Growing readers instead of teaching reading

I finished reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer and enjoyed my brief foray into reading just for fun (and it was a fun read, though I was taken aback by the abrupt ending.  Cue next book in series...).  Though my mountain of books-to-read at home is comparable to Everest, I am still compelled to buy more, usually from my wishlist on Amazon while trying to fulfill the $25 requirement for free shipping.  This is an almost weekly ritual, and in one of those orders to purchase a Sherlock Holmes movie for my daughterand the Caldecott-winning Blackout by John Rocco for my classroom, I bought The Book Whisperer (published by Jossey-Bass, 2009).

I became familiar with Donalyn Miller through Twitter, of all places.  Dr. Lesesne required us to follow several different "types" of people on Twitter during our time in her YA Lit class.  One of those types was a language arts teacher, and I noted that Dr. Lesesne followed Ms. Miller, so I followed suit.  I enjoyed her tweets during book and library conferences, and notes about her sixth grade language arts class.  I also added her book to my Amazon wishlist, with no sense of urgency.  After finally reading it this weekend, I only regret not doing so sooner!  It is now sporting over two dozen sticky flags to remind me of activities, quotes, and "aha!" moments I encountered in this MUST-READ for teachers of literacy.  Let me share a few of my flagged notes and quotes from this resource which has changed the focus of my language arts time for the rest of this school year!

"Books are boring."  (p 73)  Ms. Miller handles this one with an honest "Some books are boring!", and emphasizes the rights of readers to abandon books, even in the classroom setting.

"Forty-Book Requirement"  (p 78) This is the number of books her 6th grade students are required to read each school year.  She chooses a number from each genre, and includes nine free-choice chapter books--but students are free to choose their own books within each genre.  For those students who read books over 350 pages, she allows those books to count twice.

"Are we teaching books or teaching readers?  I would rather have my students read books of questionable literary value than not read at all." (p 85) Ms. Miller emphasizes instilling the motivation to read first; moving on to 'meatier' books will be a natural progression.

Read-alouds, lessons on identifying genres, examples of student-recorded lists and response entries--these are all activities I've tagged. 

"...I read every day of my life and that I talk about reading constantly.  I am not mandating an activity for them that I do not engage in myself.  I do not promote reading to my students because it is good for them or because it is required for school success.  I advocate reading because it is enjoyable and enriching."  (p 106)  I myself am guilty of constantly trying to make that "real-world connection" with reading to my students (partly because it is part of my evaluation!).  But the reality is that if students aren't intrinsically motivated to read, none of that will matter.  The joy of reading needs to be communicated above all else, and it is best done by modeling.

"...teachers who have an aesthetic view of reading have the greatest influence on their students' motivation and interest in reading....and have more impact on the long-term reading habits of their students than those who see reading as a skill to be mastered, the instructional edge goes to the teacher who sees reading as a gift, not a goal." (p 109)  This bears out in Ms. Miller's experience, as her students go on to pass and ace the state reading tests year after year. 

"Traditional reading instruction that focuses on mandates outside of the students and stirs fear-based motivation hijacks reading away from readers.  Give it back to them." (p 139)  Ms. Miller has definite opinions on schoolwide reading programs (such as AR), home reading logs, traditional book reports, and round-robin reading.  So many aha! moments for me. 

"The only way you will know that your students read every day is to watch them read right in front of you." (p 144)  This is now my new guiding principle for my own language arts class.  Though I have always known--and taught students--that we become better readers by reading, I have not dedicated the time in the classroom where we are all engaged in reading at once, and to include myself in that activity.

I could go on and on....but I will end by saying that this book has been the most inspiring text I've read on literacy.  I've already decided to redesign my classes and an evaluation project based on the information and activities Ms. Miller has provided.  I hope to report back at the end of the school year on my students' reading success!

