With school beginning soon these titles could help children and young adolescents learn more about language. Some highlight idioms or metaphors. Others discuss vocabulary and story elements. These books could be shared before reading and writing workshop or as language mini lessons. Students could be invited to write in similar styles using strong vocabulary and exciting language. We hope you enjoy these reviews from the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG). 

GRADES K-3

Fleming, Denise. Under ground. New York: Beach Lane Books/ Simon & Schuster.

The cover flap states, “Do you ever wonder what creatures live under the dirt beneath your feet?” In simple vocabulary and bright bold colors young children will explore what is under ground. The book begins with a robin perched in a tree looking for dinner, “Low down.” The next page shows the robin flying down to the brown earth, “Way down.” On the third page the robin pulls a pink earthworm out of a winding tunnel, “Under ground.” Children will also notice three large carrots with white roots, ants foraging in plants and three grubs buried underneath. Hidden in each illustration are toys, pottery or objects such as nails or keys. Other creatures highlighted include the shrew, mole, cicada, chipmunk, box turtle and more. Above ground a little boy and dog are planting, studying and playing. The final page includes creature identification with information about each insect and animal. The amazing illustrations were created using pulp painting, a papermaking technique using colored cotton fibers poured through hand-cut stencils. 

- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

McKinlay, Meg. (2012). No bears. Illus. by Leila Rudge. New York: Bloomsbury/Walker Books.

Ella regards herself as a natural storyteller, and as is the case of many authors, she is quite opinionated about her story elements and even more particular about which characters to feature in her story and what words to use. For example, the story she plans will include a princess, a monster and elements of humor interspersed with some excitement. She has one taboo, though: Her story will contain no bears. As this budding author embellishes her fairy tale about a princess who is stolen by a monster until being foiled by "somebody" (unpaged), observant readers will realize that the bear-free story actually owes much to hard-working bear behind the scenes. The illustration on the last page brings everything together for readers. The digital illustrations and simple text show the mild-mannered bear minding her own business but also providing some essential help, unbeknownst to Ella, in every frame. Many readers will appreciate a picture book such as this one in which characters step into and out of their own stories. 

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Ode, Eric. (2012). Dan, the taxi man. Illus. by Kent Culotta. Tulsa, OK: Kane Miller.

This rhythmical picture book will make a great read aloud in primary classrooms because children will easily catch onto the pattern and begin to make the sounds and read along. Dan the taxi man is going to the show and picking up the band. His car says “Beep! Beep!” First, he picks up Maureen with her tambourine, “Shake-a shake, crash! Shake-a shake, crash!” Next, they pick up Tyrone with his saxophone, “Squeeba-dee dee, squeeba-dee doo!” Later they pick up Star with her electric guitar, Clair with her rattly snare and Ace with his upright bass, repeating every sound the instruments make throughout. Finally they arrive at the rockin joint for the concert. The band begins playing, but something’s missing. The musicians stop the song and run outside to get, “Dan, Beep! Beep! The taxi man.” 

- Deanna Day, Washington State University Vancouver

Oelschlager, Vanita. (2009). Birds of a feather: A book of idioms and silly pictures. Illus. by Robin Hegan. Akron, Ohio: Vanita Books.

Playful pictures introduce the literal interpretation of idioms while an upside-down paragraph explains what the idiom refers to in familiar language. Double page spreads add to the understanding of each idiom, like a goose driving a car over hills of bumps referring to “goosebumps,” or a woman under an umbrella while cats and hotdogs are “raining” down on her. Each spread includes a sentence using the idiom in context. At the end of the book, the author offers a detailed explanation of idioms pointing out the humor involved within the understanding and how much fun it is to use figurative language in writing and everyday speech. ReadWriteThink offers a lesson on idioms entitled “Eye on Idioms”. Teachers who are looking for smartboard teaching ideas on the use of idioms will find several lessons at the Smart Exchange website. 

