"Just Read" at Queenwood

I thought I'd share two articles relating to a wide reading program - "Just Read" by Sydney independent school - Queenwood. It is an initaitve that is working effectively in developing a whole school wide reading culture. Every staff member is also required to participate.

• Queenwood News Weekly - Article from 21 February 2020
• 'Sense of urgency': One school's bold plan to get teenagers reading - The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 January 2020

At the end of April, I attended a presentation by Gabrielle Mace (author of the article from Queenwood News Weekly) and was very encouraged by the results of "Just Read" to date particularly embedding the wide reading time in the school timetable but also the motivation it gave the students to read for enjoyment. I was also impressed by allocating the time on Friday to sharing book reviews within their groups as well. I think student recommendations go a long way to encouraging one to read. 

Suitable Geography Books for school libraries.

About one and half weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a student undertaking the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) Degree who is currently employed at a school that I work for. We have had some discussions about the coursework as they are in the early stages of their study, and were keen to find out some insights into my experiences ten years ago.

They currently have an assignment that requires them to organise a lesson (or lessons) focusing on inquiry skills and also have to apply relevant pedogogies that have been explored in their coursework. While I'd help them with resources etc or share examples of work that I have done, 

I also investigated suitable resources for the unit of work being covered. It is from the unit Place and Livability in the Stage 4 Geography Course. Students are also undertaking project based learning as part of the unit.

The school library lacks any resources to support the students including books on urban spaces but also referene books such as Almanacs which can provide basic yet useful and accurate statistics for research. I challenged myself as well to locate and recommend suitable books for future acquisition. Many of the items that I located were well above their reading level and would usually be read by adults or those at tertiary level. Even searching for items through Educational Booksellers was also difficult and again, not many items to be found, if not nothing.

It's disappointing that no publishers or authors have stepped up to provide books with factual information that can be used by students for this unit of work that reflects the reading level etc of the students. I hope that I am wrong on this.

My concern though, is that there will be too much reliance on Google for this unit of work. 

Concerns over Reading for Pleasure

Yesterday, The Australian published an overview of the findings from OECD, 21st‑Century Readers: Developing Literacy Skills in a Digital World.

It was concerning for Australia. The research established that increased internet usage was leading to a decrease in students reading for pleasure. 32% of Australian teenagers felt that reading was a "waste of time" and 58% read because "I have to". 

Reading for pleasure has been linked to performance in reading scores. Those who read for pleasure received scores up to 86 points higher than those who dont read. 

With Australia slipping against other OECD countries in reading scores and rankings, this is suggesting that engagement with reading amongst children is on the decline.

The research also identified that teachers contribute towards higher reading scores if students were required to read texts e.g. set text or read one book per fortnight and if the texts contained more than 101 pages. It also encouraged reading for pleasure.

Click here to view the article (You will need to be a subscriber to The Australian) to access the content.

Literature Circles

I have been a opportunity to fill for a Teacher Librarian for the next few weeks. One initative that their school has been doing with a very small group of selected students in Years' 8 and 10 is to engage in a fortnightly literature circle. 

I met two groups this week and was encouraged by their participation. The Year 10 group focused this week on the concept of the literature circle, its conventions and the roles that each member will have as they commence reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I am looking forward to what they have to say in less than two weeks time. I will be reading alongside them as well which is my main reading challenge for the next fortnight.

The Year 8 group were one session ahead and for a first session, did well. Generally they were fufilling their roles well. There are areas to work on, but this will be developed over time. They definately had read the part of the book that they were required to read. Even though I have not read the book, I was listening and was interested in the discussion and was able to even pose questions to the group, because I was keen to engage with them and find out more about the book.

Literature Circles have a core benefit in encouraging critical thinking about a text that a person has read and scaffolds guide discussion, which should eventually become free flowing. The requirement to think critically also fuels their comprehension skills as the reader/s have to explore their text in greater detail. 

Vicki Courtenay Presentation - SLANSW Presentation

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend an online presentation by the School Library Assocation of NSW (SLANSW) Teacher Librarian of the year - Vicki Courtenay. Vicki is a Teaching and Learning Librarian at Trinity Grammar at Summer Hill (Sydney). 

I enjoyed listening to some of the work that she has engaged in but also provided insights into the work of the team at the Arthur Holt Library at their main campus in Summer Hill.

I was impressed with the idea of a booking sheet that teachers can use to book for Teacher Librarians to undertake research skills workshops with their classes. I was left wondering why I never had the idea in my head in previous years. I could have even created a flyer that could have provided an overview of ideas for possible research skills lessons. I believe that it could even be used for wide reading lessons etc if the English teacher wanted to focus on a specific aspect of wide reading.

It left me with better ideas as well on how to collaborate with teachers in the preparation of assessment tasks and also educating students in skills associated with academic integrity. Reflecting on it, I think I may have missed opportunities for collaboration even though I did collaborate actively with colleagues focusing on their students specific needs.

Finally I was interested by her insights into wide reading and promoting a positive reading culture. There are many ways that one can promote a positive reading culture, but did enjoy hearing insights into how Trinity Grammar has promoted reading and literature e.g. the book that changed my life. I actually liked the idea that they applied because it makes one reflect on the impact that reading a particular book has changed their lives and how it has changed for the better. Books can inspire us to make the decisions that ultimately shape our lives, whether it may be to change our behaviour, our lifestyles, our perspectivcs, develop our interests or even shape the career path that we choose to take. It may have even had an emotional impact in our lives or help us to discover something.

I could relate to one aspect of the wide reading program that they implement there - sharing reviews of books that have been read as part of wide reading sessions. I have encouraged this. I believe that students are more likely to read a certain title if a friend recommends it than that of a teacher. I think it also helps others to be aware of the books that are popular or are available. I know personally that hearing reviews by other people has even helped me decide what to read next, especially if I am uncertain about it.

The Laureate & The Literacy Leader - SLANSW Summit

Last Saturday (March 13), the School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) presented its first blended summit where attendees could either attend in person or online. Instead of the State Library of NSW, it was hosted by The Kings School. 

For those who enjoy attending face to face, it was the first time in one year that we could gather in person for a summit or conference. Last year, SLANSW were fortuante to have one face to face summit prior to COVID-19 Restrictions and presented an online speaker series instead of a second face to face summit.

Providing it online enabled those in regional areas to participate or for those in the city, participate from the comfort of their own home. 

Karen Yager was fantastic in explaining how we can use Australian literature to encourage students to improve their writing by focusing on landscapes then collaborating actively on creating lists of resources to share with English Teachers.

Ursula Dubosarsky (Author & Australian Children's Laureate 2020-2021) shared her insights in the role of libraries in engaging children with reading and how we can support them. I asked her a question based on experiences where schools do not have a wide reading program and students have presented statements such as "I don't like reading" and "I don't read" and what we could do. She admitted that she could not answer the question, but she had her concerns about schools that have not encouraged a positive reading culture. I for one have concerns for schools that do not have a wide reading program or encourage reading for pleasure. Ursula and I have common ground on this.

Also we had an opportunity to discuss different wide reading intiatives and programs applied by different schools and I was encouraged by the opportunity to share within a small group some of my successes to date with wide reading programs and the interest attendees within that group had.

I hope to comment further once resources are finalised but found the day to be well engaging. 

I am a currently a Metropolitan Representative on the Management Committee of SLANSW. If you wish to join, please feel free to contact me at fabian.amuso@syd.catholic.edu.au