Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D. Kent State University

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”

Albert Einstein

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.”

Plato

“Art has the means of keeping alive the sense of purposes that outrun evidence and of meanings that transcend habit.”

John Dewey

            The impetus for this blog comes from something I have been thinking about for a number of years. I hope that this may be the impetus for more of us sharing our thoughts about the importance of the art as well as the science of teaching reading.

I have a confession to make.  My undergraduate degree is in economics. In my mid-twenties, after encouragement from many of my friends, I decided to become a teacher. To be honest, I thought becoming a teacher would be rather easy.  After all, I went through school and was reasonably successful.  I should know how it’s done.

            Well, I was in for a bit of a shock. Teaching is not easy at all. It is essential for a democratic and productive society, it is enormously satisfying and joyful, but it is definitely not easy.   My respect for teaching and teachers grew exponentially during my first few years of teaching (and it continues to grow). Teaching is one of the most challenging professions into which a person can enter. And, I think a major reason for the challenge of teaching in general, and the teaching of reading in particular, is that effective reading instruction requires teachers to apply what has been learned through scientific study of reading and reading instruction.    However, effective instruction in reading also requires teachers to be artists. Teachers have to be both – artists and scientists.

            Currently, there is a growing recognition of the importance of the science of reading (SOR) for reading instruction. The science of reading directs that successful instruction in reading includes systematic and explicit instruction in the key scientifically determined reading competencies – phonics and phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension.  

            Publishers and curricula developers have used these scientific competencies to develop reading curricula and materials that are, in many cases, largely scripted.  That is, teachers are directed to implement the program nearly word for word as is stated in the teacher’s guide.   It’s called fidelity. Among the problems that come with such programs are that they do not necessarily meet the individual needs of many students, and teachers can become alienated from their reading instruction and removed from important instructional decision-making in their classrooms.  Moreover, there is a lack of compelling scientific evidence that such scripted and scientific program lead to generalized improvements in reading for students. Note that reading achievement in the United States has barely budged since the report of the National Reading Panel, nearly 20 years ago,  that gave credence to the science of reading. Reading First, a national program for bringing scientific approaches into primary grade reading instruction, had little impact on student reading achievement.  

            Why have we not seen the progress that was anticipated by the science of reading?   I think that a significant concern is that we have not embraced the idea that effective teaching reading is an art as well as a science, and that teachers need to be artists as well as scientists. We need to allow teachers the creative freedom to develop and implement scientifically based reading curriculum that is engaging, playful, authentic, esthetic, and effective. In effect, I propose that we provide teachers with scientifically validated end-of-year benchmarks in phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension and then give teachers the creative license and professional support to achieve those benchmarks.   

Teachers will still teach phonics, but instead of exclusive use of highly scripted and monotonous tasks, drills, and worksheets that often accompany such instruction, students might be regularly engaged in guided word play and not realize that although they are having fun with words, they are also developing mastery over words. For example, have you noticed all the games we play for fun as adults that are, in essence, word games?  And have you noticed that if you are a regular player of Scrabble or Words with Friends or Boggle you generally improve in your playing over time? Improving your game is evidence of learning.   If adults love word games wouldn’t children?   And yet, in many classrooms games and play are often locked away or reserved only for when the “work” is done.   

Several years ago, I developed a game-like word activity (based on the work of Pat Cunningham and Isabel Beck) called word ladders. In a word ladder students make a series of words by manipulating each previous word (e.g. start with “cat” and change one letter to make a large mouse or rodent – “rat”;  change one letter in ‘rat” to make something a baseball player uses when at the plate – “bat,” and so on). To make it into a game the first and last words in each word ladder are related in some way – base to ball, dog to cat. Although children are playing a game in which they try to determine each new word on the ladder from the clues given, the activity itself requires students to consider deeply how words are encoded, decoded, and have meaning.

For another example, consider reading fluency, also a scientifically validated reading competency. Scientific research tells us that through rereadings (repeated readings) of texts students develop fluency over the passage practiced but also greater fluency (and comprehension) over new passages they have never before seen. That’s the science of fluency.  The art of fluency take this scientific notion and asks, “how do we get students to read a text repeatedly in authentic and meaningful ways?”   One artful answer to that question is found in the notion of theater and performance.   If students know that they will be asked to perform a poem, or a song, or a script for an audience they have an authentic and motivating reason for rereadings, or as they say in the theater – rehearsal. Moreover, not only does rehearsal of this sort lead to automatic recognition of the words in the passage, it also encourages students to read with an expression that reflects the meaning of the text – both are part of the science of reading fluency.