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Oelschlager, Vanita. (2011). Life is a bowl of cherries: A book of food idioms and silly pictures. Illus. by Robin Hegan. Akron, Ohio: Vanita Books.

Food is the common thread to demonstrate the use of humorous idioms in use in today’s language and each idiom is accompanied by colorful acrylic and deliciously playful illustration. The wordplay and puns make it easy for young children to understand the use of phrases in conversation especially as these idioms relate to food. “Food for thought”, “couch potato”, “cold turkey” and “eat your words” are just a few of the idioms that are illustrated. The author includes an explanation of each idiom and uses it in a sentence for reference. Idioms are often the most difficult aspect of learning the English language for ELL students making this book a handy reference tool for teachers who have non-English speaking or early ELL students in their classrooms. The author offers suggestions for using this book at her website. 

-Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Oelschlager, Vanita. (2012). Out of the blue: A book of color idioms and silly pictures. Illus. by Robin Hegan. Akron, Ohio: Vanita books.

The author’s new book on idioms takes on color words accompanied by the familiar childlike and colorful double-page illustrations by Robin Hegan that enhance the understanding of the featured idioms. As children look at the humorous literal interpretation of the idiom, they have to guess the real meaning and then turn the book upside-down to find the answe and explanation for use. Again, playing on idioms that create smiles and laughter, children are asked to guess what is “a red letter day” or chuckle at being “tickled pink.” At the end the author has provided a more detailed look at language usage and figures of speech. Take a look at the “Figurative Language: Teaching Idioms” lesson on ReadWriteThink. 

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

GRADES 4-6

Barton, Michael. (2012). It’s raining cats and dogs: An autism spectrum guide to the confusing world of idioms, metaphors and everyday expressions. London, U.K.: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Written for children and young adults who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) this book explains that understanding idioms is difficult for people with autism, especially children. It can also be difficult for ELL students. Though written and illustrated in a humorous style, the writing goes beyond simply illustrating idioms, it also explains how the autistic child or young adult interpret language absolutely in the literal sense and have great difficulty interpreting the references or allusions to concepts of “being a chicken” to mean being cowardly, for example. The author himself is on the autistic spectrum and so his illustrations and explanations are authentic as to how young adults interpret figurative language like metaphors and idioms. The author’s mother has written the foreword for the book to present an introduction to her son and his learning style. Clear explanations with a sly touch of humor explain many common idioms used in everyday language. 

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Hest, Amy. (2012). Letters to Leo. Illus. by Julia Denos. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

Fourth grade is nowhere near as enjoyable as third grade was, and Annie Rossi struggles through the days, some memorable, others miserable. One good part of the year, though, is her new dog Leo, to whom she writes letters during the school year, starting in November and ending in July. She describes herself at her best, when she's being kind to another classmate, and at her worst, when her admonishments cause her father to ride his bicycle too fast, resulting in a crash. Most of all, she misses her former teacher, Miss Meadows, and tries to tolerate her current teacher, Mrs. Bailey, who earns bonus points when her father, a published author, visits the class. It’s almost impossible not to like Annie, first introduced in Remembering Mrs. Rossi (Candlewick, 2007), partly because she's still coping with the death of her mother, but also because she is so devoted to Leo, even when he isn't the perfect pet. Annie faces quite a few changes in this book as her best friend prepares for a move to New Jersey, and her father may be moving past his own mourning. Readers will smile at the passages describing Annie’s concern for an "elderly parent" (p. 83), her father, and suggestions to help the elderly one ease back into social settings. 

