This is MaryAnn Karre's page
I recently attended a workshop that focused on the Common Core Standards, and specifically, on the shifts in literacy instruction that are taking place to support these standards. The new Standards will require students to read more informational texts, and so teachers will be required to embed literacy into every subject and discipline. Reading materials will become increasingly complex, and students will need to read carefully, and to support their responses with evidence to prove comprehension of the text. During this workshop we learned to design a Close Reading Literacy Task, in which the students and teacher read a short, rich text together, and use questions and evidence-based answers to derive meaning from the text.
Big Universe is perfectly suited to support Close Reading Tasks and the increasing demand for concise texts on a variety of topics. Since the exercise begins with the students reading the text independently, teachers can assign specific books to the students, and check that students have read the material before the group activity begins. The class can use a display unit so that they can view the text together when the selection is re-read. During this group reading, the teacher should be sure that all students understand the vocabulary that is being used. The students can then share responses to questions as a group, to ensure that they understand the content, and the author’s purpose for writing the text. The answers should require that the students return to the text, rereading and using specific passages to support their reasoning. The questions check that the students understand the meaning of words and phrases within the text, of sentences and how they relate to the story as a whole, to passages within the selection, and how they help develop the whole, and of the story as a whole, including possibly its themes and morals. Students can then read related stories in Big Universe, or books with similar themes.
Since the books in Big Universe are leveled, teachers are able to choose appropriate material on a wide variety of topics for a Close Reading Task. And, as the books can be read individually or collectively, and saved in Bookshelves for future reference, Big Universe provides an instant resource for Literacy instruction and for supplemental texts for any subject.
For more information about the Six Shifts and the Common Core Standards, see EngageNY, (http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-shifts/) and this site about the Common Core which describes the Six Shifts: http://commoncorestandards.com/ela/6-shifts-in-learning-ccss-style/
In honor of the New Year, I would like to update Daniel Pennac’s Reader’s Bill of Rights for the 21st Century Reader. 
Every reader has:
1. The right to not read
I may not read everything I choose. With Big Universe, I can save as many books on my bookshelf as I like, and I can read them or just save them. Maybe I’ll read some more than once (see number 4), and delete others. My choice of reading material should be my most personal and self-directed choice
2. The right to skip pages
I may choose to read the first page of each chapter, or just the captions in a book. Either way, I am reading. I am taking from a book what appeals and has the most importance to me. I am learning, and enjoying it.
3. The right to not finish
Not all books are right for all people, and not all books can be chosen by their covers or brief descriptions. If a book fails to excite me and hold my interest, I have the right to abandon it. Perhaps it is too difficult, and I will abandon it until I am ready to read it comfortably, or perhaps I will get from it all that I need from the first few pages. Forcing me to finish a book simply because I started it will certainly turn me off reading, and make me choose very, very slender books in the future!
4. The right to reread
Conversely, some books are worth rereading, and I can gain something new from it each time I reread. It’s like revisiting a favorite vacation spot, or returning to a particularly good restaurant; each time we experience more, taste more, enjoy more.
5. The right to read anything
Sometimes a magazine is the perfect read, sometimes I’ll want the biggest, deepest book I can find. I can read eBooks, listen to audiobooks, or thumb through a picture book; each is a valuable learning tool and enjoyable reading experience. The book is not the medium, it is the ideas conveyed by the text or spoken word, so format does not matter.
6. The right to escapism
Books can transport us to other times, other places, other ways of thinking. If we cannot escape through reading, is there any other reason to read for pleasure?
7. The right to read anywhere
With my portable eReader, my phone, my CD player, my MP3 player, my netbook or my laptop computer, I really can read any time, any place. . I can carry books, or access millions of titles in an instant. I can listen to a book in my car, in the dark, while washing dishes, or while walking down the street.
8. The right to browse
With thousands of books at my fingertips, I can browse and put hundreds of books on my Bookshelf, without committing to any of them. Choosing books should be as fun as shopping for candy – everything looks good, and we can select a little of everything to savor later.
9. The right to read out loud
Some passages beg to be read out loud. Some people retain better what they read out loud. Some books are read aloud to us, and we can understand better than if we tried to read it ourselves. Audiobooks can increase attention and vocabulary, and help readers build language skills.
10. The right to not defend your tastes
We not only can read whatever we like, but we can share our selections with others so much easier with Big Universe. Because it is a social reading and writing site, with thousands of books on all reading levels, readers can choose from a myriad of topics and formats, and share what they find interesting.
I wish all of you a Happy Year of Reading, and hope that you all enjoy the Right to Read!
Now that the American Thanksgiving Holiday has passed, it is time to gear up for winter! And what better way to spend a snowy winter day than to curl up with a good book? Big Universe can help young readers get ready for winter, and help them understand how animals get ready, too!
