Journal of the Washington Library Media Association
Spring 2012
Volume 36 Number 3
Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
Professional Development and Training
Expand your Expertise
at Northwest Council for Computer Education NCCE provides educators with resources and professional development opportunities throughout the year.
Microsoft Innovative Educator Training
Two-day seminars designed for educators who integrate technology in the classroom. Teams from schools and districts are encouraged to attend since there will be time set aside to develop a teacher professionaldevelopment action plan. This plan can be used to train teachers on how to incorporate Microsoft technologies into teaching and learning. NCCE can arrange for Microsoft Innovative Training in your district or region.
Library of Congress
Two-day complimentary workshops held in Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington, will include information on navigating the Library of Congress website. In depth topics such as searching materials and lessons, analyzing primary sources, copyright information, and designing lessons utilizing Library of Congress materials will also be covered. Approximately 4 hours of pre-workshop online activities will be required. NCCE can arrange for Library of Congress training in your district or region.
iPads in Education
NCCE will set up a 3-hour workshop in your school or district. NCCE will provide hands-on training on the use of the iPad, including set-up, connecting to wiki, and adding apps. The workshops will also have an overview of educational apps for the iPad and their uses in the classroom. Leave the workshop with your iPad ready to go! If you would like to host iPads in Education training at your facility please email ipadrequest@ncce.org.
NCCE Professional Development Events
For more information, go to ncce.org. Check out TRAINING to view the most up-to-date list of upcoming professional development opportunities. For more information contact: Becky Firth, NCCE Program Director bfirth@ncce.org
Issue 2012
Volume 36
Number 3
Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy A Worthy Pastime: Avid High School Readers in the Digital Age
by Rebecca C. Moore ....................................................................................................................................................6
Reading Rebooted: Implications for Online Reading
by Kathy Dorr.................................................................................................................................................................8
Cavalcade of Authors: Bringing a Community Together
by Christie Kaaland.................................................................................................................................................... 10
The History and Development of the Washington Reads Program at the Washington State Library by Sean Lanksbury...................................................................................................................................................... 12 A New Direction for Schools: Open Educational Resources
by Conn McQuin........................................................................................................................................................ 14
Questions and Answers on Common Core Standards in Washington State
by Craig Seasholes, Liisa Moilanen Potts and Greta Bornemann ..................................................................... 15
E-books in the School Library: It’s Complicated
by Lisa Gallinetti........................................................................................................................................................ 16
Empower Student Learning @ WLMA Conference 2012................................................................................. 18 Walter Dean Myers Comes to Longview!
by Joan Enders............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award........................................................................................... 28 Sasquatch Book Award................................................................................................................................................... 29 Young Reader’s Choice Award...................................................................................................................................... 30 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award......................................................................................................................... 31
Department From the Associate Editor: Cathy Grant Speaking Softly…Carrying a Powerful Message...............................................................................................2 From the Editor: Alice McNeer Empowerment: Making Connections..................................................................................................................3 President: Craig Seasholes LIT Librarians: Hip-Hip-Hooray!.......................................................................................................................4 President-elect Leigh Lohrasbi Celebrating Reading Advocacy and Connecting to Common Core...........................................................5 Typical Librarian: Sarah Applegate Connect with Students and Staff in Non-Traditional Ways....................................................................... 17 Legislative News............................................................................................................................................................... 33 Teacher-Librarian News................................................................................................................................................. 34
Planbook.............................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Journal of the Washington Library Media Association
From the Associate Editor: Cathy Grant
Speaking Softly…Carrying a Powerful Message
This is my first undertaking as associate editor for the MEDIUM. Craig Seasholes, current Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) President, asked me to write a short piece sharing why I chose to volunteer for this position. My role is to support the editor by soliciting articles and assisting with editing. I volunteered because it is a way for me to contribute to WLMA behind the scenes. A book that I am reading, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain, has challenged me to reflect on my participation in the library and information teaching profession. The book examines the strengths of people who lean toward introversion and, as the title suggests, makes a case for capitalizing on the power of those qualities. There is a TED Talk promoting the book that is well worth your time. Every member’s contribution, both quiet and loud, is essential to our organization’s success. It is a privilege to serve as associate editor, mining and
highlighting the talents of our WLMA membership and partners for the MEDIUM. Our current spring issue provides a glimpse at the amazing breadth of activities that WLMA members and affiliates are engaged in related to the time-honored librarian role of supporting reading and literacy in the 21st century. We cover a lot of ground with articles on student interviews, author extravaganzas, e-books, online reading skills, book awards and open educational resources. This issue is guaranteed to inspire and affirm the valuable services that teacher-librarians provide in Washington State. I want to say thank you to all of our contributors for taking the time to share some of their work with us. Let’s not keep it among ourselves; strategically place a copy in your staff room or a link on your library web page! o Cathy Grant is the School Librarian at Bertschi School, an Independent School in Seattle. E-mail: cathyg@bertschi.org.
MEDIUM Journal of the Washington Library Media Association (ISSN 0889-00773) Alice McNeer, Editor Cathy Grant, Associate Editor Craig Seasholes, Advertising Kate Pankiewicz, Business/Subscriptions
Publication Information
As an official publication of the Washington Library Media Association, the MEDIUM is published three times annually (September, January, and May) and is included in the WLMA membership dues. Nonmember subscriptions are available and can be obtained by contacting the WLMA Treasurer at the following address: WLMA, Attn: Kate Pankiewicz, 10924 Mukilteo Speedway PMB 142 Mukilteo, WA 98275.
Editorial Policy
Washington Library Media Association reserves the right to make the final judgment on all submitted material. Inclusion of an article, photo, graphic, or advertisement does not necessarily express the opinion or constitute an endorsement by WLMA. All responsibility and liability for the content of advertising rests with the individual advertiser. Unless otherwise stated, copyright is retained by each contributor.
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Copyright
The Washington Library Media Association retains electronic representation and distribution rights to the contents of its publication the MEDIUM. Furthermore, WLMA reserves the right to use text, photos, and artwork from the MEDIUM in subsequent editions, with notification to the submitter if possible. Otherwise all rights revert to the creator author of the work. The contents of the MEDIUM appear electronically in EBSCO’s LISTA database (beginning Fall 2004 issue).
Advertising
For information about WLMA’s advertising policy for the MEDIUM or to place an ad, please contact the Interim Advertising Manager Craig Seasholes (e-mail: seasholes@gmail.com or visit the MEDIUM page on the WLMA website (http://wlma.org/themedium)
Upcoming Issues/Themes Fall 2012 Empower Student Learning Submissions: June 30 Mailing: September 2012 VOL 36 NO. 3
From the Editor: Alice McNeer
Empowerment: Making Connections The best moments in reading are when you come across something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours. l Alan Bennett, The History of Boys: The Film The first arrived in response to a call. Upon opening, it filled me with awe and inspiration. The author took time to interview her students and to document their response. These teenagers speak freely about their reading preferences, habits and viewpoints. They seek out resources in both print and online. They connect to other readers to gain insight and recommendations into reading material. Their reading is both personal and powerful. As I read these interviews, it brought about the realization that I still have much to learn. The connected world of these teenagers is different from the world of most of my students, which range from preschool to eighth grade. Fortunately, the resourses provided by the author, offer the ability to venture out deeper into this interactive and ever changing world of teen/young adult literature. The second arrived from a regular columnist. As she shares her struggles, I see myself in her words. When she hits upon collaboration, I feel validated. Just a couple months before, I heard Mike Eisenberg from the iSchool at the University of Washington discuss sacrificing the “sacred cow” of collaboration. Now this author shares Bob Berkowitz’s words on collaboration and it harmonizes with Mike’s words. For years, I struggled with the collaboration process and I questioned whether I was fully meeting the needs of my staff and students. Now I know I am not alone with this struggle. I continue to read the article not wanting to stop, but the “aha” moments force my mind to pause and ponder. The words in this column connect to my world of teaching even though we are levels apart. I e-mail the author and thank her for sharing her story, as it is just what I need at this time. Her words empower both my learning and my teaching. The third arrived in my e-mail box. This one did not surprise me for I expected it to come. However, it challenged me. As the editor of the MEDIUM, I have served solo for several years. It involved sending out e-mails in efforts to solicit and collect articles for each issue followed by editing both text and graphics Next came the use of InDesign to place these items and to create the layout. Then there was the updating of the calendars and the verification of links, e-mail addresses and other references. After many drafts and edits, I placed ads, created the covers and then wrote my piece for the editor column. At this point, I enlisted my husband’s help in editing and proofreading it before it went to the printer. Within the week, the printer provided the proof copy that allowed one more chance SPRING 2012
of proofing for spelling and layout errors. Each time I opened the proof, I hoped that no changes were needed, but each time I found errors that I missed. More time spent on documenting the changes needed and then at last, the issue went to press. Still, there was more to do. The mailing needed to be set up and then the long wait for the issue to arrive in the mailbox. Only then, at this point came a sigh of relief, but it was often short lived as the next issue rose on the horizon. After years of doing this process solo, I started feeling worn and tired due to the hours that it consumed from my life, yet I still loved doing it. I recognized that I spent so much time just getting the job completed that I no longer had time to keep up with the new standards and guides for professional journals and graphic design. Once again, I asked for help and this time a brave volunteer stepped forth. She accepted the position of Associate Editor and revived both my spirit and the MEDIUM. For this issue, the new associate editor brainstormed ideas for articles, sought out submissions and collected from those who responded. The result is a wide variety of articles on current issues for teacher‑librarians and school libraries. She spent hours editing the first draft of this issue. She questioned and researched the format and citations. She called and we spent time on the phone and online together discussing articles and checking both styles guide and citation rules. She challenged me to grow even more in this process and her assistance frees up some of my time to do just that. Three separate and different connections made with three different people, in three different ways. Each touched my life and provided just what I needed at that moment in time when it was needed most. As teacher‑librarians, we strive to make these connections to and for our students and staff every day. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we struggle, and sometimes we do not see the connection until long after it was made. This issue offers a plethora of subjects on reading and literacy. May you find within these pages an article, a paragraph or even just a single sentence that touches and empowers you!
Alice McNeer is the School Librarian at the Eton School, an Independent School in Bellevue. E-mail: mediumeditor@earthlink.net.
MEDIUM | 3
President: Craig Seasholes
LIT Librarians: Hip-Hip-Hooray!
Elementary T-L by day, LIT advocate by night My president’s message must certainly find A fun way to come out sounding right So with Poetry Month’s inspiration And a start with a Snapshot Day line I’ll add highlights and hot links, to news of importance Then fall back on sweet rhythm and rhyme Helping focus on Library Snapshot Day has again been a great example of the collaboration, conversation and fun that characterizes our profession. Building on last year’s efforts and supported by individual efforts throughout the state, our associations are able to highlight the everyday contribution of libraries to the patrons and communities they serve. Whether through the map of participating libraries (see below) or in the data summary available on the Snapshot: One Day in the Life of Washington’s Libraries website, the collective efforts of over 90 K-12, 19 academic and 50+ public libraries help us all stand up and stand out!
Library Snapshot Day Map: School Library (Blue), Public Library (Red) and College/University Library (Green).