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Klise, Kate. (2012). The phantom of the post office: 44 Old Cemetery Road: No. 4. Illus. by M. Sarah Klise. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The titles in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series simply keep getting better and are filled with clever wordplay. Following the cleverly named Till Death Do Us Bark (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), this fourth one brings the reader up to speed, providing background about Seymour Hope's unusual family and their lives in Spence Mansion in the aptly named town of Ghastly. Seymour, an 11-year-old boy adopted by a ghost writer Olive C. Spence, literally a ghost, and Ignatius B. Grumply, another writer, are working on their latest literary installment when they start receiving threatening fan mail. Meanwhile, the post office is scheduled to be replaced by VEXT-mail, the description of which will delight many a technophobe since it seems to be more of a hindrance to communication than an aid. A visit from M. Balm's cell phone-wielding niece Wynonna Fye (Wy Fye, for short), who becomes ill from a mysterious flu, thickens the plot of this mystery. The story is fun and filled with hints that might solve the mystery; for instance, Wy Fye is supposed to be reading The Phantom of the Opera while recuperating. All the action is described through letters, texts, and newspaper articles. What elevates the title from other mysteries and adds to its appeal are all the delightful names and word play that fill the book's pages: Sal U. Tayshuns, Sue Perstishus, for instance, and the mysterious fan or phantom's theft of the letter f, wreaking havoc on the written word, especially in the town newspaper. Readers are likely to chortle over all those ph letters substituting for the missing f. 

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

by Julie B. Wise

Do you know the top aspirations and specific needs of students, parents, and educators for 21st century learning environments? The answer may surprise you. In 2012, Project Tomorrow, an educational nonprofit organization, published Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey – K-12 Students and Parents Connect the Dots with Digital Learning. This report examines the Speak Up National Research Project survey results collected from 416,000 K-12 stakeholders (students, parents and educators) in the fall of 2011.

Over the past nine years, the Speak Up survey has seen growth in the value of digital learning from both student and parent groups while educators’ views haven’t changed. As a result, there is a gap, “between how today’s students want to use technology for learning and how technology is served up to them in school.”  Speak Up 2011 results show how students and parents quickly adapt to technology and 3 ways these devices can support educators as they differentiate their instruction.

First, personalized digital learning is a key component to increasing student engagement. Second, infusing a wide variety of technology tools throughout the year creates opportunities for students to master 21st century skills required for their future work place success. Finally, common core standards suggest a shift in the traditional classroom paradigm to a digitally-rich, socially-based, student-directed learning environment.

The four key findings for classroom teachers and researchers to consider include:

1. Students are personalizing their learning out of school. Since this generation has grown up with the opportunity to personalize their shopping, entertainment, and banking needs, they are transferring these experiences to their homework. Students are increasing their use of social media tools such as, discussion boards, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to support their homework. “To simply dismiss student use of these social networking sites as frivolous or even dangerous misses the deeper storyline around the use of social media.”

2. Students and parents support the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept to aid in personalizing their learning at school. “Parents from low-income (Title 1) schools (61%) are just as likely to report that they would purchase a mobile device for their child to use for academic reasons as parents in non-Title 1 schools (63%). This is in stark contrast to 65% of principles that said they wouldn't allow the devices into the classroom.

3. Students envision flipping the math and science classrooms by providing online videos and tutorials after school so a conversational framework for thinking and reasoning could be used during class. Findings suggest students’ interest in STEM fields jumps from 20 to 27 percent when technology is used to support both teacher and student-directed learning. 

4. Survey results pinpoint four specific technologies all stakeholders feel are essential. They include: Internet access at school, e-textbooks, tablets provided by the school, and online classes. These shared views provide a starting point for discussion and strategic planning to create a vision of digitalized learning. 

Begin your own personalized learning journey by clicking the link to the infographic of the Speak Up survey.

Julie B. Wise is a doctoral student at the University of Delaware, juliebwise@comcast.net.

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

by Clarissa Hardcastle

The non-profit Kids In Need Foundation (KINF) is teaming up with Walgreens to help lift the burden off of economically disadvantaged parents and students as well as under-funded teachers who are trying to prepare for the school year.

From July 29 through August 18, customers can buy classroom materials and donate them at any in-store collection bin as part of the Walgreens Back to School Supply Drive. With 7,907 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, these supplies will reach thousands of students.

“Walgreens is committed to helping the communities we serve, and this school supply drive is one more meaningful way we can help ease the stress on parents and teachers who may be struggling with making ends meet,” said John Gremer, Walgreens director of community affairs.

