It is a privilege and an honor to serve as IRC’s 42nd president, and I will try to serve with integrity and intelligence; however, I must warn you—I teach junior high school. Yup. I teach those students who can go emotion-ally from zero to sixty within the first ten minutes of class. Those students who can be ecstatically happy one minute and sour and pouty the next. The students who swear—like Superman—they can leap tall buildings in a single bound yet still insist they require

the assistance of at least three close friends in order to go to the bathroom.

It used to be (before airlines charged passengers for having the audacity to show up at the airport with luggage) that when I travelled, and I mentioned that I taught junior high school students, my seatmate would buy me a drink. Once, while I sat in my tiny airplane seat grading 8th grade research papers, a flight attendant approached me and asked my advice about how she could encourage her son to read more. And nurses? Mention to a nurse that you teach junior high, and they either apologize for having to draw your blood or look at you like you need a psych consultation.

It’s wonderful that teachers as well as library-media specialists, professors, litera-cy coaches, administrators and all others whose primary gift and privilege it is to educate have found their niche. People may question my judgment because I love teaching twelve to fourteen year-old students, but I give thanks daily that I don’t have to go into a classroom filled with tiny chairs and tiny students. You know—the students that are still so excited about learning regularly throw up on their teachers. To me, teachers who teach anyone below the age of twelve are heroes.

Heroes. That’s what author Patricia Polacco called us teachers when she spoke at the Saturday luncheon at the IRC Conference. Educators are heroes. I’ve thought a lot about her statement about educators being heroes, and to me, it comes down to this: We need to be heroes for our students who live in a world sadly lacking of heroes. We need to be heroes who advocate for our students when it comes to getting them books and other suitable reading materials. We need to be heroes who insist that quality instruction be delivered to every student at every level. We need to be heroes for the students who can read, for those who are just learning to read, for those who struggle to read and for

IRC President

Christine Boardman Moen

ommunicatorCVolume 33, Number 1 August 2009

In This Issue:

Board BriefsPresident’s Column . . . . . . . 1, 3IRA State Coordinator . . . . . 2-3

IRC Activities2010 IRC Conference . . . . . . . . 11Awards at IRA Convention . . . 13IRC’s Got Talent! . . . . . . . . . . . 15IRC Awards & Grants . . . . . . . 16

FormsStatic Stick Decal Contest. . . 5-6 2010 Program Proposal . . . 8-10

Features33rd Day of Reading . . . . . . . 3Illinois Authors’ Corner . . . . . 4Booking It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Author Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Hop Into Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . 11Library Borders Expanded! . . 12Parents As Partners . . . . . . . . . 12Remembering Hattie Spires . . 13Cool Studies . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15Illinois Reading Recovery . . . . 15

Continued on page 3

2010 IRC ConferenceMarch 18-20, 2010

Registration and Housing will be available October 2009!

“Leadership and learning are indispens-

able to each other.”— John F. Kennedy

When I first found this quote by JFK, its truth struck me! As literacy leaders we are on the cutting edge of learning, and our leadership is re-

flected in all we do, whether it is leading our councils, leading our administrators, leading our teachers, leading our students, leading their parents or leading our com-munities. In effect, we embody the concept of leadership and learning! Bravo to us!

Now, as the new school year be-gins, I trust each council has had an opportunity to share the won-derful ideas and experiences of the Leadership Retreat at Grand Bear, and that you are all well rested, re-energized, filled with enthusiasm, and ready to begin another school year. To help you start your teach-ing year, I would like to recommend three great sources for you to access, each focusing on a topic that reflects literacy and learning in the 21st century.

The first is the website Choice Literacy—Resources for K-12 Literacy Coaches and Teachers, which can be ac-cessed at www.choiceliteracy.com. The site, developed and maintained by literacy coaches, teachers, and school leaders with experience in dozens of diverse classrooms, provides practical tools, videos, study group guides, booklists, workshop opportunities, and free samples as well as advice on everything from teaching reading and literacy coaching to writing workshops. While one can access some parts of the site free of charge, especially the free e-newsletter, The Big Fresh, being a paid mem-ber allows access to (1) workshop protocols for leading study groups and in-services; (2) sample observation forms and needs assessment surveys; (3) video examples of best literacy practices; (4) the newest writing from top literacy authors; (5) short, focused articles for use

2 August 2009

IRA State Coordinator

Roberta Sejnost

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

in workshop discussions and mentoring meetings; (6) calendars and plans for leading new teacher initiatives; and (7) themed booklists for content and genre study.

The second resource is a terrific book, published by Corwin Press and entitled Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom, written by Will Richardson. This book, with its real life, classroom practicality, encourages educators to think differently about the potential technology has for strengthening students’ critical thinking, writing, reflection, and in-teractive learning. The explanations, definitions and instructions in this book are detailed and simple and provide not only “how-tos,” but critical information on Internet safety, helpful resource links and specific

teaching applications for Web blogs, Web Wikis, Real Simple Syndica-tion (RSS) feeds, aggregators, social bookmarking and online photo gal-leries. Within the chapters, anyone, no matter how inexperienced, will find ways to harness the amazing technology of the 21st Century for their classrooms.

