Still Putting It All Together

Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project have launched Literacy Lifeboats, an initiative to support teachers and children in schools that have been hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. This effort cannot provide homes and roads, but it can help survivors remember that throughout history, people have used words to make sense of their lives, to reach for help, to reconstruct narratives of hope and resolve. Your tax deductible donation can provide hard-hit schools with an abundance of beautiful books, and with the rugs, easels, and bookcases that enable teachers to reconstruct literacy-rich classrooms. The initiative will also provide school principals with a contingency fund to meet the most crying needs of their community. With additional support from world-renowned writers, Literacy Lifeboats will help New York City’s K-8 schools that have suffered unimaginable losses, stay afloat and carry on.

I can’t imagine losing all the resources I’ve found through garage scales, amazon gift cards, used book stores, scholastic warehouse sales, and donations.

Tumblr, you know what to do (if you can)

Perfect for Pre-K.  Definitely putting this in my bag of teaching ideas for next year.

Here are my tips for building up your book muscle in ways that maximum your efforts:

• Dedicate daily time for reading. If you want to increase your book knowledge, you must set aside time for reading. Tell yourself you are doing research!

• Read books on your district lists and curriculum documents. If a text is required use for your grade level, you should read it before sharing it with students.

• Explore your school’s book closet. Many schools have sets of books squirreled away in department or grade level closets—often forgotten or unused.

• Read winners from major award lists. Begin by exploring the American Library Association’s Book and Media Award lists . Most state library associations create recommended reading lists of children’s and young adult literature each year, too. These lists offer an entry point to the authors and high-quality texts available for your students to read.

• Befriend a librarian. Librarians know things. They are tapped in to the latest books and resources for using these titles in your classroom. A savvy librarian can recommend grade level texts and help you find books that match students’ interests and your curriculum, as well as websites, technology tools, and response ideas.

• Ask your students what you should read. If I see several students in my class reading the same book and I have not read it, I will move it up the pile. A book that already has proven kid appeal is a guaranteed must-read. 

Click the link to continue reading.

1) Invite students to give Book Talks to the entire class. Who influences kids the most? Their peers, of course, so providing children opportunities to pitch books to classmates can be incredibly effective and powerful.

2) Introduce kids (and especially those reluctant readers!) to a book series. This will inspire them to seek out the next book, and the next, and the next.

3) Provide your students and their families with the “Latest and Greatest” in fiction and non-fiction for the grade level you teach. I’ve had students come back to me the next year, and there are x’s by several book titles (they used the reading list I gave them as a check list!)

4) If teaching older kids, set up a Facebook page all about books. Students will then be able to share with their classmates (and you!) updates on what they are reading and post their book reviews.

5) Start or end class with a Read and Tease. This means you read a few enticing lines from a book (it can be the opening words, or midway through). For my students, I’d give a dramatic reading of the opening paragraph and then place the book on the rim of the whiteboard. At the end of class, at least 2 or 3 students would ask to check it out.

6) Advise families to take children to the library and bookstores on a regular basis. Send a letter home or an email with a list of neighborhood libraries and bookstores. Possibly include some inspiring quotes or a bit of research, giving some evidence to why reading is so very important.

7) Encourage your students to register for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. You can even make it a homework assignment. Scholastic also offers creative suggestions for classroom lessons using the Summer Challenge. Once a student does register, she will be able to enter a contest with prizes by simply logging in her reading minutes. Consider sending the Scholastic link to parents where they can download reading lists and get some tips for supporting their child’s summer reading.

These are chapter books.  I know a few people during the school year were looking for good read aloud chapter books, so this might be a list to book mark (or reblog) in case you need to choose a book in a pinch.

Anything books you’d add?