Created by Libby Iriks for Fiction Promotion Folio, LIB4301, ECU, 2010.
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Task 1 – A Whole School Promotion Reading Program
“R.E.A.D Week” – Read.Evaluate.Advertise.Debate
Rationale
The purpose of this Whole School Promotion Reading Program is to get all students within a Year 7 – 12 high school reading at the same time and to expose them to as many different genres as possible through peer promotion activities. The aim of the program is to target all students, both reluctant and active readers alike, in the hope that they will be intrinsically motivated to read or keep reading, as the case may be. Implementation of the program will also allow the teacher librarian to gather valuable information on reading preferences of the student body to assist in the purchasing of new fiction resources. As it is a reading promotion, it will also be targeting key literacy outcomes. The English Rationale (2010) in the draft of the Australian Curriculum states that
“in the 21st century, the definition of literacy has expanded to refer to a flexible, sustainable command of a set of capabilities inthe use and production of traditional texts and new communications technologies, using spoken language, print and multimedia. In English,students learn to read, write, listen, speak accurately, flexibly and critically, and to view and create increasingly complex texts for a variety ofcontexts.”
This program will be incorporating a variety of literacy skills including the reading of and personal response to chosen texts, discussion of literary genres, creation and viewing of multimedia, and speaking and listening critically in regards to these texts. Assessment of literacy skills will focus on students’ discussion of their chosen texts. English teachers will be asked to make anecdotal notes on their students’ abilities to comment on and respond to their texts, taking note of any areas of weakness.
The promotion is titled “R.E.A.D Week”, an acronym for the activities the students will be completing over the period of a week – Read, Evaluate, Advertise, Debate. It will be implemented in all English classes from Year 7 to Year 12 during one week of Term 2. In the first session, students will be required to Read a self-selected text for twenty minutes after which they will split into groups according to the genre of their book. Each student will then Evaluate their chosen text through discussion with their group. Each group will then spend several sessions creating an Advertisement for their literary genre using various forms of multimedia software. After viewing all advertisements, each class will then participate in an informal Debate about which genre is the most enjoyable.
By asking students to self-select a text (for those students that have trouble selecting their own texts, they will be directed to the teacher librarian for assistance prior to the promotion), they will hopefully bring along something they are interested in reading. This way, the students will be all the more convincing when they are completing the promotion activities. When students form groups to discuss their selected text, they will be with other students who enjoy reading the same genre. Through the discussion, students will be exposed to other titles they may be interested in and therefore motivated to read. In the same way, when students are viewing the advertisements for other literary genres, it may spark in them an interest to try an unfamiliar genre and they will therefore be exposed to a wider range of texts.
The idea behind this promotion is to use peer promotion of texts to intrinsically motivate all students to read. Hopper (2005) noted in her study that adolescents tendto choose books that their peers have enjoyed and which validate reading as a peer group cultural experience. Peer recommendation is used in this promotion as a powerful tool to motivate students.If students are intrinsically motivated to read they are more likely to keep reading once the promotion is over. The motivation for wanting to increase student reading of fiction is to further develop their literacy skills. Stephen Krashen (1993) states
“When children read for pleasure, when they get "hooked on books," they acquire, involuntarily and without conscious effort, nearly all of the so-called "language skills" many people are so concerned about: They will become adequate readers, acquire a large vocabulary, develop the ability to understand and use complex grammatical instructions, develop a good writing style, and become good (but not necessarily perfect) spellers.”
The continued practise of reading for pleasure for teens is necessary in order to maintain and further develop literacy skills. If a child’s reading habits drop off as they get older, they are not getting the opportunities they need to develop these skills. This program aims to increase student motivation to read for pleasure and ultimately facilitate the development of student literacy.
R.E.A.D WEEK PROGRAM
Time frame – Fivesixty (60) minute periods over one week, Term 2.
