Building our knowledge of children s literature v2

Let’s Talk Books...Building our knowledge of quality children’s literature...... Teachers as Readers “..being a reader frames us as reading teachers and supports us as we seek to appren

Let’s Talk Books

Building our knowledge of quality children’s literature

Why?

How?

Let’s talk books

• How did you choose your 3 favourites?

• Why is each special to you?

• Who do you remember talking about and sharing books with as a child?

Where are we now?

A few questions to ponder:

• Who was the last person to share a children’s book recommendation with you?

• When did you last share a children’s title which was new to you?

• How would you rate your knowledge of

Children’s literature?

Fiction? Non fiction? Poetry ?

Why create a community of

readers among staff?

Sheer pleasure !

Pupils

Responsib ility

Privileg e

Teachers as Readers

“ being a reader frames us as reading teachers

and supports us as we seek to apprentice younger readers, model our own love of reading and create communities of readers within and beyond school.”

Reading Teachers/Teaching Readers.

Why teachers who read make good teachers of reading Cremin T, UKLA 2011

Surely it is this passionate adventure with language we want for all our children before all else We therefore help them explore literature as its own story, and the story of literature is

discovered in the story of our own and others’

reading of it

Tell Me Children , Reading & Talk Chambers A

Teachers as Readers - what the

research says

Here’s the bad news…

• UKLA’s Phase 1 (2008) survey of 1200 teachers showed that only 6.5 % had

recently read any children’s fiction

• Their knowledge of children’s literature reflected a considerable cause for concern

• The indications are that teachers relied heavily on well known, ‘celebrity’ authors and lacked the knowledge of a significantly diverse range of texts to encourage reading development and make informed recommendations (UKLA, 2008)

• Evidence shows that few young people perceive that their teachers help them

choose books (Maynard et al 2007)

How do we compare as a staff?

The good news

“An enhanced awareness and deep

pleasure in reading can, this UKLA study

suggests, nurture young readers who, like their teachers, are engaged, self motivated and socially interactive readers Whatever phase we teach - the choice is ours.”

Cremin,T (2011)

So, what are the barriers?

1 0

What are inspectors looking for?

“One of the key aspects of effective reading

in primary schools is the determination of

staff to promote a culture which

encourages pupils to enjoy reading, share

their views on what they have read and

develop the ability to compare texts and

express opinions about them.”

Reading, writing and communication Ofsted Guidance, Oct 2011

So, if time is an issue

1 1

“Although schools especially primary schools, devoted a considerable amount of time to

reading, few had a coherent and consistently articulated policy.”

Reading ,writing and communication Ofsted Guidance, Oct 2011

1 2

What can we do to help us develop our knowledge and passion for children’s

literature?

1 3

Key issues to consider:

• Book selection - what is the current quality of our

book stock in school (narrative, picture books,

non-fiction, poetry)?

• Do we have a secret bookworm amongst us? Our

own Richard & Judy in our school family (teacher, TA, governor, parent, grandparent, administrator)? If yes, how do we use that person effectively to help us

develop as a community of readers?

• Time - often the biggest barrier This needs to be

written into our approach to reading across the whole school to enable staff development

• Resources - where do we go for up to date knowledge and recommendations?

1 4

We are the linchpin enabling great Booktalk

Hearing it done Formal Talk

Doing it for yourself) Book Gossip

ENABLING ADULT

Taken from: Tell Me Children, Reading & Talk Chambers, A

1 5

Where to start

• Share your personal preferences

• ‘Core’ texts?

• Quality of language

• Books to make you laugh, make you cry

• Books for specific themes and purposes

1 6

• Teach Primary / Teach Secondary magazines

• National Literacy Trust book lists

Teachers as readers

quality is key

1 7

Keep your eyes on the latest book awards:

• Blue Peter Book Awards

• CILIP Carnegie Medal

• CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

• English 4-11 Book awards

• Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

• Nottingham Children's Book Award

• Red House Children's Book Award

• Waterstone's Children's Book Prize

Teachers as readers

quality is key

1 8

• Bookmark the best children’s book blogs

• Here’s a great list for starters…visit the Federation

of Children’s Book Groups who have an excellent

1 9

What about your own staff book

group?

• Explore your own literacy.

• Share quality literature with colleagues.

• Model lifelong reading for pleasure.

• Gain experience and confidence with book discussion.

• Reflect upon and learn from personal experience with books.

• Enhance teaching and learning.

Why not choose a mixture of adult and young people’s

literature?

2 0

Here are a few enticing titles to start

you off

• The Child that Books Built Francis

Spufford - beware, you may cry

• STOP What You Are Doing And Read

This - a collection of 10 essays from leading

authors, from Zadie Smith to Mark Haddon, on why to bother with reading

2 1

Don’t forget

• A problem shared…take a collaborative approach, use each other’s strengths

• Have a central storage space (blog, web page, server

area) to help build collections, recommendations and

lists

• If we are convinced this is a priority we must create time, backed up by permission/policy/release time for our

bookworms to help us develop knowledge and quality

• Our environment should reflect our passion on doors,

email signatures, displays: “Mrs Clark is reading ”

2 2

So

…action stations!

2 3 www.literacytrust.org.uk

National Literacy Trust

• One in six people in the UK struggle to read, write and communicate

• We believe that society will only be fair when

everyone can communicate as well as they need

• We deliver projects, campaign, investigate and

innovate, share knowledge and work in partnership

to transform lives through literacy

• We are an independent charity