Finally, for those of you given the mandate to “interpret data,” you

might find my third choice, a small book written by an experienced Illinois educator, Nancy Sindelar, entitled Using Test Data For Student Achievement: Answers To “No Child Left Behind,” an interesting read. Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education, this practical guide provides educators with a step-by-step process for gathering and using local test data to increase student achievement before students are required to take high stakes national and state assessments. The book clearly outlines how to best go about (1) aligning local curricu-lum and assessments to state and national standards; (2) gathering meaningful and useful local student test data; and, finally, (3) revising curriculum and instructional practices to increase student achievement and enhance performance. In addition, at the end of each chapter, the text offers key resources, such as software sugges-tions and Internet sites to help implement the process described in the book. Using Test Data for Student Achievement is a must read for teachers, administrators,

“As literacy leaders we are on the cutting edge

of learning, and our leadership is reflected

in all we do...”

Continued on page 3

MissionThe mission of the Illinois Reading Council

is to provide support and leadership to educators as they

promote and teach lifelong literacy.

Illinois Reading Council1210 Fort Jesse Road, Suite B2

Normal, IL 61761Phone: 888-454-1341

Fax: 309-454-3512E-Mail: irc@illinoisreadingcouncil.org

Website: www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

August 2009 3

those who are learning to become teachers and leaders whose goal is to help others become literate citizens.

Being a hero shouldn’t be lonely work, although at times we educators feel isolated. And that’s where IRC can help. Seek out other heroes within this incredibly won-derful organization. Step into a leadership position and wear a badge of honor along with the title of “hero.” IRC is here for you because YOU are IRC. Each member creates the body of this organization—and what talented members we have! I salute each of my fellow IRC heroes!

Read On!

Christine Boardman Moen

President’s Message continued from page 1

parents, and community members interested in improv-ing student achievement.

In closing, good luck as you begin this new school year. And, as you move through it month by month, I hope you take the time to enjoy the many opportunities provided by your local reading councils and IRC. Take time to read your council’s newsletter, attend your council’s meetings, programs and functions, and browse the IRC website to keep abreast of all the wonderful things the local councils of IRC are doing. Together we can help Light the Way to Literacy.

IRA State Coordinator’s Column continued from page 2

Secondary Conference Content Areas Grades 6-12

November 7, 2009 (Saturday)

An Exclusively Secondary literacy conference

Holiday Inn Select, Tinley Park, IL

YA Author: Copper Sun Tears of a Tiger

Just Another Hero Fire From the Rock Luncheon address: Literacy, Laughter, and Learning

Workshop 1: Making Books Come Alive for Adolescent Readers

Workshop 2: Using the Past to Empower the Future-The Legacy

of Hope and Possibility

Author: Reading Strategies for Spanish Speakers

Reading Instruction for Bilingual Contexts Keynote: What Do Teachers of English Language Learners

Need to Know About Second Language Reading?

Workshop 1: Academic Reading Instruction for English

Language Learners (ELLs)

Workshop 2: How to Prepare to Provide Effective Reading

Instruction to English Language Learners (ELLs)

For ALL TEACHERS & ADMINISTRATORS

of grades 6-12

the Secondary Reading League 's

33rd Day of Reading

*Online registration begins June 1, 2009

*Call Terry for team discount by 10-15-09

*CPS Vendor # 80827

For information: Barb Chrz-White 847-699-0797 bchrzwhite@comcast.net

Terry McHugh 708-220-4544 tmchugh@dayofreading.org

www.dayofreading.org

Summer WondersWritten by Bob Raczka www.bobraczka.comIllustrated by Judy SteadAlbert Whitman & Co. March 2009Category: Picture Book Ages: 4-8

The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations With Seven Works of Art (Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures)

Written by Bob Raczka www.bobraczka.comMillbrook Press April 2009Category: Nonfiction Art Ages: 9-12

Pond Punkies, Book 1, The ArrivalWritten by Lisa Riebe & Cynthia Nunn Illustrated by Eric Scott Fisher www.PondPunkies.comRavine Publishing May 2009Category: Juvenile Fiction Ages: 7-11Blaze is a young Pond Punkie from Neptune’s moon Larissa. When he discovers an evil Tritonan secret, he immediately enlists the help of his friends, including his best buddy Ace. But everything changes when a geyser erupts on Neptune, blasting Blaze and the evildoers to Earth.

Whose Nest is This?Written by Heidi Bee Roemer www.heidibroemer.comIllustrated by Connie McLennan www.conniemclennancomNorthWord September 2009Category: Poetry/Nonfiction Ages: 5-10Have you ever seen…a wee nest the size of a walnut cradling two pea-sized eggs? A papery nest that is made of hundreds of delicate six-sided chambers? A spit-and-mud nest cemented to a cliff? An underwater nest held together by “glue?” Whose Nest is This? (a companion book to What Kinds of Seeds are These?) contains clever rhyming riddles that describe fascinating nests made by various birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects.

Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep!: Listen to the CityWritten by Robert Burleigh www.robertburleigh.comIllustrated by Beppe GiacobbeSimon & Schuster May 2009Category: Picture Book Ages: 4-8

Jemma Hartman, Camper ExtraordinaireWritten by Brenda A. Ferber www.brendaferber.comFarrar Straus & Giroux May 2009Category: Juvenile Fiction Ages: 8-12Eleven-year-old Jemma is looking forward to her first summer at Camp Star Lake with her best friend Tammy, but Jemma soon learns that Tammy’s annoying cousin Brooke will be joining them. Suddenly, Jemma is trapped in a friendship triangle. As the summer progresses, Jemma won-ders if it’s really possible to make new friends but keep the old, like the song says, or does she simply need to let go? Brenda A. Ferber’s second novel is a tender and endearing look at friendships lost and found.

Amazing Biome Projects You Can Build YourselfWritten by Donna Latham www.donnalatham.comIllustrated by Farah RizviNomad Press September 2009Category: Nonfiction Ages: 9-12Wander through forests, sizzle in deserts, and slog through marshes to explore Earth’s biomes. Take a peek at gnarled krumholz trees, bioluminescent sea creatures, and blubbery mammals, all adapted for life in unique environments. Com-plete projects and activities in each biome: whip up your own glacier, experiment with acid rain, and tend to a desertarium. Meet scientists in action at the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, and at a mastodon dig right here in Illinois.

Welcome to the “Illinois Authors’ Corner,” showcasing new releases from our fabulous Illinois Authors and IRC members. If you’d like to include your new release, please visit the IRC website to find out how to submit information.

4 August 2009

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

The Illinois Council for Affective Reading Educationand

The Illinois Reading Council

The Illinois Council for Affective Reading Education (ICARE) and the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) invite YOU to design a STATIC STICK DECAL that encourages children to read.

QUALIFICATIONS You must be a student in grade 4, 5 or 6 in a school in the state of Illinois.

GUIDELINES Make your original design in the 4 inch square on the back of this sheet. (Teachers may copy the application form as many times as needed.) Invent an original character(s) to include in your design. You may NOT use any published cartoon or comic characters (including characters such as Snoopy, Bart Simpson, Power Rangers, Garfield, Barney, etc.) nor any computer-generated art. Develop an original saying or slogan. You are limited to three colors plus black and white. The label with Illinois Reading Council and Illinois Council for Affective Reading Education must be on the STATIC STICK DECAL design but it may be moved from the location on the application form. Complete the application form on the back of this sheet. Mail it with your design to: Kathleen Sweeney c/o Grant Elementary School 1300 N. 34th Ave. Melrose Park, IL 60160

ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15, 2010!

THE STATIC STICK DECAL CONTEST WINNER WILL RECEIVE: An autographed book by a well-known children’s author. An invitation for the winner and his/her parents to be our guests at the Illinois Reading Council Conference Author Luncheon on Saturday, March 20, 2010 in Springfield, Illinois. The winner will sit in a place of honor and be introduced during the luncheon. 30 STATIC STICK DECALS with the winning design to distribute to classmates.

TIPS Don’t forget – The work MUST BE ORIGINAL. You may not use any published trademark, cartoon, comic characters or computer-generated art. Keep the art work simple. Too much detail within the space provided may result in a smeared look when it is reproduced on the STATIC STICK DECAL. Fine line markers, pens and pencils work the best. Crayon is usually difficult to read. Spelling must be standard and correct.

STATIC STICK DECAL CONTEST

The Illinois Council for Affective Reading Education and The Illinois Reading Council

Illinois Reading CouncilIllinois Council for Affective Reading Education

Name ______________________________________________________________________________

Grade _________________________________ Age __________________________

Teacher’s Name ______________________________________________________________________

School _____________________________________________________________________________

School Address _______________________________________________________________________

City ______________________________ Zip __________________________

School Phone Number (with area code) ___________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian’s Name _______________________________________________________________

Home Address _______________________________________________________________________

City _____________________________ Zip __________________________

Home Phone Number (with area code) ____________________________________________________

Mail entries no later than January 15, 2010 to: Kathleen Sweeney c/o Grant Elementary School 1300 N. 34th Ave. Melrose Park, IL 60160

APPLICATIONSTATIC STICK DECAL CONTEST

“Booking it” to the library, numerous Brooks students flock upstairs after school once a month to participate in the school’s Book Club. The Brooks Book Club reads one book a month from the yearly Rebecca Caudill list. At each monthly meeting the students collectively choose a few books that they are interested in and then narrow their choices down to just one book. The goal is for students to actively participate in all facets of the club, including book choice.

In previous years, the sponsor had pre-determined the books for the year due to a shortage in the book budget. However, thanks to the IRC, we were able to purchase mul-tiple copies of all twenty Rebecca Caudill nominees. The result has been an increase in student owner-ship resulting in more motivation to read the monthly book and come to our meetings. Students are more engaged with the books because they are books they voted on reading and truly want to fall into.

