Literacy Now

In schools around the world, teachers and administrators are participating in professional development. It is a term beginning to be thrown around lightly. “I think I am going to take off Friday so I can skip PD.” “The students have the day off so we can attend yet another pointless professional development.” Although professional development is aimed towards improving teaching practices, some teachers see PD as a common time where teachers can catch up on grading papers, check their emails, or use the time to scroll their cell phones to see the latest trends in social media.

Professional development is supposed to be a time where educators acquire new skills or knowledge. This could come in the form of watching a video, reviewing an article, listening to a guest speaker, observing strategies being modeled, or receiving training on a new program being implemented at their school.

Instead of leaving PD complaining, “I can’t believe administration has us trying something else new. We have enough to do as it is,” educators should walk away excited and eager to implement something that will improve student learning. Morale should be high. Teachers should be collaborating with one another to find ways they can make these new ideas work. PD is not about racing to Teachers Pay Teachers or Pinterest to find new activities. Instead, it is about acquiring new knowledge to enhance professional growth, eventually leading to improved student achievement.

When planning for a PD, make sure it is meaningful for teachers and administrators. Is there something they can walk away with or is it something that will take up time because the district scheduled a mandatory PD day?

When attending PD, don’t go in with a negative attitude. Be excited. When you leave, ask yourself: What did I learn? What new strategy or idea can implement? How can I use this to grow as an educator? The teaching profession is not stagnant, we cannot be either. We must challenge ourselves to improve and grow. If you have doubts, remember, the kids are counting on us to brighten their future, to instill skills to be successful. They are future leaders.

Brandi Leggett is a National Board Certified Teacher as a Middle Childhood Generalist. She received her master’s in Elementary Education from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. She currently teaches third grade at Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee, Kan. Follow her class during the school year at Team Leggett.

The International Reading Association is always eager to give our members tips and tricks for the classroom and for their own development. Our monthly e-newsletter, Inspire, is one of the tools we use to share best practices. In our efforts to keep the voice and advice found in Inspire fresh, we have invited three new voices to contribute to the newsletter and are excited to share their expertise in the coming year.

Cathy Collier is a certified reading specialist at Great Bridge Primary School in Chesapeake, Va. with an additional 15 years as a kindergarten teacher. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Special Education and is the immediate past president of the Virginia State Reading Association. Read more at her blog, The W.I.S.E. Owl “Where Instruction Supports Excellence.” On the site she shares best practices with fellow educators, with a focus on emergent readers. Follow her on Twitter at @Wiseowlcathy.

Brandi Leggett is a National Board Certified Teacher as a Middle Childhood Generalist. She received her master’s in Elementary Education from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. She currently teaches third grade at Prairie Ridge Elementary in Shawnee, Kan. Follow her class during the school year at Team Leggett.

Laren Hammonds teaches eighth grade language arts at Rock Quarry Middle School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her interests include media literacy, cross-curricular collaboration, and the design of learning spaces. Connect with her on Twitter where she goes by @_clayr_, or read more at her blog, Game to Learn.

Inspire is just one of the many benefits member access through the members-only section of Reading.org. If you don’t have access to the current or pasts issues of the newsletter, become an IRA member at /join.

“Superworm” (Arthur Levine Press, 2014)
Written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Pre-K through Grade 6 

“Superworm” is the story of an ordinary worm who chooses to use his talents in unusual ways.  The book has a wonderful sense of rhyme and plays well into repeated reading for the children to join in. The lively, moving story will capture children’s attention as the summer time gets closer and help pull them in to reading and activities.   The worm, Superworm, is friends to many different kinds of creatures and helps them to get out of some difficult circumstances.  For example, when a toad gets stuck in the road, Superworm lassos him and pulls him to safety, and when the bees are bored, Superworm becomes a jump rope.  One of the creatures in the book, Wizard Lizard, is a villain who captures Superworm to force him to locate treasure underground.  All his friends must work together to save Superworm from being lost to the magic forever. 

The illustrations add a priceless part of the story and will keep the children’s attention, in addition to the fun rhymes and songs.

Cross-Curricular Connections: Science, Art, Social Studies, English, Math

Ideas for Classroom Use: 

Earthworm Treasure Map
The purpose of this activity is to create mathematical concepts of space and order by designing a treasure map for Superworm. Prior to reading, discuss where earthworms are usually found and what role they play in everyday life.  Encourage children to share stories of their experiences with type of earthworms.  If students are unsure of earthworms, take time to introduce them to a natural earthworm.  Having this background knowledge will help the book come to life.  Ask student to watch carefully for the times when the earthworm was underground and trying to find the treasure.

