Inquiry
Blog 1: A Reading Environment
The Current Reading Culture At School
The
elementary school I work at this year, contains a large English Language
Learners (ELL) population. Many of our students are first generation Canadians with
parents coming to Canada from many different countries, with English not being
the primary language. With that being said, the reading culture within the
school is a constant struggle to achieve. There have been some failed attempts
at brining parents in to educate them on the importance of reading at home.
Many parents have the perception that learning takes place in the school, which
is visible with very little parental involvement in our literacy nights, and
other school events. This year by attaching literacy night with teacher parent
interviews, as a staff we were able to bring in a larger crowd than previous
years, and managed to introduce parents to some easy activities they could do
at home to encourage and promote literacy. The school also hosted a Scholastic
fair at the same time, which managed to do well, when brought to parent
attention via teacher/parent interviews. Students were also encouraged to take
part in and take an interest in reading during literacy week in which a school
wide flashlight reading day took place, asking students to come in their night suits, bring a flashlight, and just enjoy reading. The librarian also
promoted a reading challenge for the school.
How do you already foster a reading culture?
I
am the Learning Support Teacher (LST) this year, working with students who
struggle in reading and writing. Knowing that there is a stigma attached to LST
and receiving extra support such as, “I can’t read,” I ensure my students enjoy
reading. With this being my first year in the role however, I am still
learning. For starters, I have created my own little library in the room. I
went out and at the beginning of the year brought a bunch of books for the
students to leisure read when they are done their work. To avoid the fear of
reading out loud in front of their peers I also allow the students to pre-read
the book in the classroom silently to themselves before coming together as a
group. To create a safe reading space, I have created little corners in the
room with special chairs for the students to go to when reading. I will also occasionally
allow students the choice of which books we should read together so they are
engaged and interested in what we read.
What Is Working
Despite
spending most of our LST block reading I find that students still enjoy leisure
reading. Sometimes they even bring their library books to LST in case they have
time to read. Providing them with the opportunity to be student directed in
reading whatever, is really allowing them to enjoy the experience. The
pre-reading is also beneficial as it provides them with the confidence that
they can read without my assistance, and gives them an opportunity to sound out
words and ask for help prior to reading in front of peers, which can cause
anxiety for some students. I can sense my students getting more comfortable
with one another and with reading because they are given an opportunity to
succeed. Re-reading the book the next day further provides them with the chance
to succeed.
What Is Not Working
As
a new LST teacher I find that I lack resources and funding to build a larger
library for my students to enjoy. Student have almost read all of the books,
and have asked for more. I am currently borrowing from the school library as I
do not have the funds to buy more books. In terms of allowing students the
freedom to choose our book, some days it is possible, but our mean Fountas and
Pinnell reading program is a leveled reading program that has set lessons and books
to be read in order, which limits the freedom to choose books.
Exploration of Other Reading Programs
I
read a number of different resources and below are some suggestions on how to
foster a reading culture.
Whitehead, C. (2016, August 09). 10 Ways to Foster a Reading
Culture in Your School. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
http://tnclassroomchronicles.org/10-ways-foster-reading-culture-school/.
Cathy
presented 10 way to fostering reading, all of which were very valuable.
1.
Read Aloud- Reading classic children’s
stories, folk tales, and fairy tales to help develop vocabulary and cultural
literacy to new ELL students.
2.
Student Choice- Do not limit based on
reading level, which I found interesting because I assumed if a student felt
like they are not confident in their reading or something was too hard for them
they would be discouraged, but I am curious what having no reading level limitations
would look like.
3.
Build Classroom Library- Classroom is the first
place students look for books, so have lots available.
4.
Get Parents Involved- Allow them to check out school
books to read at home with parents.
5.
Time for Sustained Silent Reading
(SSR)- Either
set aside a time for silent reading, or when done work encourage reading.
6.
Be a Reader Too- This hit home, because as
much as I enjoy reading I do not share what I read or enjoyed nor do I read in
front of my students. I need to model that teachers read too!
7.
Know Your Books- Make recommendations, and
share your favourites.
8.
Let the Kid’s Talk- Time to establish
important reading relationships with others and discuss recommendations and
what they learned.
9.
Make It Fun- To motivate them help them
see it is fun!
10.
Believe!- Believe in the power of
literacy.
National
Library of New Zealand. (n.d.). A school-wide reading culture. Retrieved
January 30, 2019, from https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/understanding-reading-engagement/a-school-wide-reading-culture.
The National Library of New
Zealand also provided some insight on how to promote a reading culture. For one
they stated that in order to be successful there needed to be supportive admin
and staff. For example, one Principal would do a book talk or book review once
a month in the library. Another suggestion was the sustained silent reading,
and teacher’s modelling reading within the classroom was key on this website. As
one teacher put it she shared her experience with her son and herself going to
the library because she felt like regardless of if she taught them everything if
she taught them to read she gave them access to information for the rest of
their life! Some other great suggestions included having a book match, where
the librarian would have a conversation with a student and then suggest books.
