AIM-ing at Tweens and Young Teens

Teri S. Lesesne

(rhymes with insane)

Twitter: @ProfessorNana

www.slideshare.net/professornana

Where is the Power Point?

4

Close your eyes (yes… close your eyes)

and take a moment to think back on…

• a happy memory from when you were 10 years old

• a sad memory from when you were 11 years old

• an embarrassing memory from when you were 12 years old

• a great memory from when you were 13 years old

• a “traumatic” memory from when you were 14 years old

5

Now take a moment to share one of those memories with the person to your

right and left….

How different were your memories from the person next to you? They may have been very different or there may have been

some similarities.

6

There are no cookie-cutter adolescent experiences. Some of

these things will apply to the tweens and early teens you know

and some of them won’t.

7

Defining Tweens

Tweens is a fluid definition meaning that different development happen at different rates in different tweens. Some 10 year olds may have begun physically developing while others may not see these changes until they are 13 or even older.

Anderson, 2007

8

What’s going on physically?

9

Some Physical Basics

Tweens and early teens are being bombarded by hormones and begin to develop reproductively (i.e. breasts, pubic hair, etc.)*

Many experience a growth surge. Guys get taller, and girls get rounder.

Many experience a hormonal rollercoaster – becoming moody and seemingly different over night.

Pruitt, 1999

10

What’s going on psychologically?

11

Some Psychological Basics

Their reasoning capabilities rise to new levels of complexity.

The adolescent is learning how to handle adult responsibilities.

Moral development is shifting from reward-punishment to good girl, good boy behavior.

Pruitt, 1999

12

What’s going on socially?

13

Social Development Basics

Expected increase in freedom Move away from family toward peers Likely to have best friends of the similar

social and ethnic backgrounds. In 7th grade, the above holds true PLUS

they want friends with similar attitudes and values.

Peer approval and acceptance grows more important.

Pruitt, 1999

14

So when I began to write a book about tweens and teens and reading….

A title

Some research

A late night inspiration

15

The title

The Naked Reader

17

The research?

Vickey Giles

Karen Sue Gibson

Replicated study from 20 years earlier

The questions?

18

What could someone do to make you WANT to read BEFORE/AFTER you

read?

The converse: what could someone do to make you HATE to read BEFORE/AFTER you read?

19

What could someone do to make you want to read BEFORE you read?

K-12

Being allowed to choose any book you want to read

Nonfiction, perhaps?

Biography

22

What could someone do to make you want to read BEFORE you

read?K-5

Reading in a comfortable place like on the floor, in a bean bag chair, or in a rocking chair

Adventure and Survival

Historical settings

25

What could someone do to make you want to read

BEFORE you read?K-5

Being allowed to buy your own book through a book fair

Most Popular Selling Titles

Book Trailers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2VULCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqB-Jue1oeA

Popular Series

29

What could someone do to make you want to

read BEFORE you read?K-5

Reading books for a contest

30

What could someone do to make you want to

read BEFORE you read?K-12

Having a classroom library

Classrooms in Books, Too!

Classrooms in Books, Two!

33

What could someone do to make you want to read

BEFORE you read?K-12

Having the teacher read a book or chapter a day

Chapter Read Alouds

35

What could someone do to make you want to read

BEFORE you read?K-12

Having the teacher take you to the library

Good Book Box Titles

Amulet of Samarkand Bone Every Bone Tells a Story Flat Broke Fourth Stall Ghost in the Machine Great Wall of Lucy Wu How to Grow Up and Rule the World

GN version of series

1991 GN in serial form

YALSA Nonfiction Award

Liar Liar is companion book

Note cover

Interactive with web site

Asian main characters

He tweets!

45

What could someone do to make you want to

read BEFORE you read?6-12

Having the author come to the school

Author Madness

Crutcher, Grace Lin

48

What could someone do to make you want to read BEFORE you read?

6-12

Seeing the movie or television production of a book.