Washington Library Media Association membership is on the rise again thanks to outreach efforts by regional leaders, streamlined website membership tools and persistent efforts of Pat McKinley. The robust response of members to an online “WLMA Members Survey” through Google Docs reflects the interest, value and support our association
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provides. I urge everyone to make continued outreach to district colleagues to continue to build our association’s impact in K-12 library programs throughout Washington. Open Educational Resources and Common Core State Standards loom large on the horizon, and Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) is wise to play an active role in both through a partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Travis Campbell and Steve Coker have taken on the roles of “contact point” for WLMA on these two issues, but it will be the efforts and conversations in our schools and district meetings that ensure that teacher‑librarians stay informed and connected. Check out the new web pages for “Open Education Resources (OER)” and the “Common Core State Standards” on WLMA’s website.
Sharing Is What We Do Best
Library Information and Technology (LIT) librarians are an inspiring bunch of teachers in this fast-changing world of ideas and information. Time and again, I am inspired by individual and collective efforts in various conferences and regional meetings. LIT teacher‑librarians provide great content, as witnessed at the recent Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) Conference and Teacher-Librarian (TL) Summit and at the Just Google It! hybrid webinars presented at various Educational Service Districts on April 21, 2012. I encourage and look forward to seeing and sharing ideas with WLMA colleagues at the Puget Sound Educational Service District’s (PSESD) “Looking Up the Future—The Changing World of Teacher‑Librarians” mini-conference coming up August 1, 2012. Moreover, do not forget that now is the time to sign up to share by signing up for a session at our fall conference Empower Student Learning in Yakima. Whenever and wherever you can, take the opportunity to present and learn at professional development opportunities. In addition, be sure to invite and tell others about it: there is inspiration and power in sharing your work via our listserv, website, Facebook, and #wlma tweets. [ continued on page 34 ] Craig Seasholes is the Teacher-Librarian at Sanislo Elementary, Seattle SD. Blog: bookmansbytes.blogspot.com. E-mail: seasholes@gmail.com.
VOL 36 NO. 3
President-elect Leigh Lohrasbi
Celebrating Reading Advocacy and Connecting to Common Core
Reading Advocacy
As a teacher librarian, I have been very fortunate to benefit from two great Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) reading award contests: Sasquatch and Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award (WCCPBA). By involving our students in literature evaluation, the spotlight redirects from the experts to the students. We engage the students directly by asking them to make a decision, to vote and to participate with other students in selecting award-winning books. For the first 12 years of my career, I worked in elementary libraries and introduced these two contests every year to my students. The WCCPBA contest was a firm foundation for sharing new authors and their work with K-3 students. Every year we laughed, shared a moment of deep commonality and puzzled at the creativity present in that particular year’s nominees. We built long lasting memories because of that contest and the variety of literature shared. In my own memories, a few years stand out. One year when I announced the winner over the loudspeaker, one of the winning books at my school was Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name by Tedd Arnold. The staff never let me live that announcement down. They were expecting a two or at most, a four-word title! In another memorable year, a WCCPBA book nominee was Karate Hour by Bill Thompson. The day I read the book, I wore my karate gi to school, taught the kids some karate phrases, and demonstrated some of the parts of the book. The other teachers had fun that day with remarks such as, “Careful kids! Don’t have an overdue book! Mrs. Lohrasbi will come see you with her black belt!” For several years, going on an idea another librarian shared, I constructed a bulletin board sized graph of the round, paper voting ballots to allow students to analyze the school wide results. For the first time, students could compare the voting of all the classrooms graphically. It was fun and completely private, since each student’s vote was a small piece construction paper. We all carry these memories of using an excellent piece of literature, then adding our own signature to our lesson plan or program. Then, it happened. I transferred to middle school. From then on, I would conduct the Sasquatch contest (for sixth graders), and Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Readers Choice Award (YRCA) contest (for seventh and eighth graders). We use book trailers and SPRING 2012
PowerPoint to introduce the books to students these days. Book trailers bring the whole multimedia experience to students, enticing them to try a new author. If time allows and collaboration chances exist, students can even create their own book trailers. I began using SurveyMonkey® to conduct voting at the middle school level. SurveyMonkey® is a free service as long as you do not poll more than 100 students at a time. As our school’s webmaster, I added the link to our school student resources webpage, and then opened the vote collection process. An important tip: under “Collector Settings” be sure to choose to allow more than one response from the same IP address. This allows more than one student to vote from the same computer(s) in your library. If you do not select this option, the survey will not allow multiple votes from the same computer. When the classes finish voting, I remove the link from the page. The website provided the results, counting the ballots for me. SurveyMonkey® is a great free tool! Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award, Sasquatch and Young Reader’s Choice Award open many reading doors for students. They are guiding lights to introduce chapter books to students who would not have picked them up. They introduce new authors and illustrators. They offer new genres and both fiction and nonfiction titles. Furthermore, these awards serve as valuable teaching vehicles to inspire and encourage students to read!
Common Core
With the new Common Core Guidelines scheduled for implementation in 2014, reading advocacy, indeed literacy, takes a front seat across the curriculum. These standards promote literacy, critical thinking, and the inquiry process. The standards ask students to consider, compare and contrast texts to find the best source for their learning and information needs. As the focus in education shifts away from textbooks to the use of short informational texts, teacher-librarians are in a position to bring experience and expertise to the table. We need to suggest nonfiction, informational texts for classrooms that train our students to be readers, researchers, writers [ continued on page 34] Leigh Lohrasbi is the Teacher-Librarian at Lewis and Clark Middle School, Yakima SD. E-mail: lohrasbi.leigh@yakimaschools.org.
MEDIUM | 5
Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
A Worthy Pastime: Avid High School Readers in the Digital Age by Rebecca C. Moore
“Yes, I do read fanfiction. But don’t tell anyone!” — Jennifer, 16 The continued growth of digital media has spurred a wealth of debate over teens’ pleasure reading. Assertions run the gamut: teens read less, they read more but less deeply, they prefer digital formats, they prefer nonfiction, they buy books rather than using the library, etc. What is not under debate is that the reading options for teens have expanded exponentially. Therefore, I decided to interview some of my school’s strongest readers to see what they read and in what formats, and how they locate and choose their reading materials. I approached it not as a scientific study, but merely as profiles of a few avid teen readers in the digital age. As always, I found the students’ responses articulate, thoughtful, surprising, delightful, bombastic and passionate.
Julia
actually stained with ink.” She also finds paper books easier to flip through. Book recommendations often come from friends, though Julia found the Martin books through seeing screengrabs of the HBO series on tumblr, a microblogging/social networking site. After watching the series (“Holy crap! It’s amazing!”), Julia bought the books in hardback. “I’m sort of an instant gratification person,” she says. “I like to have it, I like to own it, and I’m so bad about returning library books.” Online, Julia connects with reading fandoms through tumblr, book wikis like A Wiki of Ice and Fire (untangling the series’ complicated chronology), and FanFiction, “which can either be really great, or unspeakable.” She also finds webcomics through tumblr or links from other webcomics. In following specific issues to stay up to date and bizarre news stories for fun, Julia seeks out blogs and news sites with the help of recommendations from bloggers on tumblr.
Jennifer
Julia, 16, loves tennis and music. She considers teenage rebellion ridiculous. Usually she reads at least two hours a day, though not e-books and not on her small-screen phone (“I might give myself a hemorrhage”). She reads for fun, but also because “being well read is beneficial” to her writing, her critiquing, and her SAT prep. In print, Julia gets obsessed with fast-paced fantasy series like The Song of Fire and Ice by George R. Martin. She enjoys print’s tactile quality; one day she sat at a bookstore “for four hours and I just tore through about 400 pages of Clash of Kings. By the end my fingers were
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Jennifer, also 16, speaks fluent Mandarin, loves crafts and frequently wears leaf green. She reads at least three non-consecutive hours a day and sees reading as both entertaining and informative. News articles and nonfiction she finds “directly informative,” but “novels just teach you new ways of looking at things and people, and about human nature, and the evil within us all.” Laughing, she adds, “Or the good!” VOL 36 NO. 3
In print, Jennifer reads novels and nonfiction, including history, biography, science and philosophy. She dislikes e-books because “it doesn’t feel as satisfying when you see a progress bar as opposed to holding it and seeing all the pages you’ve read,” and she finds print books easier to flip through. Print, she feels, works better for anything long. She generally locates reading material “in the library, in the new books because they’re so beautiful… I get distracted by new, shiny books.” Recommendations from friends or news sources also contribute and she wants to read Haruki Murakami’s IQ84 because the cover feels “very seductive and modern.” Online, Jennifer reads FanFiction, “taking my gamble with whatever’s on the website, though sometimes it’s truly…disturbing.” She also reads crafts and global health blogs, webcomics found through links from other comics and articles on the History of the Ancient World website. For news, Jennifer chose Reuters after noticing that most news sites cited it.
Nick Fifteen-yearold skier and guitar player Nick reads one to two hours a day or more, usually in the early mornings and before bed. “I enjoy reading and it’s not difficult for me to sit down and read for hours at a time.” Nick reads primarily for entertainment, saying, “I like being immersed in a different world where anything can happen, and there can be interesting plot twists.” Unlike all the other interviewees, Nick reads almost nothing in print or online—just the occasional library book or gaming magazine. He depends almost entirely on his Nook Color e-reader, choosing mostly science fiction and fantasy. As he says, “I personally like the e-reader format the most because you can take multiple books with you at the same time and it will always take up the same amount of space. If they were print, you might not have enough room to carry them all.” To find books, he mostly browses the Barnes and Noble website under genres, SPRING 2012
reads summaries, and then a few pages of the text before purchasing. Although he has tried to download public library e-books, he found it too frustrating.
Alisa Alisa, 17, speaks fluent Russian, teaches Taekwondo to elementary school children, and has a quirky sense of humor. At home she has a “special place” for books and “when I pass it, I’ll stop and read for a bit.” She reads a few pages about ten times a day for entertainment, but also “because sometimes a friend has threatened to kill me if I don’t read the book—I read to preserve my life!” In addition, Alisa chooses books “because I feel like it’s going to be an interesting story that will somehow give me new insight into the human psyche.” In print, Alisa reads books recommended by friends or library books with interesting titles. Right now, she is reading (“very slowly”) a book on quantum theory and Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World. Classics in Russian help keep her language fluent. “Sometimes,” Alisa adds, “I’ll stalk a celebrity online and then look up their favorite book history, and then read the books so I’ll have an insight into their mind.” She dislikes e-books and reading on her too-small phone. Alisa reads humor magazines online and blogs featuring non-fanfiction short stories. One blog even posted a whole book, though in general Alisa prefers print for long works. With webcomics, Alisa started with one recommended by a friend and followed links to others. Asked what she would do if the library did not have what she wanted, Alisa said she would “scream and panic and run around—and hold the librarians hostage until they order that book. Or collapse into a crying mess on the floor.” Failing that, she might also purchase it. [ continued on page 32 ] Rebecca C. Moore is the Librarian at The Overlake School in Redmond. E-mail: rmoore@overlake.org.
