Literacy Now

by Julie Huskey, NBCT
IRA Teacher Advisory Panel

It was the end of the school year in 2010 where I was laboring in the dreaded “pack up the room” bit…piling boxes to the ceiling, shoving items into cabinets so that I would have absolutely no idea where I put it at the beginning of school next year, and frantically ripping posters down off the walls to begin my summer vacation when I had the revelation to move out of the elementary classroom and begin a new journey.

An art position had opened and I floored my principal when she jokingly asked if I would be interested with an overly excited YES! Although, I had one catch…I refused to give up my love of literacy. Literacy has been my backbone for teaching. After teaching 14 years in elementary, serving in every office in my local reading council, doing many years including President of our Arkansas Reading Association and now serving on the International Reading Association's Teacher Advisory Panel I just couldn’t walk away from literacy.

So I made a plan to submit to my principal and school board that I wanted to begin a new art program in my school and I would title it RAW ART. Raw has so many meanings are perfect for my program but initially the acronym was designed for Reading And Writing with Art. RAW ART is now my passion in life and I can’t wait each day for all 500 of my kindergarten to sixth graders to come into my room and experience it with me.

Connection to Common Core

Sometimes in art colors just mix together to create the perfect blend and my RAW ART program followed the same blending with the incoming Common Core. The Common Core State Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the school. Much of the motivation behind the interdisciplinary approach to literacy drew from extensive research establishing the need for college and career ready students to be proficient in reading complex informational text independently in a variety of content areas. The creation of my program blending art and literacy is like the paint brush to the paint, you can’t have one without the other. 

Using a variety of art, children’s books both fiction and nonfiction, poems, magazine articles, newspapers, and dictionaries to engage us in reading, discussions, analyzing, forming opinions, group work, comparing, and contrasting—these are but a few of the many simple ways I integrate art and literacy. There are times when the text is the basis for our art work and other times when the art is the basis for our writing. In Children’s Literature in the Reading Program: An Invitation to Read published by IRA, Cyndi Giorgis of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, discussed the importance of manipulating the power of visual literature that both children and adults are so drawn to and extending appreciation and understand of how illustrations matter in interpreting text. 

Great Projects to Try

My second and third graders used the book Trucks by Patricia Hubbell and fabulous collage illustrations of Megan Halsey. Introducing the book to the students led to so many discussions with the format of the text, the caption bubbles, the story itself, and the clever illustrations the students uncovered. Next I shared with my students an old alphabet rhyming game that my mother taught me years ago where the students filled in the blanks with items that matched the letter. My name is ___ and I am very ___. I’m going to ____ with a truck load of ___. My students quickly caught on and I would hear them chanting the rhyme and making up silly words all day long in the hallways. Their objectives were to use maps, draw a truck inserting their photo, create a collage that was inspired by Halsey’s illustrations, and write their rhyme using their name on the piece. 

 

 

 

My sixth graders designed and created these fabulous Greek columns with a self expressive sculpture resting on the pedestal. We began with research on the three main types of Greek columns. The students selected one style to create their column with and then wrote about their column as well as how the sculpture expressed them. 

   

Whether you teach RAW ART or any other subject, integrating literacy into everything we do and teach is crucial to advancing our students above the bar. Language both oral and written are the two most important factors putting our creativity in motion every day. Let your imagination run wild and create an innovative way to add a little literacy splash to all content areas.

For those interested I have an art blog with many of my ideas, photos, downloadable power points and books all free and accessible at www.artjulz.blogspot.com or you can e-mail me at julie@ara/.

 

In April 2011, the Third International Literacy Coaching Summit hosted by Widener University was held in Philadelphia. One of the goals of the summit was to foster literacy leadership and to emphasize the role literacy coaches play in promoting quality instruction. The conference was advertised in Reading Today as well as in the newsletter of Specialized Literacy Professionals. Educators came from far and wide to participate in the full-day institute chaired by Rita Bean and the two days of sessions that offered literacy based topics pertinent for educators from pre-school through university levels. 

In April 2012, the co-chairs of the conference, Mary Strong and Annemarie Jay of Widener University, co-edited a volume of work related to the summit. Conference presenters were invited to submit manuscripts for publication. A peer review process took place and eventually Promoting Quality Assurance in Literacy Instruction: The Preparation, Inquires and Practices of Literacy Professionals was published by New Foundations, an on-line educational publisher.

