Engage Kids in Reading Through Song

I read a professional article a few days ago about using song lyrics to teach reading. It brought to mind my successes with using music as a reading tool. While the article focused on new readers and suggested using simple lyrics with sing-songy melodies and rhyming words, my experience has been that incorporating popular music from a variety of genres into the curriculum is just as effective, if not more engaging.

Finding song lyrics is as simple as typing the song title (or part of the words if you can't remember the title) into a search engine. Tons of sites offer free printable song lyrics. To find matching music, YouTube is always a great place to start. And the KidzBop series will offer clean versions of the most popular tunes. If you think Kindergarten is too young to start with popular music, think again. Imagine my surprise when my own kindergarten-age daughters came home from school boppin' around to pop songs. Granted, they didn't always have the words quite right, but they knew the melodies and busted their best dance moves.

Once you track down the lyrics, copy and paste them into a Word document. This serves two purposes: 1) you can clean up any naughty language and 2) you can increase the point size and/or spacing to improve readability or make room for class notes. When you're ready, print a copy for each student. The rest is easy. Just play the song and have the kids track the words, just like you would with any other text. There are so many kinesthetic activities you can build around music and reading, too. A true curriculum-expanding strategy!

I've used lyrics as reading material with students of all reading abilities. The strategy is a huge hit. And I've used it with my own peeps (now 1st graders). Not only is it a fun way to engage students in reading, but lyrics lend themselves well to discussions about figurative language, literary elements, author's purpose and meaning. Again ... expand that curriculum!

Thanks for reading! It keeps your  ... Mind Full of Literacy!

Let's Get This Party Started! International Literacy Day is Just Around the Corner

Image courtesy of Dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

International Literacy Day is observed every September 8, with the purpose of raising awareness about global literacy issues This year, the day is dedicated to 21st century literacies.

The International Reading Association will kick off its month-long celebration on September 9. The organization's theme for this year's celebration is "Invent Your Future," and events and activities will focus on the literacy skills students need to be successful in school, work and life.

If you're looking for some resources to raise your students' awareness of the importance of developing strong literacy skills, check out some of these ...

Celebrate International Literacy Day! ReadWriteThink lesson plans for Grades K-12

The Book Chook - Ideas from an Australian writers who loves children's literacy and literature

 

Idea Starters - International Literacy Day Courtesy of IRA

 





Thanks for reading! It keeps your  ... Mind Full of Literacy!

Can the Common Core Standards Cultivate a Renewed Sense of Kumbaya in Education?

Image soucre: www.gunnoracle.com

Right now, Education Week is offering free access to the digital edition of  Rethinking Literacy: Reading in the Common-Core Era for a limited time. The edition consists of several articles related to how the Common Core State Standards will alter how the educational system as awhole views reading and writing.

One particular article, Literacy Instruction Expected to Cross Disciplines addresses in more detail what I wrote about here. It's so exciting!

Thanks for reading ... It keeps your Mindfull of Literacy!

70/30: Is Teaching Fiction Losing the Common Core Battle?

Image from Melissa Dority at http://questgarden.com/124/88/0/110420172559/index.htm 

In an earlier post, I wrote about a study that found that only 43% of 2012 graduates who took the SAT had the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in college. That’s disturbing, considering that organizations today are looking for people who are creative and innovative thinkers and initiators. Apparently, the creators of the Common Core Standards find these and similar statistics concerning because they took action. To date, 45 states have adopted these new standards, which were designed reflect the knowledge students need to have a productive college life and/or career path.

The Kansas City Star ran an article recently about the possible effects that implementation of the Common Core Standards could have on the teaching of literature. The new standards recommend that non-fiction/informational text should make up 70% of what high school students read and write about. The school of thought is that beefing up non-fiction reading and writing will better prepare students for college.