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Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
Reading Rebooted: Implications for Online Reading by Kathy Dorr “I just wish my kids could read and process online materials.” I overhead this lament in a middle school staff room recently. As I listened more closely, this scenario unfolded. The teacher described how one student was excited because he had found 35 online resources for a class research project. When asked if he had taken notes on the sheet provided or had synthesized his research in some other way, the student gave her a puzzled look and said, “But I did a search and all these sites showed up!” As online materials provide more resources for student research and inquiry development, the issue of digital literacy comes to the forefront of instructional support for educators. The same teacher who made the initial comment went on to say that students are used to having the answers to questions “pop” off the text page, but this is no longer the case when faced with the myriad of materials found on a web page. According to “The Standards >> English Language Arts Standards,” students need to “habitually perform the critical reading necessary to pick carefully through the staggering amount of information available today in print and digitally.” (National Governors 2010). With the task set before us, we need to explore ways of implementing strategies in support of online literacy skills development. The time has come to re-evaluate reading instruction to include a focused emphasis on digital literacy in the classroom. The last few years have seen a huge increase in the amount of online material available for students as they research and develop inquiry projects. On the one hand, digital resources support the concept of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that allows all students the ability to access knowledge and materials for learning. In discussing UDL, CAST explains: Universal Design for Learning supports teachers’ efforts to meet the challenge of diversity by providing f lexible instruction materials, techniques, and strategies that help teachers differentiate instruction to meet these varied needs. (CAST 2012) Web resources scaffold learning for auditory learners through spoken voice and word tracking. Visual learners attach meaning to pictures, video, and graphics. The student with special needs can manipulate print to make it more visible through font size, style, and color. On the other hand, the navigation and use of a web page can be overwhelming and daunting for learners. So they found 35 resources? What can they do with them? “A growing
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collection of research suggests that students require new comprehension skills and strategies to effectively read and learn from text on the Internet.” (Coiro 2005) As opposed to textbooks, digital environments are non-linear. There are hyperlinks to navigate, videos to play, sound recordings to hear, and searches to begin. The challenge is to help students learn to “read” a web page and decide on the best strategy to gather, analyze, and synthesize information. In 2008, the Executive Committee of the National Council of Teachers of English stated, “Twenty-first century readers and writers need to…manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information…and to create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts.” (National Council of Teachers of English 2008) Where to begin? Online content is generally scanned and not read in its entirety. Web pages are frequently scanned in an “F” shape pattern. People initially look at the top of the page, then the middle, and finally the left side. The home page is the main navigational tool that hosts the major links related to the site. Students need to use this home page as a point of reference when doing site research. On the main page, encourage students to explore its interactive Seventh grade student conducting research features: pop‑up menus, hyperlinks and scroll bars. They need to identify the creator of the site in order to establish validity and see when it was last updated. Encourage them to do a search on the creator to determine the purpose and perspective. Rather than clicking randomly from site to site, they need a plan of action to take advantage of the available information. Based upon an investigative question, teach students to look for key words and phrases relating to the topic, to take notes on findings, and to synthesize results when finished. Several Web 2.0 tools are available to help students gather, analyze and synthesize the mass of information available at the stroke of a key. An American Association of School Librarians (AASL) webpage lists the “Best Websites for Teaching and Learning” that matches standards with online Web 2.0 resources. This is a good place to begin building a toolbox of resources to promote and enhance digital literacy in the classroom and to VOL 36 NO. 3
help students read and process online materials. Online graphic organizers and mindmappers help students gather and organize information around a particular topic or essential question. SpiderScribe is an excellent tool for the task. In a nonlinear fashion, students upload files, take notes, add pictures, and collaborate with others. LiveBinders is Collaboration in middle school. a notebook for compiling notes, videos, pictures, and files in an individual or in a group effort. Wiggio facilitates collaborative work, helps with organizational skills, allows for virtual meetings, instant messaging and polling. Students use Highlighter to highlight text online individually and with shared text. Teachers can upload information and have students concentrate on note taking skills and classroom discussions. Another web resource that teachers throughout the United States are using to expose students to the skills necessary for online research and critical thinking is the Library of Congress website. Using primary sources to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information is a key element of the professional development that this site offers. Teachers find that the integration of primary sources into instruction encourages students to draw independent conclusions based on available artifacts surrounding a particular issue or research question. In a digital world where millions of like-minded folks are only a click away, people are increasingly seeking out news and facts from sources with which they already know they agree. … An East Carolina University study concluded that ‘Americans are getting different versions of the same issues and events, which may hinder the chances of political moderation and compromise among the mass public.’”(Hinkley 2012) It is this kind of investigative thinking that the Library of Congress explores through the analysis of sources and the posing of inquiry questions. This type of thinking has real possibilities for expanding and supporting the skills necessary to evaluate the vast online resources available to the students in our classrooms. For more information on the free resources from the Library of Congress visit the website or if you live in the Pacific Northwest, check out the free “Library of Congress—Teaching with Primary Sources Workshop” sponsored by the Library of Congress and Northwest Council for Computer Education being held this summer in Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Applications are available online. Reading depends upon the reader making sense of print by using background knowledge and skills to develop connections and to comprehend contextual SPRING 2012
clues. In the 21st century, reading has moved beyond the hand-held book to also encompass a huge mass of digital media. Online access to resources requires another layer of reading skills that include media evaluation, analysis, and synthesis. It is time to look at the literacy skills that currently exist in the classroom to see if they are truly meeting the needs of the digitally literate student. o
Works Cited CAST. “UDL Questions and Answers.” About UDL. Last modified 2012. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.cast.org/udl/faq/index.html Coiro, Julie. “Making Sense of Online Text.” Educational Leadership. 63. October (2005): 30-35. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers. “The Standards >> English Language Arts Standards.” Common Core State Standards Initiative. Last modified 2010. Accessed March 27, 2012. http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/ english-language-arts-standards Hinkley, Justin. “Students Go to the Source in History Class.” Battle Creek Enquirer, March 12, 2012. National Council of Teachers of English, “The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies.” Position Statements. Last modified 2008. Accessed March 17, 2012. http:// www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition.
References American Association of School Librarians. “Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.” Guidelines & Standards. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://www.ala.org/aasl/ guidelinesandstandards/bestlist/bestwebsitestop25 Disarea LLC. SpiderScribe. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://www.spiderscribe.net/ Highlighter. Highlighter. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://highlighter.com/ Library of Congress. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://www.loc.gov/index.html LiveBinders, Inc. LiveBinders. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://www.livebinders.com/ Northwest Council for Computer Education. “Library of Congress—Teaching with Primary Sources Workshops.” Training. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://www.ncce.org/training/loc-workshops.html Wiggio, TM. Wiggio. Accessed March 17, 2012. http://wiggio.com/ Kathy Dorr is a Professional Development Specialist for Northwest Council for Computer Education, Adjunct Faculty Western Washington University, and Adjunct Faculty Lesley College, and WLMA presenter. E-mail: dorr.kathy@gmail.com.
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Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
Cavalcade of Authors: Bringing a Community Together by Christie Kaaland
On March 9 this year I was fortunate enough to attend a phenomenal event in Tri-Cities, Cavalcade of Authors, created by Richland School District middle school librarian, Michelle Lane. The event brought together 12 middle and high school level authors with 650 students in the Richland, Kennewick, Umatilla, and North Franklin School Districts. Enterprise Middle School librarian, Michelle Lane, began the event four years ago with 50 students in her school and 20 others from Carmichael and Chief Joseph Middle Schools. Over the past four years, it has grown exponentially to include a total of 15 middle and high school libraries in the surrounding districts. This authentic writing conference has grown large enough to be held at local Columbia Basin College. (As an aside, this is an inspiring way for these young adults to visit the college campus.) Cavalcade of Authors begins a year in advance as authors are contracted to attend the event. Then participating librarians include these authors in their spring book orders and from the beginning of the school year until the event. Students are required to read at least one book from each of four different authors. If they read eight authors, they earn a free t-shirt. “The cool thing is that we almost always get more out of our students than what is required. Once they get interested in a particular author or series, most students read far more than the four-book minimum. They want to read as many books as possible by these authors,” founder, Michelle Lane states. The event takes place on a Friday and students are bussed from their schools as they would for any field trip. Busses are staggered during the initial drop-off and students come equipped with their conference badge, schedule, and
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program. Volunteer librarians greet the students as they get off the bus and direct them to their workshops on campus. The event program provides author biographies, Writer’s Workshops information on each author, and a lengthy section, “My Notes,” which I observed students frantically filling during their various author sessions. Students then attended four author workshops that they had preselected based on their own interest. Some high school students volunteer their time for their community service project to guide younger conference attendees around campus and help with authors or crowd control.
Lane details author selection, “Picking the authors is the most important decision in the process. We want to meet the reading needs of all our students. We must include authors at various reading levels, have reading selection for our middle readers as well as our Young Adult (YA) readers, appeal to both boys and girls, VOL 36 NO. 3
At the end of the day, all 12 authors participated in an all program Question &Answer (Q&A) panel “Finale” in which student writing contest winners were announced as well as offering students a chance to ask those burning questions to their favorite author or authors.
provide both fiction and nonfiction, as well as have a mix of fiction genres to meet various interest levels and still stretch our kids to read outside of their comfort zone.” Few parameters or restrictions are given on the authors’ sessions; authors are given the academic freedom to design their own workshops. The beauty of this was that not only did authors share their own strengths, but also
Richland librarians have thought of everything: • There is no competition, no limit to the number of student who can attend. If they read the books, they are invited to join the event. • There are no minimum academic requirements; this means students at all academic levels can join the event simply by reading the books. Few academic events provide such an open-ended invitation. • From hosting the authors Thursday evening cocktail party, to T-shirt, badge, accounting services, coffee, and volunteers’ goodie bags, the event is sponsored by many local businesses. What an excellent way to promote the school library programs in the region!
students were exposed to a broad variety of presentation formats. Some authors have students writing furiously in creating their own works. Other authors—particularly those comfortable with performance—entertained their audience with stories of their own writing. Still others shared professional insights into the writing process.
[ continued on page 35]
Christie Kaaland, EdD is on the Faculty in the School of Education at Antioch University Seattle. E-mail: ckaaland@antioch.edu.
SPRING 2012
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Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
The History and Development of the Washington Reads Program at the Washington State Library by Sean Lanksbury Washington Reads is the Washington State Library’s statewide program to promote literacy and regional literature for all Washington residents. The State Library sponsors various projects and collaborates with libraries, schools, and other agencies to encourage reading. In the fall of 2003, State Librarian Jan Walsh (2002–2010) began highlighting books with a Washington setting, subject matter, or author for all age groups, based around a particular theme for each round of selections. The State Library took inspiration from “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” the celebrated program developed by Washington Center for the Book Director Nancy Pearl in 1998. Pearl’s program survives today as Seattle Reads through the Washington Center for the Book. The Washington Center for the Book also continues the Washington State Book Awards that began in 1967 at the Washington State Library as the Governor’s Writers Awards. Encouraged by the growing success of the “One City, One Book” concept, similar efforts to the Seattle Reads and Washington Reads began across the nation. Many libraries were also spurred on by the dispiriting conclusions of Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, published by the National Endowment for the Arts. This study revealed that the rate of literary reading was declining at an accelerated speed—especially in children and young adults.
The Early Years
The very first Washington Reads, “Life in Washington Territory” (Fall 2003), celebrated the arrival of the original Territorial Library collection in Olympia, Washington on October 23, 1853. New themes created every quarter celebrated historic events just as Washington Reads did for the bicentennial of the commencement of the expedition of the Corps of Discovery in “Lewis, Clark, and Seaman” (Winter 2004). The program placed the spotlight on great reads in a single genre for “Mysteries of Washington State” (Fall 2006). Sometimes the focus moved to more conceptual lists such as “Washington Inspires” (Fall 2009) or “Diversity” (Winter 2006).
