Prairie Area Reading Council
Winter 2017 Newsletter
From the Desk of the President
We are supporting Operation Care Package by donating new (or gently used) paperback books and comics to soldiers. The troops appreciate, enjoy, read and reread all books and comics received. Help us support our troops! Donations will be accepted at every PARC event. So please remember to bring them when you come to see Kathleen March on January 25th.
Mark your calendars now for our Spring event, "LEGO, Literacy and 21st Century Skills" with Michael Carton, on April 27th at 4:45 pm at Marquardt in Glendale Heights.
We are looking forward to a new year filled with new ideas, new books to share, and new friendships to be made with our colleagues from Prairie Area Reading Council.
2016-2017 Board Members
President: Sherry Sejnost sej7@comcast.net
President Elect: Kelly Neylon neylonk@woodridge68.org
Vice President: Jennifer Burisek jburisek@cusd201.org
Recording Secretary: Heather Lopez hlopez0410@gmail.com
Treasurer: Melissa Love lovem@woodridge68.org
Membership: Laura Bass lapanco@gmail.com
Corresponding Secretary: Sheila Ruh sheilaruh@yahoo.com
Past President: Sheila Tucker sheila_tucker@ipsd.org
Service Projects - Jen Burisek
Prairie Area’s Service Projects: Promoting Lifelong Literacy Beyond Our Classroom Walls
Members of Prairie Area can boast support of several philanthropic endeavors. We collect new (and/or gently used) paperback books to be shipped to servicemen and women via Operation Care Package. Books are collected at every Prairie Area meeting/event. Also welcome at every meeting/event are donations to Anderson’s Book Angels Program. Book Angles provides books to students in need. What a great gift for the person who has everything--make them a Book Angel! Donate in his/her name. A donation can be made at any time throughout the year for any occasion. We can create a Book Angel certificate to commemorate the occasion. Another great opportunity is just a few months away! Volunteers are needed for the Illinois Language and Literacy Young Author’s Conference. Join us at ISU on Saturday, May 20, 2017, as we work to empower students through sharing a love of reading and writing. Please contact Jen Burisek (writingteach313@yahoo.com) for more information on any of these service projects. Thank you for your continued support of literacy!.
Teaching Resources - Nicole deVerdier
Teachers! Check out these popular websites for some fresh, new ideas!
This Reading Mama - Great resource for on-the-spot ideas in areas like phonics, spelling, comprehension, writing, and working with struggling readers.
Shanahan on Literacy - Tim Shanahan (Past President of IRA, Co-Chair of National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth, Member of National Reading Panel, Chair of Early Literacy Panel, Member of ELA Common Core State Standards Work Team) provides information on teaching and assessing reading and writing. While he posts on diverse topics, recent posts frequently focus on close reading, text complexity, disciplinary literacy, and other important aspects of the Common Core State Standards.
Nerdy Book Club - According to the site’s primary contributors – Donalynn Miller, Colby Sharp, and Cindy Minnich – if you love books, especially those written for children and young adults, then you are an honorary member of The Nerdy Book Club. Like them, you probably always have a book along to read, a title to recommend, and time to talk about works held dear. On their blog, they share their love of reading and award annual Nerdies Book Club Awards.
Writing About Reading - Dana Murphy
Writing About Reading
by Dana Murphy
Instructional Resource Specialist, Woodridge School District 68
If you are a teacher of reading workshop, chances are you have struggled with accountability. Reading workshop is unlike traditional reading instruction. In the workshop model, there are no comprehension quizzes or worksheets to grade. How, then, do we know our students are working to understand what they are reading? How do we get a glimpse into their thinking as readers? One way is by having our students write about their reading.
Today, with the Common Core State Standards outlining the expectations that students will be able to read a text closely, cite evidence from a text, analyze story elements, determine central ideas, interpret words and phrases, etc., it is more important than ever that students are able to do some of this heavy thinking on paper.
Furthermore, writing about reading is instrumental in helping students remember what they have read. Think about your own personal reading habits. Do you read professional texts with a pencil in hand, jotting cryptic notes in the margin? Writing - even a jot - helps us remember.
It is helpful to think about writing about reading in four categories:
Writing in the moment
Writing to extend
Writing for others
Writing to reflect
Writing in the moment is the writing we do on the spot as we read. For example, we might make notes in the margin, stop to jot on a Post-It note, or annotate the text with ‘codes’ (a question mark for a question, an exclamation mark for something that surprised you). This type of writing is meant to slow the reader down and to become more cognizant of his or her thinking.
Writing to extend is the writing we do to grow our thinking after we read. This might be a quick write about characters or an essay exploring a possible theme of jealousy. This type of writing is meant to help readers discover and possibly change their thinking after they have read.
Writing for others is writing to share our opinions and thoughts with a community of other readers. This might be book reviews, author profiles, or posters as book advertisements.
Finally, writing to reflect helps us look at our reading life and our habits as readers. This might be a drawing of our favorite writing spot or a list of 100 Things About Me as a Reader.
Categorizing the types of writing we do as readers can help us plan for reading workshop. We can introduce each type of writing and plan for a balance of each type throughout a unit. Each type serves a different purpose, and each type offers some accountability within the reading workshop. Most importantly, each type has the ultimate goal of helping kids remember what they read.Prairie Area Reading Council
Email: prairieareareadingcouncil@gmail.com
Website: http://www.illinoisreadingcouncil.org/localcouncils/prairiearea.html
Phone: 630-515-9946
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Prairie-Area-Reading-Council-139017136125003/
Twitter: @prairiearea