Fall 2007
Several times each year, the Middle Grades Reading Network publishes
NetWords. Included in the current issue are the following articles:
FALL IN LOVE WITH BOOKS
Everyone knows that in spring romance is in the air. But, to tell you the truth, spring holds no patent on romance; so if you’ll pardon the pun, let’s encourage our students to fall in love with books this autumn. Those of us, young people included, who already love reading, don’t have to be convinced of its charms. But for those students who need a nudge toward books, we have to do everything possible to help them discover the joy, fun, adventure, and excitement to be found in reading.
Let’s look at some ideas to energize faculty and students around reading.
Inaugurate or Reinforce Existing School Wide Programs. Programs such as Reading Counts, Accelerated Reader, Young Hoosier Book Award Program, and/or Newspaper In Education can be started or revisited to be certain that they are promoted to students and that adequate resources are available.
Promote Reading with Posters. The American Library Association has available a program on two disks that can be used to print 11” x 17” posters that feature teachers, principals, superintendents, students, and others reading. The posters can be displayed around the school to remind students of the pleasure to be found in the printed word.
Provide a Sustained Silent Reading Program. Work with the principal, school librarian, and teachers to develop a program requiring students to read books during school time. Keep in mind that behind all successful programs are planning, funds, monitoring, and leadership.
Promote Silent Reading through Oral Reading. Encourage students to select their favorite books. Write the titles on index cards. Teachers would then select a card and prepare a passage from that book to read orally to the class. Encourage interested students to participate in the oral reading as well.
Have Older Students Tutor Younger Students. In a 6th-8th middle school, for example, eighth graders can tutor sixth grade struggling students. Eighth grade reading teachers can provide suggestions both at the start and during tutoring sessions. Eighth grade students can share experiences and discuss what works. Sixth grade reading teachers should identify students needing help and provide suitable materials. The tutoring might involve comprehension and vocabulary instruction or oral reading of books provided by the sixth grade teachers. Time for tutoring, materials needed, and other details should be developed, organized, and carefully scheduled before the start of the program. Consider giving your program a special name. Elicit suggestions from the students themselves.
Provide an Incentive Program. Students love to receive restaurant coupons and other rewards when they achieve a goal such as reading five Young Hoosier Book Award books. First, design a reasonable plan for your program that describes it in detail and then calculate the funding. Next, seek funding from the PTA, community foundation, service group such as Kiwanis, or a local business. Once funding is secured, directly involve the donor in activities such as handing out certificates. If books are donated, provide bookplates displaying the name of the donor’s business or organization. Provide a feature story and accompanying photograph for the local newspaper. The publicity will benefit the students, the school, and the donor.
Brainstorm with Students. Involve the students as much as possible. Encourage and challenge them to create their own ideas for a motivational reading program for their school. Their ideas may delight you and lead to a successful school wide activity.
Some of you may remember the movie,” Stand and Deliver.” In it, a student asks his high school teacher why he needs to bother learning calculus. After all, who needs it in the real world? “Do you want to wash cars or design them?” the teacher responds. It’s all about empowering students. If we want to see them fulfill their goals and dreams, we have to make sure they have mastered the most important skill of all—READING. If we can encourage them to fall in love with books along the way, well, that’s just terrific, isn’t it?
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ENORMOUS INCREASE IN NUMBER OF READING LICENSES DURING PAST YEAR
On June 20, 2001, the Indiana Professional Standards Board approved new reading licenses. Since that time 19 Indiana universities have had programs approved by the state that lead to reading licenses. For a list of the universities, go to <http:mgrnevansville.eduapprovedprograms.htm>. These programs provide the foundation for teachers to help students become proficient and voluntary readers.
Indiana colleges and universities had an increase of 622 percent in the number of reading licenses issued during the past year. From 2002, when the new reading licenses were approved, to 2006, a total of 97 licenses have been issued. During the past year, 603 new reading licenses were earned by Indiana teachers.
Educational Service Center Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9, located in Marion County and Northwestern Indiana, have colleges and universities in their areas that account for 92 percent of all new reading licenses issued.
