The Quill
Serving
Gloucester,
President’s Message
September - October 2009
Dear
Colleagues,
As we begin yet
another school, I am reminded of
my favorite teacher quote by Henry Adams, “A teacher affects eternity;
he can
never tell where his influence stops.” After 32 years of teaching I
still have
that quote sitting on my desk to remind me of the powerful job we do
daily. We
are all beginning another school year or for some of us, our first year
of
teaching. Just remember how important
our jobs are for the future of the students we work with.
This school
year, the Newport News Reading Council
is starting off with a Fall Conference to help kick off your school
year. On Monday, October 26 we will be
having a
Conference where presenters will be having workshops, vendors will be
available
to look over their products, food will be available to purchase and
door prizes
will be given away.
Another
exciting event to mark on your calendars
is the Virginia State Reading Association State Conference in
I hope your
year has begun with a fresh start and
a new beginning to a year-long learning experience.
Sherry
Edbauer
NNRC
President
2009-2010 NNRC Board
Sherry Edbauer – President
Beth Guthrie - Vice President
Kelly Cartwright – Secretary
Cathy Huemer – Treasurer
Pam Gaspard
- York County Membership Chair
Carmen Ellis - Newport News Membership Chair
Beverly Becker –
Historian
Marilyn Schempf - Legislative
Liaison
$25 Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate - Julian
Jackson from
5 Book Packets of Time Spies -
Linda Waite
from
Jan Myers
from
Michelle Braxton from Carver in
Donna Myers from York County Schools
Rachel
Minor from Dare Elementary in
Legislative
News
Legislative Update
Congress
continues to work on a comprehensive literacy bill
for children from birth to Grade 12.
Meanwhile…
On
-adolescent literacy and math interventions
-early childhood data systems
-high quality programs for special education teachers
-implementation of school-wide behavior plans
-support Response to Intervention
International Project
The International Project selected for this
year is the Central
Asia Institute.
This non-profit organization was begun by Greg
Mortenson,
author of Three Cups of Tea,
to promote education and literacy,
especially for girls in
Each $1 provides a month for one child’s education or a day of a teacher’s salary. A penny will provide a pencil for a child.
Participating in an international project is one of
the
International Reading Association’s requirements to receive Honor
Council
status. Last year our council made a
donation to the Central Asia Institute from the general fund. This year the Board thought some of our
members would like to participate by personally contributing to the
project. Therefore, at each of the
meetings,
we’ll provide a jar for your donations.
Bring your pennies, dimes and dollars to help build peace
through education.
Children’s Book Review
Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones
By Judy Schachner
(Book Review)
Skippyjon Jones and the Bag of Bones by Judy Schnacher is a wonderful tale about a cat that thinks he is a chihuahua. Skippyjon Jones goes on an adventure in his closet that sends him digging for dinosaur bones with his old amigos. Skippyjon meets all kinds of dinosaurs along the way. This story is imaginative and funny.
The author uses humor mixed with Spanish to help readers of all ages laugh and sing along with Skippito, Skippjon’s alias. As we see more ESL students in our classes, this book offers the Spanish speaking students and opportunity to hear their native tongue, laugh along with their classmates while understanding the humor in the story. Judy Schnacher is a wonderful children’s author. This is a book you definitely want in your collection.
Written by
Newport News Public Schools
Professional Book Review
By Adrienne Gear
Nonfiction Reading Power was one of many professional books recommended by NNRC Awards Reception keynote speaker, Sylvia Babcock. Adrienne Gear has compiled a set of explicit brain based strategies to address teaching informational text, which I think we would all agree is necessary in today’s world. This book addresses the question “Does the brain engage with nonfiction text the same way it engages with fiction?” Gear explains that we use some of the same strategies reading both fiction and nonfiction such as asking questions, making connections and inferring. But she realized other strategies were needed to make sense of informational text like understanding text structure and determining important information. It is from this thought process that she wrote this book.
As I read her book I found myself agreeing with many of Gear’s statements. For instance she approaches reading strategies as thinking strategies and refers to the reader as a thinker. The goal of the strategies she presents is to move students from literal experiences with text to interactive experiences and finally interpretive experiences with text. Her lessons explain what thinking looks like which helps students develop a metacognitive approach to reading and an awareness that reading is all about thinking.
Gear provides a list of strategies to be taught, modeled and practiced in a gradual release of responsibility learning model. She includes several highly engaging lessons for identifying text features, questioning/inferring, determining importance, connecting and synthesizing. Gear uses key concept introductory lessons to explain the strategy’s purpose in addition to including student samples and lists of books. Her book lists are organized by subject and strategy, which I found to be extremely helpful. Not only did she organize by subject and strategy but also primary and intermediate levels.
As I read this book over the summer I found myself questioning, inferring, connecting and synthesizing wishing I had a classroom full of students to teach and practice these strategies with. Gear states, “The real power of Reading Power comes after the strategies have been taught when the students begin to apply the strategies to any book.” I whole heartily agree and am looking forward to putting these lessons to the test this year.
By Deborah Wesley
Grafton Bethel Elementary
At $25, membership in the NNRC and VSRA is a bargain. Here
are some of the benefits of membership:
This fall we are offering two incentives to join the Reading
Council:
NNRC is an organization that offers an opportunity for professional growth to the individual and the profession as a whole. Join today.
2009-2010 Titles
Primary (K-3)
Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp Denise Fleming,
The Chicken Chasing Queen ofMy Chincoteague Pony Susan Jeffers
Fred Stays with Me! Nancy Coffelt
Once Upon a Banana Jennifer Armstrong
Elementary (3-5)
Crooked Kind of Perfect Linda Urban, Harcourt Children’s Books, 2007.
Middle (6-8)
The Black Book of Secrets F.E. Higgins, Feiwel and Friends, 2007.
Students
in school may read these
books and vote on their favorites. What
a great reading project for a classroom!
See the VSRA website for more
information.
