Competency 7, Internet

Image source:  AdLit.org

My internet search led me to a great website named AdLit.org.  This website offers resources for parents and educators of kids in grades 4 - 12.  It is a perfect website for librarians who need to access current information on serving reluctant readers at the elementary level.  The articles and information are easy to understand, and is presented by highly qualified people who make it their goal to improve childhood literacy.  AdLit.org also has other sister sites that can be accessed from their website.  One worth checking out is Reading Rockets.org.  This website caters to librarians of younger readers.  Both of these websites offer a newsletter and a good collection of featured video clips.  They both provide wonderful topics on current events related to literacy. 

AdLit.org - All About Adolescent Literacy - http://adlit.org/

Reading Rockets.org - How young children learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.  http://readingrockets.org/ 

I found AdLit.org by entering, "websites for school librarians focusing on reluctant readers" through google.com.

            

Competency 6, Multimedia

Image source:  Google Book Search

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

For my multimedia lesson, I chose to focus on a book that has continually popped up on book lists throughout my research on reluctant readers at the elementary level.  The book is titled, The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame.  The story is about the friendship between a little boy and a dragon who both recite poetry.  This book was written in 1898 and was eventually made into an animated movie by Walt Disney in 1941.  I found a copy of the actual movie on YouTube.  It is a short movie that runs about 10 minutes in length.  This story is also offered as an audio book which is great for reluctant readers.  The movie would be a perfect supplement to an elementary librarian who has read and discussed the book with students.  

I found information about The Reluctant Dragon on www.google.com by entering "reluctant readers."  Google.com gave a listing under Wikipedia and a link to YouTube.  This movie will be appealing to younger students.

  

YouTube - The Reluctant Dragon, Part 1

      

Competency 5E, Browsing Search Strategy in LexisNexis

Search Topic:  Motivate Reluctant Readers

Search:  Power Search

Search Terms:  Natural Language

Sources:  US Newspapers and Wires

Dates:  Previous 5 years (Jul. 12, 2003 to Jul. 12, 2008)

The prompts above generated 83 results.

I chose hit #5 because it was the most relevant to my topic:  reluctant readers at the elementary level.  The title is, "AudibleKids Encourages Using MP3 Players as Valuable Learning Tools; One-of-a-kind community of parents, educators, and children launches a website with nearly 4,000 titles and exclusive and never-before-released content."  

AudibleKids.com is a site that offers almost 4,000 high quality digital children's audiobooks available for purchase.  These stories can be played on iPods, audio players, and mobile devices.  This company is even working with Reading is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) by providing a featured section on the RIF website where audible books can be downloaded by children, parents, and educators.  The combination of reading and technology is something that will attract reluctant readers of all ages.

AudibleKids Encourages Using MPS3 Players as Valuable Learning Tools; One-of-a-kind community of parents, educators, and children launches a website with nearly 4,000 titles and exclusive and never-before-released content.  Business Wire, March 31, 2008 Monday 10:00 AM CMT, 1111 words.  Dateline:  Newark, NJ

Competency 5D, Citation Pearl Growing in Books in Print

For my citation pearl growing search, I used the Books in Print Database.  Since my topic is on reluctant readers at the elementary level, I chose "reluctant readers" as my search term.  This brought me 203 results.  I found a book titled, Reviving Reading:  School Library Programming, Author Visits, and Books That Rock! by Alison Folos.  I selected the search term "school libraries."  From this result list I found three books that I liked.  I noticed different search terms listed under each title.  The most common search terms listed from my book selections were "school libraries" and "children's libraries."  Through this searching method, I can see how you can keep going and going.  I liked this searching strategy the best out of all the others.  I'm anxious to try it out on other databases.

 

The author, Alison Follos is an experienced school librarian who uses "creative library literacy programming" to instill an interest in reading for pleasure in students.  Her book focuses on getting the school faculty involved in reading children's literature to model the love of reading.  She gives ideas on how to build a strong literature-oriented program and collection.

Reviving Reading:  School Library Programming, Author Visits and Books That Rock!  By Alison Follos, ISBN 1-59158-356-x  

Follos, Alison, M.G. et. al.  Reviving Reading:  School Library Programming, Author Visits and Books That Rock!  Westport:  Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 2006.  

  

Competency 5C, Successive Fractions in Academic Search Complete

For this search I accessed ERIC Ebsco Research Database and selected academic search complete.  My first term was "library" and this brought 488,613 results.  I added "reluctant" and received 213 results.  I added "encourage" as my third term and received five results.  I found two articles out of five that I really liked.  See my results on the following screen shots.