Counts of Rules 2002 Reading Licenses Issued as of 6/25/07 by Indiana Institution
College/University Total
Anderson University 1
Ball State University 5
Bethel College 3
Calumet College 1
Franklin College 1
Indiana State University 2
Indiana University 13
Indiana University East 1
Indiana University Northwest 1
IUPUI 17
Indiana University South Bend 7
Indiana University Southeast 3
Indiana Wesleyan University 5
Oakland City University 7
Purdue University 455
Purdue University North Central 4
Purdue University Calumet 5
Saint Mary’s College 20
Taylor University 1
Tri-State University 1
University of Evansville 7
University of Indianapolis 34
University of Notre Dame 1
University of Southern Indiana 11
Valparaiso University 94
Total 700
Source: Indiana Department of Education Division of Professional Standards.
Note: Candidates that completed their requirements at more than one college are listed under their original college.
Reading Licenses Issued by Education Service Center Regions
Region Licenses Issued Percent of Licenses Issued
Region 1 25 3.6
Region 2 4 .6
Region 3 15 2.1
Region 4 8 1.1
Region 5 455 65.0
Region 6 104 14.9
Region 7 31 4.4
Region 8 7 1.0
Region 9 51 7.3
Total 700 100
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by Myrna Fields
Owen Valley Middle School Spencer
“Oh, we couldn’t possibly host an author. You need connections to get one to come.”
Fortunately, this comment from a nearby school corporation couldn’t be farther from the truth. Without special connections, Owen Valley Middle School hosts an author every year. Without a doubt, visiting authors are highly successful reading motivators for our students.
In April 2007, John Ritter, author of The Boy Who Saved Baseball, was our guest. Preparation for his visit started early in the school year with the purchase of multiple copies of all his books. They were prominently displayed in the media center with information about his upcoming visit.
As April drew closer, the entire school read The Boy Who Saved Baseball, a novel in which the fate of a 100-year-old stadium rests on the results of a single baseball game. Many students were then inspired to engage in a service-learning activity involving preservation of historic sites in their own community.
On the day of the visit, the entire student body enjoyed hearing about Mr. Ritter’s life and learning about the motivation for his books. During the day, Mr. Ritter was a guest at a Read and Feed. This special event featured a room decorated to look like a scene from the book where students visited and felt as if they were actually part of the story. Students also played a game designed to encourage discussion of the book. An added treat was enjoying snacks that were mentioned in the book.
A random drawing was the system used to select students to attend the Read and Feed. Planned autograph sessions during the day provided time for students to have their books signed by the author.
On the following school day in language arts classes, all students then celebrated John Ritter’s books and life.
Throughout the year, our student-operated book shop stocked copies of John Ritter’s books and made them available for sale at a reduced price.
John Ritter’s visit was a resounding success. Long lines of students waited patiently for him to autograph their copies. Watching students make a beeline for his books on our shelves was another clear indicator of how motivating the author’s presence was. Owen Valley Middle School students now see John Ritter as a friend as a well as an author who opened his life to them and invited them in.
HOW TO GET BOYS TO READ? DOES J.K. ROWLING HAVE THE SOLUTION?
July 21, 2007 12:01 a.m. all over the United States
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in a book-buying frenzy to hordes of people lined up for hours outside bookstores. Among the 8.3 million who bought the book that day were boys. Yes, indeed. Boys of all ages. No doubt, many of them might even be considered reluctant readers. And yet, there they were, not only standing in line at midnight to buy the book but also devouring it.
Perhaps some merely wanted to be part of the hype, to get in on the fun. And just maybe some of them wanted to read the story. Harry Potter’s world is full of action, fantasy, and suspense, three elements near and dear to the hearts of many boys throughout the world.
Love the Harry Potter series or not, we should not ignore boys’ reactions to it. If millions are hooked on Harry’s adventures, we are witnessing a phenomenon: boys will read books that encourage them to turn the pages. With no disrespect intended, J.K. Rowling is not the only author writing books that appeal to boys.
