Literacy Now

As the school bell rings and we saddle up for another year in the classroom, International Reading Association publishes “Essential Reading for Back to School,” a new, cross-journal virtual issue featuring popular articles from the IRA’s three respected journals. The Reading Teacher (RT), Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL), and Reading Research Quarterly (RRQ) provide tips and industry news, from advice on close reading to advancements in literacy research. The 11 pieces included in this issue are free. 

From The Reading Teacher

Articles in RT include step-by-step guidance from experts in literacy, as well as suggestions for creating rich classroom experiences to ensure success. In this virtual issue, “How Do I Write…? Scaffolding Preschoolers’ Early Writing Skills” by Sonia Q. Cabell, Laura S. Tortorelli, and Hope K. Gerde looks at how the first writing experiences for preschoolers can be greatly enhanced by productive writing instruction and encouragement.

Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey’s “Scaffolded Reading Instruction of Content-Area Texts” focuses on the complexity of the texts chosen for small-group instruction. Similarly, “Words, Words Everywhere, But Which Ones Do We Teach?” by Michael F. Graves, James F. Baumann, Camille L. Z. Blachowicz, Patrick Manyak, Ann Bates, Char Cieply, Jeni R. Davis, and Heath Von Gunten delves into the challenges teachers face when selecting vocabulary words.

In their RT article, Kathleen Roskos and Susan B. Neuman shed light on improving children's motivation to read, proficiency in reading, and their likelihood to become lifelong readers and writers in “Best Practices in Reading: A 21st Century Skill Update.”

From the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy

Published specifically for teachers of older learners, JAAL offers practical ideas for the classroom, as well as reviews of young adult literature and advice for integrating cultural trends into teaching style. The virtual issue includes the JAAL article “Close Reading as an Intervention for Struggling Middle School Readers” by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey examining the effectiveness of close reading for struggling middle school students.

Zhihui Fang suggests moving toward discipline-specific language and literacy strategies in “Preparing Content Area Teachers for Disciplinary Literacy Research.”  Mary Beth Monahan’s “Writing ‘Voiced’ Arguments About Science Topics” is a teacher research study advocating the importance of “voice” in writing compelling scientific arguments. “Text Complexity and Young Adult Literature” by Marci Glaus, points out that providing broad, qualitative evaluations of fiction is an important variable of English language arts instruction, especially as high school students prepare for college and careers.

From Reading Research Quarterly

For those interested in diverse viewpoints on educational practices and reports of vital studies, RRQ is dedicated to literacy scholarship for learners of all ages. “Teachers’ Instruction and Students’ Vocabulary and Comprehension: An Exploratory Study With English Monolingual and Spanish-English Bilingual Students in Grades 3–5” by Rebecca D. Silverman, C. Patrick Proctor, Jeffrey R. Harring, Brie Doyle, Marisa A. Mitchell, and Anna G. Meyer explores the relationship between teacher instruction and student vocabulary and investigates whether the relationship differs for multilingual students.

Thomas G. White, James S. Kim, Helen Chen Kingston, and Lisa Foster summarize an experimental study on the part poverty plays in summer reading programs with “Replicating the Effects of a Teacher-Scaffolded Voluntary Summer Reading Program: The Role of Poverty.” In “Effects of Educational Technology Applications on Reading Outcomes for Struggling Readers: A Best-Evidence Synthesis,” Alan C.K Cheung and Robert E. Slavin discuss the effectiveness of educational technology in improving the reading skills of struggling students.

Read and share IRA’s free cross-journal virtual issue now through the end of December. Interested in gaining access to more reports on the latest research and reflections on education across the globe? Join the International Reading Association and subscribe to RT, JAAL, and RRQ to receive issues throughout the year, view online editions and supplementary material to keep current on new studies, best practices, and resources in literacy.

Morgan Ratner is a communications intern at the International Reading Association.

