1. The Teacher Librarian’s Role in Reading and Literacy K-12 Barb Stein b.stein@mchsi.com Janie Schomberg jschomberg@gmail.com Keystone AEA April 22, 2008

2. GOAL: REVISIT and RE-VISION the role of the teacher librarian in promoting literacy and improving student achievement. Objectives: Understand the latest data on reading Examine the role of nonfiction in reading to learn Learn ways to differentiate resources for teachers and learners Examine reading/literacy strategies to improve student achievement Share ways to promote whole school literacy

3. Reading and Literacy: News and Views TO READ OR NOT TO READ - National Endowment for the Arts Literacy Study http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.pdf (November 2007)

4. Finding #1: Americans are reading less.

5. Finding #2: Americans are reading less well.

6. Finding #3: Declines in reading have civic, social and economic implications.

7. Are Kids Reading Less Today? Deborah Dillon, U of MN Professor Minnesota Magazine, March 2008 (11) The proliferation of technology doesn’t mean people read less -- just that they read in new ways. If you broaden the notion of reading beyond just books that you carry around under your arm, you see a very different picture. For many kids, reading is about sharing ideas through social sites like MySpace and YouTube. Reading is a social activity. Educators have to think about what kids are doing outside of school and what we could do in school that helps them learn how to be critical consumers of all of the electronic text that they read. We shouldn’t abandon traditional materials, but the days of experiencing information only through a book are gone. It is too appealing, too available, and too interesting to use different media to understand and connect with ideas.

8. NCTE Adolescent Literacy: A Policy Research Brief Myth: “Literacy instruction is the responsibility of English teachers alone.” Reality: “Each academic content area poses its own literacy challenges in terms of vocabulary, concepts, and topics.”

9. Dimensions: “By 4th grade, many students have learned a number of the basic processes of reading and writing; however, they still need to master literacy practices unique to different levels, disciplines, texts and situations.” Research says: “Adolescents are less likely to struggle when subject area teachers make the reading and writing approaches in a given content area clear and visible.” http://www.ncte.org/collections/adolescentliteracy http://www.ncte.org/collections/adolescentliteracy (April 06)

11. Reading and the School Library “A natural co-teacher of reading, the library media specialist collaborates with teachers on the strategies and skills taught in the classroom to promote a love of reading and literature for lifelong reading and learning. The library media specialist, as a teacher-librarian, develops a partnership with classroom teachers and works directly with students and teachers to achieve the bottom line: higher reading proficiency of all students.” Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction http://www.dpi.wisconsin.gov/imt/rdgslmp/htmlhttp://www.dpi.wisconsin.gov/imt/rdgslmp/html(8/28/06)

12. Teacher Librarian as Literacy Leader “School library media specialists must also understand those skills that students need to read and, most importantly, to read for understanding. The SLMS has the special expertise necessary to bridge the technical skills of reading with the experiential side of reading.” Julie Walker, Executive Director of AASL Cart, Michael,Teacher-Librarian as Literacy Leader, Teacher Librarian, February 07, pp. 8-10

13. Moving Toward a Common Understanding Article: The School Library Media Teacher’s role in Increasing Reading Comprehension: Why School Library Media Teachers Need to Facilitate Reading Comprehension CSLA Presentation by Linda Cornwell, May 05. http://www.sbhsd.k12.ca.us/sbhslib/reading/ cslareading.pdfhttp://www.sbhsd.k12.ca.us/sbhslib/reading/ cslareading.pdf, pp. 5-8

14. Checking in with Standards, Guidelines, Frameworks 1. AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007) http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards 2. Iowa School Library Program Guidelines (2007) http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/view/959/493/ 3. Sample Information Literacy Curriculum Framework (2007) http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/ld/school- librarians/reqandsupp/sample/view

15. The Teacher Librarian’s Role in Reading and Literacy K-12 Barb Stein b.stein@mchsi.com Janie Schomberg jschomberg@gmail.com Keystone AEA April 22, 2008