Whistling Wings (Laura Goering and Laura Jacques, illus.) is the story of Marcel, a young tundra swan, who becomes tired during the winter migration, and hides out in the rushes. Other animals try to help him survive the winter, but things look bleak until mom and dad come back to rescue him. This book teaches about migration, the winter habits of other animals, and the importance of following directions!
Winter by Ann Herriges is a wonderful nonfiction introduction to the activities, weather, and animal adaptations that the cold weather brings
Christmas Eve Blizzard (Andrea Vlahakis, Emanuel Schongut, illus.) teaches about birds and the importance of charity in a charming story that takes place during the Christmas season. Readers will not only learn how to create a bird-friendly habitat and simple bird feeders, but will be introduced to cardinal numbers in the appendix.
After reading these selections, students may be challenged to write about changes that they see during the winter, and how the animals in their back yards adapt to the cold weather. They may write about family traditions or things that they look forward to doing during the snowy days.
As the weather in the North turns colder and more time is spent indoors, Big Universe offers many opportunities for reading, writing and learning about the fabulous winter weather!!
Image from Interesting Books for You
While introducing Big Universe to new second and third grade students this week, I limited the introduction to the basics that would allow them to sign in, locate books, save to their Book Shelf, and Read. They were led through the steps together, and then allowed to experiment and find books for a few minutes on their own. A few interesting things happened.
First of all, they did not find books on their own. Instantly, the students were sharing their finds with their neighbors, gleefully pointing out the cool books that they found before their friends did, showing each other how to find similar titles. These students could have found and read books quietly for fifteen minutes, but they chose instead to share titles, images, sections of text with friends who were seated nearby. This only reinforces for me that reading is a social activity; books read alone are not as fun, meaningful or interesting as those that are read together. It wasn’t a quiet activity, but it sure was exciting!
Secondly, the students found, on their own, how to share messages between friends. This underscores the fact that our students are used to being socially connected online, and prefer to work in communities rather than alone. Luckily, the tools for finding friends and sending messages are fairly intuitive in Big Universe, and the students were able to connect easily.
According to Bob Stein of The Institute for the Future of the Book, “…books are becoming these places to congregate; the form of expression is undergoing changes.” But, he contends, eBook developers have not caught up with this social aspect of reading; eBooks are still independent units, downloaded to individual readers, enjoyed by one user at a time, much like CDs. He foresees a time when multiple readers share their perspectives and points of view simultaneously, while reading the same text.
With web-based eBooks, the chance to share, recommend and comment on what we are reading brings us closer to that concept than we were just a few months ago. As readers become comfortable reading and discussing together, they bring a richer meaning to the text. Since books are nothing but words strung together until they are given meaning by the reader, will not multiple perspective give each book all the more value, and deeper meaning?
The technology is here that would allow us to read simultaneously and discuss what we read with people around the world. Google has just announced the ability to share info about books from Google Books in circles on Google+. It is already accepted practice, especially among the younger, more-connected generation, to simultaneously watch TV or a movie and discuss it on the “second screen” – their computer or other Internet connected device. For our students, reading is more than an individual, confidential, personal pursuit and escape from reality, and a private entertainment; they are ready to share this very intimate activity with others.
Read more: The Social Context of Reading: Five Questions for Bob Stein — Imprint-The Online Community for Graphic Designers
Photo by Stuart Miles
When this school year began, the students were evaluated and tested and categorized. Our school uses the 100 Book Challenge Program, a standards-based reading and accountability program from American Reading Company to keep our students reading. Each week, students are expected to read a certain number of “lines”; each line represents 15 minutes of reading at the students’ just-right reading level.
This year, as the students reading levels were decided, some teachers chose to put the students back one level. Of course, the students chafed at being held back, they were embarrassed that they were forced to read at a lower level. However, now that a month has passed, these students are excited about reading, and are eager to jump ahead into books that are on their reading level. They have had a month of “fun” reading, easy reading, and fast reading. They have understood what they read, and enjoyed the “easy” books. Now they can move ahead with ease, and build on their strong reading abilities.
While this may seem as a waste of time and a month of progress lost, the confidence that it has instilled in some shaky readers has been remarkable. It has helped them strengthen the foundation on which their progress will be made, and it has boosted their confidence as readers. They have had the chance to enjoy books that they would have skipped in favor of more difficult, and perhaps more socially attractive titles. Perhaps it is worth the time spent to give them the chance to enjoy books that they might never have taken the time to read.
Perhaps moving a student along through reading levels simply because they can sight-read vocabulary or read a paragraph with few errors is premature. Perhaps reading isn’t about sounding out the words after all; maybe it is about easily understanding and enjoying the text that is read. Perhaps we are cheating them by assigning reading levels at all.
