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Infographic that would be great to print out and hang in office as a reminder of the work to do

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Resource that helps teacher librarians highlight their strengths and benefits to school admin

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10. That you are a teacher who teaches not content but process. You teach children to be information literate, digitally literate, media literate, and visually literate. The skills that you teach, the dispositions that you help children to develop, the responsibilities that you foster, and the self-assessment strategies that you instill will serve children not only in school but also in life. You are, first and foremost, a teacher!

9. That you are an information specialist, the original, most powerful search engine, able to decipher the most cryptic reference question and connect that child or that teacher with the information needed. You know the resources; you know your patrons, and you connect the two.

8. That you are an instructional partner who works collaboratively with all other educators in the building to teach critical information skills in the context of content curriculum. You are there to partner with that teacher who wants to present a lesson in a different way or who wants to have children create a more authentic product to demonstrate real learning. Because of your participation, the lesson is stronger and more effective.

7. That you are an instructional leader with a view and perspective of the school like no other. You see across grades and across content areas. You work with all students and with all teachers. You are well versed in the latest technologies and are able to integrate them effectively into instruction, and you're able to provide professional development on library resources and technologies for your colleagues.

6. That you are a program administrator who does a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to make sure that the library program runs smoothly. So much of your job is invisible, and your principal needs to know that.

5. That you empower students to become critical thinkers. Through lessons in the library students experience everything from comparing and contrasting nonfiction and fiction works on the same topic to creating in a makerspace to evaluating information found on the Web.

4. That you empower students to become enthusiastic readers as you do everything in your power to help them develop not only skills in reading but also a lifelong love of reading. You provide books in various formats (print, audio, ebook) and in various genres to meet students' information and recreational reading needs. You host reading promotions, and you stress the joy of reading.

3. That you empower students to become skillful researchers. You teach children to unpack information using text features in books. You teach children how to summarize and how to synthesize, and you teach them the differences in the two. You teach children to narrow topics, develop research questions, and search effectively to answer those questions.

2. That you empower students to become ethical users of information. You teach the concept of intellectual property, of citation, and of giving credit where credit is due. You help children to understand what plagiarism is, and you teach them how to extract and process and synthesize information to create a new product.

1. That school librarians transform student learning and that this is much easier to accomplish with administrative support. An administrator's support can come in many forms: a healthy budget, a schedule that allows for common planning time with teachers, affirmation to faculty of the important role of the library program in the school and in student learning.

If your administrator already knows these things, wonderful! You or a librarian with whom they've worked in the past has demonstrated what a 21st-century school librarian does! If your administrator is not so knowledgeable about the key role that you can play in the instruction that takes place in your school, now is the time to speak up and share. Be the librarian that delivers that message!

Categories: Advocacy/Leadership, Blog Topics, Community, Presidential Musings

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Audrey Church, Leadership Development Committee Chair and 2017-2018 AASL Past President

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Ten Things Your Administrator Needs to Know as the School Year Begins | Knowledge Quest

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10. That you are a teacher who teaches not content but process. You teach children to be information literate, digitally literate, media literate, and visually literate. The skills that you teach, the dispositions that you help children to develop, the responsibilities... Read More ›

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Highlights the benefits of having and collaborating with a teacher librarian at schools

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Convenient resource to have on hand when needing to defend or advocate for the students and the library program

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American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

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The following position statement is currently under review to align with the National School Library Standards:

The following position statements have been sunsetted by the AASL Board of Directors effective January 27, 2019:

Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards

Digital Content & Ebooks in School Library Collection

Quantitative Standards

Role of the School Librarian in Senior/Capstone Projects

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Appropriate Staffing for School Libraries The Critical Need for and Responsibilities of District-Level School Library Supervisors Definition of an Effective School Library Diversity in the Organization Instructional Role of the School Librarian Labeling Practices Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records (ALA) Preparation of School Librarians Role of the School Library School Librarian's Role in Reading School Library Scheduling Strategic Leadership Role of School Librarians The following position statement is currently under review to align with the National School Library Standards: Suppo

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Easy lesson ideas in 15 minutes to teach students the importance of media literacy

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As I was concluding my workshop presentation at a recent South Carolina School Librarians annual conference, a media specialist raised her hand to say that although she liked my ideas for media and visual literacy lessons, she would have difficulty finding time to do most of them.

She admitted that it was common for her to see students for only 15 minutes at a time. How could she "do" a lesson with those time constraints? With that in mind, I offer these ideas for your consideration, whether you work in the school library space or in a classroom.

Gather up a few magazines

Does your media center collection include magazines? I'm sure it does. And many teachers also have some magazines in their classrooms. You've carefully chosen periodicals that will (you hope) appeal to the middle grades student.

You probably have magazines created around topics of high tween and teen interest: music, sports, fashion and gaming. Perhaps your collection includes Teen Vogue, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Junior Scholastic, National Geographic's Kids, or a host of other titles.

Most of these youth-oriented magazines also have online versions and/or apps that can be used with mobile devices - iPads, Chromebooks, and the like. One example is TIME for Kids, the TIME news magazine written with K-6 student interests (and Common Core nonfiction standards) in mind.

Have you ever considered using any of these readily available, student friendly magazines in a short media literacy lesson?

Asking your students to conduct a "close read" of a magazine cover is another way to teach informational texts and to get them thinking beyond the superficial. In our increasingly visual world, students should be challenged to analyze and deconstruct magazines they see at school and at home.

Some quick magazine lesson ideas

Each of the magazine covers pictured here is perfect for a short visual and media literacy lesson plan.

IDEA #1 - Why does it look like this? Visual literacy is one of the areas in which many school library media specialists already excel. Students could consider the work of the graphic designer whose job is to create a cover that will be both appealing and attractive. Have your students take notice of font size and color, as well as layout and design. (Here is a 6 minute tutorial on magazine design which you might wish to use with your students.) They're the experts - they're the "kids" - so ask them to find the "hooks" on the cover intended to pull them in. Do they work? Why?

IDEA #2 - Who's the audience? What audience or audiences is the cover trying to attract? Your discussion about Teen Vogue will certainly include mentions of girls, fashion fans, but what about "rebels"? The Sports Illustrated for Kids cover promotes the College Football Preview, so sports fans, for sure. Kids interested in African American heroes? Does the picture of Clemson's quarterback seem especially youthful?

IDEA #3 - What messages are being communicated? Every word and image on these magazine covers has been carefully considered before being placed there. Both Junior Scholastic and National Geographic for Kids feature stories about fake news. Is that messaging for adults as well as young people?

Promoting critical thinking

I've just scratched the surface with my examples, but I'm sure you get the idea. Magazine covers are particularly good vehicles for inviting critical thinking questions (and you can find many more via Google Images). Indeed, media and visual literacy activities in general can really open the door for this kind of deep inquiry.

For example, if you look on the back of a magazine, you'll likely find an advertisement. Ask:

► who is the creator of the message?
► what is the purpose of the message?
► who is the audience for the message?
► what techniques are used to get and keep attention?
► who or what might be omitted and why?
► who benefits from the message?

In my 2013 MiddleWeb article, Teaching Visual Literacy With Magazines, I offered a series of other appropriate critical thinking questions with which you could engage your students. These questions are confined to just the cover image. Also see my handout for a Compare & Contrast Magazine Cover Exercise. This exercise alone could fill your limited time allotment.

And don't just consider the magazines that interest your students personally. Think about using magazines you might have at home which appeal (obviously) to audiences outside their age range and interest. Ads for prescription drugs, common in Readers Digest and many adult lifestyle magazines, make it clear that the publication is aimed at older readers. (Also see my web page featuring past and current magazines featuring President Trump.)

One of the goals here is to demonstrate that there are literally thousands of magazines (think of those jam-packed magazine racks at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore) aimed at informing and marketing to a variety of different people.

One more idea: Magazine economics

This idea might require several 15-minute sessions under the general theme: How do so many different magazines stay in business, and do so in the Smartphone Era, when entertaining content is just a screen away?

Profits: How does a magazine make money? Are your students aware that it is the advertising which sustains each publication? Have your students count the number of full page ads, half-page ads and quarter-page ads in a particular issue of Teen Vogue or Seventeen. How many did they come up with? (Assume each full page ad costs the advertiser $10,000, how much money did the magazine make from all of those ads?)

Circulation: You might also have your students explore the total number of readers (circulation) for any periodical. This list of the top 10 magazines in the United States (2016) might make for some interesting discussion. How many of these magazines are familiar to students? Do they read any on this list? Why might these be the biggest sellers?
Here's a Super Resource for Planning
a Magazine Economics Lesson Magazine Media Fact Book 2016/17
Who benefits? Another appropriate question here is: who benefits from your purchase of a magazine? (This is one of my favorite questions for students to consider.) As they begin to answer this question, consider listing their responses on a whiteboard or projection device. How many different people did they come up with? Are they surprised at the number? (Some hints: publisher, printer, writers, designers, photographers, models, graphic artists, mailing service, stores selling magazines, advertisers who convince you to buy their product, even companies that recycle paper! And they'll think of more.)

I hope you find the suggestions and recommendations included here to be worthwhile. If you should decide to try something with your students, I'd enjoy hearing your and their reactions.

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Quick Ideas for Visual and Media Literacy Lessons

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As I was concluding my workshop presentation at a recent South Carolina School Librarians annual conference, a media specialist raised her hand to say that although she liked my ideas for media and visual literacy lessons, she would have difficulty finding time to do most of them.

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Practical suggestions to shift the mindset of media literacy instruction in the classroom

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How to Teach Media Literacy

Here are four tips for teaching media literacy to K-12 students in the digital age.

1. Tell students to avoid instantly reacting to a headline.

Do not forward, share, or retweet something until reading all of it and looking at the source. The media literate person knows to check the source.

2. Explain to students that older may be wiser.

Look for good ol' news media: magazines, newspapers, and television channels that have been around and have long histories in the business. Your students should be aware that there are newspapers and magazines with histories that go back hundreds of years. There are television channels that have been here since TV was invented. Start there-yes, the "mainstream media."

Do not be fooled by people bashing mainstream media. Look at the word: mainstream. Not fringe, not troll-farmed, not sensational. If a story is for real, these sources will have it covered. The media literate person knows to check the old pros first.

3. Teach them that biased does not mean false.

There is a lot of news to cover. How does the media decide what to present? Recently, I was channel surfing as I sat on a stationary bike. At the top of the hour, two channels had very different leads to start their broadcasts. Channel A led with Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager, being found guilty of several financial crimes and talked extensively about his work on the Trump campaign. Channel B led with an arrest of an illegal immigrant suspected of killing a young woman in Iowa. Is either one fake news? No. Each reported what actually happened. Nothing was made up. No reporter lied. Is there bias? Maybe. Could A be biased against Trump and want to feature stories that make him look bad? Could B be biased against immigrants and want to feature stories that make immigrants look bad? Sure. But neither is lying about what happened.

Being media literate means being aware of bias and also understanding that it is possible to be biased while telling the truth. Information that shows something you don't want to see is not fake news.

4. Portray media as a best friend of the people.

News media are critical in a democracy. Voters must be informed if they are to make good decisions. A little history: Within minutes of creating a new country, our Founding Fathers decided to make 10 changes to the Constitution. The very first change they proposed?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The First Amendment protects the press, the news media. Why? The Founders were worried that the press, not specifically mentioned in the articles setting up the government, could be attacked. Before anything else, they wanted to guarantee freedom of the press along with the others.

"...the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable." -James Madison

"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." -Thomas Jefferson

The Founding Fathers realized that a free and respected press would hold government leaders accountable, publicize important issues, and educate citizens so they can make informed decisions. Attacking the press, then, is a very dicey proposition. If the press is demeaned, those three things don't happen. Who will perform those functions? This is not a liberal or a conservative issue. We all must agree that a free press is critical to a well-functioning democracy.

Spotlighting news media literacy in the classroom is the first step to building informed citizens. But it's only one piece of the media literacy puzzle. We'll look at other pieces in future posts.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.
***
Blog contributor Erik Palmer is an author on the This blog, originally published in 2018, has been updated for 2021. HMH Into Reading and HMH Into Literature programs.