What we as educators have to do is make it our goal to do our homework. Do the research. Talk to librarians. Read as many books as we can to find the most appealing ones and “sell” them to our male students. In a sense, we need to become marketing experts. If boys will devour Harry Potter’s tales, then let’s find other books that will also absorb them.
We need to embark on this mission of encouraging male readers as soon as possible. There’s no avoiding ominous statistics all around us. In the July 22, 2007 edition of The Tampa Tribune, reporter Marilyn Brown addressed the reading gap that exists between boys and girls, calling it “a serious crisis.” Ms. Brown’s concerns are echoed in schools all over the United States. The reading crisis is indeed serious, and as it widens, it grows more and more alarming.
Boys learn to read from a year to 15 months later than girls. They also outnumber them in remedial reading classes. Harry Potter aside, boys also read fewer books than girls do. A steep decline in reading among 18-24-year-olds exists, with reading among young men falling at a faster rate than for women.
In Ms. Brown’s article, she includes the following from Evan Levsky, Director of Just Read! Florida at the Department of Education. “Boys don’t see a point to reading.” Levsky says that as a young teen he did not read a book from seventh grade through high school.
Levsky’s early aversion to reading echoes among many, many boys. Coming up with a plan to encourage boys to read is a colossal challenge, but it is one we have to meet head on with all the creativity and effort we can muster. We absolutely have to do everything we can to convince more boys that there is a point to reading.
Let’s consider the following efforts:
Determine if
there is there a reading gap in your school by comparing test scores of boys
and girls.
Check last year’s
Young Hoosier Book Award results to see how many books were read by boys and
by girls.
Develop a survey
to find out the reading preferences of boys and girls. For example, give a
brief description of each of the Young Hoosier Book Award books to students
and then read excerpts from each. Encourage students to offer their
interest level in each selection.
Show copies
of current magazines from the school library to students. Read excerpts.
Engage students in discussion and in rating their interest in reading the
entire article.
Meet with groups of students and ask them about what kinds of books and
magazines they prefer. Find out if those materials are available in the
library. Boys usually prefer books and periodicals about hobbies, sports,
and activities they might engage in, and in informational resources. Also
focus on known male preferences for science fiction, adventure, fantasy, and
humor.
Target boys’ interests, in particular, when selecting books to read aloud to
classes.
Check with
the school librarian for titles of books that boys tend to check out from
the school library. Obtain some of them for the room collection. Be sure to
preview the books with students to whet their appetites and heighten their
interest in them.
Provide a field trip to the nearest public library. Include specific
information about how to find books, magazines, and newspapers of interest
to students. Then walk them through the steps.
Encourage
parents to use their public library and help their boys find reading
materials of interest to them. Be sure to read excerpts from a variety of
these materials. Showing is far more effective than just telling students or
parents about books, magazines, or anything else for that matter.
Form a special group of boys who are readers and work with them to design
ways to increase reading among boys in the school. For example, in a middle
school with grades 6-8, use eighth graders to develop and execute the plan.
At the heart of this idea is the need to make reading “cool.” If a boys’
committee can convince other boys that reading is the cool thing to do, then
almost anything is possible in developing a reading effort.
Display posters featuring men and boys reading. The American Library
Association has many posters available that feature males reading. See the
article by Eden Kuhlenschmidt about the American Library Association’s
graphics in the spring, 2007 issue of NetWords or access it online at
<http://mgrn.evansville.edu/2007spring1.htm>. Adapt the poster idea as
needed. Encourage your boys’ committee to design its own posers for display
around the school. Let your creativity run free with this project. The
boys’ group may develop some terrific ideas and posters to encourage other
boys to read.
No one is saying that it’s easy to engage more boys in reading. J.K. Rowling found a way, didn’t she? She wrote books that many, many boys wanted to read and did. We have to be just as creative as Ms. Rowling (yes, it’s possible) as we move beyond Harry Potter to find ways to succeed in developing a nation of male readers.