The world lost a pioneer this month. I know that this is an unusual topic for our Blog, but bear with me, please. Michael S. Hart passed away on September 6, in his home in Urbana, Illinois. While not exactly a household name, Mr. Hart has changed the way that we teach, read, and share information. You see, Mr. Hart was credited with inventing the “eBook” in 1971. An amazing four decades ago, while he was a student working on computers at the University of Illinois, Mr. Hart was given access to a network-connected mainframe computer, with the goal of improving his skills. Grateful for this opportunity, he looked for a way to repay the university, and apparently, as he often said, he was just at the right place at the right time. While shopping for groceries on the Fourth of July, he was given a fake parchment reproduction of the Declaration of Independence. He thought that, if he put it online, it would not only preserve the information, but would allow the people on the small network to access it at any time. That single document was followed by thousands more, as Mr. Hart recruited hundreds of volunteers to help him manually type or scan thousands of classics in the public domain and copyrighted works they had permission to reproduce. Mr. Hart began to build the massive library known as Project Gutenberg, named after the 15th-century inventor of the printing press. (Langer)
And so, the digital book was born.
It seems unbelievable that a self-described “truck driver who got loose in academia”, (Langer) would become the force behind the shift that would rock the publishing world. It makes me wonder what they next step in publishing might be, and whether, somewhere on a college campus, a student has already begun the shift. Will we be content with eBooks and portable readers, or is there another dimension to books that we can take one step further? Since the books are the content, and not the format, how can they be produced to become even more accessible and appealing to the world’s readers? If Mr. Hart can conceive of the digital library while the Internet was still in its infancy, and generations before iTunes was conceived, perhaps we cannot even see the next shift in reading. However, I think that we will be much more receptive to changes in the way we read, now that Mr. Hart has paved the way.
Source
Langer, Emily. “Project Gutenberg creator Michael S. Hart dies at 64.” 8 September 2011. The Washington Post. 10 September 2011 .
This past week, after just a half day of school under our belts for the year, our area was hit with both a flash flood and massive river flooding in the same day.
Schools clean up after devastating flood.
We have endured both before, less than five years ago, but not both at the same time. Over ten inches of rain fell, swelling the creeks, streams and rivers. Roads, bridges, homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed; several schools and libraries are perched on the banks of the rivers, and we have proof that at least two schools are totally ruined.
One school in particular, in the Binghamton City School District, had at least four feet of filthy water throughout the main floor. Since the library and classrooms are on the main floor, this means that everything was lost. Bookcases were toppled, computers swamped, all of the beautiful decorations and supplies that were brought on the first day of school are gone.
This school happened to have one of the best library collections in the area. The school librarian had built a beautiful library collection to compliment the curriculum. There had been a branch of the public library in the building as well, and when that branch closed, the Librarian pleaded for the books and furniture. These were blended into the school library, creating a lovely and well-rounded collection.
Now, even the books that were not directly touched by water will have to be destroyed. Mold, odors and just the nearness of the fetid water have made anything in the building unusable by children.
Parents, graduates and neighbors have all stepped up to help even before the water began receding. They all generously offered to bring in used books, school supplies, and whatever they could find that might be useful. This may seem sweet and generous and a solution to the problem, but we have to stop and think first. That library was not built on a random collection of materials. Each book was lovingly chosen for its appropriateness in that school, for those children, learning those lessons. Each book was cataloged, processed and shelved for easy access. There was a plan over the course of ten or more years, which helped this library grow and mature into one that served the needs of students and staff.
The same guidelines that helped build this library are useful when building an eBook collection. Each addition should be chosen on the basis of reading level, relevant content, and quality of the work. Titles should complement each other, support each other, and weave together to create a supportive and useful web of reading material, both fiction and nonfiction. eBooks on a broad and finely-leveled ladder of reading abilities will help readers find attractive and useful materials within their comfort area, and will support them as they grown into accomplished readers. And, of course, eBooks will not mold, mildew or become unusable in the event of a catastrophic flood.
At a recent School Librarians’ workshop, a very prestigious and knowledgeable speaker addressed the growing popularity of library eBook collections. He spoke at length about eReaders, and the expense of accumulating enough hand-held devices to meet the demand of borrowers. He taught me about the dangers of eyestrain, and of E-ink’s supposed benefits over backlit LCD readers. He discussed the controversy surrounding one particular eBook publisher who has limited the number of circulations that each eBook can have in one library. He spoke very engagingly, but the discussion turned away, I felt, from the true problem of loaning eBooks through libraries.
