Literacy Now

Have you noticed the many recent news reports of school purchases of electronic tools and applications, and how teachers are using technology in their classrooms? Such extensive coverage is not surprising; we need to be next-gen schools and educational technologies do have enormous potential to raise student achievement.

Classrooms, such as those at Califon School in Califon, NJ, look like exciting places for kids to learn. I believe, however, that we should tread cautiously, reflecting on some instructional assumptions we may be making, how we determine school budget priorities, and the influence wealthy individuals and giant corporations potentially have on literacy instruction as we go digital.

Possible assumptions

My first teaching position was in a really small town (population 512). I made some assumptions about my students that over time proved wrong: (1) they could all read, (2) they would be excited about learning, and (3) they all got a good night’s sleep.

It turned out that (1) quite a few were struggling readers, (2) they didn’t like school, and (3) many spent weekday evenings at the local bar with their parents. Initially, my incorrect assumptions guided my teaching; as they unraveled, I had to readjust and reconsider how and what I taught.

I wonder if now we are making faulty assumptions regarding educational technology in classrooms. Perhaps we are assuming as fact that:

1. Students prefer to learn using today’s technology over more traditional delivery formats. According to Hewlett Packard’s 2013 study of college students, students appreciated the ease of use of e-books provided, but “contrary to what most would expect, the younger and supposedly tech-savvy students are not all that into e-textbooks. It runs counter to the push for paper-free digital classroom where e-books are often marketed (and touted) as the lower cost (and lower weight) option.” When we personalize learning, we have to take into account whether the manner in which instruction is delivered appeals to both student interests.


2. Students who have access know how to use it. My neighbor has two middle-schoolers. Her daughter is tethered to technology, regularly uploads on YouTube, creates sophisticated PowerPoints for school projects, writes blogs, and easily researches topics that interest her; my neighbor’s son, however, uses digital tools when necessary for writing school papers, but essentially creates a cut-and-paste product. Clearly, though living in the same access-available household, these two children have achieved different skill levels. Even though today’s students may have grown up with new technologies, they are not all whiz kids at using them, nor do they want to be.


3. Proficient print readers will be good e-readers. Not necessarily. A review of the research (Jabr, April 2013) concludes that comprehension of paper text is superior to text read on screen, attributing this to such factors as ease of navigation and sense of control. Additionally, reading paper text appears to be less mentally and physically taxing because e-texts require scrolling in addition to reading. As engineers work to make reading with new technologies similar to the experience of reading on paper, such differences may disappear.


4. Struggling readers will have higher achievement when teaching is enhanced by educational technology. Not all by itself. In a recent report out of Stanford University, Darling-Hammond, Zielezinski, and Goldman (September 2014) cite three factors affecting outcomes for at-risk adolescent learners using educational technology: (1) interactive learning; (2) use of technology to explore and create rather than to “drill and kill;” and (3) the right blend of teachers and technology.


5. Students can do technology-based assignments at home. We’ve heard repeatedly that today’s students are more tech-savvy than their teachers. After all, they grew up with it and many teachers did not. This assumption ignores the digital divide in classrooms. Some students have had access at home since birth; many have not. Pew’s 2013 study on use of the Internet in the U.S. found 85% of Americans use the Internet but only 70% have broadband connections at home, and low-income households comprise the largest group without home access. In income-diverse classrooms, our students will not be on a level playing field if homework assignments are dependent on or advantaged by access.


6. Educational technology improves teaching. Technology itself doesn’t improve teaching. Teachers need classroom support and effective professional development to maximize the technologies; the hardware and software must be user-friendly and meet students’ needs; the pedagogy (which isn’t the technology) must demand high-quality interactions between students and teachers, and among students, with high expectations of all. Giving every student a laptop isn’t going to improve our teaching, and every student having a netbook isn’t an instructional model.

Budget priorities

Are significant dollars allocated to educational technology at the expense of other needed purchases? Tight school budgets require careful choices.

What guides decisions about educational technology? Will we purchase new band equipment to replace instruments that are un-playable, something that probably affects just a few students, or buy more devices for the computer lab, which benefits more students? If the latter, when do band students get needed instruments?

What about more devices for the school’s computer lab versus better adaptive technology for special needs students? Who decides? On what basis? Is there a long-term plan? Are teachers included in the decision making? I expect there’s a wide range of responses to these questions, but as one educator suggests, “Teachers should be designing their classrooms and schools and then discussing, with leaders and technologists, what devices can best support that design.”