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4 Tips for Teaching Media Literacy in the Digital Age

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Here are four tips for teaching media literacy to K-12 students in the digital age. 1. Tell students to avoid instantly reacting to a headline. Do not forward, share, or retweet something until reading all of it and looking at the source. The media literate person knows to check the source.

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Great resources to help advocate for data literacy instruction and assessment in schools, classrooms, and libraries

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Samantha Viotty's activity for visualizing data networks has gummy bears
representing people and toothpicks signifying their relationships.
Photo courtesy of Samatha Viotty

Data is all around us, from the output of your Fitbit to interactive maps that track voters to the latest visualization of the New York Times front page. With the rise of mobile devices and wearable technology, data is more available to general audiences, and the amount being generated has also exploded. According to IBM, 90 percent of the world's data has been created in the last two years.

This vast pool of information is being used to advocate for change, justify decisions, and suggest personal action plans-such as the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, which offers students data to help them choose a college. It is vital that our students understand and interpret the data, infographics, and visualizations they encounter.

One reason data literacy is vital is that "[i]n what some are calling a 'post-truth world,' students seem to focus on numbers a lot," says Jo Angela Oehrli, learning librarian/children's literature librarian at the University of Michigan Libraries. Students believe that if a number is connected to information, "it has to be a fact. But numbers are manipulated all of the time....We want students to have a tool kit of questions that they can use to question the data that is out there."

To this end, Oehrli and Kristin Fontichiaro, clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, have been leading an IMLS-funded project called Supporting Librarians in Adding Data Literacy Skills to Information Literacy Instruction. Through data literacy programs and data science training, librarians can ensure that students develop the skills to question and interpret data in the news or that they generate through their day-to-day activities. They might even set some students on the path toward a career in the expanding field of data science.

What are data literacy and data science?

Data literacy refers to the ability to understand, generate, and use data. This can mean everything from being able to sort through the results of a survey to being able to understand the meaning of a complicated graph or chart. It also includes the ability to critically evaluate data and visualizations.

Data science goes beyond data literacy. The term "data science" has been around for decades, but its current usage was advanced by Chuien-Fu Jeff Wu at the University of Michigan in the late 1990s, where he was a professor of statistics. It has exploded in popularity recently, with the rapid increase of accessible sources of data and the tools to work with it, such as Google Forms, which makes it easy to collect data, and Google Charts, which allows users to visualize results. In the face of this burgeoning interest, many colleges and universities are adding programs in response to the growing demand for trained data scientists.

At its heart, data science refers to the analysis of data, usually through automated means, and the interpretation and application of the results. Frequently, it is closely related to computer programming and statistical topics. In fact, much of the current rise in popularity of data science has to do with greater interest in computer programming skills and new hardware and software that makes this work approachable for people of all ages.

As more folks master coding languages such as Python, they also learn how to use coding skills to manipulate, analyze, and interpret the reams of data we produce every day, with popular training sites like Codecademy (codecademy.com) and Lynda.com offering tutorials related to data analysis.

Activities for kids and teens

Many libraries are stepping up to offer programming for students and patrons. At the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, librarians are always on the lookout for ways to integrate data literacy topics into their services for children and teens. The results range from incorporating local data into activities featured in their Super Science Kits, which provide a collection of materials and lesson plans on a particular STEM topic for use both in the library and at outside programs that they organize, to partnering with the University of Pittsburgh on an IMLS grant about youth data literacy.

Their work extends beyond the library, too. "We've been bringing data literacy activities on the road when we table at different community events," says Eleanor Tutt, open data and knowledge manager at the Carnegie Library. "A recent activity that was popular was a data keychain-we selected 10 yes/no questions relevant to the event, and participants chose a color of pony bead to represent 'yes' and a color for 'no' and then created a coded keychain representing personal data about themselves." In the end, each participant has a unique keychain with a pattern that represents their responses to the list of questions. These simple activities get participants thinking in new ways and realizing that "they and their families are creating data, perhaps unknowingly, through their actions," Tutt says.

Samantha Viotty, a graduate student at the Emerson College Engagement Lab, has partnered with the Boston Public Libraries on her DIY Data Art program, which aims to teach data literacy through self-guided worksheets incorporating hands-on visualization activities.

In one, called Emoji Data Stories, teens are asked to visually represent answers to a question, such as their favorite activity or food, using only emojis in order to prompt them to consider "the concept of isotypes and how to display information in a visual way," Viotty says. This process makes them consider how information can be conveyed without words-and it's fun for them to play around with emojis. The Gummy Bear Networks activity has teens build network visualizations that show how a group of people are connected to one another, with gummy bears representing the people and toothpicks signifying the relationships between them.

In the Cell Phone Data Paper Pie Charts activity, teens create a pie chart representing the data usage of each app on their cell phones. This exercise "includes a conversation about which applications use their data and how the data is being collected and used," which can add an interesting dimension to the exercise, Viotty explains.

This topic can also be combined with computer programming instruction to create events with wider appeal. Robyn Allen, an MIT graduate and licensed technology teacher, has partnered with four Boston-area public libraries to offer hackathon sessions on data science for teens. These half-day events introduce participants to the Python programming language and teach them how to use it for a data analysis project. Since so much data is publicly available, the events can offer opportunities to work with everything from sports data to data from educational apps. As Catherine Halpin, youth technology coordinator at the Boston Public Library, where one such program was recently offered, notes, the goal is that participants "walk away feeling this subject material is demystified, that they know they are capable, and confident to continue this path of learning."

Teaching tools and resources

There are many resources that support teaching data literacy, no matter your background. Tools such as Mentimeter, Socrative, and Poll Everywhere allow you to collect responses from students on the spot and generate visualizations that represent the information graphically.

Easy-to-use infographic tools such as Infogram and Piktochart can be used for projects about data advocacy and storytelling. These tools make creating a compelling infographic straightforward through a combination of intuitive features and online tutorials.

When you're ready to venture into data analysis projects, Databasic.io 's suite of tools offers web-based ways of exploring and understanding data, complete with activity guides designed for use with teens. Best of all, there is an increasing amount of open data available from local groups and government agencies that can offer relatable and interesting datasets for teens to analyze.

All of these tools can serve as the basis of a larger conversation about the role of data in public discussions, such as the way that schools use student data to make curriculum decisions or how local governments track traffic data to make decisions about signage and stoplights, and what questions students should ask when they encounter data and visualizations in their daily lives.

For those who want to go even further, the University of Michigan initiative Supporting Librarians in Adding Data Literacy Skills to Information Literacy Instruction has brought together a group of data and curriculum design experts to create professional development resources for librarians. Under the guidance of Fontichiaro and Oehrli, this team hosted a free virtual conference in the summer of 2016, and they are preparing for a second one scheduled for July 20-21 2017.

The team has also written two books due out this fall, Creating Data Literate Students, which collects chapters by the curriculum experts on teaching data literacy in the classroom, and Data Literacy in the Real World: Conversations and Case Studies (both Maize Books), which will collect approximately 40 case studies about data literacy. The duo is also presenting a poster about their work, "Real Strategies to Address Fake News: Librarians, Data Literacy, and the Post-Truth World," at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference this month.

The overarching message from all and other data initiatives? Don't be scared by it. The goal is that "high school librarians will start to feel comfortable talking about data literacy issues with their students and fellow teachers," Oehrli says.

"So many librarians were humanities majors with little exposure to data, and so many classroom teachers think of data in terms of test scores," adds Fontichiaro. "By focusing on high-impact strategies, we want librarians and teachers to feel empowered by data, not victimized by it. Our early efforts show that a little knowledge has significant impact."

Seven Places To Find Public Data

Data.gov The U.S. federal government's portal for open data provides access to a lot of datasets and offers the option to browse by topics, such as health, public safety, and agriculture. The site also links to data collected by cities, counties, and states.

UNData For projects with an international perspective, the United Nations' data portal not only provides access to international datasets on topics from agriculture to tourism, but also has links to the data portals for many countries around the world.

NYC Open Data Though far from the only city with an open data portal, New York City has one of the nicer, more user-friendly sites. Through this portal, you can find city-wide data about education, recreation, local government, and more.

U.S. Department of Education This site collects data related to the Department of Education, which means that it offers a number of datasets that might interest students, librarians, and teachers. It also offers a link to the National Center for Education Statistics' Create-A-Graph tool (nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph), which is aimed at younger students.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public health data can offer many interesting possibilities in working with data, and the CDC's website provides access to a variety of health topics and tools and resources related to the datasets.

Global Health Observatory Data Repository For health data at a global level, you can also look to the World Health Organization's data site, called the Global Health Observatory. Here you'll find datasets of health problems around the world and related topics, such as air quality and road safety.

Open NASA Space exploration is always an exciting and inspiring topic, so why not incorporate NASA's work into your data and visualization activities? With the open datasets available on NASA's data portal, your data project can visualize meteorite landings or analyze NASA's patents.

Carli Spina is head librarian of assessment and outreach at Boston College Libraries.

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Why Kids Need Data Literacy, and How You Can Teach It

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Samantha Viotty's activity for visualizing data networks has gummy bears representing people and toothpicks signifying their relationships. Photo courtesy of Samatha Viotty Data is all around us, from the output of your Fitbit to interactive maps that track voters to the latest visualization of the New York Times front page.

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Succinct information about curriculum mapping and the steps required.

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Curriculum mapping is a process for collecting and recording curriculum-related data that identifies core skills and content taught, processes employed, and assessments used for each subject area and grade level. The completed curriculum map then becomes a tool that helps teachers keep track of what has been taught and plan what will be taught.

Creating and working with curriculum maps is a 7-step process involving:

Phase 1: Data collection.

Phase 2: A review of all maps by all teachers.

Phase 3: Small mixed group reviews, in which groups of five to eight diverse faculty members share individual findings

Phase 4: Large group comparisons, in which all faculty members gather to examine the findings of the smaller groups.

Phase 5: Identification of immediate revision points and creation of a timetable for resolution.

Phase 6: Identification of points requiring additional research and planning, and a timetable for resolution of those points.

Phase 7: Planning for the next review cycle.

The purpose of a curriculum map is to document the relationship between every component of the curriculum. Used as an analysis, communication, and planning tool, a curriculum map

allows educators to review the curriculum to check for unnecessary redundancies, inconsistencies, misalignments, weaknesses, and gaps;

documents the relationships between the required components of the curriculum and the intended student learning outcomes;

helps identify opportunities for integration among disciplines;

provides a review of assessment methods; and

identifies what students have learned, allowing educators to focus on building on previous knowledge.

Bear in mind that curriculum maps are records of implemented instruction -- of what has been taught during the current school year. Projection maps, or pacing guides, on the other hand, project what will be covered in the future.
Explore it
To learn more about curriculum mapping, explore this website:
Learn more about it
To extend your understanding of curriculum mapping, visit this website:
Sample curriculum map
To see an example of a curriculum map, visit the Utah Education Network.

For more information, see Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K-12, by Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs ( Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum and Assessment K-12, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1997).

Copyright © Education World 2016

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Curriculum mapping is a process for collecting and recording curriculum-related data that identifies core skills and content taught, processes employed, and assessments used for each subject area and grade level. The completed curriculum map then becomes a tool that helps teachers keep track of what has been taught and plan what will be taught.

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List of synonyms of Bloom's Taxonomy to inspire new ways of learning and assessing

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by TeachThought Staff

Bloom's Taxonomy's verbs-also known as power verbs or thinking verbs-are extraordinarily powerful instructional planning tools.

In fact, in addition to concepts like backward design and power standards, they are one of the most useful tools a teacher-as-learning-designer has access to. Why?

As research has suggested, they can be used for assessment design, curriculum design, lesson planning, personalizing and differentiating learning, and almost any other 'thing' a teacher-or student-has to do.

See also An Introduction To Bloom's Taxonomy Course

For example, if a standard asks students to infer and demonstrate an author's position using evidence from the text, there's a lot built into that kind of task. First, a student has to be able to define what an 'author's position' is and what 'evidence from the text' means ( Knowledge-level). They'll then need to be able to summarize that same text ( Understanding-level), interpret and infer any arguments or positions ( Analyze-level), evaluate inherent claims ( Evaluate-level), and then write ( Create-level) a response that demonstrates their thinking.