Books are not the paper that they are printed on, but the content and ideas within the covers. Libraries circulate books in all forms; it is becoming easier and more feasible to collect large numbers of eBooks in public, university and school libraries, and we feel very proud when we can point out how many e-volumes the library loans. However, are we discriminating against the less fortunate when we use library funds to purchase eBooks without also buying readers on which they can be enjoyed? If we loan audiobooks and eBooks, are we obligated to also loan the means by which a borrower can read that book? Or should we assume that the library user has an eReader or a CD player or a computer at his/her disposal? This is not as much of an issue in schools, as there are usually enough computers available which can be used for both functions; however, books are borrowed from school libraries to be used outside of those four walls.
As libraries transform collections from dusty paper to digital format, as I am sure they eventually all will, there must be a way to make certain that the collections are, as Melvil Dewey envisioned, free and accessible to all.
I am a big fan of Laurie Halse Anderson, and have been avidly following her Fourth Annual Write Fifteen Minutes A Day© Challenge. I haven’t joined the challenge, and don’t write along with her, but I am savoring her advice and filing each morsel away for a time when I have a spare fifteen minutes a day!
A recent post to Ms. Anderson’s blog reminded me of one of my favorite writing exercises for younger children. When given the chance to create stories, many youngsters cannot seem to get a storyline started; they wait for inspiration, as if the whole story will leap, fully formed, onto their paper.
To help them overcome inertia, we often turn to Fairy Tales. Many fairy tales, some new and some old favorites can be found in BigUniverse, under the category Fairy Tales and Fantasy. After reading a few classic tales, we challenge the students to “revise” the stories by changing the characters or setting. For example:
- What would happen if Goldilocks re-visited the bears’ house the next day? What if the bears visited her house instead?
- What if Cinderella lived in the present? The future? Under the sea? In space?
- What if the Three Little Pigs were dogs? Or lived in the city?
There are some very interesting fractured fairy tales in BigUniverse as well, but it may be best to share them after the students have written their own stories. For example, the Three Little Pigs story is updated and given a robot theme in Watch Out for Wolfgang. Two bullies who chase a young lady called Red through the woods are taught a lasting lesson by her Hopi grandmother in Little Ruth Reddingford and the Wolf. Multiplication of whole numbers and fractions helps Peter undo the damage that Rumpelstiltskin wreaks in Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin.
Giving the students a familiar framework and a direction often helps them be more creative, and gives them the confidence to write a complete story. Try it with nursery rhymes, too! I wonder if the Itsy Bitsy Spider was smarter the second time around? Or what the King’s men would do for Humpty today? Or if Little Miss Muffet ever learned to deal with her pesky arachnid?
At the recent New York Library Association/Section of School Librarians’ Educational Leadership Retreat, much attention was given to the implementation of the Common Core Standards. The new Common Core Curriculum for English/language arts will more than likely focus attention on the assigned reading levels of text and higher order thinking about what is read, and ELA lessons will rely more on analysis of text and deep reading for understanding. According to the Core Standards: “Students need opportunities to stretch their reading abilities but also to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy, fluent reading within them, both of which the Standards allow for.” (http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf)
Students will be expected to demonstrate complex understanding of text, and to respond to analytical questions about what they have read. Less important will be background knowledge and rote responses to reading selections. Teachers can expect to be posing questions that invoke higher-order thinking skills, arguments and discussions. Providing students with a wide variety of texts, on many reading levels, will be key to engaging students and challenging them to stretch their reading skills. A wide selection of eBooks can provide the reading support that some students need, while supplying the assortment materials to keep more accomplished readers engaged. Kathy Schrock maintains that “…e-books have features that make reading more engaging and instructionally relevant – they also provide the format of text and reading guidance reluctant readers require to improve literacy skills.” (i.e. Magazine, Autumn 2006, p. 10) With the availability of on-demand definitions, follow-up questions and optional read-aloud features, eBooks can provide a richer reading experience to the reluctant or less proficient reader.
The option of listening to books on digital readers provides even more support for reluctant readers. According to Christie Berry, Ed.D., “Listening to unabridged audio books while following along in the book improves language skills, auditory processing, and contributes to an increase in overall cognitive abilities.” (http://www.jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/helpful_articles.html#ears). Digital collections appear to be one answer to engaging young readers, and supporting student mastery of complex text. As libraries strive to build collections that will support the new Curriculum, it will be interesting to see whether digital materials will be supported and studied as tools for student success.
I recently attended a workshop that focused on the Common Core Standards, and specifically, on the shifts in literacy instruction that are taking place to support these standards. The new Standards will require students to read more informational texts, and so teachers will be required to embed literacy into every subject and discipline. Reading materials will become increasingly complex, and students will need to read carefully, and to support their responses with evidence to prove comprehension of the text. During this workshop we learned to design a Close Reading Literacy Task, in which the students and teacher read a short, rich text together, and use questions and evidence-based answers to derive meaning from the text.