School influencers

A quick rush to the clarion call for 21st century digital classrooms may come at a price beyond the cost of the technology itself. Several years ago, I was part of a team awarded a Striving Readers grant for adolescent learners, one of only eight grants awarded that year for this U.S. program. One condition of our receiving this award was that a specific computer-based program would serve as the instructional centerpiece. We had to accept one publisher’s product, unfamiliar to us, and had no opportunity to evaluate its appropriateness for our students.

A review of the research did find the program to have some positive effects on comprehension and general literacy achievement for adolescent learners, but this is not a guarantee of success for ALL students (and they did not all benefit in our program), but no alternatives were permitted.

In 2014, one large company describing its school-based grants explained, “Our grant programs are designed to apply [our] resources to specific projects and programs that fit within our targeted areas of interest ...” If schools are dependent on outside sources to fund technology, we should closely examine the strings that are attached to those monies.

We also cannot afford to mistake education entrepreneurs for educators. As one commentator suggests, “Philanthropy skews education policies to reflect the untested agendas of big donors.” For instance, between 2010–2012, Mark Zuckerburg donated $100 million to Newark, NJ, public schools primarily to support his preferences for charter schools and merit pay for teachers (based on performance and leading to layoffs). According to reports, significant donation dollars also went to consulting firms, reaching neither teachers nor classrooms.

Most of us probably acknowledge, accept, and maybe even admire and applaud the contribution education technology makes to student learning. If we use it judiciously and strategically, examining some of our assumptions and priorities as we plan instruction, our students and our teaching will surely benefit.

Jill Lewis-Spector (jlewisprof1@yahoo.com) is the ILA president and a professor emerita from New Jersey City University.

Can you imagine a classroom of 16 first grade students, heterogeneously grouped and highly engaged in independent quiet writing time for 20 minutes? Can you picture a classroom in which the teacher announces it is time to move on from writing and some students frantically write as if they will never see their journals again, while others sigh as they put down their pencils?

I can. Believe it or not, motivating all students to want to write regardless of ability level is an achievable goal. The classroom I describe is my first grade classroom during writing time. However, my writing time didn’t always look like this!

Towards the end of the last school year, I was introduced to the book Super Core! by Mark Weakland. I have used this book and continue to use it as a resource to make the necessary changes to maximize student engagement during writing time. In order to engage every student during extended writing time, I had to overcome two major roadblocks. I had students saying “I’m done!” or “I don’t know what to write about!” By the time I redirected students to keep writing and worked with others on picking a topic, writing time was over.

Here are a few simple changes I’ve made using Super Core! and they have made all the difference in the world!

Create a Topic List

Discuss topics with your students. Take the time to explicitly teach what a topic is by showing actual examples of authors’ work. Once your students understand the idea of topics, provide mini-lessons on creating a topic list. Explain to your students they will create a list of things that are “near and dear to their hearts.”  Make sure to take your time with these lessons and keep the focus on adding to the topic list each day for one week. Most importantly, students should always have access to their topic list. My students have a writing folder that holds their writing tools. The topic list has become my student’s first writing tool. Now, if a student is struggling with a topic idea they know where to find ideas that are meaningful.  

Provide Extended Writing Time

I am fortunate to have a 30-minute writing block each day. The first 10 minutes is devoted to a mini-lesson, the next 20 minutes involves independent student writing and conferences, and the final 10 minutes provides an opportunity for students to share work in “The Author’s Chair.” This extended writing block is crucial to the development of student writing as it serves to differentiate and provide choice to young authors.

Teach with Data-Driven Mini-Lessons

In previous years I used my core reading program to drive instruction. Currently, my mini-lessons are driven from the data I record during student conference time. For example, if I notice several students using the words and or because at the beginning of a sentence, I form mini-lessons on how to correctly use the words and or because. This becomes more authentic as it addresses real student need.

Provide Choice

Providing choices during independent writing has been the single greatest factor for increasing student engagement in my classroom. At the end of every mini-lesson before students go off to write, I remind my students they may use the topic I chose during the mini-lesson, pick a new topic, or add on to a topic they have already started. This engagement reduces student questions and interruptions. When my students are motivated and empowered by choice, I am free to work with individuals during conference time. Individual conferences serve as a time to differentiate instruction and keep valuable notes about student writing. For instance, during a 10 minute conference, I may find that one of my students needs to work on correcting letter reversals while another needs to focus on using correct punctuation when writing dialogue.

