expanding literacies through school libraries

Expanding Literacies Through School Libraries

A Panel Presentation for

The National Council of Teachers of English

2010 Annual Conference

Orlando, Florida

Why do libraries matter in literacy learning?

“Connecting literacy and libraries is not always as intuitive as we would like”

-Loertscher, 2009

Kristin FontichiaroSchool of InformationUniversity of Michiganfont@umich.edu@activelearningblog.schoollibrarymonthly.com

The School Libraryas a Space for Innovative Thinking

Fall Kindergarte

ners

Playing Chess?!?

That Was Then

http://flickr.com/photos/kcls/2384986129/

This is Now

That Was Thenypsigleanings.aadl.org

This is Now

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That Was Then

This is Now

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/252591429/

That Was Then

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/252591429/ Some rights reserved.

ThisIs Now

2 months later – during summer vacation!

Last week of school (June)

Notteaching aboutresources

Butteaching THROUGHresources!

Laura Warren-Gross

Maple Street Magnet School

Kalamazoo, Michigan

@readernirvana

crzy4bookslaura@gmail.com

Some Findings

“When children have access to more books at home, at school, or at the public library, they read more.”

“Children from higher-income families have access to reading material they like, but children from lower-income families do not”

What hit me . . .

• “ . . . the ability to read well is the single best indicator of future economic success—regardless of background.”

• “An extra 15 minutes of reading per day can lead to three months of additional growth.”

2008

Questions• What multicultural

resources did my library offer?

• What did the students want to read?

• How could I provide more access to the materials students wanted?

The Bin Project

• Bins in all instructional areas of the building, as well as offices• Accessible, interesting titles that mirrored student culture • Encouraged staff to read and share the books• Added and replaced titles as necessary

The Results• Added interest in all types

of books

• Increased library circulation

• More staff participation in literacy projects

• A culture of reading

• Increased test scores

Libraries Increase Learning Potential

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

Prediction

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

PredictionStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ModelingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ModelingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ModelingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ModelingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ExperimentationStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

ExperimentationStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Conceptual Processes

EvaluationStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Analytic Processes

PlanningStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Analytic Processes

PlanningStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Analytic Processes

PlanningStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Analytic Processes

JudgmentStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

TeamworkStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

TeamworkStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

TeamworkStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

InfluenceStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

InfluenceStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

InfluenceStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

InfluenceStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

NegotiationStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

DescribingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

DescribingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Social Processes

DescribingStephens NCTE 11/20/10

Student Circulation, 2003 to date

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

Teens Served, 2003 to 2009

Stephens NCTE 11/20/10

An Updated Vision: Libraries and Literacies

Beth Friese - University of Georgia

elizfriese@gmail.com - @librarybeth

NCTE, 2010

Research Process:What about the product?

Multigenre Research

• Follows inquiry principles• Familiar research process• Main difference is in research products• Examples from my students and our

Inquiry into Diversity Projects

Journals

Poetry

Concrete Poetry

Wordles

Brochures& News

Comics

Glogster

Books

Commercials& Songs

Annotated Maps& Passports

Examples from Buffy Hamilton’s Unquiet Library

Partner with New Teachers

Libraries as Literacy Laboratories

• Raw Materials (Mentor Texts, Primary Sources, Other Resources)

• Procedures (Research)• Tools (Technologies, 2.0)• Experimentation (Curiosity, Inquiry, Failure,

Mess)• Ideas, Collaboration, Celebration• Publication of New Discoveries (At all Levels)

Changing from Nouns to Verbs

Libraries continue transforming from

places to get stuff into places to do stuff

Create!

Your Questions, Comments, and Contributions

References

Allen, C. A., & Swistak, L. (2004). Multigenre research: The power of choice and interpretation. Language Arts, 81(3), 223-232.

Hamilton, B. (2009). Students creating content with multigenre learning artifacts. The Unquiet Librarian [blog] http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/students-creating-content-with-multigenre-learning-artifacts/

Loertscher, D. V. (2009). Connections with people and ideas and the Learning Commons. In D. V. Loertscher (Ed.), Connections: Papers of the Treasure Mountain Research Retreat (pp. 9-32). Salt Lake City, UT: Hi Willow Research

& Publishing.