Creating a School-Wide Reading Culture

Key Areas of Focus Develop a Literacy Leadership Team Review Student Data Evaluate Your Collection Select a School-wide Reading Theme Schedule Time for Reading Practice Build Reading Excitement Celebrate Success!

3 Who Does What?

Work with a Leadership Team

What’s Your Agenda? Develop a mission statement Determine policy Set school-wide goals Plan the pieces to get there Set & monitor goals (short & Long term)

Evaluate Your Collection Does it meet your student needs? Book level Interest Level AR BookFinder Handout: Parent’s Guide to AR BookFinder

7 Book Level = Text difficulty measured by ATOS Readability formula Uses full-text computer scans Analyzes sentence length, word length, and grade level of vocabulary Does not analyze content or literary merit

8 Interest Level = Maturity of ideas and themes LG = Lower Grades, K–3 MG = Middle Grades, 4–8 MG+ = Middle Grades, 6-8 UG = Upper Grades, 9–12

9 Book Level vs. Interest Level Book level: Interest level: Points: 4.0 LG MG UG 9.0 ___

Review Student Data Use an assessment tool (NCEOG/STAR) What grade level can your students read? Set an appropriate ZPD range Use Readability Levels to guide students Handout: Special Report on Using Readability

School-wide Reading Theme Principal support Decorate the hallways Classroom & Library bulletin boards Kick off the school year with reading pep rally Announce goals & incentives

13 Make in-school practice a priority Enlist the support of your principal Increase classroom efficiency Consider a school-wide reading time Upper grades: Consider shortening periods, reducing pass time, taking turns across content areas Handout: Tips for Using AR to Enhance Content Area Reading

14 In the Classroom... Explicit comprehension strategy instruction Daily guided reading practice Ongoing progress monitoring and guidance Support and celebration of progress toward individualized goals

15 Status of the Class Teacher’s activity during reading practice time One to one interaction: – Monitor progress, show interest – Provide guidance and encouragement – Assess readiness for quiz success

16 In the Library... Access to Level info for each book Promotion of wide range of reading – Age-appropriate content – Materials of varying length – Fiction and nonfiction Reading celebrations and incentives

Build Reading Excitement Family Reading Night Book Fairs Author Visits Student Helpers Book Trailers Student Wish Lists Book Trailers 4 All Handout: Booktrailers 4 all

Celebrate Success! Reading incentives Celebration of meeting goals Intrinsic motivators Community support Motivate with more books!

All educators need to share some responsibility for helping students become successful readers. “When kids can’t, won’t, or don’t read, nothing else matters. It affects everything else they do in school and beyond.” Robin Fogarty, 2005