Though the chart below reads left to right, it's ideal to imagine it as a kind of incline, with Knowledge at the bottom, and Create at the top. You may not always need this kind of tool to 'unpack' standards and identify a possible learning sequence, but it also works ideally as an assessment design tool. If students can consistently work with the topic in the columns to the right-designing, recommending, differentiating, comparing and contrasting, and so on, then they likely have a firm grasp on the material.

You can also read more about Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (or Bloom's updated Taxonomy) if you're so inclined.

While we've shared Bloom's Taxonomy posters before, the simplicity and clean design of the chart format make it a bit more functional-even useful to hand to the students themselves as a hole-punch-and-keep-it-in-your-journal-for-the-year kind of resource. It also makes a powerful self-directed learning tool. Start at the left, and, roughly, move right.
Examples Of Bloom's Taxonomy Power Verbs
Knowledge: Define, Identify, Describe, Recognize, Tell, Explain, Recite, Memorize, Illustrate, Quote, State, Match, Recognize, Select, Examine, Locate, Recite, Enumerate, Record, List, Quote, Label

Understand: Summarize, Interpret, Classify, Compare, Contrast, Infer, Relate, Extract, Paraphrase, Cite, Discuss, Distinguish, Delineate, Extend, Predict, Indicate, Translate, Inquire, Associate, Explore Convert

Apply: Solve, Change, Relate, Complete, Use, Sketch, Teach, Articulate, Discover, Transfer, Show, Demonstrate, Involve, Dramatize, Produce, Report, Act, Respond, Administer, Actuate, Prepare, Manipulate

Analyze: Contrast, Connect, Relate, Devise, Correlate, Illustrate, Distill, Conclude, Categorize, Take Apart, Problem-Solve, Differentiate, Deduce, Conclude, Devise, Subdivide, Calculate, Order, Adapt

Evaluate: Criticize, Reframe, Judge, Defend, Appraise, Value, Prioritize Plan, Grade, Reframe, Revise, Refine, Grade, Argue, Support, Evolve, Decide, Re-design, Pivot

Create: Design, Modify, Role-Play, Develop, Rewrite, Pivot, Modify, Collaborate, Invent, Write, Formulate, Invent, Imagine
100+ Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking

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100+ Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs For Critical Thinking

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Bloom's Taxonomy verbs include Evaluate: Criticize, Judge, Defend, Appraise, Value, Prioritize, Revise, Argue, Support, and Re-design.

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A new way to think about Bloom's taxonomy

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*Anderson, L.W. (Ed.), Krathwohl, D.R. (Ed.), Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete edition). New York: Longman.

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Anderson, L.W. (Ed.), Krathwohl, D.R. (Ed.), Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete edition). New York: Longman.

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Ideas and strategies to create assessments that meet expectations and engage all students

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I decided that the enduring value students should get from the assignment was not directly about The Odyssey at all-I wanted them to recognize how the literary archetypes we had studied in connection with the epic are found in other stories. From there, I wanted them to realize that understanding how archetypes work could help them form a deeper appreciation of the people around them.

I challenged myself with the questions: "How do I design a meaningful assignment around this big idea that engages students?" and "How do I get kids to understand the value of the work we do?"

Designing an Engaging Assignment

1. Provide choices: According to teacher and blogger Larry Ferlazzo, "Teachers in the real world recognize that although personalization has the potential to improve learning, our first job in applying any approach is to engage students in the learning process.... It's about helping students find their spark and make their own fire."

In order to ignite students' interest, I asked them to identify a familiar archetype from a book, movie, or television show of their choice. They would then determine how the character breaks the archetypal mold, and write a response to analyze and explain their findings.

The students were initially skeptical and asked questions like, "So we're just doing this to brainstorm, and then we're writing our papers about The Odyssey, right?" I had to work to convince them that they really could write the whole paper about a story of their choosing.

The students' ability to make their own choices generated an explosion of ideas. A few of my Harry Potter aficionados stopped in excitedly at lunch to share their insights, and there were heated discussions about the myriad ways in which Harry Potter breaks the mold of the hero archetype: "He can't make a rational decision, so Hermione has to tell him what to do!"

A student who used to love The Magic School Bus series questioned Miss Frizzle's role as a "teacher as a heroic figure": "Doesn't she actually repeatedly risk students' lives?"

When we paid closer attention to television and films, students noticed a high school chemistry teacher who cooked meth, and how Superman, in the movie Man of Steel, was bullied as a child and felt isolated as he tried to suppress his powers.

2. Offer a challenge: Students persevere when an assignment is not only interesting, but intellectually demanding. When John Hattie lists factors that relate to student achievement, he indicates the importance of ensuring that each assignment has the optimal level of challenge-not too hard, not too easy-because "the effect size of this so-called ' Goldilocks ' level of challenge... nearly doubles the speed of learning."

Our study of archetypes introduced students to a concept they hadn't before considered. They were generally able to identify a character's archetype, but struggled to articulate the specific ways their character broke the mold.

One student was perplexed by the conflicting realities about Betty Cooper, the "good girl" from the Netflix series Riverdale. She ultimately realized that despite Betty's good intentions, her impulsive and often careless behavior reveals that she is much more complex than her blond hair and seemingly perfect exterior lead viewers to expect.

3. Tell them why: According to best-selling author Daniel Pink, "research has shown that people do better at a task-whether that task is spelling, hitting a curveball, or playing the viola-if they know why they're doing it in the first place. School is often all about how-here's how you do a quadratic equation, here's how you write a five-paragraph essay, here's how you do a paper chromatography experiment in chemistry. The fact is, we often give short shrift to why."

I explained to students that people, like archetypal characters, are complex. One purpose of studying archetypes is to remind us that our tendency to generalize and stereotype is often incorrect. We may think, "Oh, that person is a jock-he couldn't possibly be good at math" or "She's so pretty and popular-life must be so easy for her."

Noticing how superheroes suffer with feelings of isolation and so-called good girls really aren't so perfect after all reinforces the fact that we cheat ourselves and others when we label people based on appearances and false assumptions. My students know that we studied literary archetypes to gain a deeper understanding of why we must not judge people based on appearances.

Preparing Students for the Real World

Classroom assignments should provide students with the opportunity to make informed choices, struggle through challenging tasks, and draw their own conclusions so they can transfer these essential skills to their lives outside of school. We can foster our students' independence in these areas by designing assignments that matter.

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Designing Engaging Assignments | Edutopia

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I decided that the enduring value students should get from the assignment was not directly about The Odyssey at all-I wanted them to recognize how the literary archetypes we had studied in connection with the epic are found in other stories.

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Question Formulation Technique to help students construct meaningful and deep questions.

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This award-winning book outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds.

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A practical guide to cultivating expansive understandings of climate change and environmental regeneration in K-12 students through classroom instructional practices and curricula.

Harvard Educational Review

In the summer issue, explore innovative thinking and research in education.

STEM Education Reform in Urban High Schools gives a nuanced view of the obstacles marginalized students face in STEM education-and explores how schools can better support STEM learners.

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Harvard Education Press publishes the best books on education research, practice, and policy for leaders, practitioners, and policymakers.

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Tool to help students brainstorm questions to guide inquiry.

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“Can you come up with five more questions like ‘What causes floods?’”

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Tips to create a culture of question asking in schools.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Tips to ensure a successful research unit in upper elementary school

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Research, the very word, can draw shudders from teachers and audible sighs from students. If you are one of those shuddering educators dreading that next research project, then you are truly going about research all wrong. Take it from this elementary school librarian! I have been an elementary educator for twenty years and a certified library media specialist for the last seven years. I am so pleased that Rachel has let me be your virtual librarian today on Minds in Bloom.

How about a few insider secrets to turns those sighs into high fives? I have six not-so-secret secrets. Be warned! I am NOT a purist in research theology! A TRUE research project follows certain steps, is written in a certain format, and is followed with a perfect bibliography. The ability to complete a TRUE research project independently should be a requirement for those career and college ready. But guess what? I work with kids, and some pretty little ones at that. I strive to make research fun and engaging! Wouldn't you like to, as well? Well, here we go...

1) Your librarian should be your best resource. But, research is NOT just for the library.
Research is just a word used to describe the process of discovering new information, seeking answers, and studying a topic deeper. As an educator, you are ALREADY guiding your students to research. Every. Single. Day. Each time that a student learns a new fact, they have performed a baby step along the research journey. Often, I find that teachers place too much emphasis on the concept of research. They make it heavy. They turn it into a burden when, truly, research is happening a dozen times a day. Let your students know that each time you say the words, "Let's look it up," you are completing research. It's just that easy!

2) You can easily teach inquiry-based research skills in short bursts of time.

Research projects do not need to be long, drawn out, or take days upon days to complete. For example, during a lesson, one of your kids asks an interesting question that you don't quite know the answer to. Don't say, "Let me get back to you on that." Instead say, "Well, let's take a second to research that." Don't just look up the answer and share it. Talk out loud. Explain the steps that you are taking. What resource are you using? What keyword did you choose? How did you know which page/website link to go to? Model it for them. There, now you have completed a shared research task. Won't Common Core be happy?
3) I believe that it is our job to set our students up for success.
Research is hard work! I often compare it to a treasure hunt: You can do a whole lot of digging for just one gold nugget. BUT, when our kids are first trying out their research wings, we don't want them to be weighed down and frustrated.

Scaffold the project. Don't just tell your kiddos that they are going to research bats. Instead, prepare some graphic organizers that require them to research types of bats, their habitats, diet, and life cycle. These types of graphic organizers help to create a foundation for their future research skills. With time, students will adapt bits of your organizational methods as their own.

Provide strong resources. Treasure hunts are NEVER fun if you are digging in the wrong spot. They are simply too hard and too discouraging, and they will lead you to NEVER want to pick up another shovel. Don't do that to your students. If they are researching bat habitats, then be sure that you lead them to a resource that will have great facts about habitats. There are still a great many research skills that are being met in reading, comprehending, and deciphering the text. There is nothing wrong with pointing them in the right direction. One of the best ways that I have found to support my students is to create clickable interactive PDF bibliographies. Here's an example of one that I created for students working on animal research projects.

Simplify the citation process. ALL researchers should cite their sources, even if you are just a seven-year-old freckle-faced kid. In saying that, I firmly believe that there is not enough time in our day to force said seven-year-old to locate each and every aspect of the publication's details. I have seen students who have NEVER even got to read the text because it took them so long to copy down the citation. This is a tedious task that is once again sending the wrong message to our fledgling researchers.

Kids just need to keep track of WHERE their facts come from. This process can easily be simplified in many ways. Take a peek at my FREE resource, It's Elementary-Bibliography for the Youngest Students. You can learn even more about encouraging kids to record where their research facts are coming from, without burdening them!

4) Successful research inquiries begin with strong keywords!

Keywords are needed for utilizing printed table of contents and indexes AND for researching websites and databases. Students need to be able to look at a question and decide what the keywords are. I like to explain to kids that a keyword will UNLOCK the answer to their question, just like a key unlocks a door. This is a skill that needs lots and lots of practice.

Some people, even a few librarians, think that simple fact-finding questions lack depth and complexity. Well, sure they do, but there are still many benefits to finding the answer to, "Who was president in 1882?", "How many legs does a spider have?", and "What is the capital of Zimbabwe?" Those simple research questions require students to read for comprehension, identify the keyword, locate pertinent articles by using that keyword, scan for the keyword in the text, and seek out answers. Not bad for just a simple question, huh?

Each time that you are seeking text-based evidence with your kids, ask your students to identify the keyword. Use the word "keyword" in your daily discussions. Again. And again. I have found that the youngsters with a strong sense of keywords are the best researchers.

5) Create a final product that is fun and exciting.

It is possible. Really! You will be hard-pressed to get your kids excited about a research project if the end result is going to be a five-paragraph essay with an introduction, three detail paragraphs, and a conclusion. Just saying! How about shaking things up a bit?

Utilize task cards. Use apps to create a storyboard or a comic strip. Invite students to create an A to Z report. Have students pretend that they are a reporter breaking a news story. Record them. Create a file folder report or a research poster. How about an interactive report, similar to interactive notebooks? I have created state and country reports that utilize many interactive elements. Students are excited to conduct the research and even more excited to put together the project. One of my students said it best when he said, "I am definitely NOT letting my mom throw this away."
6) Don't get hung up on the word "research"!
Research reports shouldn't be a "unit" that you teach; they should be an ongoing, daily process. Isn't that our reality today? We have the internet in our hands, a fingertip away! We use it a hundred times a day. Show your kids. Model. Model. Model. And, most importantly, have fun with it. It really is possible.