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For the first five years, the Reads program designed and printed Washington Reads bibliographic bookmarks, posters, and 8” x 10” informational sheets to distribute for statewide use in schools, libraries, businesses or institutions for target audiences or representing fields connected to the theme. In 2010, Jan Walsh announced her retirement from the State Library. For her final themed Reads list, Ms. Walsh selected her very favorite Washington Reads book selections from her entire seven‑year run.
Reads Posters
Additionally, the state worked with many notable Washingtonians as models for Washington Reads posters. The very first poster featured Secretary of State Sam Reed (2000–2012) and his two grandsons, Nathan and Tommy. Washington Reads staff created a list of individuals whom students could relate to, individuals who excelled in their respective professions and professed a love of reading and of libraries. These individuals include former Seattle Mariners Pitcher and Spanish-language Poet Miguel Batista; NASCAR Driver Kasey Kahne; Team USA Volleyball Setter Courtney Thompson; Seattle Seahawk Cornerback Marcus Trufant and his daughter; former NASA Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar; and Logan Olson, Founder and Creative Director of Logan Magazine, a magazine dedicated to inspiring and informing young people with disabilities. The program also released two themed posters: one for Summer Reading and one to celebrate the popularity of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. The Washington State Library stocked and distributed these extremely popular posters. In an effort to reduce printing costs, the most current posters are available through the Washington Reads website as a free Adobe PDF file, printable at 8 ½” x 11” or for purchase as an 11” x 17” print quality posters for a nominal fee from the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services. The latest three posters feature the following notable Washington residents: skiing sensations Phil, Andy, and Steve Mahre; Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank Jr.; and Seattle Sounders VOL 36 NO. 3
Forward Fredy Montero. Earlier posters remain available at the State Library with delivery to Washington residents through the United States Postal Service.
At Present and Looking to the Future As the Washington State Library made a transition in leadership, the staff acknowledged that the mode of presentation for talking about cultural matters was shifting away from paper publication into online presentation. At the same time, Acting State Librarian Rand Simmons and the staff working on the Washington Reads program, wanting to democratize the process for a more collaboratively oriented generation, elected to integrate the program into the recently redesigned and unified State Library Blog, renamed “Between the Lines.” The State Library retained the original Washington Reads title in honor of the preceding program. Retaining the name also maintains the continuity of the State Library’s commitment to promoting literacy. While keeping the name, the program has expanded in both subtle and significant ways. The less obvious modifications include inclusion of record returns from the WorldCat® online union catalog, noting title availability as electronic, Braille, or talking book editions, and expanded recall capability through added keywords. One of the biggest changes was encouraging submissions from multiple voices across the Office of the Secretary of State, bringing a variety of selections into the public view. The program also expanded to consider the entire Pacific Northwest region for setting and subject matter, thus mirroring the scope of the Washington State Library’s collections and encouraging a better understanding of regional writing and writing about the region. Inviting community response through the weblog comment section is another way the State Library hopes to encourage increased discussion about reader’s interests and a tool for further discovery. The Washington Reads program adapts to meet future needs as well. The growth of born‑digital materials and the increasing popularity of non‑traditional publications and publishing models will require more flexibility from staff and reader-reviewers involved in the development of Washington Reads, and discussions on how to maintain relevancy and currency within the world of reader’s advisory is ongoing. Visits to the Washington State Library blog, “Between the Lines” rose 22 percent in the first quarter of this calendar year with the Washington Reads section being the third most viewed component of this outreach effort. SPRING 2012
This effort is made possible through a volunteer effort on behalf of staff for the State Library and Office of the Secretary of State. The State Library thanks them and asks you to watch for their names in every post. Additional thanks to the original staff of Washington Reads: Former State Librarian Jan Walsh, Librarians Kathryn Hamilton‑Wang and Shirley Lewis, and Administrative Assistants Rändi Coleman and Marilyn Lindholm. If you need a good book, or want to share your thoughts about one we have recommended, we invite you to read more at Washington Reads. Be sure to check back often for new book recommendations. o
References Nancy Pearl. “Biography” Official website of Nancy Pearl. Accessed May 1, 2012. www.nancypearl.com/?page_id=2 National Endowment for the Arts. “Literary Reading in Dramatic Decline, According to the National Endowment for the Arts Survey.” News Room. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/readingatrisk.html OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. WorldCat®. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.worldcat.org/ Washington State Library. “Between the Lines Washington State Library Blog” Washington Secretary of State Blogs. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://blogs.sos.wa.gov/ library/index.php/category/wareads/ Washington State Library. Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/wa_reads/ Washington State Library. “Washington Reads (Fall 2006)—Mysteries in Washington State.” Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/ library/wa_reads/WashingtonReadsFall2006.aspx Washington State Library. “Washington Reads Fall 2009— Washington Inspires.” Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/wa_reads/ WashingtonInspires.aspx Washington State Library. “Washington Reads—Selections from the State Librarian.” Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/wa_reads/ QuarterlyBookList.aspx Washington State Library. “Washington Reads (Winter 2004)—Lewis, Clark, and Seaman.” Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/ wa_reads/WashingtonReadsWinter2004.aspx Washington State Library. “Washington Reads (Winter 2006)—Diversity.” Washington Reads. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/wa_reads/ WashingtonReadsWinter2006.aspx Sean Lanksbury is the Pacific Northwest and Special Collections Librarian at the Washington State Library and the editor of Washington Reads online. E-mail: sean.lanksbury@sos.wa.gov.
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Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
A New Direction for Schools: Open Educational Resources by Conn McQuin One of the bills to come out of the legislature this session is HB 2337, which is “AN ACT relating to open educational resources in K-12 education;…” (Washington State Legislature 2012)—materials that are free to use at no charge. This bill (if funded, and at this writing the budget has not been finalized) creates a program at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to: …take the lead in identifying and developing a library of openly licensed courseware aligned with the common core state standards…that allows others to use, distribute, and create derivative works based upon the digital material, while still allowing the authors or creators to retain the copyright and to receive credit for their efforts. (Washington State Legislature 2012). What exactly does this mean? Many people are familiar with the idea of “open source software,” programs that can legally be downloaded and distributed without paying. However, this idea has grown to include more than software and now there is a large and growing movement to develop and distribute educational materials (everything from videos to textbooks) under the same kind of arrangement. In the United States, there has been a high level of activity in developing these materials in California and more recently in Utah. In announcing the expansion of the use of open source materials in January, the Utah State Office of Education wrote: In earlier pilot programs, open textbooks have been printed and provided to more than 3,800 Utah high school science students at a cost of about $5 per book, compared to an average cost of about $80 for a typical high school science textbook. There are two things adding momentum to the Open Educational Resource (OER) movement. First is the adoption of the Common Core standards. If all states are operating from consistent standards, the idea of sharing development efforts makes a lot of sense. The second is cost savings, as all districts in virtually all states are working with strained resources. (This is also why there has been so much activity already in California.) The obvious concerns are about quality and vetting. Clearly there is little value in free resources of poor quality. Adoption of these materials has to go through the same level of evaluation as commercial materials and teacher-librarians will be part of the process.
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HB 2337 describes the process of identifying and evaluating resources and specifically states that it “Must include input from classroom practitioners, including teacher‑librarians” (Washington State Legislature 2012). So far, the experience in other states has been that many of these resources are of high quality and where there are problems, they can be updated. Each district (or teacher) can adapt and modify the materials any way they need. This is an interesting, but complicated new direction for our schools and one that has potential benefits along with obvious risks. You can research more about the OER movement with the resources listed below. o
Works Cited Utah State Office of Education. “Utah State Office of Education to Create Open Textbooks.” Online‑New Release. Accessed May 25, 2012. http://www.schools. utah.gov/main/INFORMATION/Online-Newsroom/ DOCS/01252012OpenTextbook.aspx Washington State Legislature. “HB 2337 - 2011–2012.” Bill Information. Accessed May 5, 2012. http://apps.leg. wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2337#documents
Resources Washington State Colleges. Open Course Library https://sites.google.com/a/sbctc.edu/opencourselibrary/ OER Commons. “Recommended Resources” Open Educational Resources. http://www.oercommons.org/ CK-12 Foundation. “Flexbooks.” CK-12. http://www.ck12. org/flexbook/ Ahs, Katie. “International Initiative Fuel Growth Content.” Education Week. http://www.edweek.org/ew/ articles/2012/02/01/19el-oer.h31.html?tkn=XUOFbLPG bRrKniB1M6u3%2FmlhNtZIXZcYYqD8&cmp=ENLEU-NEWS2&intc=EW-EL0212-ENL Achieve, Inc. “Open Educational Resources—The Rubrics.” Achieve. http://www.achieve.org/oer-rubrics OpenCourseWare Consortium. http://ocwconsortium.org/
Conn McQuinn is the Assistant Executive Director, Educational Technology Support Center (ETSC) at Pugest Sound ESD. E-mail: cmcquinn@psesd.org.
VOL 36 NO. 3
Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
Questions and Answers on Common Core Standards in Washington State by Craig Seasholes, Liisa Moilanen Potts and Greta Bornemann 1) What are key dates in Washington State’s move to Common Core Standards? How might Teacher-Librarians best support school and district efforts to learn more, share resources and help document the move from Washington State Standards to Common Core State Standards? The first step for all educators and stakeholders is to learn about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS): why they were created, what they represent, and the shifts in thinking and learning they will mean for our students. For a starting point, we suggest spending some time looking at the Hunt Institute videos created by the writers of the CCSS. In addition, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has a series of Webinars on the Common Core State Standards that give a Washington State perspective to these standards. Second, learn about the Washington state’s transition plans. The state developed three-year transition plans in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, which move the state towards full implementation in the 2014–15 school year (the first year of assessment for these standards). In mathematics, the transition plan allows for teachers to spend time to delve deep into understanding a different content domain at their grade-level for each of the three years. In ELA, the focus is on the major shifts in instructional design and considerations about the level of rigor in reading and writing. To access the transitions plan, visit OSPI ’s “Transition to New Standards” webpage. Third, take advantage of professional development opportunities. The state is supporting districts with implementation through regional content trainings, district implementation resources, and webinars. Washington State will be taking advantage of the fact that 46 states have adopted these standards, meaning each state does not need to create their own version of standards support. We already see a number of high quality resources that support teachers in the transition on the OSPI CCSS webpage. Finally, as OSPI works to support standards implementation that is not just a one shot deal, it is vital that districts examine past activities in order to support teachers with ongoing, sustained professional learning as they implement the CCSS. Washington State has a strong history of standards implementation and we expect districts will build on past standards implementation work as they explore necessary shifts in teaching and learning called for within the CCSS. With limited fiscal resources, the state and districts will need to connect work that is being done and not add another layer to educators’ already full plate. SPRING 2012
Teacher-Librarians have a distinctive impact on students and communities as they are the experts in books, which affect all students and all teachers in all schools. A specific component of the ELA standards that symbiotically support the work of Teacher-Librarians is the focus on text complexity. Keeping a keen eye to this shift in how we look at books allows Teacher-Librarians to enhance and support putting the right books in front of the right kids at the right time. 2) Can efforts to “crosswalk” CCSS and American Association of School Librarians (AASL) “Standards for the 21st Century Learner” help enable classroom teachers to leverage Teacher-Librarians as collaborative partners to support implementation of CCSS (“Crosswalk of the Common Core Standards and the Standards for the 21st‑Century Learner”)? The crosswalk/comparison documents between CCSS and AASL Standards are a great leverage point for Teacher-Librarians and classroom teachers to work together with the standards implementation, and beyond. The documents show some key points where the standards converge and provide a platform for school teams to think creatively about how to collaborate on authentic learning for all students, especially as we shift our thinking towards a more blended content approach. The AASL document also provides an opportunity to think as a whole school team about how different areas of content work together to meet students’ needs. 3) How might Washington Library Media Association (in general) and teacher-librarians (in particular) assist OSPI and Districts in implementation of the CCSS and quality review and core collection development of OER that support CCSS? Teacher-librarians serve in a unique role as they work closely with teachers and students. They are connectors for all members of the community and often the go-to person in a school. Teacher-librarians are often the front lines for teachers to make good choices about instruction, technology and classroom libraries. Their expertise [ continued on page 35 ] Craig Seasholes is the Teacher-Librarian at Sanislo Elementary, Seattle SD and WLMA President. E-mail: seasholes@gmail.com. Liisa Moilanen Potts is the Teaching & Learning’s English Language Arts Program Supervisor at OSPI. E-mail: Liisa.MoilanenPotts@k12.wa.us. Greta Bornemann is the Director of Mathematics at OSPI. E-mail: greta.bornemann@k12.wa.us.