This year we have focused on increasing student own-ership in the club, while promoting literacy throughout the entire school. We strive to provide a stress-free and risk-free environment in which the members, having read the selected Rebecca Caudill nominated book, gather to discuss the plot and evaluate the story and its characters, and create a student-centered project voic-ing their opinion of the book while expressing their creativity.

The club sponsor brings a list of project ideas, along with an adequate amount of supplies for students to use, and students decide what type of project they would like to create based on the book. Some of this year’s projects include theme posters, T-shirts, a song play list, hats, and a dramatic re-enactment. The projects are then displayed on the book club bulletin board for all students to see. Usually, depending upon the number of attendees, the members divide into groups of four or

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

August 2009 7

five to work in a more intimate setting. The great thing about this is that students are reflecting on literature in their own personal way, but they are also talking about the book the entire time with their table of fellow book club members.

Toward the end of the meeting, the group assembles to evaluate the reading selection. Students also fill out

a book suggestion (similar to staff picks found at local bookstores) and these are posted in the library to help other students find books to read. Then, students decide what the next month’s book will be, and the cycle is repeated.

After the book club finishes with a title, the book will be available on our shelves for all students’ read-ing needs. Not only do the books

that the IRC helped to provide benefit our book club, but they benefit our diverse population of over 1300 students as the titles are available for check out in our school’s library.

Teachers are also able to use the Rebecca Caudill books for literature circles, which also promotes student choice and engagement. Due to the popularity and great selec-tion that the Rebecca Caudill novels provide, most of the copies have been off of our library’s shelves for the entire school year as they are always checked out.

Our librarian also prepares a fantastic book talk for language arts classrooms regarding the Rebecca Caudill books. Needless to say, these books have been some of the most popular books within our school’s library this year. Our school then participates in a mock voting to determine the book that our students believe should win the year’s title. The most popular books accord-ing to our circulation records were The Lightning Thief, ranking number one in our building, as well as in the actual Caudill voting, The Invention of Hugo Cabret coming in at number two, and Rules taking third place.

Booking ItBy Karrie Hartman

The Brooks Book Club voted

The Lightning Thief number one from the

Rebecca Caudill books.

PROGRAM FORMATProposals may be submitted for small group sessions.• SMALL GROUP SESSIONS will be scheduled for 60 minutes. Presenters desiring more time may request a double session.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION• Proposals that emphasize interaction across disciplines, interaction

across roles, new issues or topics, innovative or novel ways of viewing traditional issues, topics, materials or methods and evidence of

familiarity with current practice and/or research will be given priority.• Proposals that promote commercial materials or programs will

not be accepted.• Proposals that contribute to the achievement of an overall program

balance in the range of topics, the grade levels covered, and the professional and geographic distribution of the participants will be given priority.

• Proposals must be typed, legible, and complete. The Program Committee reserves the right to disqualify incomplete or late proposals.

GENERAL INFORMATION• Teachers, researchers, librarians, administrators, and others interested in promoting reading and related

literacy areas are encouraged to submit program proposals.• As a professional, nonprofit organization, the Illinois Reading Council is unable to provide honoraria to program participants nor to reimburse for materials, travel, meals or hotel expenses.• All presenters whose program proposals have been approved must pre-register and pay conference

fees no later than the last day designated for pre-registration (February 1, 2010). If not, name and presentation may be removed from the final 2010 Conference program due to printing deadlines.

• The person submitting the proposal must receive advance consent from each listed presentation associate. • Only an overhead projector and screen will be provided. All other audio-visual equipment is the

responsibility of the presenter(s). LCD Projectors are not provided. • Proposals must be submitted online at www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org or postmarked

no later than September 1, 2009. Each person submitting a proposal will be sent an acknowledgment by email when the proposal is received. Future correspondence will also be sent by email. • All applicants will be notified of the Program Committee’s decisions by December 1, 2009. It is

the responsibility of the person submitting the proposal to relay the committee’s decision to each presentation associate listed on the program.

Individuals seeking conference information should contact:

Illinois Reading Council1210 Fort Jesse Road, Suite B2

Normal, IL 61761

Phone: 888-454-1341 (toll-free) Email: irc@illinoisreadingcouncil.org Fax: 309-454-3512 Web: www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org

Submit Program Proposals Online at www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org!

2010 PROGRAM PROPOSAL Illinois Reading Council Conference March 18-20, 2010

Please type or print all information.I. PERSON SUBMITTING PROPOSAL

Name(Last)___________________________________ (First)_________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________________________________________________

City________________________________________ State______________ Zip_______________________

Telephone: Work____________________________ Home________________________________________

Position and/or Title___________________________________________________________________________

School/District/Professional Affiliation____________________________________________________________

Work Address______________________________________ City___________________ State___________

Email______________________________________________

II. PRESENTATION ASSOCIATES Please list the names, complete addresses (including zip code), telephone numbers, and institutional affiliations

and addresses of the program associates. Please secure advance permission from each individual. A separate sheet with this information may be attached.