Sonya is an elementary school librarian who has a genuine passion for what she does. She loves books, kids, and technology! She is excited about all of the opportunities that threading these three things together brings each and every day. Sonya tends The Library Patch, where she can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers, Facebook, Pinterest, and a librarian-inspired blog.

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6 Secrets to Successful Research with Kids - Minds in Bloom

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Research, the very word, can draw shudders from teachers and audible sighs from students. If you are one of those shuddering educators dreading that next research project, then you are truly going about research all wrong. Take it from this elementary school librarian!

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Engaging strategy to get students engaged in nonfiction texts

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Author

I love nonfiction. I love learning about new things and broadening my horizons. But when I was a sixth grader, I was singing a different tune. I all but ignored the nonfiction books in our school and small-town library, and I couldn't have cared less about social studies and science. Mostly, I sat through those classes in a daze, daydreaming about other things or counting paragraphs in my textbook during round-robin reading so I could silently practice the portion I would have to read when it was my turn. I know how dry, boring, and not-relatable nonfiction can be. But it certainly doesn't have to be. Not only is there an amazing amount of vivid and engaging nonfiction available for kids, but there are ways to help kids connect and delve into nonfiction with purpose and relish.

My reader's workshop has consistently been based on choice reading. The novels my students choose to read along with a read-aloud novel that I read to my classes are the basis of each minilesson. My classroom library, although stocked with hundreds of novels, picture books, and poetry, is somewhat limited in its array of nonfiction titles. The issue was how to incorporate a lot of nonfiction in a way that allows my students to not only enjoy it, but also share the experience and connect it to something they all may care about. The answer came to me as I was reading The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate over the summer. I wanted to connect our read-aloud novels to nonfiction topics of interest.

As the first read aloud of the year, The One and Only Ivan made that goal easy to accomplish. My students and I not only fell in love with Applegate's book and the characters, but were all inspired to know more about animals living in captivity. We focused on gorillas for obvious reasons, and I found articles, photographs, and video clips about these majestic creatures in the wild, their fight for survival, and reasons behind the capture and killing of gorillas. This led to even more articles and video clips on other forms of animal poaching-specifically elephants-and some stories of elephants held in cruel captivity. Before I knew it, we had read several articles, watched numerous video clips, and looked at myriad pictures to learn more about this topic. My students were increasing their schema for the topic, but also for reading and reflecting on nonfiction. They were talking-forming opinions, conversing, and writing academically about their thinking. They were posing arguments and backing them up with evidence compiled from all that we had been learning. They were owning the information and engaged.

To keep the conversation going and mix things up a little, I tried something new. After watching a short video clip and reading an article about two former circus elephants who, after 25 years, were reunited at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, my students were to collaborate with their classmates and choose one quote from the article that they found to be thought-provoking or powerful in some way. They were to write this quote in the center of a large piece of construction paper (we were also learning to punctuate and cite quotes correctly). Then, each group member wrote their personal thinking about this quote on the paper around it. Each group then shared their quote and why they chose it with the rest of the class, and the pieces of construction paper went up on the wall.

Later on during the week, we practiced adding more thinking to the pages. Armed with markers, students were asked to thoughtfully peruse the quotes and notice when something struck them. Each child then wrote a comment, question, or reflection of their own on the pages. Some of these additions were reactions or questions to the quote, and some were aimed at the thinking of their classmates and peers. Questions popped up, as well as answers to those questions. One of the benefits of making space for this (on a row of cupboards in my classroom) is that for all three of my language arts classes, students can have written dialogue across class sections and periods. The conversations can go further because more students are involved.

As the writing on the walls grew, I encouraged my students to review the new thinking and ideas that cropped up to see if they had anything more to add. In this way, the conversation continued to evolve. Responding to thoughts or quotes on the graffiti wall has become a nice option during reader's workshop. In fact, it has spread a bit further. Students are commenting on the work in other areas of the classroom too. Anchor charts may have an added sticky note or two with a compliment, question, or reflection on it. I also can see that students are willing to talk more about the nonfiction we read, and they are readily making connections between various texts, both fiction and nonfiction, as their schema grows. All of a sudden, our learning, our thinking, and how it changes over time is a living and breathing visible component of our classroom.

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Author I love nonfiction. I love learning about new things and broadening my horizons. But when I was a sixth grader, I was singing a different tune. I all but ignored the nonfiction books in our school and small-town library, and I couldn't have cared less about social studies and science.

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Making the case for breadth not depth in researching units for upper elementary to avoid coming to a stand still.

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Author

Research in fifth grade can be mind-numbing. Add notetaking into that equation, and you are in for an exhausting unit. Notetaking in the world of fifth graders is always tricky. What I've noticed over the years is that the students will sit with the book, article, or website and read a sentence. They believe that sentence is important, so they decide to copy it into their notes. They know that copying is wrong, so they take one word out of the original sentence and now believe they have created their own sentence. No matter what strategies I've used in the past, I have not been able to get them to realize that they are essentially stealing someone else's work.

What I loved about Energize Research Reading and Writing is that Chris Lehman recommends short units on research with more frequency rather than longer research units. This made a lot of sense to me. If you asked me, I'd say I abhor research, yet in reality I do it every day. When buying a new blender, planning a vacation, or picking out a new book, I'm researching. Short research projects have the added benefit of being completed quickly and keeping the students' interest.

Chris Lehman suggests the following strategy for notetaking. Read a passage. Cover it up. Reflect on what you read and why it was important. Write a quick summary in your notes without looking back at the original text. This is important. Kids often want to write a summary sentence for each sentence that was in the original text, and they have a horrible time summarizing. I asked them, as Chris suggested, to think like they were the teachers for this subject. What did they read that we needed to know? They needed to record that information. Chris's final step is to uncover the original text and reread it. Is there any academic vocabulary used that we could include? Are there any specific facts? Your students can now scan for that to include in their summary.

New Ways to Take Notes

We practiced notetaking with several picture book biographies. For my example during minilessons, I used Bill the Boy Wonder by Marc Tyler Nobleman. This tells the story of Bill Finger. Bob Kane is credited with the creation of Batman, but did he work alone? The students were mesmerized by this tale, learning that Bill had much more to do with the creation of one of their beloved superheroes than Bob Kane would have wanted us to believe.

By sharing this text with my students, we were able to find a shorthand reminder for summarizing our own notes. When walking around the room as students read their own picture book biographies and took notes, I would glance at them and ask, "Are you being a Bill or a Bob?" meaning "Are you doing your own work or stealing someone else's?" Students used Chris's suggestions to read, stop, cover, summarize, and review while they read their picture books.

Once we had our notes, we used them to write our own summaries for small-group presentations on our biography subjects. Many students found that once they reached the point of writing up their presentation notes, they almost didn't need their summary notes. By reading, stopping, and summarizing throughout the story, they felt they knew their subject matter backward and forward. Many ended up writing summaries and then scanning their notes for specific facts and vocabulary to add.

On the day of their presentations, students split into groups, presented on the subject of their picture book biography, and shared with their groups what they had learned about notetaking over the course of the week. Reading over their reflections on their rubrics, I was impressed with the thinking they had put into their work. There was a lot of discussion in the notes on plagiarism and how they now knew to avoid it.

Short research projects have many benefits in our classroom. In the span of a week we were able to read a picture book, learn tips on taking notes, and create presentations. Some students even then turned to the internet to gather additional data on their subjects. This is an easy way to add more research into your classroom, teach skills on notetaking, and have fun doing it. Rather than being grateful that we were finished on the last day, my students asked what we were researching next. That's a teaching win, in my book.

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Shorter Research Projects: Rethinking Notetaking Strategies

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Author Research in fifth grade can be mind-numbing. Add notetaking into that equation, and you are in for an exhausting unit. Notetaking in the world of fifth graders is always tricky. What I've noticed over the years is that the students will sit with the book, article, or website and read a sentence.

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Great tips for working through what I think is the most difficult part of a PBL unit

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3 Ways to Manage the Messy Middle of a Project

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After the entry event to launch the project, it’s time to start managing the workflow. And that’s where things can get a bit tricky.

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Ten ideas to guide logistic decisions teachers need to make in PBL work

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By Jennifer Rita Nichols

Teachers are incorporating more and more projects into their curriculum, allowing for much greater levels of collaboration and responsibility for students at all levels. Project- based learning is a popular trend, and even teachers who don't necessarily follow that approach still see the benefit to using projects to advance their students' learning.

Projects can be wonderful teaching tools. They can allow for a more student-centred environment, where teachers can guide students in their learning instead of using lectures to provide them with information.

The increase in classroom technology also makes projects more accessible to students. Research no longer requires a trip to the library, and displaying information no longer requires a poster board. Instead, students can access endless amounts of information with a few clicks, and create all kinds of creative final products (such as slides, videos, cartoons, ebooks, blogs, websites, graphics, and much more).

Despite general agreement about the benefits of using projects and project-based learning in general, it must be noted that all projects are not created equal! It is quite possible to create projects that remove creative ability and control from the students and places all the power of decision with the teacher.

This may happen fairly often because teachers are wary about being able to assign grades to the final assignments handed in to them by students. If all students aren't given the same components to work on, with similar topics, and the same final layout to create, then how can the projects be accurately compared by the teacher? In short, they can't - but also, they shouldn't!

Students do not need to be compared against each other, but to the standards they need to achieve for their level. How each skill is demonstrated can differ from one student to another, yet each student can succeed nevertheless. A teacher who knows the program will know what skills each student needs to acquire, and present them with situations to help develop those skills. A teacher can also gauge whether a student has developed each skill regardless of the way they choose to create and present their project.

When students are engaged and interested in the work they are completing, the final product will be much better than when they feel forced to complete a task.
...but how can you make sure that the project you assign is engaging to as many students as possible - if not to all of them?
Here are some great tips to keep in mind when putting together your next project.

1) Better project-based learning has students work in small groups or pairs whenever possible.

Don't underestimate the power of collaboration. Working alone can be great at times to place a student's level of ability on their own, but it can be frustrating to a student when they run into parts that they are less adept at. Peer support can help keep things running smoothly, and also help students to build the skills that they are lacking by learning from each other.

If groups are too large, students are given the opportunity to shrink back and leave the work to others, but pairs or groups of three allows everyone to share input and really take on a role within the project. Don't be afraid of assessment from projects, you will be able to tell how each of your students are developing by maintaining a constant presence in your classroom and observing/interacting with your groups.

Being able to work together will definitely keep students more engaged in the work, especially since they become responsible to each other and to themselves for the completion of the project. There is less chance of students giving up or giving in mediocre work when they are being counted on by peers and are having fun.
2) Better project-based learning chooses skills to be worked on instead of specific topics.
The goals of education focus on helping students to build the skills that they will need for their future. These skills involve being able to collaborate, write well, read between the lines, infer meaning, organize information, find solutions to problems, research effectively, and learn about their place in the world.

When forced into specific topics, students are limited in their ability to be creative and to focus on learning information that they find relevant to their lives. Instead of asking students to all complete projects on an animal, for example, why not decide on a few target skills and build a project guideline that can be used for many different topics instead? That way, students can focus in on something they would like to learn more about, while following your guidelines to make sure that the skills you are targeting are being developed.

If you want students to define a set of problems associated with something and work together to try to find plausible solutions to those problems, there is no need for every group to be working on exactly the same topic. This will also make things much more interesting when it comes time to present the projects, instead of listening to each student's version of the same thing!
3) Better project-based learning gives students guidelines that allows for individuality.
After choosing the skills or content that you would like to be the focus of your project, build guidelines that support student individuality and creativity. Instead of making a list of specific questions with specific answers (such as 'what is the habitat of the grizzly bear' questions), lead students towards more open-ended answers in your guideline.

Using questions such as 'list three facts that you found surprising while researching the topic and explain why they surprised you', 'based on the information that you gathered, explain why you think ____ happens', and 'explain what the top ten things people need to know about your topic are in order to understand it well' can really lend themselves to multiple subjects.