One more book read, now back to the textbooks

Yes, I did manage to complete a book before my final semester of Library Science studies took over:  Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield.
It was my first steampunk novel, too!  For those of you not familiar with this genre/trend, it's a mix of historical fiction and sci-fi.  This book is set at the beginning of World War I, and features the same key players and countries.  One of the main characters is the son of the Austrian duke and duchess whose murders touched off this epic event.  The sci-fi comes from the inclusion of Clanker vehicles and war machines from the Eastern European countries, and strange beasts formed from recombined DNA assisting the Darwinist West.  I am not a history buff, nor a historical fiction fan, but this was a fun and easy read for me...I may even move on to the next installment of the series!  But not before I dive back into the textbooks and the book for SHSU's Goodreads book club, Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  I downloaded it onto my nookColor--I need to be using my "toys" more often to read!


An update on my progress towards becoming a librarian:  I am in my final semester, which means internship time!  I've already spent several hours working in both my elementary and the neighborhood high school's library as well, and I'm thoroughly enjoying every minute.  I can't wait to get behind my own circulation desk and among the stacks, booktalking to students and sharing my love of reading!  My hope is that by this time next year, there will be a link to this blog from my very own library webpage. 

A Bookish Kind of Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  We're still celebrating in the Margocs household, in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  The tree, nativity, and Santa collection will remain in place until January 6th, when they'll get replaced by a bevy of snowmen to lessen the blow of the post-holiday letdown.

But back to Christmas Day--and the bevy of books left behind by Santa, as well as gifted under the tree!  Here's what the jolly old elf left for our enjoyment:

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, so beautifully illustrated by P.J. Lynch that my teen daughter was "oooh-ing" before she even read the text--which she did read, before the end of Christmas Day.  A true classic.

Garrison Keillor's A Christmas Blizzard had me rolling with laughter, especially reading half-page-long sentences.  I'm going to have to ask a North Dakotan friend of mine if this is really how the natives converse--and if it is, it will make it that much funnier.  A predictable ending, but a funny, unpredictable way of getting there.  A talking wolf, undercover FBI-agent-cousin, vital organs in a plastic bag, and a touch of Dickens-style second-chances--interested yet?

A just-for-fun book that Santa left behind was a "Prep & Landing" sound button book.  Couldn't find a picture of it, but if you're not familiar with the Prep & Landing Christmas movies, here's a link to the website:    http://abc.go.com/shows/prep-and-landing  Santa also left a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth , a 1961 book that seems to be enjoying a resurgence.  Who can resist a search for Rhyme and Reason, with a watchdog named Tock?   

Under the tree, there were more books to be found!  For high school senior daughter, there was Adam Borowitz's new release--signed to her, by the author, courtesy of Oblong Books, an independent bookstore in New York.  It's his collection of the 50 funniest American authors and samples of their work; what's interesting is that many of the authors are not those widely viewed as humorous.  I can't wait 'til she's done, so I can take a crack at it.  I bought it after hearing him speak with Evan Smith on PBS' "Overheard":  http://video.klru.tv/video/2168389775

She also got a book by Naomi Shihab Nye entitled There is No Long Distance Now, which I thought was apt, since she's about to go off to college in a few months.  And since she's now braved APUSH (that's Advanced Placement United States History for you non-high school parents/kids) and AP Government, I thought she might enjoy a graphic novel based on government intrigue: 

Don't worry, my middle school son didn't get left out of the book fest!  He got his own copy of Wonderstruck, which he's been pining for since it was published.  This is Selznick's work, incorporating some of the same techniques from The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  My son also got Anya's Ghost  by Vera Brosgol, a graphic novel which he promptly read and pronounced good, but sad. 

As always, we have PLENTY to read around here....hope we get enough time in 2012 to put a dent in our reading piles!  Happy New Year to you and yours, and here's to great reading in 2012!

Grad school semester is done--more time to read!

I turned in the last of my assignments yesterday, and applied for my internship today.  All that is left to prepare for spring semester is to have my internship approved, add that class, and make my final payment.  In the meantime, here are the books on my current to-read pile.  Wish me luck--I've got baking to get done, too!

