[CASL-L] Talking to the Principal About FVR- Solicitation for Talking Points

[Virginia Snowden]

I'm  presenting   a workshop "Is Independent Reading Obsolete?"   at  the
NELMS conference in April.  Those who fight for kids  to have access to
books and time to read are not alone.
It's been quite a  challenge to  preserve a place in the budget for our
library collection, maintain  our library staff and  allow students time in
the school day to access books and read.  We had a group of parents  who
percieved "time spent JUST reading" as a waste of instructional hours.
When trying to get administrators and BOE on board we pulled from several
sources.

*Revisiting Silent Reading* by Hiebert and Reutzel was a research treasure
chest, citing many studies done since the negative NPR 2002 findings.
We also used the AASL position on "Reading in School."
My favorite though was taken from an article in Reading Teacher.

*The Benefits of Sustained Silent Reading: *
*Scientific Research and Common Sense Converge*,
Elaine M. Garan, Glenn DeVoogd, The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 2008, pp.
336-344.
 “Furthermore, if we really believe that reading is probably not a good
idea in school, then why assign it for homework or encourage it at all for
the matter? Would any researcher, teacher, or administrator seriously tell
parents they should not encourage their children to read because there’s
not enough scientific evidence – using a medical model of research- to tell
us that it helps? If reading is not worth doing in school, then it’s not
worth the sacrifice of family time at home either. Our society values
books. Certainly, it would be a betrayal of those values if we did not promote
or allow real books and real reading in schools.” (p. 341

It has helped but not entirely eliminated the protests of those that would
have us not read in school, that since we included independent reading as
an official part  of the reading curriculum, and provided access to
books and time to read in school, our reading scores   have increased
pretty darn dramatically. Come  to the NELMS conference in  April!

Ginny Snowden
Librarian
Reed Intermediate School
3 Trades Lane
Newtown, CT 06470
.

On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 11:02 AM, IRENE KWIDZINSKI <kwidz at sbcglobal.net>wrote:

>  I LOVE this response to the query below. YES!
>
> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> *From:* Bj Mccracken <Bj_Mccracken at gfps.k12.mt.us>
> *To:* "aaslforum at ala.org" <aaslforum at ala.org>
> *Sent:* Fri, February 3, 2012 10:46:44 AM
> *Subject:* [aaslforum] RE: Talking to the Principal About FVR-
> Solicitation for Talking Points
>
>  I presented to my admin the question of whether they want to promote
> reading as enjoyable (21st Century lifelong skill) which leads to more
> reading and a more natural progression up the literacy ladder, or if they
> wanted to turn reading into a “subject” with no place for personal use.  If
> the students are already struggling and you are limiting their access to
> reading program items, you are undercutting the goal at the start.  There
> are enough “subject” reading opportunities and what is it about redefining
> the personal use library principles that will fiat reading growth?  Bottom
> line is to reach a collaborative goal, and the library is a natural partner
> with enhancing reading through an environment rich with opportunities that
> move the student closer to the 21st Century goals.  Are they so focused
> on the test that they are eliminating the intended use of a tool in hopes
> it can plug a leak?  Libraries are not a cork, they are a platform.
>
>
>
> *From:* daleyruhf at yahoo.com [mailto:daleyruhf at yahoo.com]
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 02, 2012 3:21 PM
> *To:* aaslforum at ala.org
> *Subject:* [aaslforum] Talking to the Principal About FVR- Solicitation
> for Talking Points
>
>
>
> So imagine this if you will....
>
> You are a librarian in a very small school.
>
> The middle school principal usually gets 21st century libraries and what
> they can offer.
>
> In your short career there, he seems to be working with you.
>
> Crappy reading test scores come back.
>
> There is a push to bring in $$$ leveled readers ( & the library budget is
> thin! ) for the 5th graders.
>
> There is talk of taking home backpack book kits of said readers.
>
> You have 15 minutes of face time (tomorrow).
>
> You want to discourage leveled readers and encourage more free voluntary
> reading (FVR) of self-selected books the kids actually like.
>
> If big money is going to be spent on books, you want it to be for library
> books.
>
> What are your talking points? (Help!)
>
> Said principal likes bullet points and scholarly research.
>
> You are already looking over Professor Krashen's site.
>
> You read _The Power of Reading_  by Krashen.
>
> You bought the new FVR book at Midwinter, but don't have time to read it
> tonight.  (You are hoping for good quotes in its margins. )
>
> Who has a favorite quote or fact or strategy to share?
>
>
>
> Namaste,
>
>
>
> Mary Fran Daley, MLIS
>
> Small Town, NJ
>
> www.MaryFran.com <http://www.maryfran.com/>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CASL-L mailing list
> CASL-L at mylist.net
> http://mylist.net/listinfo/casl-l
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mylist.net/archives/casl-l/attachments/20120206/7cab0670/attachment.html>