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Let’s form a partnership. Consider connecting parents and computers to promote reading. On a typical day, 70 percent of adults go online. With that many parents at their computers, we should do all we can to encourage them to access the school’s Web site for current information relating to reading. With the Web’s help, we can inform, motivate, and involve parents in increasing their children’s interest in reading. Let’s examine the ways we can do that.
Middle grades schools all have a special reading program available to students. Accelerated Reader, Reading Counts, Sustained Silent Reading, Young Hoosier Book Award, and others all share interesting components. As an example, lists of Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees can be included along with information about how the school recognizes students involved in the program. Provide a link for further information about the program.
Web sites should include awards recognition, school newsletters, volunteer programs, course offerings, and links to sites for further information. School librarians and reading teachers can provide reading content to the individual who provides updated information to the Web site.
Reading course offerings might include details about the teaching of comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and independent reading. Information about efforts to help struggling readers should also be provided along with guidance about how parents can help them.
Few people have the time and skills to volunteer to help struggling readers, but the Web site provides a forum to spotlight the problem and solicit help. Follow the school’s volunteer guidelines for further information from the school’s contact person.
Pictures of the principal, teachers, or support staff holding a book can be featured along with a motivational line such as “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Be sure to highlight your own attention-grabbing statement reminding everyone about the significance of reading to the entire school.
Feature a young adolescent book-of-the-week or -month recommended by a student. Include a brief student review encouraging others to read that particular book.
Put statistics to use. Track the library’s circulation, and then, with a specific goal in mind, post the results on the Web site. For example, a school with 500 students could set a goal of 20 books per student or 10,000 books. Like the United Way, the Web site could display a chart starting at 0 at the beginning of the year with 10,000 as the goal, providing a visible measure of progress available to everyone throughout the year.
Computers are part of the fabric of our everyday lives. Let’s remember to use them to help promote reading throughout all our schools.
BOXES OF BOOKS FOR ME? YES
by
Renae N. Baird
Franklin College
Imagine being overjoyed about lugging heavy boxes of books? I certainly was. No, I haven’t lost my mind. I just knew a good thing when I saw it. I had just started my student teaching at Indian Creek Middle School when I received complimentary boxes of young adult literature from the Middle Grades Reading Network.
The day I hauled the books into my cooperating teacher’s classroom, students hurried to complete their work so they could flock to the boxes on the floor. The variety available seemed to supply something for everyone.
It’s encouraging to see that even eighth graders will respond to “class reading time.” It seems that no matter our age, most of us enjoy the luxury of sitting back and listening to someone read a good book. I have discovered that reading aloud for all to hear is an excellent classroom management tool when students are overly talkative or seem under the weather. It is also an enriching educational strategy at any time. When I gave students silent reading time, they sometimes lost interest and drifted off into daydreams. However, when I read aloud to them, they remained alert and responded to my questions regarding the content with a surprising awareness of the story line. My students were able to picture scenes in their minds, and, in that way, develop a personal connection to the material. I even saw more participation in class discussions. I was excited to see such enthusiastic reactions to the books.
Some students even developed a love for a new form of literature while perusing the books. A student named David approached me while returning Concrete Poetry to its place and said, “Miss Baird, I really liked this book. I didn’t used to like poetry, but this book is really good. It’s cool.” I was thrilled to hear such a reaction from a boy who rarely read before. Many students, especially in middle school, do not care for poetry. But, this book of poetry sparked David’s interest. He even began to advertise the book to his friends. At least five students checked out Concrete Poetry after David’s experience with it, and I heard some wonderful reports about it.
In all the hustle and bustle of student teaching it was refreshing to have these books as entertainment and instructional tools. It was especially enjoyable to hear about my students' personal experiences with the literature. I was delighted and encouraged to see middle schoolers reading independently, interacting with the text, and sharing their love for the content. I am very grateful; to the Middle Grades Reading Network.
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THE YOUNG HOOSIER BOOK AWARD: THE MISSING HYPE
The hype surrounding the Harry
Potter books whips readers, young and not so young, into a frenzy. Books fly
off the shelves as the publishers (not to mention J.K. Rowling) kick up their
heels in celebration. Of course, the bottom line is money. After all, books are
big, big business.