The first article was found at hit #2.  It is titled, "Kid's Stuff:  Fun and Games with Children's Authors" by Dr. D. Jackson Maxwell.  He developed a matching game that involves searching authors and titles on your school computer catalog or the Library of Congress Online Catalog.

Kid's Stuff:  Fun and Games with Children's Authors.  By:  Maxwell, D. Jackson.  Library Media Connection, Oct2005, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p48-50, 3p; (AN 18438206)

The second article was found at hit #4.  It is titled, "A Novel Approach:  Using Graphic Novels to Attract Reluctant Readers and Promote Literacy" by Philip Crawford.  This article discusses the benefits of graphic novels for reluctant readers.  Crawford put together a recommended book list of graphic novels that are divided by:  science fiction and fantasy, super heroes, horror and super natural fiction, and social issues.  The titles chosen for this list are grade level appropriate and are free of excessive violence, profanity, and adult situations.

A Novel Approach:  Using Graphic Novels to Attract Reluctant Readers and Promote Literacy.  By:  Crawford, Philip.  Library Media Connection, Feb2004, Vol. 22 Issue 5, p26-28, 3p. 1 color; (AN 12028381)  

Competency 5B: Specific Facet First, ERIC

I searched the ERIC Ebsco database for my topic on reluctant readers at the elementary level.  I used the word (reluctant) as my most specific facet.  This brought 1374 results.  Next, I limited my results by selecting:  full text, dates (2005-2008), and elementary education as the education level.  This gave me only one result.  This was too limited for me so I removed the dates from my second search.  This time I got 34 results.  I found a great article on graphic novels on hit #2. 

 

The article is titled, "Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers:  Owly, Buzzboy, Pinky and Stinky.  Who Are These Guys?  And Why Aren't They Ever on The Shelf?"  The author Allyson Lyga, is an elementary school librarian who supplies her shelves with a large of collection of graphic novels.  Her article is a success story about the positive results that graphic novels have on reluctant readers, or in her words, "avoidance readers."  Kids love these books because they are visually appealing and they can understand the plot of the story easily.  She has even noticed that some student book reports come in a graphic novel format, rather than the traditional book report form.  Graphic novels supply the student with every aspect of reading comprehension. 

Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers:  Owly, Buzzboy, Pinky and Stinky.  Who Are These Guys?  And Why Aren't They Ever on The Shelf?  By Lyga, Allyson A. W.  School Library Journal, v52 n3 p56 March 2006.   

Competency 5A: Building Block, LibraryLit

Search Topic:  Reluctant Readers at the Elementary Level

Database:  LibraryLit (Library Literature)

Dates:  2003 to 2008

Limited to:  Full-text articles

Search Strategy:

S1 - reluctant or remedial or reader = 1063 records

S2 - motivate or interest or popular = 1291 records

S3 - elementary or primary or grammar = 583 records

S1 AND S2 AND S3 = 3 records

I brainstormed a list of synonyms and narrowed it down to words I have seen most frequently on my topic.  After some experimenting, I found the above results.  Of the three results found on the final search, I located an article about the positive results in the Accelerated Reader program.  We use the AR program in my school district, so I am anxious to share this information with my administrators.  The most interesting part of this article is about the use of prizes as rewards for student points.  The author, JaKay Greer, says that by not giving prizes helps students reach their goal of becoming lifelong readers.  The use of prizes as rewards has been an issue at my school.  We are trying to decide what is best for our students.  This article was the first hit.

Greer, J.  A Positive Experience with Accelerated Reader.  Teacher Librarian v. 30 no. 4 (April 2003) p. 32

This screen shot shows the final three hits.

This screen shot shows detailed information of the text.

Competency 4, Tagging

Image Source:  LibraryThing.com

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

1950s(2) Age Group 9-12(2) american(4) animal(3) animals(19) birds(3) chapter book(4) children(10) children's(33) children's books(4) children's fiction(10) Children's Literature(9) Classic(3) dogs(39) Eleanor Estes(2) f(4) family(12) family life(3) fiction(65) historical fiction(4) Illustrated(3) juvenile(5) juvenile fiction(9) Kids(7) lost(2) mf(3) Newbery(35) Newbery Challenge(3) newbery medal(33) novel(3) own(4) pets(2) puffin(2) read(3) realistic fiction(3) school(2) school room(2) siblings(3) Sonlight(6) Sonlight 2(5) Sonlight Core 2(4) ya(5) young adult(3)

Librarything Link:  http://www.librarything.com/work/book/32549373

The book I chose for my tagging competency is Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.  This book was written in 1951 and won a Newberry Award Medal.  It is a beloved story about the adventures of a little dog named Ginger Pye, and the family who has brought him into their lives.  It takes place at a time when life seemed so innocent and genuine.  I first read this book several years ago to my second grade class.  Now it has become a tradition.  I still have students who continue to come and tell me it is their favorite book.  They bring me pictures and comic strips of favorite scenes from the story.  When I become an elementary school librarian, this will be the first book I read with my library club.  Ginger Pye has had amazing results with some of my reluctant readers.