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Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
E-books in the School Library: It’s Complicated by Lisa Gallinetti I am an e-reader. I am an owner of a Nook® and my iPhone has the Kindle app, the Nook® app, and the iBook’s app. As an individual consumer, I am very enamored with e-books. I love how I can carry my daily newspaper and my current read in my purse or pocket. The features such as the built-in dictionary, highlighting, variable font sizes, note-taking capabilities, etc. make reading an interactive experience for me. My favorite feature: the backlit screen. My life changed forevermore, when I discovered I could read my books in the dark. As a teacher-librarian, my love affair with e-books is mixed. I would go as far as saying it is complicated. I have a reference e-book collection that I am pretty happy with through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. I like how students have unlimited access to the titles. An entire class can read the same text at the same time. Students can read the text in another language or listen to the article. My students can access the e-books from any device with an Internet connection and the AccessMyLibrary app works well. The issue is the fact that I feel like I am locked in this platform for non‑fiction e-books. Interoperability is a problem. This is especially so as I look into how I can provide fiction and more popular non-fiction titles to my patrons. E-reader devices and their platforms do not talk to each other. In addition, in a school library, I am locked into the marketplace tied to the device or platform I choose to offer to my patrons. Other issues really do make this a complicated matter. How does one administrate the devices? Which marketplace has the titles my teachers and students want
to read? How can patrons see these titles in my library catalog? Costs: do I purchase titles as an individual library or do I look into joining a consortium? As the Crossroads Region Chair, I knew other teacher‑librarians had similar “relationship issues” with e-books. In February, the Crossroads Region offered an e-book workshop at the Renton PSESD to learn about two platforms out there working to meet the needs of school libraries: Mackin and Follet. The workshop was opened up to non-Crossroads members and 30 teacher‑librarians from North Thurston to Mercer Island attended the event. Jennifer Maydole from Mackin and Leslie McClusky from Follet each presented two breakout sessions (one geared to elementary and the other geared to secondary schools). They did their best to answer questions like: • How do I know which format is best for my school and my students? • Do I need special hardware or software to use e-books in my library? • Do I have to buy e-readers to use the e-books? • MARC records? • How do patrons access /check out the e-books in and out of school? • How can I use e-books in my library or classroom? • What will the e-books look like in my circulation system? • Cost? • e-book features? Are all my relationship issues solved? No, but I definitely have a better understanding of the two platforms and a clearer idea of which format is best for my school and the students I serve. Please contact me if you want to know how your region might offer a similar workshop. To learn more about the Mackin platform, contact Jennifer Maydole (jennifer.maydole@mackin.com). To learn more about the Follet platform, contact Leslie McClusky (Leslie.McClusky@flr.follett.com).
Resources Cenage Learning. “Gale Apps.” Gale Cenage Leanring. Accessed May 12, 2012. http://www.gale.cengage.com/apps/
Jennifer Maydole presenting on e-books during the breakout session.
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Lisa Gallinatti is a NBCT Teacher-Librarian at Auburn Riverside High School, Auburn School District and Crossroads Region Chair. E-mail: lgallinatti@auburn.wednet.edu.
VOL 36 NO. 3
Typical Librarian: Sarah Applegate
Connect with Students and Staff in Non-Traditional Ways I have been thinking non-stop about how I can reach my staff and students more effectively. Maybe it is the whole “spring cleaning” idea or maybe it is the fact that it rained everyday in March in Olympia. I am not sure, but for whatever reason, I have not felt very effective lately. I still see one-word searching in Google, cutting and pasting from Wikipedia, and projects that do not use the robust resources of a high school library in 2012. Plus, I was not feeling very loved. Then I started to think about Stuart Smalley. Remember him? Al Franken played his character on Saturday Night Live, doing self-help bits for late night viewers? His most memorable line was: “I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” I was feeling down, uninspired and unloved at school, but I thought about Stuart, repeated his words (yes, I did, out loud and I am not embarrassed to say so!) and guess what? I felt better. Just a bit, but enough to get me problem solving about how I can do better work, connect with students and teachers, teach lessons that they need rather than lessons I think I should do according to some arbitrary school library rules. My plan now is to dedicate myself these next two months to “on the fly” information literacy instruction, and hope that Stuart’s words will become the truth—people will like me and for a follow‑up… I will be more effective as a teacher-librarian and a teacher leader! But I am ahead of myself, as usual. This is the first year I have been able to attend the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) conference in October. It was exciting to be amongst “my people” and see some of my heroes and heroines in person. I went to a session by Bob Berkowitz where he talked about his latest thoughts and permutations of the Big 6™. He was just getting over a fever, and apparently on the flight to Minneapolis, he decided to revise his whole session (possibly due to the fever, but I still loved the idea that he was presenting ideas he was still wrestling with and came up with while under the influence of the fever!) Bob started out by saying something to the effect of “Collaboration is dead!” And he followed up with “It’s nearly impossible! Don’t stake your whole claim and identity on it!” The huge sigh of relief from the participants rumbled the floor and we all clapped…at the beginning of his presentation! I felt a weight taken off my shoulders, I breathed deeply, and then I wondered, “Well then, what should I be doing?” SPRING 2012
Bob spoke about non‑traditional ways that teacher‑librarians can connect with their staff and students. With the constant push of testing, with the challenge of getting teachers to do authentic research projects with their students, he suggested meeting students wherever they are—the lunchroom, hallways, athletic events, and trying to squeeze in some vital information literacy instruction where ever you can. Perhaps the collaboration that we have always been so enamored of is not realistic in today’s school environment. After conference, I thought about what Bob said. While I still have a number of teachers who like to collaborate and do so on a regular basis, I am nowhere near meeting the needs of all of my students who need information literacy instruction. In addition, my teachers are not getting the instructional support, introduction to tools and time to learn either. Like the students, they are being tested to exhaustion. From conference, from Stuart Smalley, and from talking to colleagues, a new attitude was born. I intend to provide instruction for teachers and students after school, during lunch, and whenever I can by using a proactive, on the fly, and spur of the moment approach as needed. I will provide 10 minutes or 10 second blasts of information literacy instruction, and I will spend 15 minutes (or 15 seconds if needed) with teachers showing them cool tools that will not take forever to learn, but will make their lives easier. And the learning cannot be just about school and teaching, but also about personal needs and interests that inspire them. This year I have been letting students eat lunch in the library classroom. Boom: instant audience! I will buy a bowl of chocolate and lure teachers in for quick sessions after school about saving a video in Discovery Learning or setting up a Google alert for topics of personal interest. I will show them how to forward their school Google mail to their regular district mail (Thanks to Steve Coker for showing me how to do that!) and will show students how to use the social media aspects of Destiny Quest. The next two months will be about short bits of needed information literacy instruction based on needs of users. “I am good enough, I am smart enough, and doggone it…” people need this information from ME! See, it is working already! Sarah Applegate received the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Grant- Finland, 2011. She is the NBCT Teacher-Librarian at River Ridge High School, North Thurston School Distsrict. E-mail: SApplegate@nthurston.k12.wa.us.
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Empower Student Learning @ WLMA Conference 2012
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VOL 36 NO. 3
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Keynote Speaker MEDIUM | 19
Empowered Learning: Reading and Literacy
Walter Dean Myers Comes to Longview! by Joan Enders This January the Children’s Book Council of the Library of Congress appointed the third National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature for 2012-2013. It was none other than the prolific Walter Dean Myers. In the history of young adult literature, Walter was close on the heels of S.E. Hinton with his foray into writing for young people. His impressive list of books is only outshined by the list of honors those books have garnered, from the literary Michael Printz Award to National Book Award nominees, to Newbery Honors to numerous Coretta Scott King Awards to fixtures in the Wilson Core Collection “bibles” to lifetime achievement awards. As I read the New York Times article about the current honor, I noticed an active link to the Children’s Book Council (CBC). I read the article there about the ambassadorship. There was another link for more information. I clicked on it and e-mailed that my town was a small hamlet on I-5 in the Pacific Northwest and would Mr. Myers consider adding us to his agenda if he ever came to Portland or Seattle. There was no automatic reply and I forgot the request until February 15, when I received an e-mail saying Walter would speak at my event on April 20, congratulations. Please fill out the survey. My first thought: “I need an event.” The second thought: “Is this free?” Ayanna, of the CBC, verified that the offer was real and that the CBC was paying all his costs. The work began as soon as I filled out the survey. Having an active library science curriculum for high school students, this was a perfect opportunity for them to plan an event. I always plan my author visits with a
Students looking at and buying books by Walter Dean Myers.
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year’s lead-time. We had two months. I scrapped the reading promotions assignment and morphed it into event planning, brainstorming what tasks needed to be done and determining a timeline. First the students and I researched Walter Dean Myers and compiled our findings into a pathfinder that our Wenatchee librarians will recognize. Two students created school PAs, radio station and newspaper press releases. Another student designed bookmarks and a community brochure. Another played off the American Libraries Association (ALA) “READ” CD and made her own designs using student models with Myers books. A student created a presentation for me to use for a short introduction to Walter. Another pulled all of Walter’s books and created an interactive display. Another decorated a display case. A seating chart was reworked for the Jason Castro, CWP teacher theatre. Shuttle reads Walter Dean Myers. buses between the two high schools had to be halted. Easy escape seating had to be designated for the track team that had to leave early. After a library science student introduction, Walter’s message of “Reading is not optional” resonated in his stories of lifetime reading in his life and influencing the success of his sons. He often showed his boys the newspaper marriage announcements saying, “See! That girl went to college and has a job. She isn’t going to marry some dummy. See the guy she married? He has his degree and a job also. These people can learn and read and earn money.” Our girls laughed, the boys wondered what hit Student Jessica Sanchez introduced Walter Dean Myers.. them. The students VOL 36 NO. 3
were mesmerized by Walter’s daily schedule starting with coffee and feeding his wife’s ugly cat, followed by structured mornings of writing and rewriting, and an afternoon of prewriting his next project. Walter told the students that prewriting is where the real money is. After the full-school assembly, Walter met with a small group of student writers who chatted with him about writing techniques and tips. At the community talk, Walter forcefully hammered his message that parents have to wake up and take charge of modeling reading to their children and read with them. His wife, children and he would read anything, but never for more than forty-five minutes a night! He also made the boys pour over grocery ads to create shopping list, then shop for the ingredients and read and follow the cooking directions. He wants political correctness “PC” thrown out the door and all community friends of reading to insist that parents learn to read and
to attend, participating in an adult spelling bee (a very funny tale of the fund raising), I accrued enough funds from five local service organization to pay for 501 books by Walter Dean Myers. The “sale” has been wonderful. Last June I told my principal that I was relaxing this year. No grant writing for me. Well, it was not a grant, but was lots of fun and lots of work. As I look back at my goal of author visits for two of the four years for each class, I realize that this graduating class has heard four authors: Jay Asher, Chris Crutcher, Greg Mortenson and now Walter Dean Myers. We have all been blessed by the effort! o
Documents Referred to in Article Pathfinder (p. 22): This was the culmination of our LibSci student research, posted on the library website and given to English teachers if they desired to have their students research almost anything about Walter. Press Release (p. 24): Created by two students for newspapers and radio stations Poster (p. 25): Another library science student created a series of posters, differently posed with different school talent, posted around the school. They created quite a stir. Flyer (p. 26): Published by a library science student for the various service organizations who helped with the “free books!” fair and as a handout for the community talk.
