Literacy Now

The International Reading Association’s Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) continues its celebration of life in motion in the second installment of the “Wheels of Change” series of reviews of books for students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Grades K-3

Watkins, Angela F. (2011). My Uncle Martin’s words for America. New York: Abrams. Illus. by Eric Velasquez.

The niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. provides an insider’s perspective with her version of how he used words to change the world. Watkins provides perspective on how far-reaching those changes have been by beginning with accomplishments that many of us are likely to take for granted such as the election of an African American president and the appointment of a Supreme Court justice as well as African-American film makers and television hosts. How much progress toward social justice and civil rights and just how far the nation has actually have come since the days of Jim Crow laws and segregation are made clearer because of the examples. The text highlights the words that mattered to King and those that comprised his message, including love, nonviolence, justice, freedom, brotherhood, and equality, while describing the protesting, marching, speaking, and writing that would make a change in practices and laws, effectively insuring that civil rights would be protected by law. The illustrations are appealing and eye-catching, showing the human side to this famous figure. Back matter includes notes from the author and illustrator as well as a timeline showing how these important words and the protests they inspired resulted in changes in the nation’s law. A glossary and additional references add to the appeal of this picture book which would fit well with a text set using Doreen Rappaport's Martin's Big Words or Watkins’s earlier title about the human side of her uncle, My Uncle Martin’s Big Heart (2010).
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Grades 4-7

Katz, Susan. (2012). The president’s stuck in the bathtub: Poems about the presidents. Illus. by Robert Neubecker. New York: Clarion Books.

For historical perspective on the changes that have swept this country since its founding fathers first wrote the Declaration of Independence, readers may want to turn to this poetry anthology dedicated to the nation’s Presidents. Savvy teachers will quickly regard this collection as having many possibilities for integrating social studies and language arts. The 43 poems are short, informative, and often humorous. There is a poem for every man who has assumed the nation’s highest office, insuring political parity since every President gets his just desserts with a send-off or two. The poems are accompanied by some little-known fact or quirk with which kids will love regaling others, such as Abe Lincoln's proclivity for storing notes in his stovepipe hat, Ulysses S. Grant's distaste for hunting or, in the title poem, William H. Taft's need for a much larger bathtub than the White House provided. These footnotes often make connections from one President to another as well. The India ink and digital color illustrations are vivid and depict the human side of the Presidents as effectively as the poetry. Back matter includes brief notes and a quotation from each President. A quick refresher course for adults who may have slept through their American history class, this volume might kindle an interest in history young readers especially during this election year.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Touga, Shelley. (2012). Little Rock Girl 1957: How a photograph changed the fight for integration. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books.

Using the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Will Counts on the cover, this book brings the school integration movement to readers of all ages although the author started this book with the intention of bringing the civil rights era to middle grade readers. On September 4, 1947, nine African American students took the first steps into their Little Rock, Arkansas high school as part of court-ordered school integration. They were met by an angry mob intent on stopping them from entering the building and the Arkansas National Guard whose job it was to insure that they could do so. The author has used interviews and photographs to capture that first day of school for these brave teens and the days following to show how America crept forward to create equality in the nation’s public schools. These stalwart students came to be known as The Little Rock Nine—Elizabeth Eckford is shown on the book’s cover trying to enter the school alone—and changed the color of the faces inside the public schools of those days.
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Grades 8-12

Edwardson, Debby Dahl. (2011). My Name is Not Easy. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