No doubt, reading teachers everywhere would love to
see their students reacting to other books as so many of them do to Ms.
Rowling’s blockbusters. And, do you know, it’s entirely possible? It’s all in
the marketing. What we educators need to do is put our considerable imagination
to work on ideas to pique students’ interest in books and make them fall in love
with the excitement waiting in them as they anticipate Harry Potter and his
adventures. The possibilities for “selling” books to young readers are limited
only by educators’ creativity.
Everyone knows that publishers pour huge
amounts of money into campaigns to persuade people to buy books. Educators, of
course, do not have the same financial resources, but what we do have is
intelligence along with the keen awareness that the middle grades are critical
for young adolescents as they make important life decisions that will either
open or close many doors in their futures.
Despite the fact that the School Library Printed
Materials Grant was not funded by the state, schools absolutely must find ways
to obtain and promote books. Statistics prove students will read broadly and
deeply if they are skillfully encouraged to do so and are provided with books
that appeal to them.
Every year the Association for Indiana Media
Educators, a part of the Indiana Library Federation, selects 20 Young Hoosier
Book Award nominees in three categories—primary, intermediate, and middle
grades. The books are simply wonderful, but a disturbing pattern is clear.
Participation in the program drops steadily from primary to intermediate to
middle grades. The total number of votes for the Young Hoosier Book Award
picture book category (primary) was 59,960; intermediate 13,379: and middle
grades 3,035. There were 243,720 students in grades six, seven, and eight in the
2006-2007 school year. However, only 1.2 percent of Indiana’s middle grades
students read a minimum of five of the books and then voted for their favorites.
We need to pool our creative resources to reverse
this abysmal trend. Indiana schools are so fortunate to have the Young Hoosier
Book Award program available to them. It is imperative that we fund and
vigorously promote it if we hope to encourage young people to embrace reading as
pleasurable, exciting, and relevant. This means purchasing the necessary number
of books for school libraries, promoting the books, and providing recognition
for those students who participate and vote. Many schools have already ordered
books, provided lists to parents, students, and teachers, and have
enthusiastically jumped on the Young Hoosier Book Award bandwagon. Let’s try to
get this excitement sweep across the state.
As evidenced by the voting for 2006-2007, the
favorite title among Indiana middle grades students was Arrowhawk by
prolific author, Peg Kehret. With all due respect, let’s face the fact that J.K.
Rowling is not the only appealing author writing for young people today. We need
to find ways to create excitement among our students for the many enthralling
books by talented writers on the Young Hoosier Book Award list … and beyond.
2007-2008 Young Hoosier Book Award
Middle Grades Nominees
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Warriors
by Joseph Bruchac
Code Orange
by Caroline B. Cooney
Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s
by Michael L. Cooper
Heartbeat
by Sharon Creech
The Black Canary
by Jane Louise Curry
The Missing Manatee
by Cynthia DeFelice
A
House of Tailors
by Patricia Reilly Giff
The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story
by Mary Downing Hahn
The Truth About Sparrows
by Marian Hale
Flush
by Carl Hiassen
Captured! A Boy Trapped in the Civil War
by Mary Blair Immel
Messenger
by Lois Lowry
Travel Team
by Mike Lupica
The Schwa Was Here
by Neal Schusterman
The Boys of San Joaquin
by D. James Smith
101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher
by
Lee Wardlaw
So
B. It
by
Sarah Weeks
Lonek’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy’s Escape to Freedom
by Doris Bader Whiteman
Each Little Bird That Sings
by Debbie Wiles
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ENDING THE READING DROUGHT
by Cynthia Frost
Central Middle School, Columbus
During an Open House for incoming sixth graders last April, several anxious families wanted to know what reading expectations were in store for their learners when school began in August. In addition to coping with the anxiety of attending a new school located in a brand new building, students were already stressed over how they would keep up with the academic work load. This seemed like the perfect time to implement a summer reading program that had been formulating as the CMS Literacy Committee met. The challenge: How to creatively and cheaply offer extra reading and vocabulary building opportunities?
