School improvement is a process that is accomplished teacher by teacher. But how can literacy coaches open the doors of the classrooms so that teachers can begin to see them as a resource? One way is by creating a regular time and place for teachers to get together and talk about literacy and instruction.

For example, a former principal for a public school in New York, ended every week with a weekly morning gathering called “Toasty Fridays.” Before class, teachers gathered together to eat toast and jam (he provided both) and talk about nothing in particular. Although the meetings were informal, teachers often ended up talking about students, ways they could collaborate, or teaching ideas. Toasty Fridays provided an opportunity for teachers to get to know one another.

Building on this idea, as a literacy coach, you might decide to host a weekly or monthly breakfast to talk about topics pertaining to literacy. Determine whether you want your meeting to be a formal book group or a more informal gathering. Choose a focus for the meeting and then decide how structured you want the gathering to feel.

Some ideas for literacy breakfast meetings could include:

• Lesson share: Strategy/best lesson share
• Story shares: Discussions about children's literature
• Teachers as writers: Teachers share their own writing
• The one that won't get away: A sustained focus on a particular student or group of students throughout the year
• Show and tell: Gathering of teachers to show compelling research articles or books and tell how they have used the information in their classroom

Reading books that focus on social issues to young students is a way of bringing issues from the world outside of school into the classroom. Examining a social issues text through a series of strategy sessions gives students time to learn how to make connections between the books and their lives while dealing with important issues.

In Getting Beyond “I Like the Book”: Creating Space for Critical Literacy in K–6 Classrooms,Second Edition, one teacher, Lee Heffernan, used these sessions to engage her third-grade students in critical literacy with a social issues picture book, White Wash (Shange, 1997). The teacher examined the book and her students' responses to it over six strategy sessions which included a read-aloud, a picture walk, small- group conversations, a whole-group meeting, a session where an illustration reflective of class discussions was selected for a class learning wall, and notebook writing.

With the six-session strategy, students drew from their own experiences outside of the classroom and their past experiences with texts to engage in powerful talk. The third graders were able to use these discussions to extend their understanding of topics including racism, shame, and social action.

This third-grade class is just one of the classes engaging in critical literacy featured in Getting Beyond “I Like the Book” by Vivian Vasquez. The book draws you into classrooms where students and teachers together use critical literacy as a framework for taking on local and global issues like racism and gender using books and everyday texts such as school posters and advertisements.

For another example of classes involved in critical literacy, download chapter 1 of Getting Beyond “I Like the Book”

Free chapter: Setting the Context: A Critical Take on Using Books in the Classroom

To read more about this book or order online, click here.

There are a lot of recommended reading lists for children available that are selected by teachers and librarians, but what books do kids think are the best? The Children's Choices 2009 book list reveals which newly published books were voted the best by school children.

Each year 12,500 school children from different regions of the United States read newly published children's and young adults' trade books and vote for the ones they like best. These Children's Choices, selected from more than 500 titles, can be counted on as books children really enjoy reading. This list, a project of a joint committee supported by IRA and The Children's Book Council (CBC), is designed for use not only by teachers, librarians, administrators, and booksellers, but also by parents, grandparents, caregivers, and everyone who wishes to encourage young people to read for pleasure.

To see the favorite books selected this year, download the full-color Children's Choices:

Free download: Children's Choices 2009

It is the first week of school, and the students have been instructed to read silently. A few quickly select a book or pull one from their desks and find a spot to read. Several make a beeline for the bookshelf and kneel behind it, whispering and giggling softly. A handful pick a book, sit down and look at it for a few minutes, flip a page or two, then return to the bookshelf. Two ask to use the restroom.

Five minutes in and about half of the class has now settled down to read. But there are some who have still not read a single word. They move from bookshelf, to a desk, to the teacher's table, then back to the bookshelf. Most of the students don't know that the teacher is using this time to observe their reading behaviors. But surprisingly, some of those who never crack a book do seem to realize it.

By the time students get into the intermediate grades, many have a sack full of avoidance techniques that they have used for years during independent reading. Good books are vital to developing avid readers, but they are not enough. If you are looking for a way to turn that avoidance into engagement, try R5, a structured independent reading block designed to maximize student engagement and promote strategic reading for all readers. In their book, R5 in Your Classroom: A Guide to Differentiating Independent Reading and Developing Avid Readers, authors Michelle J. Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace present a three-phase program for independent reading: Read and Relax, Reflect and Respond, and Rap.

In first phase of R5, students Read and Relax by reading books they choose in a comfortable spot. The teacher monitors book selection and confers with students on goals they have set to become a better reader. Next, students Reflect and Respond by thinking about any strategies they used while reading and completing a brief log about what they read that day. After that, students Rap with a partner about what they read (Rap Part 1) and then the teacher facilitates a whole-class discussion on that day's reading (Rap Part 2). During Rap Part 2, the teacher calls on pairs to share each other's thoughts, then asks the class to identify the reading strategy or strategies being shared. The biggest differences between R5 and most other independent reading models involve the more active role of the teacher during Read and Relax, the explicit connection to direct instruction in reading strategies during Reflect and Respond, and the addition of subtle, daily accountability via Rap.

To learn more about R5 and how to launch it in your classroom, download chapter 3 of R5 in Your Classroom.

Free chapter: Launching R5

Click below to listen to a podcast based on strategies from this book.

Free podcast: Class Acts: Creating a home reading program

To read more about this book or order online, click here.

Members get 20% off the price of books featured here. Click here to join IRA and get the discount.