Jack Cassidy, the former IRA President who chaired the first two coaching summits and served as a keynote speaker at the summit in Philadelphia, wrote the foreword for the book stating that literacy coaches are “still an important and vital part of the national landscape.” He concludes his comments by saying, “…this volume will be an important resource for all K-12 professionals as well as the teacher educators who prepare them. The literacy professional was, is, and will be a crucial part of the educational milieu.” 

Promoting Quality Assurance in Literacy Instruction has been online for only one month and has already had over 5,000 readers access it. The book is divided into three specific sections: Part I is a stand-alone article by Rita Bean which reflects the focus of her presentation at the summit’s institute. Bean discusses the role of coaches as providers of professional development; she shares ideas about the role of coach in helping to support school change as a means of improving student learning.

Part II of the book focuses on preparation of literacy coaches. The chapters contained here provide information about the graduate level training coaches receive as well as the job-embedded training they afford their colleagues. The coach’s critical stance as a reflective practitioner is emphasized throughout this section. 

The emphasis of Part III is on the work of literacy coaches and reading specialists in the field. Topics include reading across the curriculum, stages of concern of teachers’ instructional development, working with inflexible teachers, working with special education students, RTI, high-stakes testing, supervision plans, infusing technology and instruction and helping teachers gain confidence with new literacies. 

The editors hope that this book will be a valuable resource for professional learning communities within/across schools, for course readings as part of graduate work, and as a self-help guide to the reading specialist or literacy coach seeking perspectives  from a range of literacy leaders. Since many school principals are not specifically prepared for literacy instruction, this book should also be a crucial resource for those with school-wide curricula responsibilities. 

For additional information contact Annemarie Jay by e-mail at abjay@mail.widener.edu or by phone at 610-499-4652. 

by Janice Friesen

Many of the students at University of Texas Elementary School, where I currently work, use only Google to search the Internet for projects that they are doing. I have found that many teachers and students are not aware of any other options and Google always seems to come up with something that works. The problem with Google is that sometimes (especially when searching for images) it returns inappropriate results. Students also need to understand issues of copyright and how to find images and other media that are free for them to use.

Here’s an example of how we learned about alternatives to using Google to locate images. Recently the second grade students were working on animal reports. They were all looking for pictures and information on the animal that they had chosen. Instead of just using Google, I wanted them to use a safer search engine. I also wanted them to understand some important things about the search results that they were getting. 

Using the interactive white board, my students and I did the following:

1. I went to Google Safe Search and dragged the icon of the squirrel that appeared in the URL bar over to the desktop. Now there was something on the desktop that they could click directly on to search. 

2. Then I spent some time talking with the second graders about how to use this search engine. I had them tell me one animal to search for and I typed in the term. This is what came up when we searched for Panda: 

 

3. Then we looked at the results. I explained to them that the results that come up at the very top (See Panda Antivirus) and on the sidebar are paid advertisements. That means that someone is trying to sell something. If you are shopping, it is OK to use these links, but they probably are not good for research. 

4. As we explored the search results for many different animals, we also found out that every animal we searched for had a link to National Geographic Kids, which was a great place to find pictures and information and it was written at their reading level.

5. I also showed them that the GREEN words below the name could give them some clues about what kind of site it was. 

6. This also gave me a chance to teach them a few things about copyright. The project they were doing would stay in their own classroom and was used for educational purposes, so it is clearly under fair use laws. However, students are publishing more and more of their multimedia projects on the Internet. If something is shared with the world this way, all of the content needs to be copyright free. That means that the students need permission to use whatever they have found and they need to cite where they got it.

Here are a few sites that can make searching for images and other media a little easier and much safer.  Some of these links also help with copyright.

• Pics4Learning: This site is a collection of photos that people have donated for students to use. There are no issues with copyright when using these photos. 
• CompFight: This site searches Flickr (a photo sharing site) and can easily be limited to searching for images under a Creative Commons License, which is a license that clearly states that others may use these images in their work. 
• KidsClick is a categorized search engine page with results for young children that have been hand selected by library media specialists.
• Sources for free audio in the classroom is a great website for locating audio clips. One strategy I have found that works well when helping students use audio clips in their work is to create a folder on your server (I use one called Music by Mood). Inside that folder, I create a few folders for moods like happy, sad, scary, and mysterious. Then I download a few audio examples for each mood to give children a place to start. There is just too much out there to sift through and it takes far too much time away from more productive parts of the project. I've found this strategy works well in helping children organize great sounds that others can use later.