References Boseman, Julie. “Children’s Book Envoy Defines his Mission” New York Times. January 3, 2012. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/ books/walter-dean-myers-ambassador-for-young-peoplesliterature.html?pagewanted=all Walter Dean Myers chats with students about writing and offers tips.
to read with their children, from birth. The man did not leave any feelings standing. After a few photos, he was off on the Coast Starlight to Seattle for his gig the next day. I am a slave driver, but I also had assignments for the event. I was the consultant and proofreader for my students. But in addition, I was the fundraiser for my dream, a high school level RIF-style book giveaway of Walter Dean Myers books, 500 of them. After contacting local service organizations, attending meetings, getting board approvals, inviting memberships SPRING 2012
Library of Congress. “National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.” Children’s Book Council. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://www.read.gov/cfb/ambassador/index.html Slape, Leslie. “Must Read: Author brings urgent message to Longview.” The Longview Daily News, Saturday April 21, 2012, p. B1. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://tdn.com/news/ local/must-read-author-brings-urgent-message-to-longview/ article_8943c1ca-8b7e-11e1-963f-0019bb2963f4.html Joan Enders is the Teacher-Librarian at Robert A Long High School in Longview SD. E-mail: jenders@longview.k12.wa.us.
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Myers Pathfinder…
Walter Dean Myers 20 April 2012 This pathfinder will be useful in finding information about our visiting author, Walter Dean Myers, who is the Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
Search Aids
For an introduction to Walter, see:
• From Walter Dean Myers, an introduction with a few of his books http://aalbc.com/authors/walter1.htm
Key Resources at a Glance: •
Short World Book Article English & Spanish available
•
Learning About Walter Dean Myers
http://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar751739&st= walter+dean+myers http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professionaldevelopment/childlit/myers.html
Reference Background • •
•
Walter Dean Myers Biography
Search Terms
(Use for computer searches)
• •
•
Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers AND___ African American Authors
Subject Headings
(Use in card catalogs and print indexes)
• •
Myers, Walter Dean (subject) Myers, Walter Dean (author)
Call Number
http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Li-Ou/Myers-WalterDean.html
• • •
http://www.answers.com/topic/walter-dean-myers
Indexes and Abstracts
Oxford Companion to African American Literature: Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers Bibliography
http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/biblio_full.html
Resources Books • Bad boy : a memoir Walter Dean Myers. 921 MYERS MYE
• • •
811.54 MYE FIC MYE 921 MYERS MYE EBSCOhost ProQuest eLibrary
Library catalogs • • •
RALHS Library Catalog Lv Public Library Catalog Ft Vancouver Regional Catalog
Journals • Lane, R. D. ""Keepin it Real": Walter Dean Myers and the Promise of African-American Childrens
Literature." African American Review 32.1 (1998): 125-38. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
• •
http://search.proquest.com/docview/209799849?accountid=39603
Phillips, Nathan. "Monsters Ink: How Walter Dean Myers made Frankenstein Fun." English Journal 92.5 (2003): 87-90. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. http://search.proquest.com/docview/237302544?accountid=39603
McElmeel, Sharron L.Simpson, Carol. "A Profile: Walter Dean Myers. (Cover Story)." Book Report 20.2 (2001): 42. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=5155177&lang=ar&site=ehost-live
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Magazine Articles • Parham, Marti. "Walter Dean Myers." Jet 113.16 (2008): 37. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
Walter entered a children's book writing contest for Black writers. Particular attention is given to the topics that he writes about and how he writes to challenge young adults. His latest book is "Game." •
•
Myers, Walter Dean. "Plane Crazy." Boys' Life 96.5 (2006): 30. MAS Ultra - School Edition.
Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
The article presents the short story "Plane Crazy," by Walter Dean Myers.
SLJ Exclusive Interviews; Walter Dean Myers, the New Naional Ambassador for Young People’s Literature http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/893183-312/slj_exclusive_interview_walter_dean.html.csp
Newspaper Article • “Children’s Book Envoy Defines his Mission” New York Times •
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/books/walter-dean-myers-ambassador-for-young-peoplesliterature.html?pagewanted=all
Author Walter Dean Myers is passionate about the benefits of parents reading to children http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12039/1208683-44.stm
Web Pages and Web Portals •
HarperTeen, Walter Dean Myers Portal
•
Scholastic, Walter Dean Myers Portal
http://harperteen.com/authors/12522/Walter_Dean_Myers/index.aspx
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/walter-dean-myers-interview-transcript
Organizations and Special Collections •
READ.GOV
http://www.read.gov/cfb/ambassador/index.html
Multimedia Resources • To Do Well In Life, You Have To “Read Well”, audio (NPR Interview) (7:19 min) http://www.npr.org/2012/01/10/144944598/to-do-well-in-life-you-have-to-read-well • Get to Know Walter Dean Myers •
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/893231-312/get_to_know_walter_dean.html.csp
Walter Dean Myers at “Who Will Speak for the Child?” (6:10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC3OA-nSOcU
Walter Quote: I'd hate to see what kind of biography my cat, Askia, would write about me. Probably something like, "Walter Dean Myers had enormous feet, didn't feed me on time, and often sat in my favorite chair."
--http://aalbc.com/authors/walter1.htm
Pathfinder Copyright 2012, Joan Enders Teacher-Librarian, Robert A. Long High School Library
SPRING 2012
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Myers Press Release… Contact: Joan Enders R.A. Long Library jenders@longview.k12.wa.us
2903 Nichols Blvd. Longview, WA 98632
R.A. LONG HS LIBRARY “LIKE” THE ROBERT A LONG LIBRARY ON FACEBOOK.
WALTER DEAN MYERS IS COMING TO LONGVIEW The famous author, and new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is visiting R.A. Long High School on April 20, 2012. Longview, March 2, 2012: On April 20, 2012 Walter Dean Myers, author of more than 100 books and the newly appointed National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Children’s Book Council, is speaking to the students at R.A. Long High School. Walter Dean Myers is the author of many famous books including; The Autobiography of My Dead Brother, Kick, Monster, and Fallen Angels. He has won multiple awards such as; the Michael L. Printz award, the Margaret Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award and the Coretta Scott King Award five times. Myers is also a three-time finalist for the National Book Award. He was nominated in 1999 for Monster and in 2005 for Autobiography of My Dead Brother. He was also a 2010 finalist for Lockdown. Mr. Myers will be coming to R.A. Long High School because of a simple question asked by the R.A. Long Librarian, Joan Enders. Myers will be giving an address to the students, then meet with student writers. Lastly he will lead a discussion of his platform “Reading is not optional” with teachers, librarians, parents, community members, local literacy leaders and friends of writing from 3:00 to 4:30 pm in the R, A. Long Dana Brown Mainstage Theater.
Walter Dean Myers recording a podcast for Jazz at the SLJ office. Photo by Kathy Ishizuka. General Public Event Walter Dean Myers Robert A. Long High School Library Visit Dana Brown Mainstage Theater April 20, 2012 3-4:30 PM Media For more information the media can contact the event organizer, Joan Enders, at jenders@longivew.k12.wa.us . FOR RELEASE 2 PM, 6 MAR 2012
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Myers Read Poster…
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Awards:
May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award, 2008
Margaret A. Edwards Award, 1994
Kent State University Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, 1999
Michael L. Printz Award 2000, “Monster”
Coretta Scott King Honor Award 1976, “Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff” 1993, “Somewhere in the Darkness” 1994, “Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary” 2000, “Monster” 2011, “Lockdown”
Coretta Scott King Award 1980, “The Young Landlords” 1985, “Motown and Didi: A Love Story” 1989, “Fallen Angels” 1992, “Now Is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom” 1997, “Slam”
Newbery Honor Scorpions, 1989 Somewhere in the Darkness, 1993 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=mih&AN=36394978&site=eho st-live http://search.proquest.com/ docview/216920093/134ED8A9EF924B2CFE D/3?accountid=39603
Created by Allison Anderson, State Art Finalist, 2012
jenders@longview.k12.wa.us
For more information contact Mrs. Enders at:
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professionaldevelopment/childlit/myers.html
Sources:
R.A.L HS Theater
3:00-4:30 p.m.
April 20th
Community Literacy Event
Walter Dean Myers
Coming to our school soon...
Robert A. Long High School
Myers Brochure by Allison…
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SPRING 2012
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Following his success with young adult literature, Meyer has branched out to include topics of nonfiction including black history with his recent Now Is Your Time! and The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner an 1880's historical setting. Both have been received with much acclaim.
In 1954 he quit high school and joined the army; later he had many jobs working for different agencies. During this time, Myers was writing for various magazines and periodicals. The turning point in his career came when he won a contest with his book Where Does a Day Go? in 1969. Since then he has supported himself, his second wife, and four children with his very prolific writing in the area of children's and young adult literature. He volunteers at schools in Jersey City where is presently lives. He received his degree from Empire State College in 1984.
Walter Dean Myers is a writer of children's and young adult literature. He was born in West Virginia in 1937 but spent most of his childhood and young adult life in Harlem and was raised by foster parents and remembers a happy but tumultuous life while going through his teen years. Suffering with a speech impediment, he created a habit of writing poetry and short stories and acquired an early love for reading.
Getting to know Walter Dean Myers:
Q & A with Walter Dean Myers:
My own teen years, especially from 1317, were filled with doubt and angst. I had invested heavily in my hoped for intellectual identity and, when it became clear that my parents could not afford to send me to college, the uncertainty as to who I was became overwhelming. In conversations with young people today I sense the same doubts.
How do you connect so well with teen readers and get them to react in certain ways that provoke them?
Eventually, I discovered through my writing and reading of other writers that there was much more to me than I had realized.
Did you discover anything about yourself through reading and writing?
I believe that authenticity comes from attention to detail. My characters make the transition from the real to the surreal and back by their emotional reactions to their experience. They see and react to the streets, buildings, and the city life around them and then carry those same reactions to the world of fantasy they encounter.
What are the challenges you face with making the real and the surreal seem authentic and compelling?