Name(Last)____________________________________ (First)__________________________________________

School/District/Professional Affiliation____________________________________________________________

City__________________________________________ State______________ Zip_________________________

Phone______________________________________ Email________________________________________

Name(Last)___________________________________ (First)_________________________________________

School/District/Professional Affiliation____________________________________________________________

City__________________________________________ State______________ Zip_________________________

Phone______________________________________ Email________________________________________

III. STRAND NUMBER ________________________ All proposals should relate to one of the strands below:

8. Adult Education 9. Collaborations (inclusion, teaming, literacy coaching, RtI)10. Research-Based Practice11. Standards, Assessment, and Evaluation12. Early Childhood and Emergent Literacy13. Reading Across the Curriculum14. Administration15. Title I16. Family Literacy

1. Literacy Skills (fluency, word identification, comprehension, vocabulary) - ISBE Standard 1 2. Literature Studies - ISBE Standard 2 3. Extending Literacy through Speaking and Listening - ISBE Standard 4 4. Extending Literacy through Writing - ISBE Standards 3 and 5 5. Technology in the Classroom 6. Diversity (multicultural, multiple intelligences, gender issues, ESL, gifted, at-risk) 7. Coordinating/Administering a Reading Program

IV. SESSION LENGTH: Sessions will be 60 minutes in length. Presenters desiring more time may request a double session.

VI. AUDIO VISUAL EQUIPMENT: Overhead projectors and screens are the only audio visual equipment available to presenters. Other equipment must be supplied by the presenter. LCD Projectors are not provided.

VII. TITLE OF PRESENTATION (as you wish it to appear in the program book; please be succinct)

VIII. ABSTRACT Describe the content of the program in 20-35 words. The abstract must be clearly stated and reflect the actual

presentation. Please remember that your session may not promote specific products or packaged pro-grams.

In accordance with IRA and IRC policy, program participants will not be reimbursed for any expenses by the Illinois Reading Council. I understand that presenters must pre-register for the conference by February 1, 2010. If not, names and presentation may be removed from the final IRC conference program due to printing deadlines. I also understand that only an overhead projector and screen will be provided and that the printing of handouts is the responsibility of the presenters.

_______________________________________________ ______________________________ Signature of Person Submitting Proposal Date

Proposals may be submitted online at www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org or mail one copy of completed proposal postmarked no later than September 1, 2009 to:

Illinois Reading Council1210 Fort Jesse Road, Suite B2

Normal, IL 61761

To help prevent scheduling conflicts, please identify all presenters listed in this proposal who are also included in other proposals.

Name Person Submitting Other Proposal

____________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ____________________________

V. INTENDED AUDIENCE (Check each category that applies.) _______ Educators of Pre-Schoolers (PreK-K) _______ Educators of Special Needs Students _______ Educators of Primary Students (K-3) _______ Educators of Adults _______ Educators of Intermediate Students (4-6) _______ Administrators _______ Educators of Middle/Junior High Students (6-9) _______ Librarians _______ Educators of High School Students (9-12) _______ All

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

August 2009 11

2010 IRC ConferenceBy Susan Cisna, Conference Chair

Listen my teachers and you shall hearOf the IRC Conference coming next yearOn the 18th of March in 2010Filled with great authors, both women and men.

While Mary Amato brings her Naked Mole RatDavid Wiesner brings Tuesday and Flotsam, what’s that?Andrew Clements returns with Frindle and Dogku And Cynthia and Greg Jingle Dance in their Indian Shoes.

Will Hobbs will be Downriver Crossing the WireAnd Wellington will discuss Halloween and the Great FireJoan Bauer will follow her Rules of the RoadAnd Gail Carson Levine will be Ever Enchanted I’m told.

Mastering Mechanics Linda Hoyt will make clearIf you Read It But Don’t Get It Chris Tovani you’ll hear.Debbie Diller will be Making Centers that Work for a stealAnd Kathy Collins will be presenting Reading That’s Real.

Sensational Sentences Chris Moen will speakPeter Johnston’s Choice Words won’t be GreekJan Brett will bring Three Snow Bears, her Mittens and HatBut I don’t think she’ll bring Nick Bruel’s Bad Cat.

However, no conference can be a successWithout its members who are the very bestBe sure to share all that you can doAnd join the 2010 presentation crew.

For borne from the conferences of the pastThrough IRC history, to the lastFrom today and forward through the next yearLet our Lights for Literacy Shine far and near.

Adaptation from Henry Wadsworth

Longellow’s Midnight Ride of

Paul Revere.

Author VisitBy Tammy Cripps

On April 24, 2009, Ewing Grade School was honored with a visit from a famous alumna. Andrea Beaty is the author of children’s books When Giants Come to Play, Cicada Summer, Iggy Peck, Architect, and Doctor Ted. Ms. Beaty had attended Ewing Grade School so it was especially meaningful for the students to connect with her. Ms. Beaty began the day greeting members from the community at a reception held in her honor. After the reception, she presented her books to each class. She explained her journey to becoming an author and answered many questions pertaining to her books. Many points of interest surrounding the Ewing community have been written into her book, Cicada Summer. We want to thank the Illinois Reading Council for making this day possible. It was a great pleasure to watch Ms. Beaty planting seeds of interest into each student.