Estes, Eleanor.  Ginger Pye.  New York:  Scholastic, Inc., 1951.

The ISBN number for Ginger Pye is:  0-590-45126-X 

Competency 3, RSS

The RSS feed I selected is from the School Library Journal website.  This site provides a long list of RSS feeds on a variety of topics that are related to library and school issues.  I chose Graphic Novel News since studies have shown that graphic novels encourage reluctant readers.  The reviews posted to the left give information on numerous graphic novels appropriate for elementary level children.    

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/learnRSS

Search Engine:  www.google.com

  

Competency 2, Podcast

I located a podcast on reluctant readers by David LaMorte of Teaching for the Future (TftF). His podcast is listed on podcastdirectory.com.  This website is full of different podcasts that educates teachers, librarians, and parents about the use of technology and media in education.  

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/2791005

http://s5.video.blip.tv/1710003214147/Teachingforthefuture-TftF90ReachingReluctantReadersPart2645.mp3  

In the podcast titled, TftF 90:  Reaching the Reluctant Reader (part2), he discusses in length how using audio books and graphic novels is a wonderful way to get kids reading.  He included how Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man, reaches out to the reluctant reader.  You first give kids the freedom to read what they want.  Don't force them to read what you think they should read.  Expand their literature with graphic novels, audio books, magazines, and comic books.  Then start focusing on the positive aspects of reading, rather than discouraging other types of media like the internet. LaMorte discussed how difficult it is for parents to choose reading that is appropriate for their child.  Many parents think kids are maturing faster because of what they are exposed to in life.  Therefore, parents choose books that are either too hard or too easy.

Image source:  Corbett, Sue (2008, March, 22).  "Picture this:  Teachers are using comics, now called graphic novels, to captivate reluctant readers."  MiamiHerald.com, 

Retrieved 2008, March, 25 

LaMorte spoke of Roberta Kaiser, a media specialist at a middle school in Miami Beach, who fills her library shelves with graphic novels to entice her students into reading.  A graphic novel is actually a comic book.  Some of the best books come in a graphic novel form.  She has even had to limit her students to checking out one novel at a time because kids love them so much! This is something that is definitely reaching the reluctant reader.

"Children will learn if there's something in it for them and if it's pleasurable," says Francoise Mouly, co-editor of Raw magazine.  I look forward to including graphic novels into my future elementary school library.

Search engine:  www.google.com

Competency 1, Web Link

The information that I found while researching reluctant readers reassured me what I have been telling my parents throughout my teaching career.  I have come across all types of reluctant readers.  Many people think that reluctant readers are only students who have difficulty reading. The truth is that reluctant readers come in all shapes and sizes.  They can be your brightest students, or those that struggle with reading fluency.  Pamela LaBorde, a Seattle children's librarian says, "Most kids are reluctant readers because their reading time has become unpleasant or they are feeling insecure about their abilities."  Finding interesting books is the key to getting kids hooked on reading.

Image source:  Chen, Diane.  "Not Scary, Scare Me!"  School Library Journal.  (July 11, 2007)

I found a blog by Diane Chen that offered a remedy for this situation.  Her blog is titled, "Not Scary, Scare Me!"  In her article she asks Stone Arch Books representatives to provide a list of appropriate books for young readers.  The link for this site is:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/830000283/post/1530011753.html. 

Stone Arch Books staff Joan Berge, Maryellen Gregoire, & Michael Dahl answered questions on a conference call today focusing on this topic. As they noted there are two universal themes kids recommend to each other: books that make them laugh and books that scare them. They want the thrill to be scared out of their wits and know in the end they survived. Stone Arch is rising to meet this need with new fiction sets of books for the striving (struggling and reluctant) reader. 

Of course, I am selective as to what scary books I put on my bookshelves. But I will tell you that the most "dog-eared" books are those that are comical and spooky in nature.   

My search engine:  www.blogsearch.google.com            

Welcome

The purpose of this blog is to fulfill the requirements for my LS 5013.20 Information Storage and Retrieval class at Texas Woman's University.  My focus for this assignment will be researching reluctant readers in the elementary school setting.  I am looking forward to this new adventure of blogging.  My goal is to become a librarian in an elementary school.  I look forward to learning new and different ways to get kids excited about reading.

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.  Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

-Groucho Marx