The school year has gotten off the ground and there is no better time for teachers to remember why they walked into the classroom in the first place. The next #IRAchat at 8 p.m. Sept. 11 focuses on keeping the passion for teaching alive. Joining us for the hour-long chat will be Meenoo Rami, English teacher at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. As the author of Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching, she provides a fresh outlook on teaching and is ready to answer questions and give advice.

Discussion will include why it is important for educators to remain inspired and use new tools to excite students, and how encouragement and motivation can help students realize their full potential and reach towards higher goals.

To join the conversation, search for the #IRAchat hashtag on Twitter. If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, you can learn how to get started and make the most of your experience by reading Fly to Twitter for Online PD.

“Creating an environment that encourages innovation, risk-taking, and willingness to try new things is important in any school that wants innovative practices in their classrooms,” she said. “Change is possible when the teachers have the space to grow, and support from administration when things don’t work out as planned.”

Rami also said having mentors is beneficial, and that being a mentor is important, too.

“Sometimes,” she says, “just sharing your own journey and struggles to your current position can offer hope and a long-term view on a fulfilling career to a teacher who is just starting out.”

As the creator of #engchat every Monday at 7 p.m. EST, Rami developed a network of English teachers connected through Twitter to share ideas, advice, and encouragement. To join that chat, search #engchat on Twitter.

“I wanted to be inspired by other educators and create an easy way for teachers to share ideas, resources, and questions about their work with students,” she says.

“[It is] imperative for us to connect as teachers because it is only by sharing our ideas and questions about our work that we can get better at it.”

Feel free to tweet your questions during Thursday night’s chat and don’t forget to use #IRAchat.

Morgan Ratner is a communications intern for the International Reading Association.

One of the great International Reading Association traditions is International Literacy Day.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established Sept. 8 as International Literacy Day in 1965 to focus attention on literacy around the world. IRA celebrates each year by highlighting the event and most recently supplied online printable resources for literacy educators everywhere. This year’s program, “Lift Off to Literacy,” partners IRA with NASA for some out-of-this-world activities, including “Story Time from Space.” The activities focus on devoting an extra 60 days on literacy in the classroom every day for 60 school days.

Here are just a handful of ILD activities happening this year:

• In Edinburgh, Scotland, McDonald Road Library is hosting author of The Panopticon and poet Jenni Fagan to talk about her work, past and future. A successful local writer, she is one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists.
• Bangladesh Reading Association will close the 2014 Asia Literacy Conference today. The theme this year was “Emerging Issues for Teachers Professional Development,” to create opportunity to explore situations, approaches, issues and questions relating to PD.
• In Wisconsin, more than 70 agencies and sponsors, including West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc., (West CAP) Literacy Program, and Wisconsin Literacy, will kick off the 11th Annual 1200 Tutors in 12 Weeks campaign. Volunteer tutors work with adults on basic reading and writing, math skills, computer skills and job readiness for career training programs, GED programs, or simply to get a better job. West CAP also works with immigrants and refugees to learn and improve their English.
• The Missouri Press Association is using “Lift Off to Literacy” and, in addition to the 60 seconds a day for 60 days activities, it created a feature that utilizes the newspaper to improve literacy skills for kids. To access the materials, please visit www.mo-nie.com. The download code for this feature is “literacyday.”
• The Puerto Rican Reading Association will hold its ninth Literacy Marathon.
• In Haiti, one IRA member has translated IRA ILD activities into Haitian Creole for students.
• One Arkansas teacher is using “Lift Off to Literacy” to add an extra 60 seconds of literacy for 60 days by reading short pieces of scientific research conducted in space or scientific improvements as a result of space exploration. The class will write a tweet about what they’ve learned, confined to Twitter’s 140 character limit, in order to distill the most important themes and information.
• Christina Dellibovi, who is on the Brain Injury Team at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., will celebrate Sept. 17 with a host of activities for the hospital’s 60 patients and their families. Food inspired by books, including Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, will be served and kids will be encouraged to write on the tablecloths. Other activities will include creating poetry collages from magazines, creating word families on pipe cleaners, and making bookmarks. Writing prompts will line the windows with window markers at hand to inspire stories.