As a closing activity, discuss the pages where the worm is underground again.  Have students brainstorm a path around the “junk” to find the treasure.  Encourage students to create their own maze, or treasure map, for the Superworm.  Have them designate a path to take and then add distractions to make him turn around, modeling their map after the pictures in the book.  As time allows, have students walk through their treasure map telling what Superworm found instead of the treasure and where he finally found the treasure.  This activity can constitute an alternate ending to the story where the friends don’t catch the magic lizard.

Worm Farm
The purpose of this activity is to observe, record, and evaluate earthworms in their natural state.  After reading SUPERWORM, ask students if the character’s behavior is what they have seen a worm do in their own environments.  Make a list of what the students know about earthworms, what they want to learn, and then allow for recording lessons learned through the creation of a worm farm.  Watch videos on creating a worm farm and learn what worms like to have in order to be happy.  In a clear container, have students layer soil and sand to create a base for the worms.  Moisten each layer of soil and add a few banana peels to the center for food.  Cover three sides of the box in black construction paper.  Purchase worms (or, if you’re feeling particularly brave, dig some up) and add them to the top of the container.  Record daily where the worms can be seen and any unusual activities.  Record the amount of food the worms are eating and add moist foods like fruit and veggies leftovers to the top as needed.  After tracking for several days, discuss the observations in a large group and ask what the students learned by watching the worms.  Review the questions that were written prior to the creation of the farm and answer any that have not been answered yet.

Having each student keep a daily or weekly log of earthworm activity, and save appropriate scraps, will help students take ownership of the project.

Create a Superhero
The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to think about other creatures in new ways.  After reading Superworm, discuss as a large group some other creatures that could become heroes.  Encourage thinking outside of the box like what happened with Superworm.  As students come up with more ideas, have them create their new superhero.  These creations can be painted, drawn, modeled, etc.  Encourage students to choose a mode of art that connects them to their hero.  Recyclable materials may work well for this project.  As the creatures are finished up, have younger students dictate to an adult and older students write a synopsis of their superhero.  Tell about what they are and how they can rescue or save the day.  Encourage playfulness and creativity.  Allow students to display their work where other classrooms can view it and read about the newly discovered heroes. As the summer draws closer, the more creativity and freedom allowed to explore, the more engaged the students should become.

Additional Resources and Activities: 
Worm Farm
This video documents Kevin’s creation of a worm farm to help to compost organic materials.  The page details what he did to build a worm farm, what he found out, and how to create your own worm farm.  He gives helpful tips to sustain the worm farm long term.

The Adventures of Herman
This page provided by the University of Illinois Extension provides an in depth look at the lives of worms.  The page follows Herman the Worm by looking at his history, his family tree, and his anatomy.  The page has sections for worm habitats, importance of worms, and what the worm likes to eat.  A link to fun activities and more web links is also provided.  This page will provide information in an engaging way. 

Fact or Fiction: Learning About Worms Using Diary of a Worm
This lesson plan link from Read*Write*Think looks at the Book Diary of a Worm and teaches the students how to determine real facts from fiction.  This same idea can be applied to Superworm in determining whether or not any of the information in the book is factual.  The students can use this to supplement the knowledge they need to build a worm farm, and will provide practice in critical thinking.

Kathy Prater is a Reading Specialist who works with students with dyslexia, an Adjunct Professor at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi, and a full time pre-kindergarten teacher at Starkville Academy in Starkville, Miss. Her passions include reading, writing, tending her flock of chickens, and helping students at all levels to find motivation for lifelong reading and learning. She believes every child can become a successful reader if given the right tools and encouragement.

Wordless picture books are great for English language learning classrooms. Those with a limited grasp of the language can create their own stories using the images on the page. The books promote storytelling as everyone can add to the illustrations they see.

Chronicle Books lists the following reasons why wordless books are so important:

• Emergent readers can generate a story based on the images they see.

• Early readers can “read” their own verbal text.

• Independent readers can add details with plot, characters and setting.

Caldecott award-winning books provide great selections for wordless lessons. Journey, written and illustrated by Aaron Becker, shows a little girl going from sepia images to a colorful world. This book could be used for whole class instruction or as a center activity for students to write their own version. Comparing student versions will demonstrate a variety of stories developed from these beautiful images. Flora and the Flamingo, written and illustrated by Molly Idle, offers interactive flaps to explore friendship. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney was a 2010 Caldecott Medal winner and has exquisite animal illustrations. As a bonus, integrating art into writing lessons is a STEAM strategy.

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole is a wordless picture book perfect for social studies. A young girl discovers a runaway slave hidden in the barn. Will she be courageous enough to help? Students will learn just how challenging it was to run away and not be discovered. This book will stimulate many writing activities and promote further research on the Underground Railroad.

