try something new. In an article by William H. Teale, Jung Kim and William Boerman-Cornell called High Quality Graphic Novels can make Positive Literacy Contributions to the Lives of Elementary-School students, they talk about how "reading graphic novels may be a 'way in' for helping children who are difficult to reach through traditional print text." I hope that I can engage such students by introducing graphic novels as a step towards "traditional print text." Also, it helps to know what graphic novels are appropriate for each grade. The best graphic novels for children is a great place to start to gather recommended graphic novels for grades K-8. Furthermore, I would like to ensure that teachers and admin are on board with starting a graphic novel book club. To do this, I have found a video that I hope would convince them of such:
2. Have students use technology to write and present a book review for their peers. In particular, I liked how one school used podcasts to promote their favourite books: School Races to Promote Reading Through Podcasts by Cara Bafile. I especially liked how Bafile talks about using older students to teach younger students how to use the tools needed to create a podcast. This is a great way to get everyone at school involved.
Another way for students to use technology to review books, as suggested by Lane W. Clarke, is to use a community site like Goodreads, in which a class profile could be set up and "after students read a book they can evaluate the book by writing a review and assigning it a rating" (48). Also, I could have students recommend books on a school library blog (something that I hope to start in the future).
Other Thoughts?
This is just the beginning...I love to read all kinds of books and I hope that just my passion for books and reading will be a start for fostering a reading culture in my school. I wish for all students to become as passionate a reader as I am one day. Therefore, I plan to continue researching and adding to my tools and strategies to make my library the best it can be for all learners.
References:
Bafile, Cara. (2012). School Races to Promote Reading Through Podcasts. Education World, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech252.shtml
Clarke, Lane W. (2014). Reader Response 2.0 Using Technology to Support Literacy Growth. The NERA Journal, 50(1), 44-50.
McKnight, Katie. (2014). Katie McKnight Podcast Series #8: Reaching & Teaching Reluctant Readers. TeachHub.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkU30NZ6qT4
Teale, William H., Kim, Jung, and Boerman-Cornell, William. (2008) High Quality Graphic Novels can make Positive Literacy Contributions to the Lives of Elementary-School students. Book Links, 17(5), http://www.ala.org/offices/resources/its_elementary_graphic_novels
Images:
Battle of the Books image from: http://teleread.com/publishing/battle-books-really/
Graphic Novels Book Club image from: http://www.larchmontlibrary.org/programs/graphic-novel-book-group/
Well done post! You've done a great job sharing your current promotions (love Eric Wilson!) and ideas for engaging reluctant readers to "get them reading" and how you can build buzz around the whole school. Good work on embedding a video and some images. Next time you need to try "tagging" or "Label"ing your post with Keywords that will help organize, archive and curate your blog posts. By adding Labels to your blog post (look to the top right corner when you are editing your posts) you can add keywords like "reading" "literacy" "graphic novels" etc, that will allow you to categorize and organize your blog posts in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did not know how to add labels, but now I do...just added some.
DeleteHi Rosie,
ReplyDeleteLoved the part about engaging reluctant readers. I think that your combination of article findings, reading list and video clip form an impressive compilation to promote graphic novels in the school learning community. I have saved the links, thanks for sharing! Jen
I like Jen have saved several links from your post, thanks for sharing. I like the idea of using graphic novels for a book club, but they are so expensive it would be hard to get enough of any one title to cover the needs of your group, unless you are able to borrow some from other schools or libraries in your district. I have included the use of graphic novels in book clubs where there have been graphic novel titles that match up with the novel we are reading. One I used for an autistic boy was "The Lightning Thief." He was really interested in joining the book club but I knew he would not be able to keep up with the reading and for the most part the book would be too hard for him. The graphic novel of "The Lightning Thief" is not the best, but it did allow him to participate and discuss the novel with his peers, and also allowed us to compare the story across the two book forms. I also had students who were listening to the audio version of the story and that too offered a different take on the book. It led to many interesting discussions, and ended up with more students searching out audio books to listen to. I agree with Katie McKnight in her podcast that audio books are not cheating. In fact I find that they allow, for many students more cognitive time to "visualize" and "hear the voices" of the book, instead of focusing on the decoding. That was a great podcast, loved the suggestions of the types of questions to ask students to see if they are truly comprehending and engaging in the story. I will be adding these questions to my questions, though I imagine students will need to be taught what that looks like and practice these types of questions. Talking about podcasts that "School Race to 500" was a huge project, I love the idea but it would definitely require a lot of time and a lot staff support and input. Have you ever done anything with podcasts before? I have not and am interested in ideas and your insights if you have. Heather
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea of giving out gift cards to book stores for home reading. I think home reading is essential, but it can be tricky to ensure accountability without making it a chore. This sounds like a great incentive!
ReplyDeleteI also love graphic novels, and the high levels of student interest they inspire, but Heather makes a good point about their expense.
Thanks for sharing!
Heather, I don't have any experience with podcasts, but hope to explore and experiment with creating a podcast with students. I also agree with the cost of graphic novels, they can be very costly. I am very lucky to be at the school that I am because I have a very supportive administrator, who will add money to the library budget if it benefits most students. As well, our school PAC is willing to support the library with the at home reading gift certificates each month. As for accountability for home reading, students have reminder binders that they take home each day and fill in their reading and then have a parent sign and teachers check them each morning (just a quick glance). This seems to work well for our school.
ReplyDeleteRosie,
ReplyDeleteI liked both if your ideas. Graphic novels are a great way to encourage reluctant readers. Having a book club for graphic novels seems like a good way to get students that wouldn't normally be interested in a book club to
give it a try. Setting up a class profile on Goodreads could be a way to encourage students to use this community site even after they leave your class. Thanks for the references.