Art and science are not mutually exclusive endeavors.   Indeed, scientists generally have a great appreciation for art; and artists often take inspiration from concepts of science.  The great challenge is for teachers of reading, much like practitioners of medicine, to find ways to make the science of reading come to life in artful and authentic ways in their classrooms.   And the challenge for us who support teachers is to grant permission and provide professional support and encouragement that allows teachers to become the instructional scientists and artists that will create a revolution in literacy achievement.

You can find resources for teaching accurate and automatic word recognition (i.e. fluency) at Tim’s own website – www.timrasinski.com

Daily Word Ladders by Timothy Rasinski

Create positive change with TeamMakers by Laura Robb and Evan Robb

Follow Tim on Twitter @TimRasinski1

by Marlena Gross-Taylor

As educators, we all endeavor to inspire. We want to inspire our students, fellow teachers and if in a leadership position, those that follow us. But have you ever considered the definition of the word inspire, particularly the Latin translation of insperitae, “to breathe”? If we as educators are to inspire and encourage creativity in others, then it’s imperative we prioritize our white space to recharge. 

So how do you carve out time for whitespace as an educator?

5 Ways to Take a Breath…

Reflection

Consider your daily routines so far this school year.  When are you able to have a moment to yourself without any obligations?  Maybe that’s the car ride to and from school or even those few moments before you start your day.  Choose a time that’s best for you and commit to reflecting on the present.  This is not a time to mentally run through your ever-growing to-do list, but rather reflect on what you’re grateful for or what inspires you each day? 

Planning

Just as we have to be intentional with embedding our standards in our lesson plans, we must be just as vigilant in planning white space.  A full calendar doesn’t necessarily reflect productivity.  Set aside time on your calendar to relax, daydream, and grab a cup of coffee with friends.  If you’re worried about those menial tasks that consume precious chunks of your time, like cleaning your house or bathing the dog, consider outsourcing those tasks in order to free up time for yourself.

Family

As educators, many times our families take the back seat to our students, school and community.  Early in my career, I had to live with the guilt of missing a few of my boys’ milestones because I was teaching and/or leading. Set clear boundaries between work and family and plan around those milestones even if it meant taking time off to attend a field trip or sporting event. 

Passions                             

I absolutely LOVE being an educator and accept the full responsibility of impacting children’s’ lives; however, teaching is not my only passion.  I literally turn into Betty White in the Snickers commercial if I go too long without curling in my favorite chair to read or tucked away in my office to write.  What is your passion? Better yet, how do you make time to engage in your passion?  Through our passions, we can deepen our connection with students.

White Space provides clarity allowing us to refocus on our purpose: to inspire and ignite the fire of the next generation and hopefully modeling the importance of taking a breath.

Marlena Gross-Taylor is Chief Academic Officer for Douglas County School District in Castle Rock, CO. She is also a consultant, founder of EduGladiators, and a blogger.

By: Molly Ness PHD

Recently, my fourth-grade daughter and I were at our local recycling center, dropping off aluminum cans and plastic milk gallons. As we broke down our cardboard, we noticed an enormous stack of virtually brand-new children’s books. As I shook my head in frustration, my daughter asked me what was wrong.

“These books belong in the hands of young readers, or in a classroom library – not on the top of a recycling pile,” I explained. “Did you know that some children don’t have books in their homes or schools?”, I continued. Fortunate to grow up in a home and area rich with books and in a family of lifelong readers, this concept was incomprehensible to her. She furrowed her brow, “I don’t get it. How can kids not have books? How are they gonna read?” 

Her simple question was our impetus to launch a community book drive. With a few social media posts, some flip-lid trash cans, and many cardboard boxes, my daughter and I have collected nearly 4,000 books for Title I schools in our area. My daughter has become a young literacy activist, high schoolers (in need of fulfilling their required community service hours) box and distribute books, and we’ve made our community aware about our collective responsibility to take action in addressing book deserts.

The Devastating Impact of Book Deserts

Today, over 32 million children lack book access in their homes, schools, and communities. These students live in book deserts – high-poverty geographic areas that lack reading material. Recent research shows significant disparities in the availability of books between high-income and low-income neighborhoods, even within the same city; in a high-poverty area of Washington, DC (with poverty levels above 60%) there is one book per 833 children (Neuman & Moland, 2019).

            When books are not readily available, children suffer. As Neuman and colleagues (2019) explain, book deserts constrain young children’s opportunities to start school ready to learn. Without books, children miss out on chances to acquire vocabulary, content knowledge, and a myriad of literacy skills.  Furthermore, without books children miss out on the vast socioemotional benefits that comes from adult-child reading interaction.