Our plan was threefold…to take advantage of the public library, the Internet, and reading incentives. How did we utilize a free, public resource, the Bartholomew County Public Library located adjacent to our new building? Sets of books on tape and CDs of novels used in Language Arts classes were compiled and taken to the public library. Sixth and seventh grade students and their families were notified through a newsletter about the availability and location of the books. The library kindly handled the check out of our books, and the students gained a head start on the readings of the upcoming school year.
Was this a successful project? We won’t know how it impacts any standardized test results for several months, but I received an e-mail this summer from one of the anxious sixth graders. He was on vacation and had taken several of the books and CDs along. He claimed he was enjoying reading for once, going at his own pace getting ready for middle school, and knowing the stress of Language Arts would be greatly diminished.
The second area to address was how to work on content area vocabulary over the summer. A wonderful foreign language teacher suggested the web site QUIA. This is a low cost, interactive site that students could access over the summer to fnd a word list and multiple activities to accompany each list. Each content area generated a list of twenty words used frequently at the beginning of the year. After the words and their definitions were entered, the program did the rest. Student hits recorded online indicate the site was frequently visited. This site will be maintained throughout the school year so students can flex their independence and work at home or at school when there is extra time.
Finally, The 1,000 Page Club! Media Specialist, Michelle Fee, worked along with a neighboring middle school to challenge every incoming seventh and eighth grader in the entire school corporation to read 1,000 pages during summer break. Reading logs were distributed to keep track of pages devoured by summer readers. The summer hours of the public library were announced along with the bookmobile schedule. No other stipulation. Read, record, enjoy! The reading logs are currently being collected in the media center to prepare for a celebration. We anticipate 100 CMS readers will take part in the lunchtime celebration of their summer accomplishments.
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PART OF THE SOLUTION
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could look in a crystal ball to spot potential high school dropouts and intervene before they embark on journeys that often lead to nowhere? Well, such a crystal ball does exist. All we have to do is gaze at our sixth graders for the warning signs.
It is no secret that up to 40 percent of eventual high school dropouts can be identified in sixth grade. Time and again statistics prove that sixth graders lacking adequate reading skills and enthusiasm for learning through reading get caught in a downward spiral of helplessness that can ultimately lead to quitting school. The reading level of sixth graders determines, in part, how reading instruction is delivered to them.
Nearly two-thirds of American public middle schools include grades six through eight. The remaining one-third is mainly in kindergarten-six schools. The Indiana school directory lists 325 K-6; one 1-6; one 2-6; two 3-6; twelve 4-6, and twelve 5-6 for a total of 353 schools where sixth grade is the highest grade level.
Most of the K-6 schools use a reading adoption that provides a reading program from kindergarten through sixth grade. Thus, young adolescents in these schools have reading classes where teachers’ manuals and textbooks stress comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary in a systematic manner year after year.
However, reading instruction in middle schools is often in the hands of language arts teachers rather than those with specialized reading certification. To do justice to both language arts and reading, middle schools need to take a page from the structure of their science departments.
Glance into a well-equipped middle school science classroom. What do you see? Expensive materials, right? Throughout the day, those costly materials are shared by many students in classes taught by highly qualified professionals whose sole responsibility is science education. It’s really quite simple. All we need to do is borrow that same structure and schedule for reading. Reading teachers need a wide variety of materials for students reading at many different levels. Like lab equipment, those materials are expensive. Sharing them throughout the day as the science classes do makes good economic and educational sense.
Armed with statistics and solid common sense, we can make the necessary changes to stem the tide of helplessness and eventual powerlessness that dropping out of high school can bring. Yes, it’s a serious problem, but we have part of the solution in our hands. Let’s explore it.
Collections of middle grades reading skill materials can be found at Ball State University, Indiana State University, Indiana University Southeast, Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne, Purdue University North Central, University of Evansville, and the University of Indianapolis. For further information see <http://mgrn.evansville.edu/cc.htm>.