Here are some really helpful websites about copyright issues for educators: 

• Janice Friesen’s Copyright for Educators provides a very simple summary of what copyright means for educators. It is in a question and answer format and has links to other useful websites. 
• Wesley Fryer’s Conference Session on Copyright contains lots of helpful links and information about copyright as well as some links to other copyright free resources that contain media for school projects. 
• Kathy Schrock’s Reading Reference & Copyright Sources is a very helpful site with links to various reference sites that guide elementary students through the process of creating citations or linking them directly to online forms that create the citations for you.  

I encourage you to introduce your students to these safer alternatives to locate images and audio files that they can use in their projects while also teaching them how to navigate the challenges of search engine results and follow the terms of copyright usage. These will be useful skills for students to have as they move into the upper elementary grades and middle school. 

Janice Friesen is a self-employed teacher. Her business I’m not a Geek.com helps people to be successful using technology. Her searchable blog http://helpimnotageek.blogspot.com offers tips for successful use of technology.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG). 

by Jen Donovan

Skype has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to provide teachers with the materials they need to enhance the learning experience beyond the classroom. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity community that provides donations to public schools in need across the US. Teachers are able to post their project or request and receive individual donations through the website. These donations provide resources like books, art supplies, and technology to schools in need. Through the partnership, Skype plans to donate $250,000 to teachers requesting the necessary materials to provide Skype video calling in their classrooms. 

The goal of the Skype Initiative is to break down the barriers of communication by connecting one million classrooms across the globe. Skype video calling gives students the opportunity to collaborate on projects and share ideas with other students from other cultures around the world. Currently 1,816 projects, 24,356 teachers, and 608 resources are involved in the initiative, and Skype has already funded several of the projects posted on DonorsChoose.org. 

Teachers can take advantage of this program by registering for Skype in the classroom today. For every new registered teacher, Skype will donate a $25 USD DonorsChoose.org Gift Card which can be applied to any classroom project posted on DonorsChoose.org, including any project they’ve created themselves.

To learn more and register with Skype in the classroom visit education.skype.com

To create an account and post your classroom project or request visit www.donorschoose.org.

Jen Donovan is the strategic communications intern at the International Reading Association. 

Teaching is hard. Really hard. There is not one teacher that will deny it. Of course, I love it—most days. I love the kids. I love the daily challenges. And I’m constantly learning to be the best me in the classroom to push through those challenges and meet the needs of the students.

But why try to do it alone?

There are a number of engaging social media sites that can connect us with educators and literacy experts. I’ve learned that there are MANY smart teachers across the world that I can connect with and learn from daily. Building my personal learning network (PLN) has been a goal of mine this last year and I have found a fun way to do it!

Teachers are always searching for new ideas and novel explanations, expanding our knowledge or understanding about a topic, or just looking for a fun, yet meaningful craft. The internet alone has provided teachers with an immense amount of information.

You may have heard of this booming new site that everyone is checking out. Pinterest is the fastest growing social networking site that allows its users to collect, organize, and share great ideas—and this hot social networking tool can really enhance your PLN, too! How? By connecting you with educators who share your interests from all over the world. It’s really that BIG!

So, What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is an online bulletin board where you “pin” (or collect) interesting images on your own virtual boards. It’s sort of like bookmarking, but way better because you are posting a visual image, instead of that lengthy website address or title of a site. (Now that I think about it, I never do go back to those bookmarks!)

Let’s say you are browsing the web and you find a great site, such as a resourceful teacher’s blog or an idea that you want to remember—just pin it using the “Pin it” button! It’s really that easy. In addition, I love that you can click on the image and it will take you right back to the original source to gain more information or even more ideas.


Easy as One, Two, Pin

Your first step is to get signed up at Pinterest.com. Currently, it’s by invite-only. You can request an invitation from Pinterest directly, or you could be invited by someone who is already a part of Pinterest. You will then register through your Facebook or Twitter account.