How You Can Help #endbookdeserts

Whether you are a teacher living in an area flooded with books or you teach in a community that qualifies as a book desert, you can join forces with literacy warriors who aim to provide book access and equity. Here are just a few ideas on how to flood students with books:

• Seek Out & Visit Literacy-Rich Areas in Your Communities: Innovative people and programs – beyond our public libraries – are transforming community spaces into literacy hot spots. For example, laundromats are quickly becoming makeshift literacy spaces – as patrons tend to frequent the same laundromats, bring their young children, and spend an extended amount of time there. Embracing literacy as a keystone to healthy child development, Reach Out and Read provides families with books as a part of pediatric checkups. Book banks are gaining momentum, as epitomized by Bernie’s Book Bank in Chicago, and San Francisco’s Children’s Book Project, and Baltimore-based Maryland Book Bank.
• Get Creative Passionate literacy warriors who get books into the hands of their students don’t rest on school vacations or summer breaks and prove that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Teachers in Virginia ride bikes into students’ neighborhoods over the summer, armed with popsicles and books. In Michigan, teachers repurposed a dilapidated school bus into the Big Rockin’ Book Bus; throughout the summer, they deliver meals and books directly to students.
• Send Home Books From Your Classroom and / or School Libraries: Knowing that students might not have books at home, we need to be generous with the resources that we do have. Don’t lock away books in classroom and school libraries during school breaks and summer holidays. Don’t be afraid that some books might not make their way back to classroom shelves. Literacy guru Donalyn Miller says, “I’d rather lose a book than lose a reader.”
• Spread Book Culture: Overcoming book deserts takes more than just placing books in low-income areas. Create book culture by inviting authors to discuss their craft, develop welcoming spaces to discuss books, and constantly talk to and with students about what you are reading to showcase your reading identity. You might foster the reading habits of readers of all ages with cross-community virtual book clubs. In effort to promote a love of reading, ProjectLit provides high-quality, student-selected books worthy of discussion.
• Raise awareness to #EndBookDeserts: Many people outside of the field of education are simply unaware of the presence and impact of book deserts. You might work with local businesses, churches, and organizations to understand the challenge and inspire them to take action and begin a book collection, to help a teacher fulfill her Amazon wish list for classroom books, or donate their time to the many organizations that exist to distribute books.

Ultimately, all of us must champion children’s literacy rights, and be vocal advocates for the importance of book access. As we shine the light on the accessibility of books in our low-income urban and rural areas, we increase our ability to transform book deserts into book oases. When teachers come together – across both book deserts and book floods – all children increase the likelihood of becoming lifelong readers. For more information on the people and programs who work to end book deserts, visit www.endbookdeserts.com.

References:

Neuman, S. & Moland, N. (2019). Book deserts: The consequences of income segregation on children’s access to print. Urban Education, 54(1), 126-147.

Check out Molly’s Website!

By Ellin Keene

It’s a bright autumn morning in your elementary or middle school classroom, early in the year, so much ahead—nothing quite like those early days of promise. Literacy is first up for the day. You present a short mini-lesson (keep it snappy!) in reading and hustle the children off to read independently. You feel that it has taken too long this fall to get them all into the “right” books, but finally, you are ready to dig into real conferences.

You rush to confer with as many students as possible. Just two today. You’re wondering about those three “reading” in the corner. What were they really up to over there? And what about your friend who has abandoned four books in two weeks? You meant to confer with her today to figure out what is going on there. You ask the students to share quickly with a partner as a sort of reflection. Pretty lame, you think. The kids didn’t take it seriously.

Time for writing. You are determined not to forget writer’s workshop this year! Last year it seems that writing always took a back seat to reading or, when kids did write, it was all response to text. So, you roll out a carefully planned writing mini-lesson which, incidentally, is unrelated to the reading lesson. You tell the students that it’s time to apply what you’ve taught in their own writing. You try to make it sound like they’re standing on the precipice of greatness as writers. They look skeptical. Most stare at their writer’s notebooks. You dig in to confer with a student and there is so much work to be done in her writing. You’re overwhelmed. 15 minutes later, you look up and realize that the literacy block is nearly over. No time to reflect on writing today. Determined, you think, “Okay, I really will get that in tomorrow!”

You walk the students to lunch feeling that the class didn’t accomplish nearly as much as they would have liked and that time is too short to address standards requirements, much less lead students to a sense of spirited inquiry. The next day, the process plays out again in exactly the same way. Sound at all familiar? There has to be a better way.

