© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Chapter 13 Planning the Literature Program

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Planning the Literature Program  Purposes of the Literature Program  Different Plans for Literature Programs  The Components of a Literature Program  Sharing Literature with Children  Providing Time to Read Books  Providing Time to Talk About Books

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Planning the Literature Program (cont.)  Providing Time for In-Depth Study of Books  Connecting Literature and Life  Connecting Books Across the Curriculum  Assessment and Evaluation  The School and the Community

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Different Plans for Literature Programs  Literature with a Commercial Reading Program  Literature Programs Using Real Books

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Sharing Literature with Children  Reading to Children  Selecting Books to Read Aloud  Storytelling  Book Talks

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Providing Time for In-Depth Study of Books  Children’s Writing and Children’s Books  Helping Children Write About Books  Books and Children’s Writing  Exploring Literature Through the Visual Arts  Media Exploration  Creating Graphic Organizers

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Providing Time for In-Depth Study of Books (cont.)  Music and Movement in the Classroom  Matching Music and Literature  Composing Music  Movement and Literature  Extending Literature Through Drama  Dramatizing Stories  Readers’ Theater  Puppetry

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Connecting Literature and Life  Artifacts and Collections  Maps and Time Lines  Jackdaws

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Assessment and Evaluation  Record Keeping  Student and Parent Conferences  Evaluating Children’s Literary Understandings  Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers  Does the child love one book, many books, reading in general?  Does the child become easily involved or easily distracted in reading a book?  Does the child predict, question, and confirm his way through a book?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Does the child prefer one genre, author, or illustrator over others? Is she aware of her preference? Can she recognize characteristics of genre, author, or illustrator?  Is the child a flexible reader who reads easily in several genres, who reads often and quickly?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Can the child select books that satisfy him? Is he open to suggestion from other readers?  What kinds of understandings and awareness do the child’s products reveal?  Does the child visualize, identify with, become involved with, or understand the motives of characters?  Does the child visualize settings?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  What connections does the child make between a particular book and others by the same illustrator or author? Of the same genre? With the same theme? What patterns does she see?  What kind of thematic statements does the child make? Can he see a book title as a metaphor for a larger idea?  What connection does the child make between literature and life?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  What questions does the child’s reading raise for her?  What literary elements, such as prologues, unique dedications, interesting chapter titles, language use, or narrative style, does the child notice?  How are these reading patterns changing as the school years progress?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Is the child voluntarily reading more at school? At home?  Is the child responding to a greater range and complexity of work?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. The School and the Community  The Whole-School Program  Involving Administrators  The School Library Media Center  The Library Media Specialist  Selecting Materials  Selection Versus Censorship  Dealing with Censorship  Working with Parents and the Community

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. The School and the Community (cont.)  Working with the Public Library  Evaluating the Literature Program

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Availability of Books and Other Media  Is there a school library media center in each elementary school building? Does it meet American Library Association standards for books and other media?  Is there a professionally trained librarian and adequate support staff in each building?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Availability of Books and Other Media (cont.)  Does every classroom contain several hundred paperbacks and a changing collection of hardbacks?  Are reference books easily accessible tot each classroom?  May children purchase books in a school-run paperback bookstore?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Availability of Books and Other Media (cont.)  Do teachers encourage children to order books through various school book clubs?  May children take books home?  Are children made aware of the programs of the public library?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Time for Literature  Do all children have time to read books of their own choosing every day?  Do all teachers read to the children once or twice a day?  Do children have time to discuss their books with an interested adult or with other children every day?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Time for Literature (cont.)  Are children allowed time to interpret books through art, drama, music, or writing?  Do children seem attentive and involved as they listen to stories? Do they ask to have favorites reread?  Is literature a part of all areas across the curriculum?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Motivating Interest  Do teachers show their enthusiasm for books by sharing new ones with children, reading parts of their favorite children's books, discussing them, and so on?  Do classroom and library displays call attention to particular books?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Motivating Interest (cont.)  Are children encouraged to set up book displays in the media center, the halls, and their classrooms?  Does the media specialist plan special events -- such as story hours, book talks, sharing films, working with book clubs?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Motivating Interest (cont.)  Do teachers and librarians work with parents to stimulate children's reading?  Are special bibliographies prepared by the librarians or groups of children on topics of special interest -- mysteries, animals stories, science fiction, fantasy, and so on?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Motivating Interest (cont.)  Are opportunities planned for contacts with authors and illustrators to kindle interest and enthusiasm for reading?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Balance in the Curriculum  Do teachers and librarians try to introduce children to a wide variety of genres and to different authors when reading aloud?  Do teachers share poetry as frequently as prose?  Do children read book fiction and nonfiction?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Balance in the Curriculum (cont.)  Are children exposed to new books and contemporary poems as frequently as some of the old favorites of both prose and poetry?  Do children have a balance of wide reading experiences with small-group, in-depth discussion of books?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers  Do children keep reading logs or records of their free reading?  Do older students (grade 3 and up) keep a response journal of their reading?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Do teachers record examples of children's growth and understanding of literature as revealed in their play, talk, art, or writing?  Do students and teachers together create an assessment portfolio with samples of children’s best work?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Are children allowed to respond to books in a variety of ways (art, drama, writing), rather than by required book reports?  Is depth of understanding emphasized, rather than the number of books read?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Children’s Growth as Readers (cont.)  Are children responding to a greater range and complexity of work?  What percentage of the children can be described as active readers? Has this percentage increased?  Are some children beginning to see literature as a source of lifelong pleasure?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Teachers’ Professional Growth  Are teachers increasing their knowledge of children’s literature?  What percentage of the staff have taken a course in children's literature in the past five years?  Are some staff meetings devoted to ways of improving the use of literature in the curriculum?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Teachers’ Professional Growth (cont.)  Do teachers attend professional meetings that feature programs on children’s literature?  Are in-service programs in literature made available on a regular basis?  Are in-service programs, such as administering the running record or the miscue analysis, given regularly?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Teachers’ Professional Growth (cont.)  As such professional journals as New Advocate, Horn Book Magazine, Book Links, and School Library Journal available to teachers and librarians?  Are professional books on children’s literature available?

© 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Evaluating a Literature Program: Evaluating Teachers’ Professional Growth (cont.)  Have the teachers and librarians had a share in planning their literature programs?  Do teachers feel responsible not only for teaching children to read but also for helping children find joy in reading?