The drugstore chain’s locations also provide health services. Take Care Clinics in select stores offer back-to-school and sports physicals as well as immunizations.

According to a November 2011 New York Times article, all 50 states have reported significant increases in the number of children enrolled in the National School Lunch Program, an indicator of the poverty level of U.S. families.

“This is a massive project that will help alleviate a massive problem. More than 14.8 million students in the United States live at or below the poverty line. When families are trying to overcome severe economic reverses, school supplies are not at the top of their necessity lists. To make matters worse, most school budgets no longer allocate for basic supplies,” said Dave Smith, executive director, KINF.

Teachers from low-income schools can “shop” for free teaching supplies at KINF resource centers. At the end of the national school supply drive, these centers will collect donated supplies from  Walgreens locations.

“Boys and girls tell us things like ‘this is the first box of crayons I ever had’ or ‘I gave the notebook you gave me to my sister because she’s older than me and she never had a notebook before,’” said Smith. “When you receive a thank you letter or drawing from students who receive the free supplies we provide, you find these children have a true appreciation for what they’ve received. School supplies of their very own are precious to them.”

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain, Walgreens’s (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. It provides access to consumer goods and pharmacy, health and wellness services. Take Care Health Systems, a Walgreens subsidiary, manages worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics.

About KINF

KINF’s mission is to provide free school supplies to ensure that every child is prepared to learn. In addition, Kids In Need Teacher Grant programs provide educators with funding for innovative learning experiences. KINF has distributed $400 million in materials since its founding in 1995, and it has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating for three consecutive years. For more information, visit www.kinf.org.  Follow KINF on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kidsinneed.

Clarissa Hardcastle is the strategic communications intern at the International Reading Association.

by Thomas DeVere Wolsey (Walden University), Dana L. Grisham (National University), and Elfrieda H. Hiebert (TextProject)

For more than a decade, TextProject, a nonprofit organization, has worked to link substantive research to useful professional development tools and materials for students that challenge and support struggling and beginning readers. With the emphasis in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS, 2010) on college and career readiness, teachers will challenge students to step up their capacity to read challenging texts like never before. To help teachers meet this challenge, TextProject created the Teacher Development Series for both veteran teachers and novices. 

Because the CCSS calls for an emphasis on text complexity that transcends quantitative readability measures, we collaborated on the development of five modules that teachers (including those working on their teaching credentials) and teacher leaders, titled “Text Complexity and the Common Core State Standards,” may find particularly valuable. This set of modules provides guidance for teacher leaders, teacher educators or staff development leaders as well as activities for teachers or teachers to be as they work to meet the challenges of the Common Core. The first module is currently available online, and the next four modules will be available on or before August 16, 2012.

The first module defines text complexity and introduces the three-part model from the Common Core.

Traditional quantitative notions of readability are usually based on sentence length and word length (often by syllable count). However, the text complexity model found in the Common Core introduces broad new concepts of how complex texts might look and what teachers should consider. Text complexity includes the traditional quantitative ideas of readability, but they add qualitative data about aspects of text that are not countable. These include layers of meaning found in some texts that might otherwise appear easily readable, use and appropriateness of graphics, and so on. The new model also addresses teacher knowledge about the reading capacities of their specific students. While state standards often included references to grade-level texts, the Common Core now identifies a staircase of complexity, embedded in the Common Core State Standards (2010), that the texts students are asked to read and the tasks related to those readings are increasingly and steadily more complex and challenging.

The features of complex texts, with an emphasis on the role of vocabulary, and how beginning and struggling readers can be supported will be found in the next four modules. Each module includes concise reading resources for professional development, an opportunity to reflect and respond to other teachers and teachers-to-be, and an application opportunity wherein the principles of complexity are applied to exemplar texts typical of those that might be used in grades 2 through 12.