Movie Adaptations

The final film?

51

What could someone do to make you want to read BEFORE you

read?6-12

Being allowed to read books with lots of pictures in them.

Pictures Galore!

Graphic Novels

Not just for older readers any more

Complex but accessible

Search for self

Classic GN

GN Reading Ladder

Growing more complex

59

Different covers US, Brit

64

The late night inspiration

T-A-R-G-E-T

65

T A R G E T

66

T is for TRUST

We Know the Good Books!Because We Read Them, Too!

Strictly Guy Stuff (not)

69

A is for ACCESS

Accessibility X 2

71

R is for RESPONSE

73

G is for GUIDANCE

74

Reading ladders

Begin with where they are

Build reading experiences slowly

Move readers “up” with assistance

Provide bridges between books

75

for instance…

Humor Reading Ladder

Developmental

physical

character

situation

language

There are many ways to describe Ms. Underdorf. She was brilliant and joyous, and she believed-probably correctly-

that libraries contain the answers to everything, and that if you can’t find the information you seek in the library, then such information probably does not exist in this or any other parallel universe now or ever to be known.

 She was thoughtful and kind and always believed the best of

everybody. She was, above all else, a master librarian and knew where to find any book on any subject in the shortest possible time.

 And she was wonderfully unhinged… And so the Amazing Armadillo.

79

84

E is for ENTHUSIASM

You have to like them first

86

T is for TWEEN and TEEN APPEAL

87

Established namesAuthors to trust

Trusted Authors

89

Familiar Stories

Settings

themes

Sound Familiar?

91

IssuesDevelopmentally appropriate

Finally, Assessment

We have them reading now. Assessment is important but assessment needs to be carefully done so as not to make kids hate reading all over again.

Accelerated Reader

BOYS GIRLS OVERALL 4TH GRADE

DIARY WIMPY KID DWK DWK

DWK 2 DWK 2 DWK2

DWK 3 DWK 3 DWK 3

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE

BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

SARAH PLAIN AND TALL

SARAH PLAIN AND TALL

FIFTH GRADEBOYS GIRLS OVERALL

DIARY OF A WIMPY KIDS

DWK DWK

DWK 2 DWK 2 DWK 2

DWK 3 DWK 3 DWK 3

HATCHET NUMBER THE STARS

NUMBER THE STARS

FRINDLE TWILIGHT SIGN OF THE BEAVER

BOYS GIRLS OVERALL 6TH GRADE

DIARY OF WIMPY KID

TWILIGHT DWK

DWK 2 NEW MOON DWK 2

DWK 3 ECLIPSE DWK 3

HATCHET BREAKING DAWN NUMBER THE STARS

HOLES HATCHET ECLIPSE

BOYS GIRLS OVERALL 7TH GRADE

OUTSIDERS TWILIGHT TWILIGHT

DWK NEW MOON NEW MOON

DWK 2 ECLIPSE ECLIPSE

THE GIVER BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN

TWILIGHT OUTSIDERS OUTSIDERS

BOYS GIRLS OVERALL 8TH GRADE

OUTSIDERS TWILIGHT TWILIGHT

THE GIVER NEW MOON NEW MOON

TWILIGHT ECLIPSE ECLIPSE

NEW MOON BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN

DIARY OF WIMPY KID

OUTSIDERS OUTSIDERS

Some reading levels to further illustrate:

Everything Is Fine 3.0 460 lexile Kingdom on the Waves 8.4 1060 lexile Marcelo in the Real World 4.6 700 lexile Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian 4.0 Punkzilla 6.2 Graceling 5.3 Wintergirls 4.1 Living Dead Girl 4.8

So, what are the alternatives?

Twitter (summary skills)

Facebook: post as a character and create a page

Dragon Dictation: response while reading: annotating text

Ugly Book Contest

R U N RR?(are you a

reluctant reader?)