It’s a two-way street. I often dream about people I meet and eventually make them into characters in my books. Once I start a book, I always dream about my characters, who become very real to me. I keep a notebook on the night table beside my bed so I can write anything that comes to me in a dream or that I think about in the middle of the night.
Do you ever get ideas to write about from your own dreams?
Crystal Fallen angels Game Kick Monster Riot Slam! Street love A time to love: stories from the Old Testament What they found: love on 145th street
The beast
20 April 2012
National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
Walter Dean Myers
923 Malcolm,X
Malcolm X: by any means necessary: a biography
921 MYERS MYE
Bad boy: a memoir
811.54 MYE
Here in Harlem: poems in many voices
Non-Fiction:
Autobiography of my dead brother
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Fiction books under:
Books By Walter Dean Myers:
Book Awards
Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award
2012 Voting results!
The children of Washington State have spoken!!! Let’s give a rousing hand to Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby, the 2012 winner of the Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award! The WCCPBA had record setting numbers of children voting this year—over 111,400! Washington State’s K-3 students may vote annually for this award through their
local teacher-librarian. Below is the list of 2013 nominated titles. Here are ways to promote and vote for the 2013 Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award: • • • • •
Order books from your usual sources Tell students about the award Create activities for student interest and reading Record votes Deadline for voting is April 1, 2013
Find out more about the award on the WCCPBA Wiki and the WCCPBA webpage on the Washington Library Media Association website. o
Washington Children’s Choice Nominees 2013 Title 11 Experiments that Failed Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake Bridget’s Beret Can Hens Give Milk? Chicken Big! Chopsticks Doodleday Even Monsters need haircuts Gingerbread Man Loose in School How to Teach a Slug to read Pete the Cat : I Love my White Shoes Princess and the pig Prudence wants a pet Rain School Runaway Wok : A Chinese New Year tale Snow Dog’s Journey Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution Star of the Sea : a day in the life of a starfish The Sunflower Sword Wonder horse
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Author by Jenny Offill by Michael B. Kaplan by Tom Lichtenfield. by Stuchner, Joan Betty by Keith Graves by Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Ross Collins by Matthew McElligott by Laura Murray by Susan Pearson by Eric Litwin by Jonathan Emmett by Cathleen Daly by James Rumford by Ying Chang Compestine by Loretta Krupinski by Pat Miller by Janet Halfmann by Mark Sperring by Emily Arnold McCully VOL 36 NO. 3
Book Awards
Sasquatch Book Award
Washington State third through sixth grade students voted Nerds by Michael Buckley as the winner of the 2012 Sasquatch Book Award. Buckley’s book received 2,644 votes. Michael Buckley responded to the news in a e-mail with: “…I am more than thrilled to be the recipient of this year’s Sasquatch Award. Give it to the genius children of Washington to see a great book ;).”
Second place went to Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon and third place went to 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. The Sasquatch committee is still working on the list of titles nominated for the 2013 award and plan to have the list available after May 15, 2012. For more information on the award and the 2013 nominees, read the article below and visit the Sasquatch webpage on Washington Library Media Association’s website. o
In Search of the Sasquatch
by Carter Kemp, Teacher-Librarian and Sasquatch Committee Member
Becoming a teacher-librarian involves making a few changes, but perhaps the most dramatic change in my own life was in my reading habits. Epic fantasy—gone! Bewildering cyberpunk Science Fiction—banished from my bedside table! No, instead when I became a teacher-librarian five years ago I found my leisure reading replaced by middle grade novels about school struggles, divorcing parents and gruff but friendly dragons. And I learned to love them. It was not long before a friend and fellow librarian noticed my obsessive reading and remarked that I should consider joining Washington Library Media Association’s (WLMA) Sasquatch committee. “What’s Sasquatch?” I asked innocently. “Only the most prestigious statewide honor awarded by students to authors of books intended for readers in grades four through six, ” he replied long-windedly. Therefore, my long slow slide into the Sasquatch committee began; little did I realize at the time what lay in store for me. Yes, I joined the Sasquatch committee, which is legendary for its dimly lit rooms and endless rounds of debating the merits of one children’s book over another. Rarely has a group of like-minded individuals, chosen from libraries across the great state of Washington, managed to create so much controversy and heartache. At first, we meet face to face, usually at the annual WLMA conference. Warily we gather in one of the eerily decorated hotel rooms, each of us surreptitiously SPRING 2012
hauling in our bags of books, and passing them around like precious contraband. From that initial meeting we begin the process of creating the list of books to consider while adding to it books suggested by colleagues and (preciously!) students. We keep this list secret under pain of, well, something. We continue our work from every corner of the state, communicating by letter, telephone, telegraph and carrier pigeon, but mostly via the interwebs. For months we bicker back and forth, winnowing the list of books that begins in the tens, nay, hundreds of thousands and only stopping when we have managed to hack it down to a manageable 70 or so books. For soon, we all know, we must meet again for the final confrontation. Yes, in late spring we will repeat the ritual once again, as eastsiders make the perilous journey to the Puget Sound region. Meeting in one of the committee member’s library, we argue, debate, fight and make up, all essential elements of the process of creating the final list of 12 books. Alliances form, relationships shift, friendships crumble, even marriages are changed irrevocably in the fiery cauldron of our deliberations. Finally, however, we know we must emerge with our list of twelve nominees. We fight on because we must, and because we know the children of the state of Washington are counting on us to come up with a list that will challenge them and introduce them to new ideas and new worlds. We can only hope our efforts are worthy of them. o MEDIUM | 29
Book Awards
Young Reader’s Choice Award
The votes are in for all three division of the Young Reader’s Choice Award (YRCA) and the students in Washington State chose the following award winners for 2012: Junior Division (4th-6th Grades): 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass Intermediate Division (7th-9th Grades): Maze Runner by James Dashner Senior Division (10th-12th Grades): Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater For more information on the award and the 2013 nominees, please visit the Young Reader’s Choice Award webpage on Pacific Northwest Library Association’s website. o
Young Reader’s Choice Award 2013 Nominees Junior Division (4th-6th Grades) 13 Treasures Big Nate: in a Class by Himself Fatty Legs Lone Wolf The Lost Hero The Mysterious Howling The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
by Michelle Harrison by Lincoln Peirce by Christy Jordan-Fenton by Kathryn Lasky by Rick Riordan by Maryrose Wood by Tom Angleberger by John Grisham
As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth The Cardturner Halo Heist Society The Red Pyramid The Second Trial Smile Sorta Like a Rock Star
by Lynne Rae Perkins by Louis Sachar by Alexandra Adornetto by Ally Carter by Rick Riordan by Rosemarie Boll by Raina Telgemeier by Matthew Quick
Before I Fall Bruiser Crazy Matched Replacement Ship Breaker Will Grayson, Will Grayson Winter Shadows
by Lauren Oliver by Neal Shusterman by Han Nolan by Ally Condie by Brenna Yovanoff by Paolo Bacigalupi by David Levithan and John Green by Margaret Buffie
Intermediate Division (7th-9th Grades)
Senior Division (10th-12th Grade)
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Book Awards
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award Submitted by Kirsten Edwards, Duvall Library, King County Library System Evergreen Award Committee Member WashYARG (The Washington Young Adult Review Group) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2012 Evergreen Award and the 2013 nominees. This year’s winner is The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Over 1700 students voted for the award and the Evergreen Award committee thanks everyone who read the nominees and participated in the voting. We hope that students, teachers, and librarians who have read great new books last year, including manga and graphic
novels, (copyright date 2011) will submit them for the 2014 nominee list. The deadline for nominee submissions is December 2012. Voting for the award is open to teens in grades 6 – 12; they must read at least two titles from the list before choosing their favorite. Ballots should be turned in to their participating school or public librarian no later than March 15, 2013. More information including promotional flyers, ballots, book talks, and how to nominate titles can be found on the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award page on the King County Library website. o
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award 2013 Nominees Split by Swati Avasthi
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Matched by Ally Condie
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
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Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride
Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick
Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.
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A Worthy Pastime… [ continued from page 7 ]
Riese
Fifteen-year-old Riese is a talented cartoonist, musician and actor. His reading depends on his schedule, but in “a good book-reading week” he can read six graphic novels and one or two actual novels. He generally reads for entertainment. In print, Riese reads graphic novels, manga, science fiction/fantasy, humor and young adult (YA) books, though he says, “Teen fiction just seems really fake… like I’m reading the equivalent of a sit-com. It feels like our modern pop culture has defined the teen fiction, whereas fantasy and stuff like that actually defines our pop culture.” To find books, he browses libraries and sometimes one book leads to another. Often he consults Wikipedia about favorite authors, finds other authors connected with them, and requests the latter’s books at the library. Recommendations also come from friends and librarians. Not a fan of e-books or reading on his phone, he says, “I like the physical feel of a book,” though he thinks online works well for short pieces. Online, Riese finds blogs by “searching up something I’m interested in and then ‘blog,’” or by seeking out an unofficial site for a topic and clicking links. He “might just resort to a FanFiction” while awaiting the next official book in a series, though “sometimes they’re not very faithful adaptations!” The most popular—most read—stories seem to be the most faithful. Also, Riese has read some fiction “actually presented as blogs. So it’s like a blog, but then you gradually get the sense that this isn’t a real person; this is actually like some sort of futuristic dystopian universe.” Webcomics he usually finds through links or recommendations on comics he already enjoys, but will also search for them by topic.
Camille Camille, also 15, does competitive horseback vaulting, aerial silks circus arts, and read over two million words in a library contest. On weekdays, she reads one to four hours
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after school and before bed, and even more on weekends. “I really enjoy reading adventurous, fun books,” she says. “My mom jokes about me being addicted to reading—she says that sometimes, if we’re on vacation and I don’t have enough books, that I get crabby and annoying. The only way to make me stop is to give me a book.” Rereading favorite books is another great pleasure. Although her family’s tablet has a Kindle app, Camille says, “I really prefer reading real books, in print. Reading e-books makes my eyes hurt. However, I would probably read more e-books if the public library had more popular YA e-books to check out,” and she would probably get an e-reader. “I think that both e-books and print are good for just about any type of reading.” Camille reads nothing but news online and in print reads mostly YA novels and science fiction/fantasy. She chooses her reading material by going to Amazon.com and searching a favorite book. “Then I will look at the suggestions ‘other people who bought this item also liked…’ section,” she says. “I will look at the summaries of those books until I find something that looks interesting. Then, I will put it on hold at the library.” She rarely buys books unless she knows she will want to reread them, or if she cannot wait for a library copy.
Annaliese Annaliese, 16, loves manga, creating visual art and has ridden horseback competitively for eight years. “Last year I read 264 books,” she says. “And that wasn’t counting FanFiction.” This year she might read a hundred fewer books, but fill in with fanfiction. She reads constantly, including in cars, buses, on the computer, “and when I should be doing my homework.” Generally, Annaliese reads for entertainment. In print, Annaliese loves Cicada a short story magazine, and science fiction/fantasy. In school she reads “fluff” books, “the kind you can pick up and read for five minutes VOL 36 NO. 3
and still take in.” Weekends she tackles longer works “like Tad Williams, where you have to read for half an hour before anything happens.” Annaliese finds much of her reading material through her mother, who has similar tastes. She also wanders around libraries, or uses the “people who bought this book also bought…” function on Amazon.com. Her books usually come from libraries or her own book-filled house. Annaliese dislikes e-books, preferring “the feel of the actual book,” and finding print books easier to flip through. Also, her “dumb-phone” lacks a reading screen. Audiobooks find no favor either, though she thinks they work for informational books because “then it’s more like listening to a lecture.” With novels, “if you give a voice to those characters or a certain inflection to those characters, it kind of spoils it in your head.” Online, Annaliese inhales fanfiction; since June of 2011 she has read “3,955, 390 words… It’s why I get no sleep!” Because of the better writing quality, she prefers epics with original characters, recently reading a 450,000 word story. When Annaliese finds a good author, she reads all of his or her works and then seeks out works of any co-writers. She also follows seventeen webcomics, finding them through friends, links from other webcomics and the deviantART website.