Your guideline should list the skills that students are working on, so they are aware of them and can actively work on developing them. If you want students to learn about democracy and how the government works, as well as to develop their problem solving skills, then telling them to build their own country - similar to the USA or Canada in structure and government - but with their own flair added in, can be an engaging way to do it. Allow for some crazy bits included in their constitution, or even elections where voters submit to X-rays instead of bringing ID.

In order to complete the project, they will need to research the government you want, and take it even further by using the information as a basis for their own creations.
4) Better project-based learning encourages students to take on different roles while collaborating.
In order to get all students involved in a project, don't allow them to simply break it up and then put it back together after each student has individually covered a section of it. Collaboration in the real world involves being able to work together on each part of a task, while learning to compromise and solve problems as they arise.

We rob our students of some great practice when we split tasks! Depending on the needs of the project, you can have graphic designers, managers, organizers, researchers, etc. While one student would be named 'in charge' of graphics, for example, they would still be working with the input of the rest of the team - much like how adults collaborate on projects in the 'real world'.

Encourage them to switch roles as needed, based on the strengths of their team, or on the skills each student needs to develop. No one student should always be 'in charge' or 'approving' all the work.
5) Better project-based learning allows students creative choice when it comes to the final result.
Do you really need that project to be presented on a piece of cardboard? If so, then make sure you have a good reason for it! There are so many ways for students to demonstrate learning, especially with the integration of technology, that it seems rather ridiculous to rob them of the chance to decide for themselves how to showcase their work.

What you really want is found in the content of the project, not in a piece of paper or cardboard. When students take ownership of the method of presentation, you are sure to be blown away with some extremely creative and innovative presentations. Allow them to make eBooks, videos, movies, animations, mind maps, skits, game shows, talk shows, newscasts, magazines, podcasts, blogs, or anything else they can come up with!
6) Better project-based learning changes the way that projects are presented/displayed.
Even if every group in your class presents in a different way, you will be able to assess each and every one of the projects, based on the skills/content that students need to show you. Students will also look forward to presenting their project, and seeing the presentations made by others!

Also, instead of just pinning projects up on a board, or sending them right home after being presented, consider displaying them in more creative ways. Ebooks, articles, videos, and other media can be incorporated into a class website or blog, where other members of the community can access and appreciate the work.

If students know that their work will be shared online or in the school/community, they will likely be more excited about putting their best foot forward. When you know your work goes directly into the recycling bin once it's finished... well, less effort tends to go into it!
7) Better project-based learning grades projects based on the targeted concepts and skills.
Create grading rubrics or charts for yourself that help you to focus in on the specific skills that you are looking for in each project. Since each group may have a different final format, you won't be able to compare them with each other very well (which we shouldn't really do in general when assigning grades). Students are supposed to be graded on their level of development when compared to curricular goals, not based on comparisons with each other.

Try to avoid assigning grades based on how great one group's video was when compared with another group's poster board. While one might stand out more, the other may just have better content!

Letting students know exactly what you will be looking for beforehand will make it much easier for you to see what you need, as they will usually make sure to show it to you!

Besides, let's face it, if a university professor didn't explain exactly what was required of an assignment, but graded you based on what they were mysteriously looking for, you would be frustrated and have a hard time doing as well as you could in that class. Our younger students appreciate the guidance too!
8) Better project-based learning considers cross-curricular activities and/or work with another class.
Projects tend to be more engaging if students have the chance to immerse themselves in them as much as possible. Seeing similar content appear in multiple subject areas helps to reinforce what students are learning, as well as make the learning more relevant to them.

In many cases, mathematical or scientific learning can be added to English projects. History is another subject that lends itself well to cross-curricular projects.

Working with another class can also be fun for students. With today's technology, it is even possible for students to collaborate on projects with classes in other schools - or even in other countries. Doing this definitely helps to prepare students for their futures, as we often find ourselves working/collaborating with coworkers in other departments or cities. It can add an extra challenge to organizing work and getting things done efficiently!
9) Better project-based learning gives the project a purpose beyond the classroom.
If possible, try to build connections to the outside world into projects. If students can work on something that will directly benefit the school or community (such as planning and implementing a fundraiser, or creating books/movies for a community centre or home, or even planning a special lesson for younger students) it can really help to build engagement in the class.

Knowing that your work will do more than get you grades - that it will actually be used to help people - can be a powerful motivator. Students will also help to motivate each other when they know that their work is important and useful.
10) Better project-based learning incorporates the project into the students' digital portfolios.
While not all projects can directly impact the community, they can at least be used as evidence of learning in students' working digital portfolios. The great thing about digital portfolios is that they follow a student as they advance through the grades and paint a picture of progress over time.

Once again, doing this can help curb the de-motivation of knowing that work will just be thrown away once completed. Incorporating student reflections and teacher/peer/parental/community feedback can also be a nice way to follow up on the learning that has taken place, as well as provide some future goals to work on in order to improve on skill development.

Beyond just tracking learning, the allure of being able to go and watch a video project you created years ago seems too good to pass up; I can remember a few of my own projects I wish I could see again.

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10 Practical Ideas For Better Project-Based Learning In Your Classroom

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By Jennifer Rita Nichols Teachers are incorporating more and more projects into their curriculum, allowing for much greater levels of collaboration and responsibility for students at all levels. Project- based learning is a popular trend, and even teachers who don't necessarily follow that approach still see the benefit to using projects to advance their students' learning.

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Tips to organize group work and roles in PBL work

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One of the most common features of any PBL project is group work. Even if the product is individual, there should always be some form of group work within the project to give students the ability to receive critique and revision, to share resources and think deeper about what they're learning, and to practice and develop the 21st century skill of collaboration. Not only should they be able to work as a group during the project, they should also find time to work as a group but independent and absent any direct instruction by the teacher. This can be a daunting challenge for even experienced classroom practitioners as they may not know how to scaffold a gradual release for their students or may have concerns about specific students in their class being able to work without derailing an entire group.

One of the easiest ways to structure work is to provide roles for students during the project. There are many different ways to construct these roles, so before you launch your project you may want to consider which best describes your project design:

1. Do you want your students to complete tasks based on static, unchanging roles?

2. Do they need the ability to be more dynamic day to day with their roles, or think of roles as task-based?

Whichever way you structure roles in the context of your project, they generally fall in one of these two categories, and each has specific advantages/disadvantages:

Static Roles

In this system, students always have the same job or role, so there is very little chance for misunderstanding or confusion even if the student happens to be absent for a day or two or miss the initial phases of the project. Static roles are particularly useful in longer, more investigative projects or for short group discussions where you want these discussions to be carried on in a certain way. For example, a science teacher I work with always displays the same group roles for every lab on the board and then mixes them up by divvying out cards playing cards where each suit corresponds to a specific role. These roles include an explainer, a recorder, the timekeeper, and the materials manager. This approach provides a strongly defined foundation for lab work. This system forms a foundation for the culture of her classroom and after the first few attempts her students are well aware of what the expectations are for lab and group tasks once the playing cards come out. As a result, there is very little wandering or off task behavior during her projects.

The danger with static roles is they must be well thought out and must have some sort of job during the entire part of the project. For example, if you were doing a project that required video recording, and you had a student whose role was to be the camera person, what do they do after the project has been recorded and moved onto the editing phase? In a situation like this, more dynamic, task-based roles may be more appropriate.

Dynamic Roles

With this model, groups start off each work period by filling out a task list and assigning specific jobs to each person. A teacher can ask for this task list at any time in order to learn exactly who is doing what in each group. At the end of each work period, students sign off that their task has either been completed, or they write down the next step that they need to complete in order to finish the assignment the next time they work on it. In this model students will take on multiple roles in each project depending on what has to be done during a given work period. It also gives students a chance to experience different roles and practice different skills throughout the project.

An added bonus to this approach is the paper trail that is left behind. Task lists are very helpful in providing information for the teacher as to the effectiveness of the group over a long period of time or for students when they reflect on the project process at the end.

The danger with dynamic groups is that it is the responsibility of the students to divide the work up evenly, and sometimes they may need more coaching and guidance for this to happen before it becomes automatic. Also, since each group is free to find their own path to the end product, this form of role-creation can result in a chaotic classroom.

Hybrid Approach

If neither of the above seems like the right fit, don't worry, there is also a third option that combines aspects of the other two. Some students will be given static roles that do not change, while others will be given dynamic roles where their job or responsibilities change throughout the course of the project. This helps support learners who excel or need an additional challenge while scaffolding for learners who need the more consistent checks that are provided by dynamic grouping.

For example, I have my students complete a constitution project where they run their own mock campaign for president, where certain students take on a management role. One student actually takes on the role of party chairperson and essentially keeps the rest of the class on task and working by checking in and providing coaching. This student keeps their role the entire time while other students move between roles based on the goals of the project. This system works well in the context of the project, but it is important to think about the best way of introducing this model to the class so that those with static roles aren't seen as superior.

If you're not sure what approach to roles is best for your project, consider these questions before you launch.

What are the different phases of your project?

In order for your students to complete your project, what kinds of things will they all need to do?

What roles or responsibilities could best encapsulate the steps?

Is one of these roles more key, more crucial to completion of the project than the others? (It may be helpful to give groups a heads-up about this, in case someone is interested in taking more of a leadership role while others would like to just simply be a part of the group work)

What 21st century skills will each role require?

Would a tool for reflection help your students?

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Roles in PBL: 3 Approaches For Organizing Group Tasks

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One of the most common features of any PBL project is group work. Even if the product is individual, there should always be some form of group work within the project to give students the ability to receive critique and revision, to share resources and think deeper about what they're learning, and to practice and develop the 21st century skill of collaboration.

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Digital resources to support teachers in formative assessments

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Updated: Oct 10, 2018

On Monday, I had the opportunity to participate in another fab edition of the TL Virtual Cafe webinar series. This month's PD offering was an "Edutech Smackdown" featuring the Queen of All Things Library: Joyce Valenza. I love these smackdown sessions because they are the ultimate crowdsourced PD. Everybody grabs a slide (or two or ten) and when their time comes, takes the mic to share something they love. They are fun, fast paced and the cream always seems to rise to the top. Delish!

That said, for my few minutes with the mic, I decided to focus my attention on formative assessment. As much I love tech toys, (and I do. I really, really do), I grow weary of gadgets for the sake of gadgets. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that technology is not going to improve student learning, boost achievement or save education - only good instruction will do those things. That's not to say that effective technology use can't enhance that instruction Of course, it can. But technology is but one vehicle by which we can deliver our content and pedagogy. What's more, even the best tech tool is only as good as the instruction it supports.

Which brings me back to formative assessment.

When incorporated into a lesson, formative assessment provides the teacher librarian with a snapshot of the teaching and learning while it is still happening. This is valuable for so many reasons. First, the activity itself can provide the students with extra practice. Secondly, when done effectively, formative assessment offers a quick and more reliable check for understanding than the old "raise your hand if you have a question" technique. Third, and probably most importantly, formative assessment provides the teacher librarian with instant data that can be used to adjust instruction "on the fly" in order to better meet student needs. And, finally, formative assessment can help guide future lessons. All all good stuff.

Obviously, this is not rocket science. Great teachers have been using formative assessment since the first prehistoric student blamed a hungry T-Rex for his missing homework. That said, today's teachers and students have a plethora of digital teaching and learning tools at their fingertips that makes incorporating formative assessment in the learning process both really easy and super fun!

So... here are some of my picks - along with a few others that were suggested by members of my PLN. Big thanks to Steven Anderson, Nancy Mangum, Neill Kimrey and Angela Monk for sharing your expertise with me. You guys rock!

Admit/Exit Tickets are a beloved formative assessment strategy. Indeed, I cannot even begin to count the number of post-it notes I've used over the years to gauge my students' progress, interest or prior knowledge. Of the digital tools available for this type of formative assessment, is my favorite. I use it all of the time. It's easy, reliable, is available as both a web tool & an APP and your boards can be easily saved and/embedded. It's a win-win. I also like the APPs iBrainstorm and Perfect Caption as well as the webtools and Wallwisher - although, increasingly, there seems to always be a glitch in the Wallwisher matrix.

Graphic organizers are another great formative assessment tool. Asking kids to organize/prioritize a set of data is an effective way of gauging their understanding of those concepts. The standout in this category, for me, is . With both a web based and APP version that allow kids to collaborate, adjust the map as their thoughts evolve and save their popplets for later use, I am a fan. and SimpleMind are also useful tools with similar functionality. However, if you're looking for premade organizers like venn diagrams, four corners, etc., the APP Tools for Students is a great option which features hundreds of existing organizers that kids can edit and share.

