LIBE 477- Inquiry Blog 1: Foster Reading Culture

 Inquiry Blog 1-Fostering Reading Culture 

When thinking about how to foster a reading culture in schools in the role of a Teacher Librarian, (TL), I looked at ways to promote a love of reading more than how to get a school wide reading program mandated. Teachers need to have autonomy to present curricular material in a way that plays to their strengths and takes into account the needs of their students. I support providing resources that teachers can choose from, such as levelled readers and subscriptions to online resources like EPIC or Raz kids, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to approach it as a required way to promote literacy and foster a healthy reading culture. That’s not to say that a TL can’t promote resources at staff meetings, in casual conversations with staff, and on the learning commons website. Conversations with the administration about useful resources and ideas for teachers are also positive steps. One school I found in Oxnard, California made sure every student had a tablet to use, a one-to-one ratio. This ensured equal access and the tablets had book databases already loaded onto them that could be used at home and school. The student reading and digital literacy skills increased as well as their love of books . 

The Alberta Education’s Literacy First: A Plan For Action document, (2010), talks about how literacy development is a “shared responsibility”, (pg. 6), but that teachers need “continued support and professional development opportunities”, (pg. 6), to be able to teach literacy in a way that addresses diversity and technological developments. TLs are in a good position to provide some of that support. 

 

https://education.alberta.ca/media/1626397/literacyfirst.pdf 

 I focused on finding ways that a TL can support teachers and students by promoting the reading culture within the school. Some general strategies such as “making libraries engaging, employ visual displays, model a love of reading, let the students lead, highlight individual authors, and making reading a priority” are suggested by an article on the Edutopia website by Laura Lee. 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/schoolwide-strategies-promoting-love-reading

I looked for ways to spark that enthusiasm for books and appeal to even reluctant readers by making it fun! Some ideas that I’ve seen work well in schools are: 

 

-online subscriptions (such as EPIC, Raz kids) -requires funding and whole school buy in

-D.E.A.R. time 

This stands for drop everything a read and can be implemented as a school or on a class-by-class basis. There is a great explanation of this on Matthew Lynch’s blog, the Edvocate 

www.theedvocate.org/how-to-implement-the-drop-everything-and-read-strategy-into-your-classroom/ 

 

-readathons 

These can be a good fundraiser as well as a lot of fun. I saw one school that did this as a pajama and stuffy event day that got the kids really excited. A blog that explains how to set one of these up is by a teacher named Julie Overpeck, on her blog, mrsoslibrary, 

www.mrsoslibrary/blog/how-to-host-a-super-simple-readathon 

 

-speed dating/blind date with a book 

These are commonly at the junior and senior high level, but I think it could be adapted to elementary as well. A blog that explains how to set one of these up is by Gwyneth Jones called the daring librarian.  

www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2013/12/speed-dating-with-books.html 

 

-book tastings 

I have only seen these done in individual classrooms, but they could easily be a lunchtime event in the learning commons, in elementary having one day for division one, one day for division two, (grades K-3, and grades 4-6). A great site with information on how to do this is the We Are Teachers blog. Not only does this site have great information and ideas on doing book tastings, but there are also links to the Penguin Random House site that has resources teachers can use, such as printable sampler packs.  

www.weareteachers.com/book-tasting/ 

www.penguinclassroom.com 

 

-library cons 

I found this idea on a site from Lac La Biche county public libraries in northern Alberta. Basically, this is similar to a comic con, where everyone dresses up as their favorite character for whatever the theme is, for example, Disney, superheroes, fantasy, etc. In a library however, it wouldn’t just be booths, merchandise, and visits from famous actors/authors like in a comic con, it would be an adapted version. In the Lac La Biche public library, they had tables with books from the theme, tables with games from the theme, and take and make activity tables. There were visits from famous characters that people could get their picture taken with, and prizes that could be won.

