As a teacher librarian, are you a member of the literacy leadership team for the school? If not, get involved, and if there is no leadership team, urge administrators to form one. In such a professional learning community, the main topic of discussion will no doubt be reading skill and how to improve it. But, there shoul also be many discussions about reading widely and for pleasure. If you as a teacher librarian are unfamiliar with various strategies that help readers build skill and if others, for example, high school teachers, don’t consider themselves reading teachers, then the Fogarty book is a slim and easy way to learn simple and effective strategies. We liked this volume because it is brief, provides common tactics for building skill, and can be understood by non-reading specialists.  For example, every time the professional learning community meets, one or several strategies from this book could be studied and applied in classes before the next meeting when a discussion and assessment could take place. The strategies mentioned and taught here can be used by the science teacher, the coach, the teacher librarian and anyone else by integrating the ideas into normal classroom activities without disrupting those activities. It’s worth a try.  Highly recommended.

If you are a fan of Joan Bauer’s teen books focusing on teen problems with a touch of humor and a dose of reality and facing life problems, then you will be interested in Nilsen’s in-depth study of this author and her books. Designed for the librarian and teacher who wants to concentrate on YA authors in the classroom, at least some of the time, the book gives the teacher and librarian background enough along with normal Internet sources on this author to be able to do a great job in including her works in classroom and library programs. You will find not only the normal biographical information and an interview with the author, but essays describing and commenting on each of Bauer’s principal works. Bauer has won a number of awards for her work and so if you are a fan or you have teens who are, this is a good addition to your library. Recommended.

We have been hearing recently about the trend away from narrative fiction as the choice of a new generation. NCLB may have something to do with this if there is such a trend, and personally, I have been recommending the inclusion of more and mor nonfiction or informational books in the fare we promote to children and teens, but Have comes at us with the most articulate defense of story as an essential element in education. A long-time storyteller himself, Kenall has published many many collections that stimulate conversation and interest on the part of the listener. He looks both at the tradition and examines the research behind story to make his major point that  we cannot ignore this genre and we do so at the peril of effective teaching and powerful  teaching strategies. Today through Web 2.0 technologies, every young person has unlimited ways to write, perform, and share story and they are doing it through blogs, through video, and podcasts as never before in history. So, in the face of drill and kill reading programs, Haven reminds us that story can and is as powerful as ever. It’s a good read. A powerful reminder. Thanks kendall.

Jason Ohler

(Corwin Press, 2007, 228p., $_____, ISBN: 978-1-4129-3850-1)

Over the last year, we have become more and more enthusiastic about the potential of new technologies to enhance teaching and learning. The reason for this enthusiasm is the very simple-to-use software that is mostly free and allows everyone – adults, kids, and teens to create creative content and share it over the web. Ohler takes us into the realm of digital storytelling. First he tells us about the possibilities of enhancing literacy, links us to standards, describes methods of storytelling, and then helps us produce a digital product using free tools on the Mac or PC. He encourages us to have children and teens learn to write and produce their own stories by teaching them to story mat – a technique for understanding how a story works using a graphical model. We can think of all kinds of applications beyond just the reading of stories on line, or the writing of stories through production.  Using these techniques, we see students as individuals or groups creating digital story biographies or oral presentations using story as the central narrative interest catcher. Even better, we can share the products on the Internet to be available instantly for parents, board members, judges in competitions, and even uploaded to YouTube. We give this one a big plus. A required read. A required DO IT!

Riley, Jeni

Language and literacy 3-7 : creative approaches to teaching by Jeni Riley (2006)

There are hundreds of books describing various methods of teaching reading. Here is another one. Is there any value is looking at this one over others? Those who puzzle over such matters are always looking for new ideas, new techniques, and ways of reaching those who are having difficulty. Why not try as many sources and ideas as possible, I say. Recommended. David Loertscher, Aug. 2007

An instruction manual for teachers, particularly those who are not language arts teachers, on methods to teacher the various strategies of reading and writing. It would be very useful as a “text” for a professional learning community study of everyone’s responsibility to teache reading and writing across the school. Recommended. David Loertscher, Aug. 2007

The author is interested in providing teachers with ideas to immerse kids in non-traditional meida to use their interests in these materials to boost reading fluency.  Included formats are: magazines, poetry, multilevel texts, newspapers, series, humor, drama, rela-life texts, anthologies, and cyber texts. So often, both teachers and librarians think of using only fiction and nonfiction in the teaching of narrative and expository fluency.  This book reminds us that interest and unique formats are good tools to engage the reader and increase their fluency. Recommended.