Taking a quick survey or poll is an AWESOME way to find out, quickly, what your students know, before moving forward in the lesson. What makes today's digital versions of these mini assessments so effective is the ability to view/share the results in real time. My favorite tool for this purpose is . Like the description says, Socrative, literally, turns any internet ready device into a set of clickers - teachers can give both students and teacher paced quizzes, the results are instantly graphed and shared AND there's a feature which allows students to vote on the responses that are captured. Amazing. Of course, if you're lacking netbooks/laptops or Smart devices in your school, Poll Everywhere offers a similar service using text messaging and Google Forms can be a great web based alternative - although teasing the data out of a Google Form requires a bit more work.

I can still remember the first time I was able to put an individual whiteboard into each of my student's hands. I simply could not believe how powerful having them write the answer to a question on their own board and hold that answer up for me to see could be. I thought, this is going to revolution my teaching - and in some ways it did. One thing is for sure, it didn't take long before all those boards were stained and smudged and cracked from hard (but important!) use. That said, today there are a plethora of individual whiteboard APPs out there that offer the same instant glimpse into what your students know that their hard plastic counterparts did PLUS so much more. My favorite of these offerings is Educreations - an APP that let's students draw, write, create, narrate, record and share what they know. They can record (and play back!) the steps in solving a math problem, label the parts of a plant or identify places on a map by annotating a preloaded photo and the final products can be embedded on any webpage. and Whiteboard Pro offer similar products, but Jot! is a really simple APP that more resembles the individual whiteboards of yore. is not fancy, but it's reliable.

My favorite tech tool right now is an APP called Reflection. Essentially, Reflection allows you to "reflect" multiple mobile devices on a desktop computer - which can then be projected and shared via a data projector/apple TV, etc. So... no matter what your students are working on - maybe they are playing Cyber Bully Zombies as part of a digital citizenship unit or perhaps they're creating digital timelines or writing their own ebooks. Either way, you can see it all, in real time. A-MAZ-ING. The down side? It's pricey. Right now, I am rocking the free trial and will gladly fork out the $14.99 once that runs out, but that's a stiff price tag for schools sporting carts and carts of devices. That said, I recently learned that offers a similar service, (and is free!) but I've yet to see it in action, so I am keeping Reflection at the top of my list.

For more information on Formative Assessment in the library, I'd suggest a reading of this School Library Monthly article from 2011 by Kristin Fontichiaro. This resource provides some stories from the trenches - that is to say examples from librarians currently using using formative assessment as an instructional strategy. My favorite part of the article though is when Kristen says: "To be blunt, if school librarians are to call themselves teachers, then they too must ensure that students are learning, not just "doing."'

For me, formative assessment acts as a reality check. Regardless of how many virtual light bulbs I *think* I see going off above my students' heads, until I truly and accurately check for understanding, I am just fooling myself. So, whether delivered through a pack of post it notes or a cart full of tablets, formative assessment remains a crucial part of the instructional process - and one that belongs as much in the library and lab as it does in the traditional classroom.

On Monday, I had the opportunity to participate in another fab edition of the TL Virtual Cafe webinar series. This month's PD offering was an "Edutech Smackdown" featuring the Queen of All Things Library: Joyce Valenza. I love these smackdown sessions because they are the ultimate crowdsourced PD. Everybody grabs a slide (or two or ten) and when their time comes, takes the mic to share something they love. They are fun, fast paced and the cream always seems to rise to the top. Delish!

That said, for my few minutes with the mic, I decided to focus my attention on formative assessment. As much I love tech toys, (and I do. I really, really do), I grow weary of gadgets for the sake of gadgets. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that technology is not going to improve student learning, boost achievement or save education - only good instruction will do those things. That's not to say that effective technology use can't enhance that instruction Of course, it can. But technology is but one vehicle by which we can deliver our content and pedagogy. What's more, even the best tech tool is only as good as the instruction it supports.

Which brings me back to formative assessment.

When incorporated into a lesson, formative assessment provides the teacher librarian with a snapshot of the teaching and learning while it is still happening. This is valuable for so many reasons. First, the activity itself can provide the students with extra practice. Secondly, when done effectively, formative assessment offers a quick and more reliable check for understanding than the old "raise your hand if you have a question" technique. Third, and probably most importantly, formative assessment provides the teacher librarian with instant data that can be used to adjust instruction "on the fly" in order to better meet student needs. And, finally, formative assessment can help guide future lessons. All all good stuff.

Obviously, this is not rocket science. Great teachers have been using formative assessment since the first prehistoric student blamed a hungry T-Rex for his missing homework. That said, today's teachers and students have a plethora of digital teaching and learning tools at their fingertips that makes incorporating formative assessment in the learning process both really easy and super fun!

So... here are some of my picks - along with a few others that were suggested by members of my PLN. Big thanks to Steven Anderson, Nancy Mangum, Neill Kimrey and Angela Monk for sharing your expertise with me. You guys rock!

Admit/Exit Tickets are a beloved formative assessment strategy. Indeed, I cannot even begin to count the number of post-it notes I've used over the years to gauge my students' progress, interest or prior knowledge. Of the digital tools available for this type of formative assessment, is my favorite. I use it all of the time. It's easy, reliable, is available as both a web tool & an APP and your boards can be easily saved and/embedded. It's a win-win. I also like the APPs iBrainstorm and Perfect Caption as well as the webtools and Wallwisher - although, increasingly, there seems to always be a glitch in the Wallwisher matrix.

Graphic organizers are another great formative assessment tool. Asking kids to organize/prioritize a set of data is an effective way of gauging their understanding of those concepts. The standout in this category, for me, is . With both a web based and APP version that allow kids to collaborate, adjust the map as their thoughts evolve and save their popplets for later use, I am a fan. and SimpleMind are also useful tools with similar functionality. However, if you're looking for premade organizers like venn diagrams, four corners, etc., the APP Tools for Students is a great option which features hundreds of existing organizers that kids can edit and share.

Taking a quick survey or poll is an AWESOME way to find out, quickly, what your students know, before moving forward in the lesson. What makes today's digital versions of these mini assessments so effective is the ability to view/share the results in real time. My favorite tool for this purpose is . Like the description says, Socrative, literally, turns any internet ready device into a set of clickers - teachers can give both students and teacher paced quizzes, the results are instantly graphed and shared AND there's a feature which allows students to vote on the responses that are captured. Amazing. Of course, if you're lacking netbooks/laptops or Smart devices in your school, Poll Everywhere offers a similar service using text messaging and Google Forms can be a great web based alternative - although teasing the data out of a Google Form requires a bit more work.

I can still remember the first time I was able to put an individual whiteboard into each of my student's hands. I simply could not believe how powerful having them write the answer to a question on their own board and hold that answer up for me to see could be. I thought, this is going to revolution my teaching - and in some ways it did. One thing is for sure, it didn't take long before all those boards were stained and smudged and cracked from hard (but important!) use. That said, today there are a plethora of individual whiteboard APPs out there that offer the same instant glimpse into what your students know that their hard plastic counterparts did PLUS so much more. My favorite of these offerings is Educreations - an APP that let's students draw, write, create, narrate, record and share what they know. They can record (and play back!) the steps in solving a math problem, label the parts of a plant or identify places on a map by annotating a preloaded photo and the final products can be embedded on any webpage. and Whiteboard Pro offer similar products, but Jot! is a really simple APP that more resembles the individual whiteboards of yore. is not fancy, but it's reliable.

My favorite tech tool right now is an APP called Reflection. Essentially, Reflection allows you to "reflect" multiple mobile devices on a desktop computer - which can then be projected and shared via a data projector/apple TV, etc. So... no matter what your students are working on - maybe they are playing Cyber Bully Zombies as part of a digital citizenship unit or perhaps they're creating digital timelines or writing their own ebooks. Either way, you can see it all, in real time. A-MAZ-ING. The down side? It's pricey. Right now, I am rocking the free trial and will gladly fork out the $14.99 once that runs out, but that's a stiff price tag for schools sporting carts and carts of devices. That said, I recently learned that offers a similar service, (and is free!) but I've yet to see it in action, so I am keeping Reflection at the top of my list.

For more information on Formative Assessment in the library, I'd suggest a reading of this School Library Monthly article from 2011 by Kristin Fontichiaro. This resource provides some stories from the trenches - that is to say examples from librarians currently using using formative assessment as an instructional strategy. My favorite part of the article though is when Kristen says: "To be blunt, if school librarians are to call themselves teachers, then they too must ensure that students are learning, not just "doing."'

For me, formative assessment acts as a reality check. Regardless of how many virtual light bulbs I *think* I see going off above my students' heads, until I truly and accurately check for understanding, I am just fooling myself. So, whether delivered through a pack of post it notes or a cart full of tablets, formative assessment remains a crucial part of the instructional process - and one that belongs as much in the library and lab as it does in the traditional classroom.

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Library Girl's Picks: The Best Digital Tools for Formative Assessment

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On Monday, I had the opportunity to participate in another fab edition of the TL Virtual Cafe webinar series. This month's PD offering was an "Edutech Smackdown" featuring the Queen of All Things Library: Joyce Valenza. I love these smackdown sessions because they are the ultimate crowdsourced PD.

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Tips to make rubrics more effective in supporting student learning

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See Mrs. Jones. She has a fantastic idea for a new assignment. It's going to be challenging and engaging and fun. Before she can give this assignment to her students, Mrs. Jones needs to get a few things on paper. She starts by writing up a prompt. See Mrs. Jones smile as her fingers fly across the keyboard, crafting the language that describes what students will do.

Then it's time to build a rubric. Watch as Mrs. Jones creates an empty table with four columns - one for each level of proficiency - and five rows that break down the areas that will be assessed. Four rows, five columns. Mrs. Jones prepares to fill all twenty cells.

See Mrs. Jones slump down in her chair.

If you're like Mrs. Jones, you rely on densely packed analytic rubrics to assess student work. But creating these rubrics - trying to imagine every possible scenario that will result in an assignment being labeled as a 1, 2, 3 or 4, or whatever terminology might stand for those numbers - can be both soul-crushing and time-consuming.

Then, when it comes time to assess student work, you're likely to find many assignments that don't fit neatly into any one column. What's worse, others demonstrate qualities you didn't even anticipate, like the student who spelled everything perfectly but was lax on punctuation. Your "mechanics" section doesn't have a place for that.

And do students even read these rubrics? Having been on the receiving end of multi-page, multi-cell rubrics stuffed to the gills with 9-point font, I would say no. I did not read all of those cells. I looked at the third and fourth columns, where expectations met and exceeded expectations were described, and I did everything I could to make my work satisfy those criteria. The other two columns got little more than a glance.

Might there be a better way? The answer is yes, and its name is the single-point rubric.

Instead of detailing all the different ways an assignment deviates from the target, the single-point rubric simply describes the target, using a single column of traits. It's what you'd find at level 3 on a 4-point scale, the "proficient" column, except now it's all by itself. On either side of that column, there's space for the teacher to write feedback about the specific things this student did that either fell short of the target (the left side) or surpassed it (the right).

For some, this alternative might cause apprehension: does this mean more writing for the teacher? Possibly. If you've only ever used rubrics to highlight key features of a student's work to justify their score, or worse, simply given the score without pointing to the language that made the difference, then the single-point rubric will require more from you. But when I used analytic rubrics, I ended up having to do a bunch of writing anyway, squeezing my comments into the cells to provide more specific feedback, or adding a long note at the end summarizing the factors that influenced the score. With a single-point rubric, the farce of searching for the right pre-scripted language is over, leaving you free to describe exactly what this student needs to work on.

If you're moving away from traditional grades, the single-point rubric is a perfect instrument for delivering specific feedback: The open columns on either side leave plenty of room to comment on exactly what this student needs to do to improve their work, or to pinpoint the ways they have gone above and beyond. And if you'd like to get more student input when creating rubrics, it's even easier when you only have to craft language for the desired outcome, rather than the missteps.