Hop Into LiteracyBy Pat Urbelis

The Hop Into Literacy Program was designed to encourage students to read and write creatively. Through an IRC Literacy Support Grant, the students were given Bare Books to write their own stories in. We were able to get Craig Pierce to visit the school for the day. Our culminating activity was a Young Author Night, and Craig Pierce was our main speaker. The attendance was standing room only. The young authors displayed their books, and spoke to those in attendance about writing them. All of the students in grades 3-5 participated in writing the books. We had only a few first and second graders participate in the writing. The books were then displayed in the school library, and could be checked out by the students. The demand for these books was tremendous. I was excited to see that the students were asking to write more stories, and begging for another author visit.

During the school year students in grades 1-5 were given Bare Books again to write another story. This time we had books from all students in grades 1-5. Our next author to visit was the graphic novelist, Aaron Reynolds. Students were exposed to a new genre to read and explore the writing process for this type of story. The program was a huge success thanks to the support from the IRC. Without the grant this program would not have been possible. Next year, I would like to see the program grow to include 6th–8th grades.

12 August 2009

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

Parents As PartnersBy Kathleen Kelly

For many years at Murphy School in Chicago we have worked on developing a partnership with our families by providing workshops for our pre-school and kindergar-ten families. Even though the workshops were helpful, parents were requesting more integrated activities to do at home. They were also expressing concerns about literacy expectations for young children. With the gener-

ous support of the Illinois Reading Council we were able to complete the missing piece to the puzzle.

Our idea was to establish monthly Parent & Child workshops focus-ing on early reading skills such as: dictating their own story and retell-ing stories read to them, learning the alphabet, promoting phonemic awareness through nursery rhymes and poetry, connecting sounds and

letters, developing sight words, and increasing students’ vocabulary skills. Workshops were given in English and Spanish to support diverse needs. Each workshop was one hour in length and followed the same format: mini-lesson, make-and-take, and activity time. The parents took activities home to practice with their child and were given quality literature in their native language to share with their child.

We invited the neighborhood library to help share their early literacy knowledge and teach families more about the resources available. Working with the library pro-vided a nice opportunity to bridge literacy out of the classroom and into the community.

Meeting with families in a less formal setting gave us the chance to have important one-on-one conversations focused on literacy and helped us build better and more positive relationships with all families involved. We had opportunities to explain how and why we do differ-ent literacy activities throughout the day. We wanted families to understand our expectations, and the work-shops and materials provided by this grant gave us a wonderful opportunity to expand and deepen this very important partnership.

Library Borders Expanded!By Nancy Pierce, Librarian, Glenbard North High School

As librarians, we always consult faculty and students for suggestions for new books to add to our collection. The feedback we receive is varied, and recent budget cuts limit our ability to buy books—let alone respond to book purchase suggestions. The IRC Literacy grant I received at Glenbard North High School allowed our library to take more “risks” and choose books we might not have, given our typical budget constraints. Examples of some of our “risky” collection development choices:

Fine Arts: We selected Classical Greek plays for the class’s focus on that era. I (and the students!) learned that not all translations are the same, and a variety of transla-tions of the same play allows stu-dents to compare interpretations and infer historical/cultural influences of when various translations were made.

English Language Learners: We purchased a series of books that were popular fiction, but helped struggling readers by bolding difficult words and defining them at the bottom of the page. The students appreciated that the books weren’t different from books their peers were reading, but rather “improved,” for them.

Special Education: Many of our special education students enjoy independent reading, but don’t want to commit to weeks reading the same book. To meet their needs, we purchased several high interest, short books.

We found that targeting groups through their academic classes and purchasing books specifically for them, made students more likely to check out books and enjoy them. And, because their opinion and feedback are so important, we developed a link on our library web page for student book reviews.

Thanks to the IRC, our teachers and students have a greater connection with the library and the books in it.

IRC Literacy Support Grant Applications for

2010-11 are due May 1, 2010! Visit the IRC Website for more

information.

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

August 2009 13

Remembering Hattie SpiresBy Mike Ellerman

There are so many beautiful things we are given in life. We have the Grand Canyon, the softly blowing mead-ows, the grassy plains, and then there is Hattie Spires!

I don’t remember exactly when I first saw Hattie, but I do know she was a ray of sunshine. She always welcomed everyone with a wide grin and open arms. She was a positive woman who would help you in many ways. It was always a delight to go to the board meetings when she was IRC President in 1999-2000. She would be at the door greeting everyone warmly. She became IRC President before I did and when I ran for office, she was such an inspiration. She made every attempt to help me. At the IRA Conference in California she introduced the various vendors and gave hints of various speakers.

She spoke warmly of family. She loved her children and grandchildren and would expansively talk about them.

Hattie was always trying to grow. She had been a teacher, principal, and leader in reading but she was always trying to stretch herself. She would talk about being in the Doctoral program and her classes, as well as her instructors.

