Library Blog, 2007-2008 Academic Year
January 7, 2008
Start the Year Right
With Award-Winning Books!
by Bill Breitsprecher
Happy New Year, everybody! It is good to be back in school and
working with our young friends here at Barlow! This is an exciting
time of year for many reasons.
Here at the media center, we are going to start sharing award-winning
books, including Wisconsin's
Golden Archer Award books. This
will be a great time to look at other important children's book awards:
Caldecott Medal (Randolf). The Caldecott Medal honors the
artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
Geisel Medal (Dr. Seuss). The Theodor Seuss Geisel
Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished
contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as
beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding
year.
Newbery Medal. The Newbery
Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American
literature for children.
Wilder Award (Laura Ingalls). The Wilder Medal honors an
author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have
made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to
literature for children.
Each year, these awards are given to wonderful books - books kids love to
read. We will also look at these books. Why not take your
child to a Winnefox library and help them find a fun, award-winning book
too?
If you want help, your friendly children's librarian will be happy to help
you. Feel free to contact me too if you want to know more.
November 21
Recreational & Leveled Reading
by Bill Breitsprecher
I saw something that made me think – a girl was looking for her
Accelerated Reader book and found a book that she was excited about
reading. The indicated level, however, was “too high.” I had to ask
myself, “would she successfully complete and enjoy reading this book?”
Today’s accountability movement probably demands that programs like AR,
with formal assessments on each book, be part of the curriculum. Leveled
reading also helps teachers select books that teach specific strategies
during guided reading. Educators need to remember, however, there is not
“one way” to “level” books.
Authors and publishers create books with different ideas about reading
levels. Even when an organization like Renaissance Learning (owner of AR)
levels books, differences in how a book uses language impact how children
read that book – even when 2 books are represented as having the exact
same “level.”
I hope that students understand that their “level” is a guide – a tool to
help them comfortably read. It works. It is part of the curriculum at
Barlow Park. The number that represents a student’s current place in a
series of “leveled books”, however, does not identify the student’s
ability to enjoy other books.
I helped this girl find an AR book that fit her level. I told her that I
was confident that if she was really interested in the book with a higher
level number, that she would work her way through it. In fact, she would
probably enjoy doing it.
We read in different ways and we select reading materials in different
ways too. I enjoy watching students work their way through AR lists. I
also enjoy watching students find fun books that they will enjoy, even
though a book may challenge them. Students’ self-assessment and leveled
reading work together to develop reading skills.
November 5
So when is it time to read to a child?
IT IS NEVER TOO EARLY!
by Bill Breitsprecher
It’s a great way to bond with a baby - hold a child on your lap, let them
rest their head on your chest and feel the warmth of your body and the
vibrations as you talk to them - reading a fun book.
It’s a wonderful way for fathers to develop a nurturing relationship with
their child and its fun for mothers, grandparents, even siblings too.
Holding a child and sharing a book is a very special time for both of you.
Babies love to hear the sound of voices, especially their caregivers. It
is reassuring. They enjoy the attention. They hear the rhythm and rhymes
long before they can understand the words.
Sharing activities and providing stimulating fun for a baby is important -
it actually helps develop your baby’s growing brain. Hearing language
helps a baby learn the basic sounds that make up our language. By the age
of 1, a baby has heard all the sounds that make up words - why not give
your child a head start and some enrichment? Hearing the spoken word
imprints it in their brain.
Read with emotions - babies will pick up on that too. It will help your
child’s emotional development. Use different pitches in your voice,
varying it to match the story or characters in a book. Make funny noises
while you read and sing songs - create a joyful atmosphere.
Your baby loves you and loves the time you share together. Why not build
that bond and use it to teach your child the value of reading? Giving a
child a love of books is a gift that will last a lifetime. It doesn’t take
much time - read for short periods of time - perhaps a few minutes in a
sitting, but do it often. You won’t have to finish books, in fact, you can
just focus on the pages and pictures that grab your child’s attention.
Baby won’t know if you don’t read all the words, if you skip some, or just
make it up as you go along. You also don’t need many different books -
babies enjoy repetition. You can read the same book over and over again.
As your child gets older, let them handle the book and the pages too.