One of the finalists for the National Book Award this year, My Name Is Not Easy tells the story of native Alaskan brothers as they are sent to the Sacred Heart Catholic boarding school from 1960 to 1965. Although this story is a novel, Edwardson bases her story on actual experiences from the Inupiaq culture as they sent their children to be educated. Readers will sense the dramatic contrast and similarities in cultures as boys and girls from Eskimo, Indian, and white families are displaced from their homes and must share their new living arrangements at the boarding school, which is sometimes abusive. Set in the era of burgeoning civil rights in the lower forty-eight states, the author’s story provides insight into the rights of indigenous people in Alaska. Feelings of loneliness, displacement, confusion, isolation and occasionally a bit of fun are shared by these young people. Hear the author read from her book during the National Book Award ceremony: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2011_ypl_edwardson.html
- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Whitaker, Alecia. (2012). The queen of Kentucky. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Like so many freshmen, Ricki Jo Winstead, 14, decides to take advantage of the fresh start high school offers. She changes her name to the more worldly Ericka, buys a new wardrobe, and studies fashion magazines to achieve a new look. Additionally, she attaches herself to four attractive, popular freshmen girls, and tries out for the cheerleading squad. Before she knows it, she’s crushing on the aptly named Wolf, the flirtatious basketball star in her Spanish class. He teases her a lot, but sometime the teasing contains barbs that hurt her feelings. Even though her parents are supportive and Luke, her next door neighbor and best friend, insists that she doesn’t need to change, Ericka gives in to her own insecurities and trades off her self-identity for a place among her new friends. Social pressure causes her to behave in ways Ricki Jo never would have, and Ericka comes dangerously close to losing the good parts of herself. Although this book offers important lessons, it also contains many hilarious scenes including one night spent drinking that ends in a cow pattie. Clearly, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. At least in the case of Ericka, readers will say, “Thank goodness.” Whether she goes by Ricki Jo or Ericka, this is one delightful heroine who will touch readers’ hearts and remind them to be true to themselves.
- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults–including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Printz awards–at its Midwinter Meeting in Dallas.

A list of all the 2012 award winners follows:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:Dead End in Norvelt written by Jack Gantos

written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Caldecott Honor Books: Blackout illustrated and written by John Rocco, Grandpa Green illustrated and written by Lane Smith, and Me … Jane illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell

Disciplinary literacy has received a tremendous amount of recent attention. Whereas a one-size fits all approach to literacy instruction fails to recognize reading and writing practices unique to particular disciplines, disciplinary literacy provides a means to appreciate and employ strategies appropriate to given content areas. Moje (2008) argues that young adults must learn the practices of experts in the field and the discourse used during those practices. Such an instructional approach can help students learn how knowledge is created and shared within specific disciplines. 

There are at least three ways that technology is integral to disciplinary literacy. First, technology can introduce students to the three tenets of disciplinary literacy: discourses and practices, identities and identifications, and knowledge (Moje, 2008). Technology can be a means to provide students access to each of these three tenets, particularly in areas where they might not normally have access to the identities or to the actual practices of unique disciplines.  Second, technology can be a medium for content area teachers to learn the best practices within disciplinary literacy instruction. Third, technology has become ubiquitous in many disciplines. As such, it forms the thread of the discourse, identity, and knowledge within those disciplines. Said differently, technology moves from the means of instruction in the first two methods to the actual content of the disciplinary literacy instruction in the third example.

Recent research has highlighted this relationship between disciplinary literacy and technology. One example comes from the work of Dr. Michael Manderino at Northern Illinois University. In a paper entitled, "Social Networking as Discursive Practice: Developing Disciplinary Literacy in History", Manderino (2011) studied a group of US History teachers who used a social networking space for students to create fictitious profiles.

Given the author's interest in multi-modal, student-generated artifacts, students were asked to create an authentic historical profile of someone from the 1960's using pictures, video, and music (p. 13). One of the most interesting findings is that the "use of multimodal sources resulted in higher engagement and richer historical meaning making by students... In terms of disciplinary learning, the use of multimodal sources provided deep engagement and helps foster the student to see the complexity of history" (p. 18). 

Such research provides promising findings for the use of 21st century tools in studying, obtaining, and practicing content-specific knowledge and skills. Future research should continue to find ways to understand and differentiate the roles of technology as both medium and content of disciplinary literacy instruction. 

Manderino, M. (2011, April).  Social networking as discursive practice: Developing disciplinary literacy in history.  Symposium paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. 
Symposium Paper Link (If you are having trouble with this link, try the Google Scholar Link.)

Moje, E.B. (2008). Foregrounding the disciplines in secondary literacy teaching and learning: A call for change. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(2), 96-107.

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TILE-SIG Feature: Making the Professional Development Shift

TILE-SIG Feature: Web Watch: The New York State Science Teacher Website

Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG)

Over 380,000 students in twenty-eight states have committed to celebrate Digital Learning Day, a national awareness campaign designed to celebrate innovative teachers and highlight instructional practices that strengthen teaching and personalize learning for all students.