Rethinking Readers’/Writers’ Workshop

The Readers’/Writers’ Workshop structure described above has been used for nearly four decades, yet as early as 1983, Rob Tierney & David Pearson suggested another approach. In “Toward a Composing Model of Reading” (1983), they argue that “one must begin to view reading and writing as essentially similar processes of meaning construction.” They question the wisdom of teaching reading and writing as separate processes and suggest that we view reading as a process of composing, much as we think of writing, and that whenever possible we integrate reading and writing instruction. In most classrooms, their call has gone unheeded.

In today’s literacy world, packaged programs proliferate and nearly always lead teachers down paths to separate instruction in reading and writing. Isolated reading and writing and teacher- or program-driven learning targets are the norm; students rarely set their own goals and are lucky if they have choice in what to read and write, let alone when to read and write. Too often, students experience diminished engagement and teachers know that this is hardly the way to provoke inquiry, engagement, or agency.

I’d like to offer a proposal (get it?) in which reading and writing get married. (And live happily ever after.)  Following a lovely ceremony, they adopt the name Literacy Studio!

In a Literacy Studio:

• Most reading and writing instruction is integrated.
  • If a reading learning target relates to, say, character traits and how they affect the plot, there is one whole group lesson (called a Crafting session) that incorporates reading and writing each day that the class is focused on that objective. The teacher models in mentor texts and writing, cutting in half the instruction time and offering it in a more efficient and integrated way.
• Students choose whether they will read or write following the Crafting Session.
  • During independent work time (called composing) students may choose to apply their understanding of character traits in reading and/or writing.
  • Some may write during the first half of composing time and switch to reading for the second half or vice versa.
  • Some may choose to read (or write) for the entire composing time but will choose the other for the next day’s work.
  • Students keep simple records to show whether they chose to read and/or write during a particular composing time ensuring that all spend a roughly equal independent work time on each during a given week.
  •  Whether they are reading or writing, they are focused on the class learning goal, in this example, character traits.
• Teachers confer and convene small groups.
  • During composing time, teachers have an extended opportunity to confer and meet with small groups. They have planned one lesson, there is one independent work time and one reflection. There is time to get to those kids in the corner, figure out why our friend isn’t sticking with a book and meet with a small group of students who aren’t yet applying, for example, what they know about character traits in their writing.
  • Small groups (called invitational groups) are needs-based and may include children reading and writing at a wide range of present performance level as long as they have a need in common.

• At the end of composing, students reflect.
  • In small groups, pairs or with the whole class, the students discuss how they focused on the learning target as readers and writers, sharing their insights with each other so that when, for example, a reader switches to writing the next day, he will have his classmates’ stories of writing to develop characters to propel him forward.

Let’s marry reading and writing this year!

When reading and writing get married, there is:

• One Crafting Session a day focused on reading and writing!
• One longer Composing Time for independent work and time to confer each day with readers and writers! An Invitational Group as needed!
• One Reflection Session a day that focuses on reading and writing!

Learning reading and writing together makes sense to kids. Students develop perspectives as readers and writers simultaneously leading to a dramatic increase in the quality of their thinking and work in both.

And, teaching reading and writing together makes sense for us. We gain enormous efficiency and time to focus on individual students, but most importantly, we can help kids understand the critical synergy between reading and writing—that’s a gift that will serve them for years.

Ellin Oliver Keene

September 2019

Ellin Oliver Keene has been a classroom teacher, staff developer, non-profit director and adjunct professor of reading and writing.  She directed staff development initiatives at the Denver-based Public Education & Business Coalition and served as Deputy Director and Director of Literacy and Staff Development for the Cornerstone Project at the University of Pennsylvania. She serves as senior advisor at Heinemann, overseeing the Heinemann Fellows initiative and is the editor of the Heinemann Catalogue/Journal.

Ellin consults with schools and districts throughout the country and abroad.  Her emphasis is long-term, school-based professional development and strategic planning for literacy learning.

Ellin is author of Engaging Children: Igniting the Drive for Deeper Learning (2018), is co-editor and co-author of The Teacher You Want to Be: Essays about Children, Learning, and Teaching (Heinemann, 2015); co-editor of the Not This, but That series (Heinemann, 2013 – 2017); author of Talk About Understanding: Rethinking Classroom Talk to Enhance Understanding (Heinemann, 2012), To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension (Heinemann, 2008), co-author of Comprehension Going Forward (Heinemann, 2011), Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction, 2^nd edition (Heinemann, 2007, 1^st edition, 1997), and author of Assessing Comprehension Thinking Strategies (Shell Educational Books, 2006).