Take this quiz and see…

Select A for book on left and B for book on right of slide…

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

A B

Reluctant readers are:

Male and female

Young and old

Able and struggling

Overscheduled and overwhelmed

But these FIVE factors play an important role:

Titles that grab

Catchy covers

Authors they come to trust

Opening paragraphs that hook

Plus a book they cannot put down

Titles that grab

titles

Covers that demand attention

covers

Trusted authors

Opening paragraphs that lure

Grand openings

Keep them reading books

What else can help us motivate readers?

Research

Research

Research

Factors that influence choices in books:

School variables Classroom variables Teacher and librarian variables Kid variables Book variables

School variables

Administration that supports reading financially and philosophically (they read) Author visits Professional development (conferences)

Certified librarian with adequate collection

Time set aside each day at school to read

Access to the library

Classroom variables

Books in the classroom Teacher who reads Teacher who reads aloud Teacher who booktalks Places to curl up with books Time set aside for reading regularly

Teacher and Librarian variables

Teachers and librarians are readers Teachers work with librarians to schedule visits

to the library Librarians work with teachers to develop

reading lists and other resources for instruction Librarians know the curriculum of the

classrooms

Kid variables

Age Gender Reader status

Avid Dormant Reluctant Struggling

What else?

Book variables that are NOT a factor: Reading level

Lexiles, etc.

Length

Book variables that ARE a factor: Genre Style Form and format

Book variables that matter

Genre

Style

Format

Genres they love

Funny books

Mysteries

Nonfiction

Nonfiction Reading Ladder

Historical

Horizontal

132

133

138

141

142

6 word memoirs

FIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND TWO OBITUARIES.

YOU'RE THE PARENT. ACT LIKE ONE.

EXAGGERATION IS THE SPICE OF LIFE.

GOD ABANDONED ME, SO I RECIPROCATED.

I NEVER GOT MY HOGWARTS LETTER. (could be Hank Green's memoir?)

WOULD BE SLUT GIVEN THE CHANCE.

YOU MADE ME STRONGER. THANKS, RAPIST.

MEASURED OUT MY LIFE IN LITERATURE.

LIFE IS FULL OF "AWKWARD TURTLE" MOMENTS.

INSERT MELODRAMATIC CLICHE-TEEN ICK HERE.

Assessment= Accountability-Annoyance

What annoys students? Write a new ending Write a letter to a friend Write a traditional book report Write a news story Write anything

So what do they LIKE to do?

Some new ideas

Tweet! Tweet!

Using Twitter as a format for telling about the book

140 characters Can use txtspk

Summarize chapters Describe a character Indicate the climax Use other strategies such as SAY SOMETHING or

SWBST

“Watching from the outside, Twitter is like the dumbest thing you’ve heard of: “Why would anyone want to tell others what they are doing in 140 characters?”

And yet to dismiss Twitter is a mistake because it’s an incredibly powerful tool for your personal learning and connecting with others.” (Sue Waters, http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/twitter, @suewaters Original quote: Alan Levine)

To Connect

I Dream in Twitter

(listen to the podcast http://www.box.net/shared/static/gqkaej08ww.mp3)

I dream in Twitter in 140 characters that cut off my thoughts before they are complete and then I wonder, why 140? Ten more letters would serve me right as I write about what I am doing at that moment in time, connecting across the world with so many others shackled by 140 characters, too, and I remain amazed at how deep the brevity can be.

I find it unsettling to eavesdrop on conversations between two when you can only read one and it startles me to think that someone else out there has put their ear to my words and wondered the same about me. Whose eyes are watching?

Twitter is both an expanding universe of tentacles and hyperlinks that draw you in with knowledge and experience and a shrinking neighborhood of similar voices, echoing out your name in comfortable silence.