She never complained. The last time I saw her was at the IRC Conference in March. She was at the Welcome Reception and she had to leave because she didn’t feel well. I called her at the hospital when I learned that she was there. I asked her if you had to be in the hospital to get a Doctorate. She was her usual self and she joked and laughed with me.

Like so many things of beauty we take for granted, we miss them when they are gone. Hattie will be missed in a world full of hatred and jealousy.

The Lord made a work-of-art in Hattie and when our time comes to die, I know Hattie will be at the gates welcoming everyone with a hug and asking him or her what he or she has been doing!

God be with you, Hattie, forever.

Awards at the IRA Convention May 3-7, 2009

Advocacy Award Presented to the Illinois Reading Council for taking an active role in educational policy and legislation.

Award of Excellence Presented to the Illinois Reading Council for provid-ing programs and activities that contribute to educa-tion and support councils, members, and IRA.

Honor Council Fox Valley Reading Council Illinois Title I Association Lewis and Clark Reading Council MID-State Reading Council Suburban Council of IRA (SCIRA) Will County Reading Council

Horizon AwardPresented to the Illinois Reading Council for the highest percentage of growth in student member-ship.

Membership Honor Roll Will County Reading Council

IRA Exemplary Reading Program AwardNeuqua Valley High School, Naperville, Illinois

The IRA Exemplary Reading Program Award recognizes outstanding reading and language arts programs at all grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school). Each state or province can choose one winning school.

Interested in submitting an article or book to the

IRC Communicator? Please visit the IRC website for details!

drawn from four literacy events, two 25-minute meetings for each group. Initially, that seemed to me an awfully small data set.

Actually, it was quite a lot of data. Poole used two video cameras supplemented by two audio recorders. Each of those recordings was transcribed to capture what was said along with relevant movements, gestures, and facial expressions. How cool is that? A study where the data set includes gestures and facial expressions. Poole searched for interactions which reveal differentiation of the reading group participants. In

the end it seemed pretty labor-intensive (as good data collection and analysis should be).

The specific activity in all four reading group events was that “Each student in turn read a short section of the text aloud, followed in a majority of instances by teacher-initiated interac-tion related to the content of what was read.” That’s right. They were doing round robin oral reading. Poole hastens to add “The oral reading format used

in these two groups has been discouraged by some reading scholars.” Ya think?

The results included twenty transcribed “examples” of interac-tions in reading groups which captured amazing detail. The transcripts were coded to show “overlapping utterances” (#) as one student corrects the pronunciation of a word while another keeps reading. “Rising intonation” (?) was coded to reflect kids’ offering answers of which they were unsure. Even the pauses in speaking and writing were coded; and not just coded but broken down to tenths of seconds! My favorite was the code for “extended sound or syllable” (:) often employed by teacher implying questions, “It’s called a:” or emphasizing answers. “How did the dinosaurs walk? slo::w.”

The beauty of focusing on a small number of subjects is that one can examine “the social, linguistic, or pedagogical details that might be obscured in more large-scale studies. Once certain phenomena have been identified through such narrowly focused studies, they can be more fully examined in subsequent, more extensive research.” The intention of a

So, now that we have at least a decade without those horrible ability groups and their litany of sins, are our struggling read-ers happier, less stigmatized, and more motivated? Do they learn more by being in the presence of their higher-achieving classmates?

A Reading Research Quarterly arrived almost a year ago, and it had been calling to me. I knew it included a study about how struggling readers are treated, and that always interests me. But the title said that it was a study of TWO kids. RRQ publishing a study where n=2 was a little hard to grasp. I couldn’t bring myself to file the journal away, and it sat on the dining room table. Does your house look like that? Only with the IRC Journal rather than RRQ.

Deborah Poole’s study takes a close look at two struggling readers assigned to instructional groups constructed to be mixed ability. She reviews the literature on ability grouping and points out that “schools and districts across the U.S. have responded to the negative criti-cisms by moving to heterogeneous or mixed-ability grouping, now the prevailing practice in many contexts.”

Poole uses “situated literacy” that is aimed at understanding what actually occurs in reading classrooms. It is a kind of study that is deeply contextualized. Those being studied are not “subjects” in an experiment but individuals of very real human interest. In situated literacy, the researcher does an in-depth examination of a particular “literacy event.” Poole’s literacy event is the meeting of a reading group, chosen because it is “a routine activity repeated multiple times throughout the elementary school experience.” She chose two fifth-grade reading groups from a school which had been designated a “Program Improvement School” for having failed to make AYP for two years in a row. (Won’t it be nice in the near future when AYP takes its well-deserved place in the category of “forgotten but once important” concepts in reading education? Kind of like whole language.)

The students were organized for reading instruction into small groups. Within each group one “below grade level” reader was identified for special analysis. All the data were

14 August 2009

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

Cool Studies: How Kids Learn Their Positions in the Reading Proficiency Hierarchy

By Lou Ferroli

I came up with this list of questions to ask

ourselves about how kids are treated in groups of

mixed ability where, Poole asserts, “a façade of equal

ability is maintained.”

Continued on page 15

The Illinois Reading Council Communicator

August 2009 15

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IRC’S GOT TALENT!“America’s Got Talent!” “Britain’s Got Talent!”