Is there ever a need for a fully loaded, "hot mess" rubric? Only in cases where feedback is never part of the plan: when a piece of writing is going to be scored on a state assessment, for example, there may be a need to identify every level of performance. But again, the people using these rubrics aren't interested in helping students learn and grow; their only goal is to score.

But a teacher aspires to more than that. And different aspirations require different tools. Let's leave the hot mess rubric to the testing companies.

You and me and Mrs. Jones? We can do better.
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About The Author

Jennifer Gonzalez

A National Board Certified Teacher in Early Adolescence/English Language Arts, Jennifer Gonzalez has been a middle school teacher and a college-level teacher of teachers. She now devotes herself full-time to curating and creating resources to help teachers make their work more effective and satisfying.

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Your Rubric Is a Hot Mess; Here's How to Fix It.

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See Mrs. Jones. She has a fantastic idea for a new assignment. It's going to be challenging and engaging and fun. Before she can give this assignment to her students, Mrs. Jones needs to get a few things on paper. She starts by writing up a prompt. See Mrs.

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Overview of authentic assessments, benefits, and tips.

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Template for engaging in collaborative conversations with teachers

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Great resource getting at the heart of why change is so difficult

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"It's a conservator's occupation," Evans said. "Tons of what we do in school are about values that don't, we hope, change. It's not just about things that do change."

These tensions inherent to the system mean that what educators most need is not constant change, which can be off-putting and stressful if sustained for too long, but creativity. There is value in much of what schools currently teach, but there's also plenty of room for creative teaching strategies to reach all students.
CHANGE BEGETS CONFLICT
One of the most difficult things about leading change in schools, according to Evans, is that there often aren't clear structures to deal with conflict or disagreement. Leaders usually try to sell change as though it will be good for everyone, but that isn't true. At first, there are winners and losers. In other professions people hash out these types of conflicts, addressing them head-on, but that's rarely the case in schools. The maxim, "it's not personal, it's business," doesn't work in schools because teaching is a very personal profession.

"In school, everything is personal, which is how we want it," Evans said. Many of the most powerful aspects of school community, relationship-building and support develop out of a work environment that is, and must be, personal. "But when it's only personal it's very hard to talk about, is it working out, is it not working." The result is a lot of conflict avoidance.

Evans draws on the work of Roland Barth, who describes the difference between congeniality and collegiality. Barth says congenial relationships are personal and friendly. Positive interactions with colleagues are a crucial part of why teachers come to school each day. And congeniality is a requirement for the even more important, and elusive, collegial relationships that indicate the educators in the building are working together.

"If you take the congenial out of the school, you strip it of all the connective tissue that makes it a decent place to be," Evans said. "But you can be the most congenial school in America and not talk about teaching and learning."

Evans acknowledges that creating a school culture that encourages productive conflict, the hashing out of ideas and differing opinions, is particularly hard because the qualities that make someone a great teacher -- nurturing, extending beyond themselves, pulling out the best in people -- are not typically the characteristics of someone who is skilled at adult conflict. And yet, Evans encourages change leaders to think about structures that allow adults to disagree constructively. Without a forum for disagreement, grumbling about change moves underground and can undermine the whole project.

But no matter how productively colleagues can disagree or how much they work to improve, schools are only one part of the achievement puzzle. Evans wants education leaders, policymakers and the public to be aware that educators can only change so much about a child's life. What happens outside of school and at home is as important, if not more important, for educational outcomes than anything within the control of teachers.

"The correlation between money and scores is tighter than it has ever been," Evans said. How well students will perform on standardized tests is much more correlated to income than what school they attend. "It's possible to be a school that's doing lots of really amazing things for kids and see slower progress than anyone who is busting a gut hopes for."

While Evans doesn't pull punches about the challenge of effectively leading and implementing lasting changes in schools, he has seen it happen. He's well aware that most school leaders have an "overloaded change agenda," and that they are trying to implement it on a ridiculously short time line. He advises leaders to choose one big thing to change at a time, and to think carefully about what other things will compete for colleagues' time.
COPING WITH THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHANGE
Evans shared several tips on how to manage change.

Have a set of non-negotiables. There will always be resistance from staff, but when they understand what is negotiable and what isn't, it's much easier to move on and actually start making change. "As long as people imagine that if we keep talking about this it won't really happen, they don't have any motivation to do anything," Evans said.

Change requires the deft use of both pressure and support. Without pressure no one will change; without support all the resistance will go underground, where it often lives in schools. Getting buy-in is important, but it can't hold up action. "Buy-in is an end state, not a beginning condition," Evans said. "The bigger the change you want to promote and the more loss it will cause, the less likely people will voluntarily bereave themselves to get into it."

Evans cites a headmaster he worked with at an elite private school who struck a good balance between pressure and support. The headmaster decided that in order to attract more students the school would start a mini-term between semesters, but he wanted staff input on how to do it well. At first all the meetings focused on whether they should do a mini-term, but the headmaster quickly stepped in and made it clear the school was implementing the change -- that was a non-negotiable.

"Almost all of us would rather work with someone who disagrees with us, but who is clear, than with someone who seems to agree with us, but isn't clear," Evans said. That's why it's important for the leader to draw clear lines and then back them up. He also noted that far too often the people tasked to lead change in schools don't actually have the authority to apply pressure, which isn't fair or effective.

Leaders need to tell teachers they are asking to change what, how and why. Evans has watched many leaders explain what staff will be expected to do and how they will do it without offering any explanation of why it is important. "The why is far and away the most important because this is what bears on the motivation of people," he said. However, it's also what causes loss, a necessary condition to begin making change. Evans advises leaders be direct and honest about why change is imperative, but to do so in ways that don't demonize or humiliate those who are experiencing a loss. Leaders can't let them off the hook, but they can be respectful.

Recognize that flexibility is required. Evans likes to cite a retired school superintendent from Massachusetts, Matt King, who says there's a difference between problems and dilemmas. Problems can be solved, but dilemmas are revisited. The issues educators face in schools are more akin to dilemmas than problems with easy fixes.

"Most things we're trying to fix in American education were once the solution to something else," Evans said. The issues are often cyclical and require patience. And, because the work is difficult and stressful, it's even more important that change leaders celebrate small successes and compliment staff along the way.

"The evidence is clear that the most productive, the most successful, the most engaged and happiest people are those who have someone who cares about their development, and people who get to do every day what they're best at instead of dwelling on what they need to change," Evans said.

A positive school climate helps teachers feel like change is possible. And when school leaders can help teachers build on their strengths, instead of only remediating weaknesses, everyone will feel more competent and able to continue pushing for change.

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How School Leaders Can Attend to the Emotional Side of Change | KQED

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"It's a conservator's occupation," Evans said. "Tons of what we do in school are about values that don't, we hope, change. It's not just about things that do change." These tensions inherent to the system mean that what educators most need is not constant change, which can be off-putting and stressful if sustained for too long, but creativity.

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Great resource for advocating for coteaching with admin and other teachers

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Large list of tools to support differentiation in a wide range of situations

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100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media

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Social media can enhance differentiated instruction if the tools are selected with a careful eye on individual students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles.

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Blog post on how to focus on teaching the student first and how to do so successfully

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Easy to read chart on what is differentation and what is not

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More tool to support differentiation

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Every learner has got his own distinctive style of learning. A learning style is a way that a learner adopts to approach his learning, which is most comfortable to him and suits his learning needs best.

Everyone has a characteristic learning style which they use in their everyday lives, even if they're unaware of it. Some people would understand a concept better when it is presented in an audio whereas, some would prefer to learn by its video presentation, and others just by the text. It is beneficial for you if you discover what learning style suits you, so that you can learn by choosing the appropriate material catering to your style, making your learning experience easier and more effective to help you learn at your best.
Here's a list of 100 best tools for different kinds of learners which can help them learn in their own distinctive styles:
Download the Report

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List of Great Tools for Different Kinds of Learners

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Every learner has got his own distinctive style of learning. A learning style is a way that a learner adopts to approach his learning, which is most comfortable to him and suits his learning needs best. Everyone has a characteristic learning style which they use in their everyday lives, even if they're unaware of it.

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Great lesson resource for middle school students.

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Permission template for usage

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Landmarks -- Permission Request Template

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Most web authors are eager to have teachers use information from their web sites in the classroom. They are just as willing to have students use web information for their various reports. It is critical, however, that permission be gained from the owner of the information, and that the permission be documented.

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Resources to teach adults and students about copyright and fair usage. Great for helping teachers.

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Useful information to encourage teachers and admin to reserve time for independent reading

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Nearly all teachers and principals believe students should have time for independent reading at school, yet only about a third of teachers set aside time each day for this, according to a recent survey by Scholastic.

The new report, released today, looks at how nearly 3,700 preK-12 teachers (including several dozen school librarians) and more than 1,000 principals answered questions about student reading and access to books. The findings, considered nationally representative, were part of a larger study that the education-publishing company released in November on equity in education.

The literacy findings show that 94 percent of teachers and principals agree or strongly agree that "students should have time during the school day to read a book of their choice independently." But just 36 percent of teachers say they're able to make time for such reading every day. Nearly a quarter of teachers say they never make time for it-though it's important to note the question was asked of teachers for all subjects and grade levels.

When independent reading occurs, students spend an average of 22 minutes on it.

Asked about the primary barrier to independent reading time, 9 out of 10 teachers cited "demands of the curriculum."

The value of in-class independent reading has been the subject of much controversy over the years. In 2000, the National Reading Panel, convened by Congress, determined that there wasn't enough evidence to show that silent, independent reading without feedback and guidance had a positive effect on reading achievement. In turn, many schools and teachers abandoned the practice. But steadfast champions of independent reading time, such as Stephen Krashen, say the volume of reading students do matters, and that choice reading fosters a love of books.

Michael Haggen, the chief academic officer for Scholastic Education, said in an interview that independent reading time should not be a free-for-all-rather teachers should help students choose books at their level and guide them on what to look for as they're reading. "It's important when you're talking about independent reading time, that that time is deliberate," he said. Teachers need training in what productive independent reading looks like, he said.

Additional findings from the literacy report include:

In School

About 1 in 10 teachers have no books in their classroom or personal libraries for students to read. About a third of teachers have fewer than 50 books. And 14 percent have more than 500 books.

Many teachers update their classroom libraries infrequently. About a quarter do it every couple of years and 13 percent never do it.

Teachers who do in-class independent reading were asked about its benefits. About 40 percent said "students' skills have increased/ students are achieving more.' A quarter said "students learn to love reading."

At Home

Nearly half of educators say students don't have enough fiction and nonfiction books at home. The problem is, not surprisingly, more severe in high-poverty communities.

About half of all teachers talk with families about the importance of summer reading.

Libraries

Nearly 4 in 10 principals said they do not have a full-time school librarian, yet 8 in 10 said a librarian is a critical resource for schools.

About half of principals and librarians say they need more culturally relevant books, books in other languages, ebooks, books with diverse characters, and high-interest, low-level books.

Nearly 30 percent of principals and librarians said they're able to add new titles to their library "once a year or less." About 20 percent add books at least monthly.

Charts: Teacher & Principal School Report: Focus on Literacy, 2017, from Scholastic Related stories:

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Study: Teachers Value Independent Reading But Lack Class Time for It

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Nearly all teachers and principals believe students should have time for independent reading at school, yet only about a third of teachers set aside time each day for this, according to a recent survey by Scholastic.

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Strategies to get busy middle school and high school students reading

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I imagine most school librarians have a range of experiences with professional learning/development. At times I feel like I've simply been checking a box that I've completed some kind of training, something I'm required to do. Then there are the times when I feel like I've really learned something new and I walk away with all these new little idea seeds to plant.

Recently, at my school's District Learning Day, I sat on a Q and A panel addressing reading promotion in secondary schools. Promoting reading has never been a critical issue for us, because our library has readers and supportive teachers and administration. Turns out I didn't have much to add to a discussion on reading promotion, but I had a lot to learn, and I left feeling inspired by my co-workers and all the wonderful ideas they shared.

A few tested ideas for reading promotion in middle and high school:

Host a literary social hour. Instead of the traditional book club format, students come prepared to discuss/review books they have read. The social hour platform is customizable, and school librarians can tailor the meetings to fit their school's needs.

Meet in the morning. Some students might not be able to stay after school, especially in middle school when they are dependent on others for transportation. Early-bird meetings of any library type club could open up opportunities for students and staff who struggle with meeting after school.