Yes, you read that correctly. In order to sign up to use Pinterest, you must have a Facebook or Twitter account, as Pinterest is a social networking site. Their ultimate goal is that you are “social” about your pins. (Side note: If you don’t want your pins to pop up on your Facebook wall or Twitter feed, you can change the privacy settings on those respective sites after signing up.)

Complete your profile and update your account settings. You are almost ready to pin!

“Pin It” Button

Click on the “About” menu and select “Pin It Button.” There are directions on how to install a “Pin It” button in your bookmarks bar. For me, it was as easy as dragging the “Pin It” button and dropping it in my bookmarks bar in Safari. Done. Of course, I realize technology isn’t always that cooperative, so there are more detailed directions on the “Goodies” page if needed.

Ready? Set…Pin!

Once you find an image that you want to pin, click your “Pin It” button and all the images that you can pin on the webpage will appear. Select the image that you want to pin, choose the board (refer to “Creating Boards” below) where you want to pin it, add a description, and click “Pin it.”

Searching Pinterest

Another perk of Pinterest is that you can search a topic without having to leave the Pinterest site. In addition, the search results allow you to view pins about the topic, boards with the keyword in the title, or people with the keyword in their name. Basically, this means that you don’t even have to leave the Pinterest site to search for ideas!

Recently, I have been thinking about updating and changing the “Thinking Journals” I currently use in my classroom and create more of a Reader’s Notebook. Sure, I could Google it, but then I’d have to scroll down a long list of sites, look for a reputable name, click on the link, read to only find out that it’s not what I am really looking for, then return back to the long list of sites...and the cycle continues on and on for pages and pages.

With Pinterest, I typed “Reader’s Notebook” in the search box in the upper left hand corner and I was immediately pleased to see over a hundred visual “pins” full of reader’s notebook ideas. And, thus, a new board was born: Reader’s Notebook. I am already implementing changes and love being able to easily go back to one site with all the ideas of collected.

Creating Boards

Organizing your pins is easy. Click and create a board to pin ideas on about anything! To create a board, click on the “Add +” in the upper right hand corner and select “Add a Board.” You can also create a new board as you are pinning something.

I originally started a “For the Classroom” board, which then led to a “Reading Workshop/Daily 5” board. And then, over the course of a year, I’ve created 32 boards—a mixture of personal and professional boards. I’ve noticed my ideas start BIG, but eventually, I zero in on specific hot topics and create a new board.

Following Pinners

If you find a pinner (a.k.a. one who uses Pinterest and pins) that you love or share similar interests, you can follow her and be updated with all the pins she adds daily. (I do say “her” because about 80% of Pinterest users are currently women.) You can follow a person and all the boards they have created, or you can follow individual boards that interest you.

When you are on the Pinterest website and signed in, you will notice this page is constantly updated when the people you follow add new pins. Watch your personal learning network grow! I recently learned that you can share pins with people you follow and you can also create boards where others can contribute as well. Another great opportunity to share and collaborate with your PLN!

Repin, Like, or Comment

When you hover your mouse over an image, the social aspects of Pinterest appear. You can select to “Repin” an image that you found while browsing. When you repin, the pinner who first pinned the image will also get credit, and repins maintain the original link of the image.

You can also “Like” a pin—giving it props that you like it. And, if you really want to say something about a pin, go ahead a leave a “Comment.”

Pin Etiquette

Any site that you sign up to use has fine print. Of course, there are many copyright laws, but it’s best to remember to:

1. Pin from the original source.
2. Give credit where credit is due.
3. Include a thoughtful description.

Still Pinterested in More?

• Check this out: I started an “All A-Board Pinterest” with more resources!
• Go straight to the source for more information: Pinterest Help Page
• Feel free to send me an email, or find me on Twitter @litlearningzone, and I’ll do my best to help answer any questions!
• Come find me on Pinterest! Click HERE.

Happy pinning!

Michelle Nero is a reading specialist at a K-5 elementary school in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. She has been teaching for 12 years and has been a member of the IRA for just as many. As she continues to engage in learning, she professionally tweets (@litlearningzone) and writes about teaching and practicing her craft on her blog (Literacy Learning Zone). Michelle is reading, writing, and reflecting to be the best she can be in the classroom, all the while balancing life at home with a supportive husband and two year old twin daughters. As she says, “Balancing is oh-so-difficult and oh-so-important!”