Wordless picture books can also be utilized by students of all ages. Older students love to see the illustrations capture the story. Once chapter books are introduced, children shy away from picture books. This is a great way to re-introduce picture books as a learning strategy.

We all know stories have a beginning, middle, and end and wordless books help promote sequencing. Inference can be taught with the pictures, even though words are not present. Students can predict what will happen next.

The genre of wordless picture books can promote critical thinking in your classroom. Many lessons can be garnered from this unique resource.

Earlier this year there was a Twitter chat on wordless picture books. You can access the archive for this chat here. For future chats, follow #titletalk on Twitter the last Sunday of each month from 8–9 p.m. EST.

Marjie Podzielinski is a a member of the Advisory Committee of Teachers and a librarian at Coulson Tough School in The Woodlands, Texas.

Teaching in ACTion is a series from the Advisory Committee of Teachers (ACT), an International Reading Association committee comprised of exemplary reading and literacy teachers from around the world. Educators who best exemplify the mission of IRA are chosen from a pool of applicants to serve a three-year term. Among other responsibilities, the main charge of ACT is to be the conduit between IRA’s members and the board of directors.

ACT invites member to engage in the conversation by sending responses to us. ACT’s goal is to get a feel for how members feel about current hot topics, so that we may better serve members by sharing their concerns with the board of directors.

Reading educators, we need to use this statement proactively in sending our message: It is not only oral language that is critically important to children’s development. It is print exposure, time spent reading right from the very beginning that makes an enormous difference in children’s lives.

In short, the statement argues that we can “immunize” children against reading failure by reading early to them. From my perspective, this is a bit of a stretch, and I would not tout this even to a general public. But otherwise, the statement makes some important points. For example:

• It advises parents that reading aloud to children enriches the parent-child relationship and prepares children to learn language and literacy skills.
• It recommends starting earlier than before. Throughout the statement, it highlights starting in infancy.
• It recommends funding for children’s books in pediatric health supervision visits of high-risk children.
• It talks about 5 R’s: reading together; rhyming, (playing, talking, singing, and cuddling together,); routines (and regular times for reading); rewards (for everyday successes); and relationships (that are nurturing, reciprocal, purposeful and enduring).

In our work with families we say to parents, put down your phone and spend time together on reading as a joint activity. As we all know, reading is a wonderful time of intimacy between a parent and child. We tell parents to listen, respond to children’s interests, to engage them in extending what the story is about. If parents themselves have difficulty with reading, we tell them the point of the book is the relationship it establishes early on, the context of being read to, even with words that might differ from those on the page. Young children, especially in infancy, can’t read the words on the page anyway, and won’t know if the parent makes mistakes along the way. They will only recognize that being read to is a moment when they are receiving full attention from a loving adult.

We also try to counsel them on the appropriate selection of good books in the very early years. Bold colors and simple pictures that are clear and distinct, minimal print, cardboard pages to help their little fingers turn a page—a monumental event for the child when he or she takes ownership of the book. Young children love to learn about basic concepts such as the signs in their environment, their house and family members, their fingers, hands and toes. Their attention span is short and sweet, and we make sure to end on the ‘crest of a wave’ rather than deal with a squirmy baby.

In my work with Donna Celano, we came to recognize the importance of reading to your child early on. Last year, we conducted a series of eye-tracking studies with 117 babies. All of our families believed in reading to their children, yet some actually began very early on, as early as 6 months old. By 14 months, we found that children who were read to early on were better able to identify some basic concepts of print; they knew when a book was upside down, and also knew almost one-and-a-half times more words according to the MacArthur Scale of receptive language.

We also know that far too many of our young children are not being read to on a regular basis. In our book, Giving Children a Fighting Chance, we show the tragedy we often see in libraries in poor communities. Children want to be read to, yet no adult to read to them—no adult helps them unlock the mysteries of print that are so intriguing to young children. As a result, we know that children come to school behind and stay behind, having not learned the 'literacy lessons' implicit in storybook reading—how print works, how stories are structured, and how vocabulary and literacy language are learned through books.

Let’s take this moment to spread the word, to galvanize our communities in collaborative efforts to read to very young children. Children, no matter who they are or where they live will all benefit from these efforts.

Susan B. Neuman is a professor and chair of teaching and learning at New York University, specializing in early literacy development. Previously, she has been a professor at the University of Michigan and has served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. In her role as assistant secretary, she established the Early Reading First program, the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program and was responsible for all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act. She has served on the IRA Board of Directors and other numerous boards of nonprofit organizations. She is currently the editor of Reading Research Quarterly.