I dream in Twitter in 140 characters, and that is what I am doing right at this moment

by Kevin - @dogtrax

Blog all about it

Make a video

Animoto

Post to YouTube

Tweet it

Blog it

podcasts

Audacity

Headphone and microphone combo

Post to Switchpod or iTunes or elsewhere

Dragon Dictation-annotating text

An Experiment:

Using Dragon Dictation while Reading

A Monster Calls 

 

Note I am not changing how the app recorded my observations. There are some errors, of course, but I do think it captured the heart of what I was attempting to do. You will notice that punctuation is not a strong suit of this app. However, think of the lesson waiting when kids do this.

 

This is an annotation of my reading of Patrick Nessus (Ness’) a monster calls (A Monster Calls). I decided to use Dragon Dictation to show how simple it can be to have students annotate as they're reading without having to really pause to write down anything to reflect you really won't interrupt their reading nearly as much as they use an app such as Dragon dictation.

Patrick Ness wrote this book based on an idea of Shavon Dowd who sadly past way too soon in her career. This would've been her fifth book a monster calls what Patrick did was take the idea and go with it run with it. Make it his own and that is what he asks readers to do in the forward go run with it. Make it your own.

 

And so we come to chapter 1 of the monster calls a monster showed up just after midnight as they do certainly an auspicious beginning what kind of monster will this be what will it do to change the life of our main character is name is Connor. The black and white illustrations by illustrator Jim K certainly do a great deal to enhance knowing the mystery but the threat that seems inherent in the story.

There's almost a paradox in the language at least in the opening chapter as Connors observing the monster as he comes together from the Yew tree in his backyard you have references to words like mighty but not terrifying or scary and we learn that month that Connor has seen worse monsters or at least envisioned worse.

 

I'm going to shift now on my annotation from annotating as I'm reading the chapter to annotating as I finish reading the chapter. By the way it's probably important as your annotating text in teaching kids to annotate text to pay attention to chapter titles when authors go beyond Chapter 1 Chapter 2 to give you a title chances are there something significant about the words that they selected to have those chapters.

For chapter 3 we could start annotations by examining the title of the chapter which is simply school and asking students to provide some guesses or conclusions some implication some generalizations and inferences about what they think might happen as Connor goes to school are considering what has happened the night before his bedroom with the monster calling is real or what's happening in his life with his mother suffering from cancer. So what do we learn and chapter 3 and how does that create more of an air of mystery or perhaps define a little bit more the monster with him Connor is wrestling. we do learn the Connors being bullied at school that there's a student who picks on him almost as if he knows the Connors more vulnerable could just be part of the monster that Connor is seeing at night.

Annotating as a Teacher Now

An interesting activity for a monster calls might be to take the double page spread illustrations project them for the kids and let them kind of give a summary of what they think the entire book will be about would be interesting to see how much the pictures tell the students and of course you can also my students to do a summary by simply reading the titles of the different chapters to see if they can somehow put together a summary of the book is well

Scaffolding-Brainstorming

From dragon dictation. It would be a simple step then to create voice threats for students for example I could either use one of my phrases during imitation and use that as the beginning of the voice text for students or to put students in grapes each one of them would conduct their own voice thread and the others in the group would contribute to it and lots of different ways to use it. I'll try to figure some examples.

Application for Classroom

I wonder if as we read aloud a book like a monster calls we could have students with Dragon dictation on their phones on their desks some iPad on the computer wherever we want half and they can quietly asked questions make predictions do this kinds of things that that are not necessarily annotating but nonetheless responding to the text as we're reading out loud. I wonder if we can do that without creating mayhem

UGLY BOOK CONTEST

Select ugly books

Have students work alone or in groups to create new covers

Apply covers and display

Need new covers

More Ugly Covers

Peck’s Questions

What would the story be like if the main character were of the opposite sex?

Why is the story set where it is? Would you film this book in black and white or

color? What one thing in the story has happened to

you? What does the title tell you about the book?

Does it tell the truth?

Opposite Sex?

Setting?

B & W or Color?

Significance of Title?

The possibilities are endless!

Unshelved.com