Provide Opportunities to Share               

Finally, each one of my students is provided with the opportunity to sit in the Author’s Chair to share a piece of writing that is important to them one time a week. Students are proud and eager to share with their classmates. It also gives me an opportunity to review specific skills, provide positive feedback, and assess student writing progress.

Renee Dryer is a first grade teacher at Ferndale Area Elementary School in Johnstown, PA.

by Nell K. Duke
University of Michigan
November 20, 2014

Many International Reading Association members recognize the important role that families, as well as classroom teachers, play in developing students’ literacy. In fact, IRA has a position statement specifically on this topic:  Family-School Partnerships: Essential Elements of Literacy Instruction in the United States.

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Education launched an initiative to strengthen family and community engagement practices in U.S. schools. The initiative rests on The Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships.

“The purpose of the framework is to establish a U.S. Department of Education (ED) wide strategy of family and community engagement (FCE) efforts by collaborating FCE resources across ED, increase awareness about FCE, and highlight the importance of parents working as partners with schools to achieve academic success,” according to the document.

The Framework is based on a larger document developed by the Southeast Educational Development Laboratory in Collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education. The report and the Framework emphasize the need to build capacity for school and program staff as well as families in four areas:

• Capabilities (skills and knowledge)
• Connections (networks)
• Cognition (beliefs, values)
• Confidence (self-efficacy)

The outcome of this is anticipated to be families who can play multiple roles in schools and programs, and school and program staff who can:

• Honor and recognize families’ funds of knowledge
• Connect family engagement to student learning
• Create welcoming, inviting cultures.

The report includes three case studies of effective family-community partnerships, each of which involves literacy. It seems likely that literacy will be a focus of many family-community partnerships inspired or supported by this initiative. IRA members can play an important role by providing research-based information about literacy practices in schools, homes, and communities and about how to foster literacy development in children and youth.

This article is from the International Reading Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Reader response is welcomed. E-mail your comments to LRP@/.

photo credit: Laurel L. Russwurm via photopin cc

When people hear the term “Project-Based Learning,” there are usually one of two misconceptions: It is where your class makes a project at the end of a unit or it is simply too chaotic. Both of these assumptions are truly that —“misconceptions.”

True PBL is a process where the students own their learning. They are simply told what to do, with clear guidelines. They are at the forefront, while the teacher serves as the facilitator. Students are engaged and the project is driving the unit instead of the unit driving a final product. Yes, things may look chaotic at times, but with proper training, students know what the expectations are. Student behavior usually is not a problem because they are so involved in the process. They know the purpose for learning the content. Students are working in collaborative groups, having making decisions about their learning. By doing this, they are working on conflict resolution skills, leadership, listening and speaking skills.

One of the Standards I recently taught my third grade students was the history of our community. Students needed to know why people chose to live in their community, what their rights and responsibilities were as a citizen of their community, how their community has changed over time and what drives shifts in population in their community. Through PBL, I was able to create a project where students were in control of learning this material.

I developed a driving question, “How does Shawnee’s past impact present day Shawnee?” This is open-ended question drives the unit. Students were placed in group of four or five students, where they wrote eight to 10 questions that could guide them to answering the driving question. They used these questions to help them with research. Next, students took notes, allowing them to understand Shawnee’s past.

After doing this, we took a community walk. Each group had an iPad to take photos of our present day community. Students went into businesses, interviewing individuals on why they lived or worked in Shawnee and what they felt our community was doing well, and what needed to improve. To understand more about how they could be a responsible citizen, students completed random acts of kindness while we were on our walk.

Another important aspect of PBL is including experts. This could be individuals coming in to speak with the students, or someone you are able to contact using Skype in the classroom. Our city manager made a presentation for the students so they could gather more information about Shawnee.

The final step was allowing the students to turn their research into a movie using Animoto. This was more of an authentic assessment, rather than having the students answer a multiple-choice test on our community. Students were assessed using a rubric, which they had been given at the beginning of the project.

Finally, the students needed someone to present their movies to. The city manager contacted city council members and other community leaders to attend our community movie presentations. Students became the experts, where they were able to applaud decisions and make suggestions to individuals who were the decision makers with what took place in our community.