The summer reading program was also a great idea in which the students could
check out books from the library to take for the summer. Other ideas included
have displays on the front entrance, principal’s office and in school corridors.
For instance, on the front foyer having notices about reading events, principal’s
book of the week, and promotion of the public library. There could also be use
of assemblies to highlight books, and mention events.
FTEd Tech (n.d). Digital Tools to Help Build a Culture of
Readers. Retrieved January 30, 2019, from
http://ftisedtech.blogspot.com/2018/08/digital-tools-to-help-build-culture-of.html.
FTEd Tech provided further
information in how to engage students to reading using technology. For instance,
there is the use of the FTReads website. This website enables students to create
their own book talks and trailers. Link Below.
Then there is the use of
Schoology. I have seen this used in some high schools in Surrey, but according
to this article it can be utilized as a tool for media albums. Students could
use Schoology to add their own trailers, posters, picture collage or a book
talk, and upload to share. A newer tool which can be used through Destiny is
Biblionasium (the Goodreads for Kids). This website was voted as the best website
for technology and learning. By using this, students are able to explore books,
take part in reading challenges, create reading logs, and also write book
reviews for friends. The last suggestion I found worth noting was that
mentioned by Donalyn Miller. Miller created a 4o book challenge to correspond with
the 40 weeks of school. She set the and high so that they start right away, and
even though they may not be able to reach that bar they have the potential to.
This is reading one book a week, with no grades, no incentives, just pure
enjoyment.
Irby, A. (n.d.). Transcript of "How to inspire every
child to be a lifelong reader". Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/alvin_irby_how_to_inspire_every_child_to_be_a_lifelong_reader/transcript?language=en#t-435257
Carrying on my love for TED
Talks I watched another by Alvin Irby. I really appreciated what he had to say
about deciding after his experiences of institutionalized racism that he was
going to decide what he was going to read and when. I think if we could get out
students to this point, they too would enjoy reading more. I appreciated his
efforts in creating a reading identity among African American male boys, by
setting up barbershop books so they had a male centric environment, and the
opportunity to read. I also liked his points on providing students with a role
model and letting them pick the books. According to scholastic these books
would be funny books.
Encouragement For A School-Wide Reading Program & Future Plans
Based On Findings
Many
of the resources mentioned sustained silent reading and one of the principal
from the National Library of New Zealand video has stated that in his school he
had set in the schedule 15 minutes 3 times a week for this as a school wide event.
I like having established time slots for reading to ensure it gets done. I also
would try to implement the book recommendations from other teachers, and admin
so students see that adults read too. For the earlier years, because there has
been a struggle to get parents in, I have seen other schools have a soft start
in the morning. During this soft start parents come in the morning and sit and
read with their children for about 15 minutes. This is especially great for the
younger students so that they can connect with their parents and literacy.
Having more literacy events and promoting them at assemblies is another great
way to encourage reading. So, for instance, a writing challenge, or weekly book
club. Personally, for my own growth I will make more of an effort to share my
reading and recommendations with my students. I will also use any silent
reading time they have to also read instead of prep. Additionally, once or twice
a week it would be a good idea to do a read aloud as a group so we can discuss
the book together. It would be too late for a 40 week challenge, but perhaps
implementing a similar model where students read a book a week and we share on
Fridays. This would be the perfect chance for students to have that book talk.
Lastly, I will devote myself to finding more books to build my book collection
for the classroom. I have already started by posting on my social media, that I
am in search for books.
Work
Cited
FTEd Tech (n.d). Digital Tools to Help Build a Culture of
Readers. Retrieved January 30, 2019, from
http://ftisedtech.blogspot.com/2018/08/digital-tools-to-help-build-culture-of.html.
Irby, A. (n.d.). Transcript of "How to inspire every
child to be a lifelong reader". Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/alvin_irby_how_to_inspire_every_child_to_be_a_lifelong_reader/transcript?language=en#t-435257
National
Library of New Zealand. (n.d.). A school-wide reading culture. Retrieved
January 30, 2019, from https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/understanding-reading-engagement/a-school-wide-reading-culture.
Whitehead, C. (2016, August 09). 10 Ways to Foster a Reading
Culture in Your School. Retrieved January 31, 2019, from
http://tnclassroomchronicles.org/10-ways-foster-reading-culture-school/.
You have outlined some important ideas here. I appreciate the discussion of what is working and what is not working in terms of your current literacy initiatives. Your exploration of other reading programs provided good takeaways for the reader and the discussion of your future plans was a strong way to end the post. I like how you have a whole-school approach to increasing literacy engagement. Having literacy week at the same time as parent-teacher interviews and the bookfair is an excellent way to highlight the importance of a reading culture.
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