We look forward to seeing you on the TextProject site. Besides the free Teacher Development Series materials, you will find a plethora of materials for classroom use and a library of research resources. TextProject encourages educators to explore the website and ask questions about text complexity through the info@textproject.org e-mail address. What are your concerns about text complexity and what it means for your classroom and your own professional development? How might TextProject be of help? 

Reference

Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS). (2010). Appendix A: Research supporting key elements of the standards; Glossary of key terms. In Common Core State Standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf

Dr. Thomas DeVere Wolsey is a literacy specialization coordinator in the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership at Walden University.

Dr. Dana L. Grisham is core adjunct faculty at National University. 

Dr. Elfrieda H. Hiebert is President and CEO of TextProject. 

This article is part of a series from the Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

by Michael Henry, IRA Teacher Advisory Panel Member

Open the book. Read. Close the book. Open the book. Read. Close the book. Open the book. Read. Slam the book to the ground. No, this is not you studying for trigonometry. It is a situation I witnessed while attending a soothing classical concert with my wife and children two summers ago at a venue near Chicago.

The young man I described, however, was far from experiencing feelings of catharsis. The reason for act of frustration: his summer reading assignment, a practice deeply entrenched in the pedagogy of Chicago south suburban high schools. The book he slammed with gritted teeth: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, that most ubiquitous of American high school titles.

This young man’s apparent frustration immediately registered with me. As a reading specialist who works with struggling readers, I had seen this behavior before. Watching this young man struggle, eyes glossed over, I started to wonder why he was trying so hard to read a book that was clearly not a good match for him. In my work, my number one goal is to find ways to motivate adolescents to be lifelong readers. One way in which I have been successful in doing so is through finding the right matches for readers. With this in mind, I approached the young man and asked, “Would you mind me asking why you are trying to read that book?"

Shoulders slumped, head down, he mumbled, “Because I have to.” More interested now, I probed a little deeper, perhaps overstepping my boundaries but too curious to stop. 

“Why do you have to?” I asked with concern. 

“Because we have to do summer reading, and if I don’t finish this book, I won’t be able to do the assignment; I’ll start the year in huge hole.” 

“Did you pick this book or did the school?” I prodded a bit deeper. 

“No, everyone has to read this book. I don’t know why. I can’t even get through the first ten pages. It just doesn't make any sense.” 

To this I replied, “I’d like to ask just one more question if you don’t mind?” 

“Sure,” he replied as he seemed to me to be a bit more relieved, perhaps sensing I was on his side. 

“Do you like to read?” 

“I do like to read,” he said, “I read all the time, just not things like this.”

I couldn't help but wonder, was his behavior and response more of an exception or part of a larger trend?

At My School

Although I felt bad for this young man, I was comforted by the fact that in my school, the summer reading assignments had changed. The move from reading one assigned book with a reading guide and a teacher test, to reading two books of choice, providing a copy of the book or receipt, a parent signature, and completing a small project for credit was welcomed warmly by students and parents.

My school, however, I would come to learn, was in the minority in the surrounding area. That said, survey data showed success with 65% of our population reporting reading 100% or more of the summer requirement, up from 47% the previous year when titles were assigned. You can imagine my surprise this year when the English department voted to go back to the old program: assigned book, study guide, project, and test, all designed to raise the rigor of expectations. The reasoning: we need the same expectations of the other schools.

When I heard this, thoughts of that young man’s frustration that night came rushing back to me. But while I was able to negotiate a hybrid model (one assigned text, one choice text) for this year’s summer reading at my school, the comment about other schools has compelled me to explore summer reading assignments in my area greater depth.

Research on Summer Reading

To do so, first I turned to the literature. Using my access as an IRA member to Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, I was able to locate several articles regarding reading in the summer. One, however, stood out as focusing specifically on high school students and school-sanctioned summer reading assignments, McGaha and Iago’s (2012) “Assessing High School Students’ Reading Motivation in a Voluntary Summer Reading Program” in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.