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Every day more and more sleek gadgets boasting all sorts of bells and whistles appear on the market. Video games mesmerize and entertain us while BlackBerrys and cell phones serve us in seemingly infinite ways, but they also do something downright treacherous: they lure students away from books. What a shame that is, too, because nothing ignites our creativity and captivates our imagination like a good book. Unless we stock our school libraries with current, appealing books, we don’t stand a chance of having our students discover the magic and excitement awaiting them on the printed page. The competition is daunting, and we’d better rise to the challenge.
The Indiana University Center for Evaluation and Education Policy showed clearly in three reports that new books increase school library circulation. Imagine that! All it takes to increase reading among young people is to provide them with new books! Students will actually set aside the shiny gadgets for a moment if they have shiny new books to read. Yet many Indiana students attend schools that allow their book collections to deteriorate. Of course, results differ from school to school, but even so, it’s clear that the lack of independent reading is directly related to the lack of current reading materials in school libraries. It is not enough to provide strong reading instruction by skilled reading teachers. If we want to ensure better reading performance from students, we absolutely must provide access to current, appealing, high interest materials in the school library media center.
There is no escaping the fact that books are expensive. New books cost an average of $20. Five books cost $100. Five hundred books cost $10,000. Schools should purchase two books per student per year, so a school of 500 students needs to spend $20,000 for 1,000 books each year to maintain a useful book collection. Yes, this truly is an expensive investment since books last only 10 years before most should be replaced. But what is the alternative? If we hope to compete with seductive technology, we have to spend the money. If we hope to encourage independent reading, we have to spend the money.
It is no secret that students who read independently score higher on reading tests than those students who do not. We can build a community of skilled readers if we do what research indicates we must do. Set aside the money for the purchase of books for our school library media centers. It really is as simple as that.
New Books Make a Difference
|
Year |
Books Circulated Per Student |
| 1997 Before grant | 33.8 |
| 1998 Grant funded | 37.2 |
| 2000 Last year of full funding | 41.35 |
| 2002 | 43.12 |
| 2004 | 40.11 |
| 2006 | 32.72 |
School Library Printed Materials Grant
|
“Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will need literacy to cope with the flood of information they will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read will be crucial. Continual instruction beyond the early grades is needed. ”—Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw, & Rycik, 1999, Position Statement from the International Reading Association |
INDIANA'S CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO MIDDLE GRADES READING
Even though eight years have passed since the IRA issued the above statement, its message is as timely as ever. Continual instruction is most certainly needed. According to the National Assessment on Education Policy, 70 percent of eighth grade students score below proficiency level in reading and writing as well. Seventy percent is an alarmingly high number of young adolescents beginning high school with reading skills so poor that they are destined for helplessness and failure.
On August 3, 2007, Representative Raul Grijalva (D–AZ) introduced the Success in the Middle Act, the first school improvement bill of its kind, directed specifically at the middle grades. His legislation calls for the authorization of $1 billion a year in formula grants for states to improve schools housing low-performing middle graders. These targeted schools feed into what Grijalva called “dropout factories,” nearly 2000 high schools that account for nearly half the nation’s dropouts.
By providing reading classes for all students, Indiana middle grades schools are making an important contribution toward efforts to solve the drop out problem. Middle grades schools in Indiana are committed to providing licensed reading teachers, reading classes, and appropriate reading materials in their quest to strengthen reading skills and stem the tide of dropouts.
Since Indiana is so firmly committed to having strong middle grades reading programs, we must continue to address the time, personnel, classroom, and library issues, and we must redirect our efforts toward making reading a vital and productive part of middle grades instruction. These efforts include:
School system leadership and support for the reading program;
Assessment of the school reading program;
Reading classes through the eighth grade for all students;
Licensed reading teachers as a part of the regular staff;
Standardized reading test results available to teachers;
Wide range of instructional materials in reading classrooms;
Strong school library acquisition and circulation of print materials;
School wide encouragement of reading; and
Connecting students with public libraries and other out-of -school reading activities.
Copies of the Middle Grades Reading Assessment were provided to all Indiana middle grades schools. For additional copies, send requests to <jh25@evansville.edu>.