“IRC’s Got Talent!”

Do we have a Susan Boyle hidden among our members? Do we have a ventriloquist or a dance team? How about a quartet of cellists? Do you tell jokes, or ride a unicycle? How about juggling or playing the clarinet? The possibilities are endless and now you have a chance to showcase your hidden talent!!

At the 2010 Illinois Reading Council Conference, ICARE and IRC will be hosting the first “IRC’s Got Talent” show. It will be held on Friday evening of the conference and will feature outstanding participants from IRC.

Details are being worked out but now is the time to begin planning and practicing. There will be a nominal entry fee, cash prizes and voting by the audience. More detailed information will follow in future IRC Commu-nicators.

Cool Studies continued from page 14study like this is not to answer questions like those I raised at the start of this column. Situated research about social interactions is better, as Poole says, for raising questions than for answering them.

So, I tried the question-raising. As I worked my way through the 20 examples, I came up with this list of questions to ask ourselves about how kids are treated in groups of mixed ability where, Poole asserts, “a façade of equal ability is maintained.” See what you think. 1) Do some kids get to correct other kids? Does each time one student “assists or corrects” another provide a signal that the first one couldn’t do it on his or her own? 2) How much does each kid get to read (words)? Do some kids get invited to take another turn? Which ones? 3) Do kids and maybe teachers demonstrate impatience with a struggling reader through their simple glances at one another? Do these glances signal, as Poole puts it, a student’s “position in the reading proficiency hierarchy.”

As I constructed this list it sank in that it is partly about being compassionate. Forgive a brief tangent, please, but the Illinois Reading Council lost a dear friend recently. If Past-President Hattie Spires had any message for us all, it was to be kind, to children, of course, but to one another as we do our work in schools and in our professional organizations. Maybe these are “Questions Hattie Would Want Me to Ask.” 4) Do strug-gling readers change their responses during discussion to align themselves with the stronger readers in their presence? 5) Does hand-raising frequency serve to demonstrate one’s position in the reading proficiency hierarchy? 6) Who gets praised for reading well in a mixed-ability setting? 7) Do struggling readers receive terminal feedback (someone tells them the word)? Whereas, were they in a different setting, they might be encouraged to adopt and use strategies. 8) Are some students encouraged to “help out” other students when facing a difficult task? Does this serve to identify the rank of the helper and the helpee?

I would love to report, as a finding of this study, the observa-tion made by Poole that “some of the same phenomena that have been previously found to characterize low-ability groups in general also affected individual students in these mixed-ability contexts.” However, you can’t have it both ways. There were only two subjects. Plus, they were doing round robin reading, for goodness sake. There are no “findings.” There are just questions that could be investigated. Questions that might be useful to ask ourselves. Questions that Hattie would want us to ask.

You can find it at Poole, D. (2008). Interactional differentiation in the mixed-ability group: A situated view of two struggling readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 43, 228-250.

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IRC Awards & GrantsAre you interested in learning how to nominate individuals from your area for IRC awards or how to benefit from grant money that is available each year for various educational activities? To find out more about these IRC Awards and Grants, please visit the IRC website at www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org.

Hall of Fame Award: The IRC has designed the Hall of Fame Award to recognize significant contributions to reading or reading education. This award will be given at the annual IRC Conference. All nomination forms must be received by November 1, 2009.

Illinois Reading Educator of the Year Award: This award recognizes outstanding teachers who make contributions in promoting literacy among students, colleagues, and school communities. The application form, letters of recommendation, and your philosophy statement are due by November 1, 2009.

Legislator of the Year Award: This award recognizes an Illinois Legislator who demonstrates outstanding contributions toward advocating literacy and education in Illinois. Nominations are due by November 1, 2009 to the IRC Legislative Committee and the award will be given during the annual IRC Conference.

Parents and Reading Award: This award recognizes an IRC member who promotes and supports parent involvement in children’s reading. Deadline for nominations is November 1, 2009 and materials to be submitted are due December 1, 2009.

Adult and Family Literacy Award: The IRC Adult and Family Literacy Committee will award up to $750 to IRC Local Councils to develop and implement projects to help address adult literacy issues. Literacy projects that involve adults or adults with their children will be considered for funding. Proposals must be postmarked by November 1, 2009. Grantees will be notified by December 15, 2009.

Barack Obama Library Award: Do you know a teacher of 5th-8th-grade kids who could make good use of a classroom library? This award is a classroom library, valued at over $1000, which was created in 2006 through a generous gift to the IRC from (then) Senator Obama. This collection is composed of carefully selected literature that is “culturally relevant” for African-American readers and targets students in the middle-school (5th-8th) grade range. This year the 2010 library will be awarded to a teacher in Aurora, Illinois. Nominations are due by November 1, 2009.

Certificate of Recognition: The IRC will award Certificates of Recognition to the most deserving individuals who meet the criteria listed in the grant guidelines. These certificates will be awarded at the annual IRC Conference. All nomination forms must be received by November 1, 2009.