This could be adapted to an elementary school easily. The teachers could dress in character costumes to be the famous visitors and take pictures with the students using a green screen, then later the kids could manipulate the backgrounds and use the pictures as inspiration to write stories. The make and take activities could be in the maker space area of the learning commons. There could also be a scavenger hunt throughout the school, not limiting the fun to just the learning commons. A parade of costumes with prizes for different categories would also be exciting for the students. This would a really engaging way to get students interested in books and reading. 

https://www.llbcl.ca/programs/library-con2 

 

 

Some ideas that I would like to try in my own learning commons at the elementary level would be lunchtime popcorn book clubs, alternating with older and younger students, doing a genre feature in the learning commons once a month, and virtual author visits-something that the penguinclassroom.com site has links to help set up. I would also like to do weekly readaloud lunches in the learning commons, featuring different authors -taking preferences, requests, and student feedback into consideration. In the maker space I’d also like to try a “make your own book inquiry learning station”. I’d like to start with a provocation table with a specific theme, and books laid out surrounding that theme. I would also provide book making materials and crafts to decorate the picture and book cover. Possibly I could have an iPad with a bookmaker program on it as well. Finally, I’d like students to be able to record themselves reading their book, whether it is a print or digital creation. This sounds a bit like a class project, so not sure I’d be able to make this something students would come to the learning commons for, but I’d love to explore this idea in the future. A great source of ideas and information on inquiry learning for younger students is Rebecca-Bathurst-Hunt’s blog. 

www.rebeccabathursthuntblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/inquiry-based-learning-in-kindergarten/ 

 

I’m excited about all of these ideas to try out, but I recognize there may obstacles. Funding is always a big one, as each school usually decides their own budget. There is a bare minimum a learning commons is allocated, but that amount can vary slightly depending on how effectively the TL can advocate for the learning commons and how it meets the school’s needs. Outside of the learning commons budget, the other funds that are available from fundraisers and book fairs can vary depending on the socio-economic population of the area the school is located in. There are also some differences between physical space, equipment, and technology that is available to each school. Schools individually decide which subscriptions to purchase as well, so a TL would need to collaborate and take feedback from the staff before making suggestions there.  

Then there are the obstacles a TL might encounter to the ideas themselves. Teachers don’t want something that is extra work outside of the curriculum or that takes away from class teaching time. Making sure the ideas have relevance and staff buy in are important factors in the success of anything new. This is where building relationships, trust, and having good communication skills is important. While looking into this topic my heart was warmed by the number of teachers who are willing to share ideas and resources with others online for free and providing good advice a lot of times as well. Looking over my list of ideas, I definitely feel like it would be overwhelming to try all at once. On Gwyneth Jones’ blog, the Daring Librarian, she talks about how to be a “teacher librarian rockstar”, and near the end of the post says, “Don’t try to do everything at once-that’s why I recommend to choose 1 Thing, that’s all it takes. Once you conquer that one thing, choose another.”, (2018). Wisdom worth taking, I think. 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

1. Morales, Cesar. (2017). Youtube:
Fostering a Love of Reading. Retrieved from https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=youtube+fostering+love+of+reading+in+school&type=E210CA885G91650#id=2&vid=e28414fb0acd2bde15948596a39b98ed&action=click 

2. Alberta Education. (2010). Literacy First: A Plan For Action. Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/media/1626397/literacyfirst.pdf 

3. Lee, Laura. (2020). School Wide Strategies for Promoting a Love of Reading. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/schoolwide-strategies-promoting-love-reading 

4. Lynch, Matthew. (2022). How to implement the drop everything and read strategy into your classroom. Retrieved from www.theedvocate.org/how-to-implement-the-drop-everything-and-read-strategy-into-your-classroom/ 

 

5. Overpeck, Julie. (2021). How to Host a Super Simple Readathon. Retrieved from www.mrsoslibrary/blog/how-to-host-a-super-simple-readathon 

 

6. Jones, Gwyneth. (2017). Speed Dating With Books. Retrieved from www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2013/12/speed-dating-with-books.html 

 

7. We Are Teachers Staff. (2021). Book Tastings. Retrieved from www.weareteachers.com/book-tasting/ 

 

8. Penguin Random House. (2019). Educator Resources. Retrieved from www.penguinclassroom.com 

 

9. Lac La Biche County Libraries. (2022). Library Con. Retrieved from https://www.llbcl.ca/programs/library-con2 

 

 10. Bathurst-Hunt, Rebecca. (2016). Inquiry based learning in kindergarten. Retrieved from www.rebeccabathursthuntblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/inquiry-based-learning-in-kindergarten/ 

 

11. Jones, Gwyneth. (2018). How to be a Teacher Librarian Rockstar. Retrieved from www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2018/01/how-to-be-a-teacher-librarian-rockstar.html