Not surprisingly, McGaha and Iago discovered a wealth of knowledge about students’ perspectives on summer reading. However, I narrowed their findings to following four critical components of summer reading assignments: (1) access to high interest books, (2) encouragement to read, (3) time to read, and (4) choice. With these findings, I began searching summer reading programs in my area.

The Region's Lists

I began by searching the websites of five surrounding high school districts for summer reading documents. In the nine programs I reviewed, four were geared toward honors students only, three were for upperclassmen only, and two had assignments for all students at all levels. The purposes, like intended audience, was varied. All nine programs, however, did have some trends: many titles were highly academic; all reading requirements were accompanied by in-depth written requirements; and almost all books were assigned by the school.

The titles listed here is a sampling of what I found: Lord of the Flies, The Pearl, The Scarlet Letter, Sophie’s World, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, The Book Thief, The Things They Carried, The Crucible, Bless Me, Altima, Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, King Lear, Tom Sawyer, Dracula, The Hobbit, The Jungle, Beowulf, Grendel, Frankenstein, Les Miserables, The Awakening, Slaughterhouse Five, and Things Fall Apart.

High Interest?

Titles labeled "Young Adult
High Interest"on display at a
Barnes & Noble store 

Suggested summer reading for
young adults at a Barnes &
Noble store 

My less scholarly summer
reading selections

Let’s look at the first of McGaha and Iago’s findings: access to high interest books. While I appreciate the merits of all the aforementioned literature, I wonder if these titles reflect the “high interest” to which McGaha and Iago were referring. Or are these titles more of an extension of the classroom? I also question the accessibility of the titles without teacher support. I say this because the titles are only familiar to me because of having read them in the 400 level as an English major. Furthermore, when I scour the tables of young adult literature or summer reading suggestions at the bookstore, I see none of these. As I glance over at my copy of Divergent and my Chicago Tribune, difficult enough reads with all the distractions of a Chicago summer, I can’t help but wonder how and why these titles are chosen.

Encouragement and Time

The next two findings of McGaha and Iago that I will deal with together: encouragement and time. This is what I found: all assignments were rather in-depth, most with several sections and a multitude of directions to follow with reminders of punitive consequences highlighted, bolded, and underlined, outlining, as I read on one sites document, the “severe consequences of not completing summer reading”. Assignments consisted of prompts to flag, annotate, question, connect, summarize, and infer, along with worksheets, graphic organizers, journal prompts, comprehension questions, multi-media projects, and study guides for tests.

Assignments all seemed to be in-depth and appeared to take a great deal of time to complete, time perhaps taken away from reading. This makes me wonder how different stakeholders perceive these assignments.

The Value of Choice 

This takes me to my last focus of McGaha and Iago’s findings: choice. Choice only appeared in two of the nine schools, and was only a portion of the requirement or intended for only a portion of the population in each. If students have reported, as they have in the McGaha and Iago study, that choice of reading material is a highly influential component of summer reading, then perhaps these schools could benefit from including some choice.

One uniquely human characteristic is our ability to make choices, and our inability to choose when emotions don’t move us. It is this idea of the connection between emotion, thought, and task completion that defines humanness, a point developed by Jonah Lehrer in his 2009 book How We Decide, and separates us from all other species. Would perspectives change if students were allowed to choose their summer reading books?

Open the book. Read. Close the book. Open the book. Read. Close the book, frustration. What I witnessed that beautiful summer day was a frustrated student moving one step further from reading. To find out if he is an exception or the norm, I need to gain a better perspective of summer reading assignments. To do so, this summer I will begin by interviewing principals and reviewing summer reading documents in more depth. I will share my findings in the fall. Enjoy your summer reading.

References

Lehrer, J. (2009). How we decide. New York: Harcourt.

McGaha, J.M., & Iago, L.B. (2012). Assessing high school students’ reading motivation in a voluntary summer reading program. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 55(5), 417-427. doi:10.10002/JAAL.00050

Michael Henry is a high school reading teacher and literacy coach at Reavis High School in Burbank, IL. He is a member of the International Reading Association Teacher Advisory Panel.