Yes, PBL does mean you have to be willing to give up some control to your students, but in the end, it is well worth it.

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.

Wordless picture books are one of the best ways to invite readers to actively participate in  a story. Examining these books present great challenges to both readers and authors/illustrators as they no longer rely on words. While some teachers find wordless picture books useful for fostering young children’s literacy skills and imagination, picture books without text also provide reading pleasure for older readers. This week’s book reviews from members of the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group invites readers of all ages to experience the power of illustrations and the surprises and delights that these picture books carry to revive or strengthen our love for reading.

Becker, Aaron. (2014). Quest. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

In this sequel to Journey (2013), a 2014 Caldecott Honor Book, author/illustrator Aaron Becker takes readers on another adventure with the previous book’s characters, a young girl and the young boy she has just met. Carrying red and purple chalks as well as accompanied by a magical purple bird, they meet an old king in an orange robe. He shows them a map with several colorful circles on it. While the king is trying to explain the map to the boy and the girl, two soldiers appear suddenly and arrest him but not before he leaves them an orange chalk, which sets them off on a quest to save the king. By following the map, they travel to different places, from under the sea and a desolate castle to a landmark on snowcapped mountains. Chased by a group of soldiers, they are able to complete their quest and save the king with their wits and bravery and the help of the magical bird. Readers will experience the power of wonder and the value of companionship through this picture book. With watercolor, pen, and ink illustrations adding a tone of mystery to the quest, this story invites readers to continue the imaginative journey begun in Becker’s earlier title.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Boyd, Lizi. (2014). Flashlight. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

When night falls, the dark does not mean that nature becomes silent. Carrying a flashlight, a curious boy walks out of his cozy tent to explore the woods at night. It turns out the excursion into the woods after dark is quite interesting. He discovers his lost boot on the grass. Bats fly through the air. An owl perches on the tree. Mice and skunks walk freely. Beavers are constructing a river house. Fish, frogs, foxes, deer, and butterflies all leisurely take their time moving about. Sitting by a tree and having a snack and a rest are luxuries that come from night exploration. Oops! The boy tumbles over a rock, losing his flashlight. To his relief, a raccoon picks it up, and all the animal friends the boy encounters during the exploration help him return to his cozy tent. This picture book invites readers to see nature’s nocturnal beauty through several cut-outs accentuating details on the illustrations. Moreover, the illustrations, rendered in gouache, capture the serene but lively night. Readers may be inspired to take their own night trip outside to appreciate nature in the dark.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Colón, Raúl. (2014). Draw! New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

What might happen to a boy with pencils, sketchbooks, and a book about Africa in hand? After reading about Africa, the boy, stretching his imagination, carries his pencils and sketchbooks and enters his own African safari where he draws elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, chimpanzees, and rhinoceroses. Of course, he makes friends with some animals and is chased by others. This is such a wonderful adventure that the boy is excited to show all his lively drawings of African animals to his classmates. While the story allows readers to let their imagination run wild, the illustrations, rendered in pen and ink, watercolors, colored pencils, and lithograph pencils, with a yellowish and orange hue, make the African safari look real. As one of The New York Times Best Illustrated Books for 2014, Raúl Colón, based on his own childhood experiences, invites readers to experience the power of imagination and drawing.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Frazee, Marla. (2014). The Farmer and the Clown. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books/ Simon & Schuster

While a hard-working farmer is taking a rest, a toot-toot train happens to run by. To his surprise, a baby clown bounces off the train and walks to him. With considerable sympathy, the farmer takes the baby clown to his farmhouse, and they live together. They have meals together, they entertain each other. Their companionship adds some fun while they work on the farm. One day as they go on a picnic, the toot-toot train passes again. The farmer and the baby clown run as fast as they can to catch up with the train so the baby clown can finally reunite with the clown family. As they bid farewell to the farmer and leave on the train, a clown monkey secretly follows the farmer home. Through the characters’ facial expressions and body movements, this wordless picture book presents a heartwarming story featuring many happy moments shared between the farmer and the baby clown. The illustrations, created with colored pencil and gouache, have a nostalgic tone, which may remind readers of their own pleasant memories of visiting a circus or carnival.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Hoogstad, Alice. (2014). Monster Book. New York, NY: Lemniscaat USA, LLC.

