Community Bulletin Board

If you want to engage your students in reading at the beginning of the school year, you'll be interested in the suggestions provided by Brenda Powers in her "Choice Literacy" blog. For the primary grades, Denise Johnson shares her booklist of first day read-alouds on her "Joy of Children's Literature" blog. For older readers, check out the read-aloud suggestions from 5th grade teacher Karen Terlecky at her "Literate Lives" blog. You'll also be able to find many more possibilities on the ORC website. The "REC Bookshelf" is crafted for preschool children, but the transition to kindergarten books are also great for the primary grades. Scroll through the archives for additional themes. Visit the ORC "Mathematics Bookshelf" for books that engage readers in the world of mathematics. Then move on to the "Science Bookshelf" for books that draw the readers into the study of science.

On June 16-17, 2008, the Ohio Resource Center partnered with the Office of Literacy, Ohio Department of Education, to sponsor the seventh annual Ohio Literacy Institute (OLI). More than 425 educators attended, the largest turn-out in the seven-year history of the Institute. Next year's OLI will be held on June 15-16, 2009. To learn more or to view photos from OLI 2008, visit http://www.ohiorc.org/oli/2008/press_release.aspx.

The theme of the May/June Adolescent Literacy In Perspective is "Addressing Classroom Diversity Through Literature," and Edna Thomas, Columbus Public Schools, illustrates the theme in her powerful feature article about reaching students with literature. She relates her own poignant story, then ties it into her students' experiences with literature throughout her 25 years in the schools. She also includes suggested criteria for selecting multicultural books and a list of books that illustrate diversity and that appeal to adolescents. You'll also want to read the classroom vignettes, the OGT column, and the "For Your Bookshelf" feature. Don't miss this compelling issue.

Issue 2 of the Polar Bears and Penguins online magazine features a nonfiction article, Dinos in the Dark, written by Steve Whitt. The article is written for use with upper-elementary students (grades 4-5). Two modified versions are available for students in grades K-1 and grades 2-3.

In this article, your students can learn about adaptations that allowed dinosaurs to survive in cold and dark polar environments.  You can print this story in either text or a foldable book format. Electronic versions of the text let students read along as they listen to the text - a wonderful way to support struggling readers! Related activities provide tips for integrating this story with science and literacy instruction.

The Ohio Department of Education, in partnership with the Department of Job and Family services, has announced the availability of regional professional development opportunities for Ohio's early childhood educators. These opportunities are designed to support early childhood educators and administrators in their efforts to provide quality educational experiences aligned to Ohio's Early Learning Content Standards while also addressing the outcomes and goals in the Early Learning Program guidelines.

The professional development opportunities listed in the directory were designed to help children develop the knowledge and skills during the preschools years that will enable them to enter kindergarten prepared to achieve.

All of the workshops and seminars listed in this directory offer ODE Approved Professional Development credit toward the 20-hour per biennium professional development requirement outlined in Ohio law [H.B. 119] for programs participating in the Early Learning initiative and Early Childhood Education (formerly known as Public Preschool) programs. This requirement applies to any teacher not currently enrolled in an early childhood degree program, regardless of the teacher's level of education and experience.

Professional development opportunities range from a single three-hour workshop to a year-long comprehensive literacy series. Sessions are offered regionally and are free of charge, with the exception of the Ohio Early Care and Education Conference.

The AdLIT collection of professional development modules now includes seven modules. The two new modules are described below.

Knowing the Resources
When you "know the resources," you can better match books to readers. And when there is a good match between books and readers, there is bound to be an impact on reading achievement. The suggested strategies will help you not only to identify appropriate books but also to teach your students to become active participants and readers.

Stray from the Conventional Wisdom
Research suggests that grammar should not be taught as a subject by itself. This module presents a number of engaging alternatives to using a grammar book to help your students improve the quality and correctness of their writing.

Five additional professional development modules on the AdLIT website include the following topics:

• Reaching and Teaching Our Struggling Readers
• Preparing Students for the OGT
• Vocabulary
• Effective Researching and Reporting
• Using Literacy to Enhance Content-Area Learning

The latest topic in "Questions from the Classroom," deals with providing students with strategies for examining a question before they offer a response. Answers to previous questions are archived on the ORC website.

If you have a question related to adolescent literacy, send your question to editor@ohiorc.org. Please include your name and the name of the school or institution where you work. All questions will receive a response; some will be selected for future columns.

The AdLIT website now includes video clips, to be used as discussion pieces for teaching literacy in different contexts and to demonstrate how key aspects of language arts – such as comprehension, vocabulary, symbolic expression, communication, interpretation, and research – are interconnected, not only to each other, but to the core elements of a particular content area and to the skills needed across content areas and in everyday life. 

A new section on differentiated instruction contains research, instructional modules, and a wealth of additional information for differentiating instruction.

The reading strategies section now contains ten reading strategies with research and practical suggestions for teaching each strategy.

Browse through these new resources, developed just for teachers of adolescents who want to improve adolescents' literacy achievement, to see what's available to enrich your classroom and create new excitement in your teaching.