To get started, choose books that have simple pictures against simple
backgrounds - remember, a baby’s eyesight is still developing. As your
child gets older, you will see her react and reach out to pictures and
pages. Then it is time to find books with brightly colored pictures -
especially ones that feature babies and objects that your baby is familiar
with.
Ask your local librarian for “board books” and books with textures and
mirrors too. Be sure to check out story times for babies at your local
library. These are usually held for different age groups, pre-talkers,
talkers, and preschool. It’s a great way to meet other parents and baby
gets to meet other babies too!
Helping a baby enjoy books is the best way to prepare a foundation for
lifelong learning. Reading with your child is the best way to give them a
head start when they start school. Please give it a try - you will both
love it when you read together!
October 8
Early Literacy Skills
by Bill Breitsprcher
Getting a child ready to read is important - a gift that
lasts a lifetime. Studies show that the most important thing we can do to
help our children succeed in school is to prepare them to read BEFORE they
start school.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD) defines early literacy as, "what children know
about reading and writing before they actually learn to read and write."
Neurons and Connections
 This
definition of early literacy suggests that reading readiness starts at
birth, when parents and caregivers talk to babies. This perspective is
consistent with brain research and emerging understandings of child
development.
At birth, babies have one hundred billion neurons, brain
cells. These neurons, however, are not connected. In order to stimulate
connections, electrical impulses, the developing brain needs stimulation -
sensory experiences like tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, smelling, and
activity.
A child's learning is the result of a stimulus causing
electrical stimulation across a synapse or gap between neuron cells. From
birth, the brain rapidly is creating these connections that form our
habits, thoughts, consciousness, memories and mind. Two chemicals play a
prominent role in how brain development occurs, serotonin and cortical.
- Serotonin. This hormone builds electrical transmissions
across neurons, building connections. It is produced naturally when a
child feels loved, cared for, and happy.
- Cortical. Another hormone that is produced under stressful
conditions, this chemical can inhibit the production of serotonin. High
levels of stress for extended periods of time inhibits connections
between neurons which are necessary for learning.
Synaptic Density
As the picture above shows, at birth, there are few
connections between neurons. By the time a child is 3 years old, a baby's
brain has formed about 1,000 trillion connections — about twice as many as
adults have. A baby's brain is superdense and will stay that way
throughout the first decade of life. Beginning at about age 11, a child's
brain gets rid of extra connections in a process calling "pruning,"
gradually making order out of a thick tangle of "wires."
The remaining "wiring" is more powerful and efficient. The
increase in synaptic density in a child's brain can be seen above. The
interactions that parents assist with in a child's environment are what
spur the growth and patterns of these connections in the brain.
As the synapses in a child's brain are strengthened
through repeated experiences, connections and pathways are formed that
structure the way a child learns. If a pathway is not used, it's
eliminated based on the "use it or lose it" principle. Things you do a
single time, either good or bad, are somewhat less likely to have an
effect on brain development.
When a connection is used repeatedly in the early years,
it becomes permanent. For example, when adults repeat words and phrases as
they talk to babies, babies learn to understand speech and strengthen the
language connections in the brain. This same process can be applied to
stimulate brain development and prepare children with the early literacy
skills needed to be ready to read.
Early Literacy Skills
The American Library Association has identified these six
key skills that will prepare children to become readers when they enter
school:
- Print Motivation. Being excited about and interested in
books.
- Phonological Awareness. Playing with the sounds in words.
- Narrative Skills. Telling stories and describing things.
- Enriched Vocabulary. Knowing the specific names of things.
- Print Awareness. Noticing print everywhere, knowing how to
handle a book, and following words on a page.
- Letter Knowledge. Knowing the difference between how letters
look, their names, and their sounds.
The single most important thing a family can do to help their children
succeed in school is to prepare them to read. Scientific studies are
documenting the physiological changes that occur in the brain that enable
this to happen.
Nurturing a baby's healthy development, stimulating brain development,
and maximizing learning work hand-in-hand with early literacy skills.
When we help children become ready to read - help that begins at birth -
we are addressing other important developmental needs as well.