A little girl who lives in a black and white town is the only one who owns colorful magic chalks. She loves to draw, and whatever she draws seems to come to life. She first draws a red heart-shaped balloon that is carried by a dog, and then many colorful cartoonish monsters are animated out of her creativity. At first, the town people are surprised to see so many colorful creatures beautify their monotonous town. However, as some monsters join the girl to add colors to town buildings and even draw on people’s faces, the town’s citizens call a police officer to ask the girl to wash the color away. A storm comes with heavy rain when the girl cleans up the mess. While the adults are happy to have their drab town restored, a group of children joins the girl to resume coloring secretly on the other side of the town. With illustrations created with pen and crayons are presented in a childlike style, this book will resonate with readers who have been fallen in love with coloring and drawing.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Idle, Molly. (2014). Flora and the Penguin. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

Author/illustrator Molly Idle returns to the character from her 2014 Caldecott Honor winner, Flora and the Flamingo, only this time with Flora has a new friend, Penguin. Tightening up her ice skating shoes, Flora is ready to glide, spin, leap, and twirl on the ice with Penguin. However, the new partners have some points of disagreement, and the penguin, attracted by fish under the ice, disappears for a while. When the penguin shows up again the pair finds way to skate together and the duo glide on the ice beautifully and gracefully again. This wordless picture book with simple illustrations capturing subtle details and emotions traces perfectly the ups and downs in the story of friendship between Flora and Penguin. With lift-up paper on several pages, readers can exercise their imagination to fill in the wordless text and make sense of the plot. Although the illustrations rely only on yellow, blue and white colors, the book’s visual simplicity does not detract from the pleasure of reading. Readers will surely enjoy the lively and lovely performance of Flora and Penguin.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Jay, Alison. (2014). Out of the Blue. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books.

In a lighthouse by the sea lives a young boy with his father and dog. On a sunny day the boy and his dog go outside to play at the beach where he meets a young girl. The new friends have a blast picking up shells, catching and releasing fish, and watching the immense whales bathing in the sea. Suddenly, a thunderstorm comes with lightning and heavy rain that causes the sea to undulate violently. After a night of restlessness, the sea calms, and people return to the beach to enjoy the sunshine. However, a huge octopus is stranded on the beach, which scares everyone, and the boy is the only one who sympathizes with it, even deciding to cut the net and set the squid free. This wordless picture book is ideal for teaching life science and marine preservation. Several pages at the end of the book provide information about marine life and lighthouses. The illustrations, rendered in oil paint with a crackling varnish, use frames, borders, and various points of view to guide readers throughout the story. This book can trigger readers’ interests in exploring the sea and its fascinating creatures.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Merveille, David. (2013). Hello, Mr. Hulot. New York, NY: North South Books Inc.

This book portrays a famous French character, Mr. Hulot, played by comic actor Jacques Tati during 1950s and 1960s. Mr. Hulot is well-known for his fun and abnormal personality that enables him to see the world from a different perspective. The 23 scenes included in the book present visual humor and surprising outcomes that may make readers laugh out loud. For example, the shadow of Mr. Hulot is pictured as Don Quixote, and Mr. Hulot’s shaking of a snow globe results in snow falling on a summer day. The comic strip-style illustrations add visual interest to the book and readers will surely enjoy reading and rereading.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

Pett, Mark. (2014). The Girl and the Bicycle. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Passing by a store with her brother, a girl spies a shiny green bicycle in the store window. Her desire to own the bicycle makes her work hard to save money. She sells lemonade and her used toys, she offers to help neighbors with their yard work. However, no one stops at her lemonade stall and toy stand, and all of the neighbors, except one woman, turn her down. As the girl works for the woman, their friendship grows. After a year’s hard work and saving, the girl finally has enough money to buy the bicycle. When she takes her money and rushes to the store excitedly, she finds that the bicycle is gone. Disappointed, she instead uses her money to buy a bicycle for her brother. On her way home, the woman invites the girl to her house. To her surprise, the woman has bought the shiny green bicycle she wanted so much as a present. The use of pencil and watercolor for the illustrations creates a retro tone with a down-to-earth yet warm feel. The book shows the importance of saving money, working hard, and delaying gratification, as well as the value of kindness and generosity. Hard work does not go unrewarded as this book shows so perfectly.

—Ying-Hsuan Lee, Washington State University Pullman

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online.