The first Digital Learning Day will be held on February 1, 2012. It is the culminating event in a year-round national awareness campaign to improve teaching and learning for all children. Digital learning is any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen the student learning experience. Digital learning encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practice, including using online and formative assessment, increasing focus and quality of teaching resources and time, online content and courses, applications of technology in the classroom and school building, adaptive software for students with special needs, learning platforms, participating in professional communities of practice, providing access to high level and challenging content and instruction, and many other advancements technology provides to teaching and learning. In particular, blended learning is any time a student learns, at least in part, at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.

“I’m excited to see the momentum building for Digital Learning Day,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. “These states have really embraced the issue and are planning exciting celebrations within their own states to support the national discussion about effective applications of technology in education.”

On Digital Learning Day, a virtual national town hall meeting will be broadcast live from Washington, DC, and will highlight four to six satellite locations. The town hall meeting boasts support from twenty-five core partners made up of national membership organizations, and a broad array of stakeholder groups, including principals, school board, content area specialists, and instructional technology professionals;  twenty-seven states that are planning their own statewide celebrations; twenty-six instructional technology experts who are hard at work developing toolkits and resources to support educators at all the state, district, school, and classroom levels; and nationally known companies, such as Intel Corporation, Google, and SMART Technologies.

The celebration of Digital Learning Day will be tailored within each participating state. Some activities these states are planning include a proclamation from the state governor, a showcase of student work through digital learning, lesson plan contests for teachers, announcements of digital learning projects, and highlights of promising practices within and among states.

Visit www.digitallearningday.org to learn more about Digital Learning Day or to read the Alliance for Excellent Education’s report The Digital Learning Imperative: How Teaching and Technology Meet Today’s Educational Challenges.

For example, on Digital Learning Day, the Indiana Department of Education will kick off the state’s twenty-nine-day ―Web 2.0 Challenge. Then, on each day in February, it will introduce a new resource complete with tutorials and tips on its blog. The challenge is for educators to explore the shared tools and post thoughts and ideas about how they could use them to enhance student learning. Additionally, the state will encourage districts to post a three-minute video telling their own Digital Learning story to the Indiana Department of Education YouTube channel.

"Educators all over Indiana work every day to advance and expand their efforts to take advantage of technology to improve student outcomes," said Candice Dodson, director of eLearning at the Indiana Department of Education. "Digital Learning Day gives us—and all states—a chance to shine a light on the exciting ways digital learning is happening in schools."

All are welcome to participate in this celebration of innovation. Act now! Join the important national and local discussions by signing up to learn more about Digital Learning Day at http://www.digitallearningday.org.

The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, DC-based national policy and advocacy organization that works to improve national and federal policy so that all students can achieve at high academic levels and graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship in the twenty-first century. For more information about the Alliance for Excellent Education, please visit http://www.all4ed.org.

The National Center for Family Literacy is accepting applications for the 2012 Toyota Teacher of the Year.

The winner will receive $20,000 for his or her program as well as a free trip to the 2012 National Conference on Family Literacy (NCFL), which will be held from March 25 through March 27 in San Diego. This will be the 16th year for the annual award. Criteria with an emphasis on parental engagement and a doubled grant prize are both new this year.

The application, which should be completed online at http://www.famlit.org/toyota-teacher-of-the-year-nomination-form/, is due no later than February 1, 2012.

The winner will be chosen by a panel of NCFL family literacy specialists, who will review nominations looking for high-performing teachers with the following criteria:
• Work for a family literacy program, Title I elementary school, preschool or community organization based in the United States. 
• Serve parents and children with a strong intergenerational approach to helping them learn together and/or use innovative ways to engage parents in their children’s education;
• Exhibit a record of success;
• Have novel ideas for expanding their program to benefit families and/or reach to engage more families; and
• Serve communities and families with high literacy and socioeconomic needs.

The selected educator will be honored at the National Conference on Family Literacy along with receiving the grant, and one runner-up will receive a $2,500 grant for his/her program and a scholarship to the conference. The recipients will be notified by early March.

The form must be completed by the nominee’s principal/director/supervisor, and nominee must answer the final question. Programs may nominate up to two educators but must submit a separate online nomination form for each.

For more information and guidelines, visit http://www.famlit.org/toyota-teacher-of-the-year-award-selection-criteria/.