September 24
Children and Recreational Reading:
It's FUN, and GOOD FOR YOU TOO!
by Bill Breitsprecher
Most librarians do not ask children if they like to read – it is better
to simply assume they do when they are given appropriate books. It’s all
about “match-making.” Many believe that introducing children to folk
stories is important – these are imaginative stories that sound like they
could actually happen. They are based on make-believe (fiction) and
usually have a message or “moral.” Traditionally, these stories are
passed down by word-of-mouth. They are available as children’s books
too. Sometimes, animals in folk stories “talk,” but this doesn’t sound
unreasonable to a child!
Fairy tales are another type of make-believe (fiction) that has
elements of “magic” or “mystical” powers. Some librarians believe these
should be introduced to children after they enjoy the folk stories. Fairy
tales are based on ideals of good and bad; good always triumph. Many
believe these stories are important in teaching children to follow the
concept of a “story.” Children recognize that these stories cannot be
true – they introduce children to the concept of “fiction.”
Some believe that it is important to introduce children to these
“make-believe” stories before introducing them to nonfiction, because they
believe that a child needs to have a sense of “story” before they can
appreciate nonfiction. I am not aware of any objective research that
“proves” this in any meaningful way, but I would respect the experience of
those that work with children’s books. If children are introduced to
stories when they are very young, it makes sense to start with things they
can imagine. Personally, I would not hesitate to share a good picture
book with a child regardless of whether or not it is fiction or
nonfiction.
In many schools, children’s reading levels are assessed and each child
is required to read books that move them through higher and higher levels
of reading. Most librarians believe that children should choose their own
reading levels. Remember, we want children to read for fun too. Most
children can look at a book and see if they are interested in reading it.
If a book is about something that they have high interest in, they will
choose to read a harder book. If a book looks too difficult, they will
find a book that looks like something that will be more readable.
September 17
The "Hub" of an Elementary School?
by Bill Breitsprecher
Reading is a fundamental skill; it underlies much of the curriculum
taught in schools at all levels. While teaching the basics of grammar and
language is important, children need to develop a personal interesting in
reading in order to build the skills that today's "accountability"
movement demands. The Library Media Centers (LMC) offers an important
opportunity to connect students with reading and learning.
Young children need to learn the sense of a "story." Older children
should have an opportunity to continue to nurture that appreciation. Working with classroom teachers; traditional
"story times" and LMC resources allow children to be exposed to language
arts and information literacy in a unique environment, a collaborative
workspace that celebrates the joy of reading and discovery.
Yes, classroom teachers work towards this too, but the variety of
formats and content in a carefully-chosen LMC collection more fully
ensures that interests in learning and reading can be nurtured across all
students. Library media specialists have an in-depth understanding
of the resources the select and maintain in the LMC.
In this writer's humble opinion, one cannot overemphasize the value of
recreational reading -- children that accept reading as fun are ready to
master other academic skills and subject areas. Those that continually
see reading as "work" are more likely to find the challenges of their
textbooks, note taking, and classroom instruction difficult to fully
comprehend. Remember, reading and writing skills are correlated, building
one builds the other.
Having worked with "at-risk" populations teaching developmental math,
my experiences have convinced me that many students who struggle with
other academic subjects have actually missed picking up collaborative
information skills. This is not a judgment, I am merely reporting what
many teachers see. When students are not comfortable working with
information in a variety of formats, it affects learning. These problems
manifest themselves on math tests and across the curriculum.
Being interested in reading a text or following a presentation to learn
new material or skills is an essential life-skill. The LMC has the
potential to more fully prepare students with the skills necessary to
master ALL subject areas. This is why many believe a LMC
should be the hub of the school.
Classroom teachers work towards moving students towards mastery of
academic standards and benchmarks. The LMC offers a supportive
environment to support those objectives. Not only can the resources be
used to accommodate any given need of classroom instruction, Wisconsin's
standards for information and technology literacy provide a foundation to
build and extend classroom instruction to more fully prepare students for
challenges they face as they move through schooling.
The LMC can be a joyful place where students, teachers, and other
stakeholders collaborate with access to a variety of resources. Extending
the classroom beyond any given set of walls is probably the key to
reaching across the needs of diverse learners. Each hour spent on a
meaningful project in the LMC stays with teachers and students throughout
the day.
Kids enjoy coming to a library, having their recreational and
information needs met, and seeing how people work together. Many
elementary schools are build around their Library Media Centers. It
should be the "hub" of a school.
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