High school literature teachers are reeling from the new standards, and rightly so. The change will require them to approach their content area in a whole new way. While some teachers view the standards as a mandate to reduce the amount of fiction students read, others view it as an opportunity to supplement the fiction with informational text. As usual, the new standards encourage educators and administrators to see the change as a school-wide responsibility.  

I have mixed feelings about this topic. I loved my English and Literature classes in high school, and I was inspired by the passion that ignited my teachers to share everything they could about authors and their stories. That inspiration and their passion led me to earn a B.A. in English. As an educator, I know how exciting it is when a struggling reader falls in love with a book. More often than not, the books they love are works of fiction. And I know that the skills needed to access informational text – analyzing, evaluating, knowledge of theme and genre to name just a few – are taught when we dig beneath the surface of works of literature.

But at the same time, I know that the transfer of knowledge isn’t there. I know that most jobs require a person to read and comprehend informational texts. In fact, my English degree led me straight into a job proofreading technical documents at an engineering firm. As an educator, I fully support teaching across the curriculum.  Encouraging English teachers to focus more on informational texts doesn’t have to mean shelving their beloved classics. In fact, it should mean just the opposite. This is the perfect opportunity for teachers to reach across the hallway and collaborate with their colleagues. If a class is reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, why not work with the history and/or economics teachers to find appropriate non-fiction texts about The Roaring 20s? Or, if a class is studying Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, team up with the Social Studies teacher to read true accounts of the Holocaust. Take this opportunity to boost students’ literacy skills culturally, historically, financially and politically. Help students make these critical connections and analyze and evaluate their importance to their world.

Transitioning from the current state standards to the Common Core won’t be easy. Secondary-level teachers typically teach in isolation. Intense collaboration is scary, and, it’s been my experience that most content-area teachers don’t see it as their job to help students improve their reading and writing skills. It won’t be easy because some people just don’t like change. But my gut tells me that the Common Core standards aren’t going to fade away, at least not anytime soon. My hope is that teachers, administrators, and schools can all find a way to introduce students to the adventures and ideas that both fiction and non-fiction texts have to offer.

Can Being Mindful of Emotions During Reading Improve Comprehension?

Photo Credit: Dyslexia Assessments

 How mindful are you of your emotions when you read? According to new research, tracking and analyzing Moment-To-Moment (M2M) emotions could give insight into when reading comprehension breaks down, resumes, or flows continuously. The research, conducted by Arthur C. Graesser and Sidney D'Mello, was published in the November 2012 issue of The Reading Teacher, a publication of the International Reading Association. The name of the article is Moment-To-Moment Emotions During Reading.

According to the research, M2M emotions focus on either the "persistence or changes in emotions every few seconds" versus the long-term status of everyday emotions. M2M emotions are not static, rather they are extremely dynamic as a reader interacts with a reading task or text. In fact, for their studies, Graesser and D'Mello poll emotions every 20 seconds using a variety of people and tools to classify the emotions. Think about that. They track every 20 seconds. Incredible!

The study highlights four emotions: boredom, frustration, confusion and flow (engagement). In tracking these fluctuating emotions, the researchers attempt to pinpoint the exact moment when each one kicks in. They also track how a reader transitions from one emotion to emotion. Apparently, there are two transition cycles: Beneficial (flow > confusion > delight in having cleared the confusion) and Harmful (boredom > frustration > disengagement). The article offers well-known interventions to help readers who consistently remain in the Harmful cycle.

The ultimate goal with reading and reading instruction is to develop readers who read metacognitively and who become mindful of their changing emotions while they read. I found this article so interesting because it looks at common problem through a new lens: Why do some readers struggle while others don't? While the emotions Graesser and D'Mello set forth aren't new - teachers know that boredom, frustration, and confusion during reading are common, interconnected feelings for struggling readers - the pinpoint approach is refreshing. I can't wait to see more research from this area of study. And I imagine now that this topic is "top of mind" that I'll be more mindful of what I'm feeling as I read.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading ... it keeps your Mind Full of Literacy!