Christmas Books!

I've posted pictures of our bookshelves at home before, but I don't know if I mentioned that fully one-and-a-half shelves are dedicated to Christmas books.  Santa brings at least one holiday book a year, and between his gift-giving, and my own collection from childhood and teaching, we have quite a selection!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Auntie Claus, by Elise Primavera, and the sequel, Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas.  Both are wonderfully refreshing stories of believing in the magic--and meaning--of Christmas.  The illustrations are so festive!

 Speaking of illustrations, Mary Engelbreit's version of The Night Before Christmas is a visual feast.  We also have E.T.A. Hoffman's Nutcracker, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.  Another classic from my childhood is Santa Mouse, Where Are You? , by Michael Brown and illustrated by Elfrieda deWitt.

Last year, the book theme seemed to be alternative versions of The Night Before Christmas:  A Pirate's Night Before Christmas, by Philip Yates and illustrated by Sebastia Serra, and from my family to me, Librarian's Night Before Christmas, by David Davis, illustrated by Jim Harris. 

I'll end this post with my two favorite "quiet" books for Christmas:  Margaret Wise Brown's On Christmas Eve, illustrated by Nancy Edwards Calder, and Bright Christmas:  An Angel Remembers by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Kate Kiesler (a special gift from a friend). Both stories are illustrated in the smoky, hushed tones of a winter's night--perfect for sending little ones, and not-so-little-ones, off to sleep on Christmas Eve.



Happy Holidays, everyone!

Book pairing on a sensitive topic

I have been a reading fiend this week, in a mad dash to complete an assignment for YA Lit.  One of our selections this week was Inexcusable, by Chris Lynch.  The book was very hard for me to read, as the narrator is a young man who just can't seem to accept responsibility for his misdeeds, which includes the rape of a long-time friend.  One of the rave reviews for the book came from Laurie Halse Anderson, who wrote Speak, another reading assignment from a previous discussion.  Since Speak is the story of a teen girl's recovery after being raped, I thought this would be an excellent pairing.  Both books are fairly quick reads; I could see using them in a two-week high school English unit focusing on different perspectives/ voices from the same type of event.

For our last discussion in YA Lit, we are looking for books similar to the ones Dr. Lesesne has assigned to us.  Hopefully, I'll come up with some more great pairings to post!

My first book festival!

Yesterday, I attended my first book festival:  the Jan Paris Book Festival, sponsored by Sam Houston State University (the school I'm "attending" online to pursue my Master's Degree in Library Science).  The bookfest was held in San Antonio, and featured an illustrator--David Diaz--and two authors, Naomi Shihab Nye and Jeanne Birdsall--as keynote speakers.  I was blown away by their passion for their work, and their love for libraries and librarians as well.  One workshop I attended was presented by the Texas Scoundrels and Sweethearts, a group of Austin-based children's book authors.  I purchased a couple of their books just from hearing them talk about them!  Another workshop was all about running the library on a shoestring budget; we got a free felt puppet and lots of advice on fundraising/ costsavings. 

Since this blog is all about the books, here's what I bought, and what I've had to read lately for my YA Lit class that I've enjoyed:

Brains for Lunch and The Emerald Tablet were written by authors from the Texas Sweethearts group.  The first, I'm sharing at home and at school; the second is for my own son, who likes fantasy novels now and then.




Smoky Night was illustrated by David Diaz, and won the Caldecott Award.  We got to watch him paint while he answered questions and talked about the illustrating process.  After hearing Naomi Shihab Nye speak, I just knew I had to read at least one of her works....so Habibi is all mine!





The Tequila Worm is a required read for my YA Lit class...but don't let the title fool you.  It is not about teenagers drinking tequila after the football game.  This book is about a young girl from the Valley who gets a scholarship to attend a private high school in Austin.  There are lots of beautiful vignettes of life in the barrio, and the customs and rituals that bind the families there together.  I really enjoyed this book.

I have to get back to reading--this week, I have to make the time!  Keep reading!