References A Wiki of Ice and Fire. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://awoiaf.westeros.org Amazon.com. Amazon.com. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://amazon.com Barnes & Noble, Inc. Barnes & Noble. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://www.barnesandnoble.com Cricket Magazine Group, and Carus Publishing. Cicada, 2005-12. deviantART. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://www.deviantart.com FanFiction. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://www.fanfiction.net Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie’s World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. History of the Ancient World: Ancient History News and Resources. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://historyoftheancientworld.com Martin, George R.R. A Song of Ice and Fire, Books 1-4 (A Game of Thrones / A Feast for Crows / A Storm of Swords / Clash of Kings). New York: Bantam, 2011. Murakami, Haruki. IQ84. New York: Knopf, 2011. Thomson Reuters. Reuters. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. http://www.reuters.com Tumblr, Inc. (US). tumblr. Accessed March 28, 2012. Last modified 2012. https://www.tumblr.com
Legislative News Washington HB 2337 regarding Open Educational Resournces (OER) for K-12 Education was signed into law and becomes effective 1 June 2012. o
Conclusion Clearly we cannot generalize about avid teen readers and their preferred genres and formats, since all have such individual taste. Equally clearly, they all devise their own methods for finding reading materials and choose among the many options available for their preferred reading methods. Libraries can best serve avid readers it seems, by providing options, access, encouragement and acceptance, and letting them take advantage of the bounty. Because reading, as Julia says, “is just a worthy pastime.” o SPRING 2012
Signing of HB 2337: Carolyn Logue WLMA Lobbyist (l), Governor Chris Gregoire (c) and WLMA President Craig Seashole (r). Photo courtesy of the Washington State House of Representatives.
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Teacher-Librarian News 2012 Fall Conference Call for Session Proposals The Washington Library Media Association 2012 conference website is available with the “Call for Presenters” link posted! The theme is “Empower Student Learning: Library Information and Technology” Please go to http:// wlma2012.blogspot.com to submit your presentation application today! o
Teacher-Librarian Steve Coker Interviewed After Receiving NCCE Award The Olympian interviewed Steve Cocker, North Thurston High School’s Teacher-Librarian and WLMA’s Immediate Past President, after he received the Northwest Council
for Computer Education (NCCE) President’s Award for Excellence. Read the full interview in The Olympian online edition (www.theolympian.com/2012/04/30/2086973/ school-days-fly-by-for-technology.html). o
Teacher-Librarian Kate Burton Receives Fulbright Award Congratulations to Fort Vancouver High School Teacher-Librarian Kate Burton for receiving the Distinguished Fulbright Award in teaching. Read the announcement in the online edition of the Columbian (http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/may/22/fortteacher-librarian-earns-fulbright-award/). o
President… [ continued from page 4 ]
Teacher-librarians, we are the experts in an ever‑changing world of ideas and information, technology and education. Our professional skills and predispositions help others define, locate, access, use, synthesize and evaluate ideas and information. Sharing questions and experiences, failures and successes is the best way to ensure that we stay on top of our game. Use every opportunity and tool you have to share your thinking and to ask for support from this vital association of Library Information and Technology (LIT) librarians. So, pause and consider what you will gain as you share Your perspective and critical skill By giving, we are gaining, increasing in strength To keep promises made to fulfill Though scarce funding and cuts may darken the sky And choices seem fewer each day It’s such challenges we’re best suited match LIT librarians, hip-hip-hooray! o
References Just Google It! Accessed May 1, 2012. https://sites.google. com/site/waconf2012/home Puget Sound Educational Service District. “Looking Up the Future—The Changing World of TeacherLibrarians.” Class Registration. Accessed April 16, 2012. https://register.psesd.org/class_info.php?CID=33830 Seasholes, Craig. “WLMA Members Survey.” Google Docs. Accessed April 16, 2012. https://docs.google.com/ presentation/d/10XXsQEPMXPaTVbkWSU33uSAWUl 6zcxIVHco09n7K9qY/edit?pli=1#slide=id.p14 Snapshot: One Day in the Life of Washington’s Libraries. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://walibrarysnapshot.wikispaces.com/ Washington Library Media Association. “Common Core State Standards.” Accessed May 1, 2012. http://wlma.org/CCSS Washington Library Media Association. “Open Education Resources (OER).” Accessed May 1, 2012. http://wlma. org/OER Washington Library Media Association. WLMA 2012. Accessed May 1, 2012. http://wlma2012.blogspot.com
President-elect… [ continued from page 5 ]
and speakers. Doing this sets up teacher-librarians as text and inquiry specialists and sets up our libraries, with their databases, web resources, and books, as a replacement for textbook resources. Common Core information is part of the offerings at the WLMA October 2012 Conference, “Empowering Student Learning.” Keep posted for news about the conference and sessions on the Common Core through WLMA’s website and listserv. As nonfiction texts take on a larger role of importance, it might be time to think of a nonfiction text award for
34 | MEDIUM
Washington State. With everyone needing assistance in determining great nonfiction texts, this new award provides WLMA the opportunity to lead the way and to bring attention to teacher-librarians. In determining the award, consideration of age groupings and equality of access are important factors. Another approach is to make nonfiction texts a larger part of our existing book contests. Either way, adding nonfiction text keeps WLMA’s reading advocacy efforts current and relevant to the needs of the education communities that we serve. o VOL 36 NO. 3
Cavalcade… [ continued from page 11 ]
In my recent visits to the Tri-Cities library programs, I have been curious to determine what it is that makes this community—from superintendents, parents, families, and public library—such strong school library advocates. Certainly, Cavalcade of Authors provides one of the answers to this library-supportive community phenomenon.
Authors Included in this year’s Cavalcade Frank Beddor Royce Buckingham Janet Lee Carey Alex Flinn Pete Hautman Colleen Houke Blake Nelson Ridley Pearson Alexander Gordon Smith
Student Quotes “Today has been the best day for a young writer. I have learned a ton of cool information to make my writing a little better.” —Jessa Van Wormer, Carmichael MS “All the authors were inspirational and motivating. What Alexander Gordon Smith said about not giving up even if people say you can do it was the most important thing I learned.” —Allie Stiles, Horse Heaven Hills MS “It was cool to see the process of how they write a book seeing it from the other side.” —Jessica Peterson, Southridge HS “Vivian Vande Velde said, ‘There are three rules to writing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”’ —Tori Anderson Kamiakin HS “I really like when they tell us about getting rejected and encouraging us to keep writing and keep reading.” —Adam Pilger, Chief Joseph MS For more information visit the Cavalcade of Authors website (www.cavalcadeofauthors.org) or e-mail Michelle Lane, the Cavalcade Authors Director and Founder, and Teacher‑Librarian at Enterprise Middle School in Kennewick School District (michelle.lane@rsd.edu). o
Common Core… [ continued from page 15 ]
will assist in supporting smooth transitions to the new standards. Given this and WLMA’s ability to lead and connect teacher-librarians across the state, we see WLMA and teacher-librarians as having the potential for serving a powerful role in the implementation of the CCSS as well as identifying quality open education resources that support them. With the passing of HB 2337, the connection between OER and CCSS is explicit. We at OSPI will lean on the knowledge and skills of teacher‑librarians as we move forward with both efforts. The whole system would benefit from a cadre of teacher‑librarians who could be called upon to support teachers and students in the implementation of the CCSS. Teacher-librarians could be experts when supporting shifts within the Common Core State Standards such as determining text complexity, incorporating technology into the classroom and supporting literacy in the content areas. We at OSPI look forward to tapping into the existing expertise that we know exists with teacher‑librarians across the state. o SPRING 2012
Works Cited American Association of School Librarians. “Crosswalk of the Common Core Standards and the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.” Guidelines and Standars. Accessed May 12, 2012. http://www.ala.org/aasl/ guidelinesandstandards/commoncorecrosswalk Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Common Core State Standards: Home.” Common Core State Standards— Washington. http://k12.wa.us/CoreStandards/default.aspx Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Transitions to New Standards.” Common Core State Standards—Washington. http://www.k12.wa.us/CoreStandards/Transition.aspx Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Webinars and Events for CCSS Implementation.” Common Core State Standards—Washington. Accessed May 12, 2012. http:// www.k12.wa.us/CoreStandards/UpdatesEvents.aspx TheHuntInstitute. “Featured.” Hunt Insitute. YouTube. Accesed May 12, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/user/ TheHuntInstitute#g/
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Planbook
Conferences
Calendar
WLMA
WLMA
2012
Meetings
2012 Fall Conference
July
Executive Committee Meetings
October 11-13 Empower Student Learning Library, Information & Technology Yakima, WA
June
01: WLMA Administrator/Special Recognition of the Year and Outstanding Teacher‑Librarian Award nominations due.
September
21 – 26: ALA Annual Conference Anaheim, CA. www.alaannual.org
01: WLMA Emeritus Award nominations due. 30: Banned Books Week Begins
24 – 27: ISTE 2011 Conference San Diego, CA www.iste.org/conference.aspx
October
October
14: Teen Read Week Begins
2013
27 – 30: AASL Fall Forum Greenville, South Carolina www.ala.org/aasl/
January
2013
February
15: Sasquatch Reading Award book nominations due.
25 – 29: ALA Midwinter Meeting Seattle, WA www.ala.org
01: Young Reader’s Choice Award book nominations due. 04: Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award book nominations due.
Februrary-March
March
April
April
January
26 – 06: NCCE Conference Portland, OR www.ncce.org 21 – 24: International Reading Association San Antonio, TX www.reading.org
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02: Read Across America 15: Evergreen Young Adult Book Award ballots due. School Library Month 01: Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award and Sasquatch Reading Award ballots due. 8 – 14: National Library Week and Washington Library Snapshot Day 15: Young Reader’s Choice Award ballots due. 15: WLMA Scholarship applications due.
September 8, 2012 Ellensburg, WA
Full Board Meetings
October 2012 Yakima, WA
Executive Committee President Craig Seasholes, Seattle President-Elect Leigh Lohrasbi, Yakima Immediate Past President Steve Coker, North Thurston Vice President Sharyn Merrigan, Olympia Treasurer Kate Pankiewicz, Shoreline Secretary Jean Staley, Yakima Medium Editor Alice McNeer, Bellevue Membership Chair Pat McKinley, Cheney Elementary Level Chair Amy Cook,Kennewick Middle / Jr. High Level Chair Kelli McSheehy, Vancouver Senior Level Chair Ann Bingham, Seattle Higher Education Co-chairs Lorraine Bruce, UW Leaona Lindvig, CWU Small Dist. / Private Schools Co-chairs Jen Fukataki, Yarrow Point Paula Palmer, Seattle Public Relations Venta Silins, UW-Bothell Webmaster Carina Pierce, Bethel OSPI Liaison Gayle Pauley, Olympia
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