“For this event, I really wanted to help make literature more accessible to children who are hospitalized for a prolonged amount of time for a variety of reasons,” Dellibovi said about her event. “Indeed, patients here this month are essentially missing the beginning of the school year, so inserting a literacy event can help normalize the environment while providing a unique dose of fun.”

April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be reached at ahall@/.

The What’s Hot in Literacy Survey has appeared annually in IRA publications for nearly two decades. Within that span of time, the results of the survey have been cited in numerous publications, translated into languages other than English, and replicated in other countries including Denmark, Romania, and the United Kingdom. The results of the survey have also been used to guide professional development within schools and to situate the timeliness of current research. In this brief overview, we share how the 2015 survey was created, in what manner this year’s respondents were selected, and how the results were interpreted.

Constructing the Survey

Each year, 25 literacy leaders complete the survey. The literacy leaders who responded to the 2014 survey played a key role in constructing this year’s survey. This is because they reviewed the items listed on the 2014 survey and made suggestions for revisions. From their suggestions, the 2015 survey was formed. This process resulted in a 30-item survey. The following five topics were new to the survey this year: genre knowledge, STEM literacy, summer reading, writing (argumentative & based on sources), and writing (creative).

Selecting the Literacy Leaders

The key criterion for respondents is that they have a national or international perspective on literacy. Many of those interviewed have served (or are serving) on boards of prominent literacy organizations or as editors of major journals. Together, the 25 leaders create a diverse group representing various ethnicities, ages, and job categories such as classroom teachers, administrators, reading specialists, and college professors, although college professors constitute the majority of those responding.

The number of literacy leaders interviewed from a region is determined by the percentage of IRA members in that given area. The areas as defined by IRA are: East, South, Great Lakes, Plains, Southwest, Rocky Mountains, West, Canada and Outside North America.

Conducting the Survey

The literacy leaders were interviewed by phone or in person during the spring and summer months. Each respondent was read a standard 178-word paragraph explaining that a rating of “hot” and “not hot” was not a measure of their personal interest in a topic, but instead would refer to the amount of attention the item was currently receiving. Next, each of the 30 items from the survey were read aloud to the respondent and they were asked to give a rating of “hot” or “not hot.” Then each respondent was asked if each item “should be hot” or “should not be hot.” The direct oral contact is used for a number of reasons. Many times, respondents will make informal comments which can be helpful in the written narrative. Also, we want respondents to give a relatively spontaneous answer.

Tallying and Interpreting the Results

The final step was analyzing the results. This involved tallying the collected ratings. Items receiving 100 percent consensus among the literacy leaders were reported as “extremely hot” or “extremely cold.” Items receiving 75 percent consensus were reported as “very hot” or “very cold,” while those receiving 50 percent consensus were reported as “hot” or “cold.”

The full 2015 What’s Hot in Literacy Survey results were published in the September/October 2014 issue of Reading Today. Members: Click here to login and access the issue. Nonmembers: Join IRA now!

The International Reading Association is accepting applications for editors of The Reading Teacher (RT) and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL). These separate, prestigious editorships function as two-person teams of either two co-editors or one editor with an associate editor. The volunteer positions have six-year terms: The first year overlaps with the final year of the current editorship and the subsequent years constitute the volumes for which the new editors provide material.

The application deadline is Oct. 15 and the term for both editorships is June 1, 2015–May 31, 2021.

RT is the leading peer-reviewed journal for educators of literacy learners up to age 12. Its special emphasis is primary and elementary classroom instruction, and its readership consists of school-based educators, university researchers and scholars, literacy consultants, administrators, and policymakers.

JAAL is the leading peer-reviewed journal for educators of literacy learners ages 12 and older. The journal reflects current theory, research, and practice in support of effective literacy instruction. Readership includes middle school, secondary, and postsecondary classroom teachers; university researchers and scholars; literacy consultants; administrators; and policymakers.

Applicants must be members of IRA, recognized experts in the field of literacy education of learners in the journal’s intended age group, and demonstrate a commitment to translating sound research to practice.

April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be reached at ahall@/.