Audio Books: Ideas for teachers – Reading Rockets

I chose this as one of my articles because I have purchased just a few audio books and I wanted to have some more perspective on the idea.  I felt that it was important to read about research that has been done in this area.  It stated that audio books allow children to enjoy a book that might be above their reading level.  Fluency was another area found that audio books will help.

Picture books in the classroom Carol Hursts’ Children’s Literature Newsletter, vol. 2, #1 Jan.1997 page 2

In this article the author discusses how to best present a picture book to a group of children.  She has found that placing herself in a low chair with the children on the floor as close as possible works best in her opinion.  Ms. Hurst outlines a great activity for three students.  She has each take up a role, one concentrating on the text, one reading aloud, and the third concentrating on the illustrations.  The students point out details as the book is read.  She also states the importance of an author/illustrator study making the students aware of how their lives can influence their work.

Has the Newbery Lost Its Way? – Anita Silvey

This article caught my eye because for many years I have felt that the Newbery no longer fills the need that this award was designed to fill.  The author talked to over one hundred people, media specialists, children’s librarians, teachers and booksellers in fifteen states.  She wrote that “these days booksellers have found that the Newbery winners get very few votes from children.”  I agree with many of her findings and hope that this will bring attention to a review of this award.

Picture Book Read Alouds – Denise Johnson

This article was excellent in pointing out the benefits of reading aloud to children.  The quote from Becoming A Nation of Readers, “the simple most important activity for building knowledge required for eventual success in reading aloud to children”, is important to be reminded of and to share with peers and administrators.  Her point that “visual literacy is  important because of the role of the Internet, television and print media in our society”, is so true.  The guidelines for selecting the right picture book are of great significance to continually review and follow.

Young Children’s Spontaneous Participation During Classroom Book Reading- Eleni Moschovaki

In this article it was found that there is a “bias in favor of the story form which influences the teachers’ choice of books.”  I think that this is very important to be aware of when chosing books to share with a class.  The author found that “children were equally interested and very enthustastic about information books with both narrative and expository texts.”  I try to keep this research in mind when I am planning a lesson to share with the children.

“Reading” Young Children’s Visual Texts – Sylvia Pantaleo

This article had many important points to make. One that I took note of was, “even the youngest child can interpret, comprehend, & communicate the visual – far beyond what they might be assumed to know”. The author also stated that ” it is essential for teachers to read children’s visual images as well as their text and to consider the multifaceted images.”  I think it is important to have authorities state that “students need to be taught how to read illustrations and to be given time to think and talk about the art in picture books.”  Another quote I felt was significant was that “having children respond to literature by drawing pictures will help them articulate their ideas.”

Classroom Libraries

The article that my group had was “The Impact of Trade Books on Reading Achievement”.  This article made it clear that the more children read the better or more that they achieve.  The better the collection the greater the interest will be in reading the books.  An effective classroom library has 300-600 books and a number of copies of each title.  It is also important to have a wide variety of books that are changed and added to often.  These need to be displayed in a pleasing way.

I gained many things that I want to try in my media center today – postcards from a book is top on my list.

Poetry day

I am looking forward to using the “Found Poetry” and figuring out how to set up at least a few of these Poetry Literacy Centers in my Media Center.

Literacy Hooks Pro

I am “hooked” and looking forward to Poetry day!

Hello world!

Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

There’s stacks of great supporting material too! Take time to view our some helpful introductory videos, read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

And finally, if you like Edublogs but want to be able to simply create, administer, control and manage hundreds of student and teacher blogs at your school or college, check out Edublogs Campus… it’s like Edublogs in a box, all for you.

Thanks again for signing up with Edublogs!