Make a bookmobile from a book cart and a bicycle bell. Rolling carts of books to classrooms isn't a new idea, but in this version the cart is rolled to classroom areas like an ELA hallway or suite. The bicycle bell is to let students and staff know the bookmobile is outside their area if anyone wants to checkout a book.

Building on the bookmobile with a bicycle bell, use the cart to promote specific genres or collections. Align book choice with different diversity awareness months or events like Banned Books Week or National Poetry Month to create focus on books that may be getting overlooked.

Throw a silent reading party after school. A librarian in my district invited students/staff and their families to visit the library between seven and nine on a Friday night for silent reading. Student volunteers from a school club earned service hours by babysitting younger family members, and approximately sixty-eight people, including toddlers and grandparents, participated in the reading party.

Hang up "What I'm Currently Reading" signs, and encourage teacher/staff to do the same. If possible provide staff with some signs, and make a point to find out what teachers reading.

Ideas for schools who participate in programs like SSR or DEAR to some degree:

Let students see you read. If your school does SSR or DEAR type reading programs, encourage teachers to model reading instead of grading, writing lessons, etc...

Hang up book covers. If your school only has a couple of teachers doing planned reading in class, celebrate student success by hanging pictures of the books they read. Give students a physical representation of their work, and take advantage of the chance to highlight some specific titles.

Audiobooks for reluctant read aloud teachers. In a school wide reading program where ten minutes of a specific class is dedicated to reading a designated book, there may be some teachers hesitant to participate. Provide these teachers with audiobooks and the technical support needed to play the book for students.

Even though we have a strong reading population at our school, reading promotion is key in perpetuating the reading culture.Ultimately, how successful I am in promoting reading seems tied to my level of authentic excitement. Thanks to the librarians in my district, my excitement about reading promotion has been reignited.

Outside of displays, how do other libraries promote reading, and does anyone have a super focused promotion?

Author: Mica Johnson

I'm a school librarian at Farragut Middle. I like the lib to be loud, messy, and full of student activity. I love tech stuff as much as I love books, and I'm part of an awesome rotating maker space.

Categories: Blog Topics, Student Engagement/ Teaching Models

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Reading Promotion for Middle and High Schools | Knowledge Quest

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I imagine most school librarians have a range of experiences with professional learning/development. At times I feel like I've simply been checking a box that I've completed some kind of training, something I'm required to do. Then there are the... Read More ›

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Great resources on how to run a book club and keep momentum and engagement up

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Members of the Girlfriends Book Club of Baltimore.
Photo courtesy of Tonya Wright/The Girlfriends Book Club of Baltimore

Eight-year-old Ezri Blau likes to read all kinds of books, but reading isn't the only reason she returns to her book club at the Naperville (IL) Public Library. "My favorite thing was when we read Rowan of Rin and had to defeat the hanging spider maze," Blau says. "Well, and the cookies. I love cookies."

Tasty snacks and conquering book-inspired obstacle courses may seem far from the traditional tasks of a book club, but Naperville's Book and Cookie Club exemplifies exactly the kind of creative engagement one can expect from today's successful book clubs for kids and teens. A book club, one of those bread-and-butter library services, is as adaptable as it is stalwart. It can be boisterous and active or quiet and small. It can grow and change, serving the same group from the pre-tween years through adolescence, or welcoming a different crop of readers each new school year.

A good book club may run itself once it gets going, but starting and sustaining one through discouraging moments-a dismally attended first meeting or a poor book match-can be difficult. Persistence, flexibility, and above all, knowing and responding to your readers can make a book club work in any place and with any age group.

Fox River Grove (IL) students design a conveyor belt after reading the John Henry legend.
Photo courtesy of Fox River Grove Memorial Library.

Start small

An intimate size allows club members to get comfortable with one another and helps create a group identity. It also minimizes the worry of coordinating discussion among a large group. When Tonya Wright started the Girlfriends Book Club of Baltimore in 2014, she set out to create a stress-free environment where her second-grade daughter could discuss books. She wasn't looking for a big crowd. "I said, 'Baby, if we get one of your friends to say yes, we've got a club!'" Seven girls from her daughter's class joined.

Early on, Wright just wanted to help the girls find their voices. Discussions were simple and focused on likes and dislikes, clarifying confusing sections, and listening to one another. Occasionally, Wright would bring in a multiple-choice survey about the book to get the conversation moving or offer a relevant game to break the ice. The book discussion was a vehicle for building confidence in sharing opinions and being respectful listeners.

As the girls have grown older, Wright has needed to adapt to their busy lives to be able to continue the club. Now in sixth grade, the preteens meet on weekends instead of after school and limit their time to only one hour, down from the more open-ended schedule in the early years. When the members started forgetting meetings, Wright began sending out Evites as reminders.

Activities To Augment Book Clubs

Tweens' "book face" photo at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, IL.
Photo courtesy of Heather Booth
* Create art based on the title or topic * Cast the movie based on the book * Take "book face" pictures (above) * Write shelf-talkers for favorite titles * Make snacks based on the book's themes
* Rework a favorite scene into a mini-reader's theater
* Take a field trip to a local author event * Arrange a video chat with an author * Host a used book swap * Compile a playlist for the book * Conduct Pictionary battles * Play character charades * Create a trivia quiz -Bridgett Kaiser
Find a partner

Bridgett Kaiser of the Fox River Grove (IL) Memorial Library wanted to start a science club, but when the local Rotary Club offered a literacy-focused sponsorship, a book and science club was born. The library purchases individual copies of books that relate to science experiments for children to keep. Rotary members have even pitched in to help when extra hands are needed.

Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini paired easily with a hands-on planting project. Magnets: Pulling Together, Pushing Apart by Natalie M. Rosinsky had the kids exploring the library with magnets on wands to figure out what was magnetic and what wasn't. Reading the story of John Henry led to one of the group's favorite activities: Inspired by the legendary race digging through a mountain, the kids worked in groups to design and build a conveyer belt that could move rocks.

The club, called It's Elementary!, brought kindergartners through fourth graders flooding into the small library, regularly packing the program. "It was like we had opened up a door that they didn't know existed," says Kaiser.

"They're never quiet. They're always engaged. That joy is so real, and so is their interest in being here at the library. They're interested [in learning more] way beyond the day of the club."

Partnerships can draw participants who might not otherwise be interested. At the Downers Grove (IL) Public Library, teen services coordinator Lynette Pitrak found a partner in a publisher, forming a mutually beneficial relationship. Pitrak can attract teens to her book club with the novelty and access of advance reader copies from Bloomsbury, and the publisher gets frank feedback from the teens on its titles. This cache of pre-publication books is something teens can't readily access elsewhere and provides a great motivation to join the library book club.

Some of the most beneficial collaborations happen when librarians work together. Danielle Jones of the Multnomah County (OR) Library and Paige Battle, teacher librarian at nearby Grant High School in Portland, have joined forces for Half-Blood Printzes, a mock-Printz book club. Battle can connect to and recruit club members through her work with teachers and students, and Jones hosts and facilitates the discussion through surveys, moderated conversation, and, of course, snacks.

Parents can be partners, too. The Book and Cookie Club at the Naperville (IL) Public Library brings in parents with their third through fifth graders for a snack, conversation, and activities. "It's a good thing to get families reading and talking about books together," says children's services librarian Emily Bayci. "I really try to build relationships with the parents. I'll send out emails after the book club to anyone who misses with suggestions on how to talk about the book with their child and a reminder that I'm always around if they just want to stop in."

A green screen photo booth at a Book and Cookie Club event at the Naperville (IL) Public Library.
Photo courtesy of Emily Bayci/Naperville Public Library

Be an opportunist

Sometimes creating a book club is a matter of being in the right place at the right time and applying a little bit of librarian magic. North Carolina school librarian Tomi Black was helping a boy find a copy of Kwame Alexander's Booked at his friend's suggestion. "On instinct, I grabbed two copies of the book and returned to the two boys, suggesting they could read it together. Immediately this generated interest from two additional boys seated at the same table. Luckily we had two more copies of the book and voilà...an impromptu book club was formed!"

Go multimedia

Media tie-ins are a hit for Noelle Spicher, the teen librarian at the Lisle (IL) Library District. Cautioned by coworkers that teens hadn't come to book clubs in the past, Spicher took a chance and started one at the request of a few of her regular teen patrons and teen advisory board (TAB) members.

"I hesitated at first, but once the teens mentioned it again, I figured I would try it out," she said.

The group began with the core TAB members who requested the club but has grown to seven participants. With guidance from Spicher, they decided to focus on books with movie adaptations, beginning with Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

Their Friday evening meetings begin by watching the movies, which adds to the fun and social feel of this teen event and gives them even more to discuss. Spicher occasionally has to gently redirect conversation back to the topics at hand but notes that the teens are able to self-regulate quite well, even in lively discussions.

When kid lit makes it to the big screen, as Wonder did in 2017 or as A Wrinkle in Time will this year, librarians can leverage the heavily marketed events and host media-themed book clubs. Even if it's a one-off event, media-themed discussions bring participants into the library and help kids see the library as a place where their views are important. Tapping into popular fandom can also bring in participants who already have something in common.

Books That Got Them Talking

Kids books

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Cry of the Sea by D. G. Driver I'm Just No Good at Rhyming by Chris Harris The Isle of the Lost "Descendants" series by Melissa De La Cruz Narwhal by Ben Clanton Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan Teddy Mars Almost a World Record Breaker by Molly B. Burnham "Upside-Down Magic" series by Sarah Mlynowski

Tween books

Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schröder Booked by Kwame Alexander "The Books of Elsewhere" series by Jacqueline West Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry

YA books

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Lead by letting go

Taking a step back and letting participants lead can be a recipe for success. Kitty Felde, creator and host of the Book Club for Kids podcast, has been talking to youth book clubs across the country since 2000. Book clubs are best served when adults are comfortable taking a back seat, she says.

"Step back. Let the kids pick the book. Try not to be the adult in the room," she says. "Kids will tell you anything if you listen to them and are interested in what they have to say. And follow up."

The follow-up is key, gently encouraging participants to think and say more. "You just want to get it started and make yourself as unobtrusive as possible," she says.

Facilitators are there to set a tone of respect, and participants respond in kind.

"I've never run into an issue of students not being respectful of one another," says Beth Ebenstein Mulch, school librarian at the T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA. Sometimes, that means respecting a student's need to be a quiet observer instead of a vocal participant.

"It's OK for students to be quiet," she says. "Sometimes it's enough that students want to come to each meeting and not feel pressured to talk. I try to incorporate questions that allow for students to answer as a group (thumbs up, thumbs down) as opposed to singling out individuals. I will often email ahead of the meeting and ask students to think of a book they would recommend and share."

Spicher credits the burgeoning club's success to the autonomy of her teens.

"This group is very enthusiastic about reading. Essentially they started the book group, and I'm just here to facilitate," she says. "They even talk about having a Google chat going about book group. I think the success is due to the group's level of interest and feeling of ownership."

Focus on the end goal

Ultimately, a book club can take any form that works for the group, so long as the guiding focus is clear. The goal for these clubs is often about much more than a book.

"I want them to be comfortable with their own voices and stand in their own power without being disrespectful to other opinions," says Girlfriends Book Club founder Wright. In addition to nurturing their love of reading, "I want them to have an open discussion and debate and feel comfortable knowing that they can still walk away as friends. Those skills are going to help them in everyday life."

Felde says that a good book club is a little like her Girl Scout troop.

"They might not all be your best friends, or people you have a lot in common with, but you have this one thing that's important to you and you share," she says. "I remember so much being 12 and wanting an adult to treat me like an adult. I had opinions and wanted to voice them." Felde adds, "I find that works with this age group. They have some experience with the world. They're unafraid. They're smart! They're full of heart; they're not cynical. It's a joy to hear them speak, like peeking into the brain of tomorrow's leaders. And it's hopeful."

Heather Booth is head of teen services at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, IL. Her clubs include a Next Chapter Book Club for young adults with special needs.

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Members of the Girlfriends Book Club of Baltimore.Photo courtesy of Tonya Wright/The Girlfriends Book Club of Baltimore Eight-year-old Ezri Blau likes to read all kinds of books, but reading isn't the only reason she returns to her book club at the Naperville (IL) Public Library.