Teaching Outcomes/ObjectivesTarget audience
Whole school, years 7 – 12
Learning Outcomes
- Overarching Outcome – 10. Engage with intellectual work of others
- English – 8. Reading
- (Curriculum Framework)
- Literature – appreciating literature
- Literacy – reflecting on texts
- (Draft Australian Curriculum)
Activities / Resources / Planning Timeline and Roles
Prior to Promotion
Introduction – in the two weeks leading up to R.E.A.D Week, English teachers are asked to inform their students of the promotion and that each student will be required to bring a novel they have chosen along to the first lesson of R.E.A.D Week. If students are having trouble choosing a novel they are asked to visit the library and speak to the Teacher Librarian. If students come to class without a novel they are to choose from a selection the teacher will have available. / Prior to Promotion
Posters – to be displayed around the school to promote R.E.A.D Week and the reading of fiction
5 Lesson Outline – to be supplied to English teachers
Display – novels to be displayed according to genre:
- Fantasy:
- The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
- Assassin’s Apprentice by S.R Vaught
- Dragon’s Keeper by Carole Wilkinson
- Science-fiction:
- Blackout by Michael Pryor
- Living Hell by Catherine Jinks
- Running Dogs by Ken Catran
- Romance:
- Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams
- Faking It by Pete Johnson
- One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
- Thriller/horror:
- Bad Blood by Rhiannon Lassiter
- Scared to Death by Alan Gibbons
- The Devouring by Simon Holt
- Action/adventure:
- Barefoot Kids by Steve Hawke
- Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt
- Fightback by Steve Voake
- Mystery:
- Abyssinia by Ursula Dubosarsky
- Crash by J.A Henderson
- Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters by Gail Giles
Collaboration – during Term 1, have Art teachers conduct student competition for design of poster
Posters – to be printed at beginning of Term 2
Inform staff – TL to send email or announce at staff meeting information about the promotion and expectations of English teachers. The week prior to R.E.A.D Week, teachers will be provided with a five lesson outline of the promotion.
Collaboration – All Year 7–12 English teachers. Teachers are asked to gather their own selection of texts from a range of genres to have available for the first lesson of the promotion and to speak to their students about the promotion.
Library staff – are to expect students seeking assistance and are to direct all inquiries to the TL.
Display – in library, with R.E.A.D Week poster, list of different genres and example titles listed under each, copies of texts that cover a range of genres. TL to set up, assistants to maintain. Students can borrow displayed titles but not until the morning of first R.E.A.D Week lesson.
Lesson 1
Reading texts – students are to spend the first 20 minutes of the initial lesson reading their chosen text. If students do not have their own text, they are to choose from the teacher’s selection.
Group discussion – students are to split into groups according to the genre of their chosen text. If groups are larger than four, split large group into two smaller groups. Students share with their group what they have read and their thoughts on the book so far:
- Brief summary of plot; where do they see it heading?
- Descriptions of the characters and their motivations
- How has the author captured the attention of the reader?
- What do they like/dislike about it?
Texts – student selected texts
Texts – teacher’s selection
Handout – planning sheet for student genre advertisement. Students will brainstorm slogans/catchphrases, jingles, images, scenes, etc. that they wish to incorporate.
Software – Garage Band (radio advertisements), i-movies (television advertisements), Pages (magazine/newspaper advertisements) / Lesson 1
Venue – classrooms
Students – to bring a novel to class and laptop
Anecdotal notes – class teacher to make note of any general points of weakness in the group discussions. Observations to be shared at department meeting. Any common weaknesses to be addressed in future planning.
Lessons 2 – 3
Create advertisement – using laptops and their planning sheets, students create their advertisement for their genre using selected software. / Lessons 2 – 3
Planning sheets – from previous lesson
Laptops – and software / Lessons 2 – 3
Venue – classrooms
English teachers – suggestions given to students to edit their advertisements. At the discretion of the teacher, an extra lesson may be given to create their advertisement which will mean the promotion will run into the next week.
Lesson 4
View – each class will view their own students’ advertisements.
Discussion – as a class, constructively critique the advertisements. How effective was the advertisement? Does it make you want to read something from that genre? / Lesson 4
Advertisements – view students’ work / Lesson 4
Venue – classrooms
Lesson 5
Informal Debate/Discussion – in their groups, students briefly form an argument for why their genre is better than all the others. Teachers then moderate an informal debate, making sure all groups put forward an argument and allowing other students to comment on those arguments.
Student Poll – in class, after viewing the advertisements and conducting the debate, students are directed to the library wiki where they will complete an online poll indicating how much they would like to read books from certain genres. / Lesson 5
Library wiki/online poll – students access the poll for their year level and answer the following questions:
- Which genre are you most interested in reading? (choose from list of genres)
- How interested in reading books from this genre are you? (levels of interest ranging from “Not interested at all. Just had to pick one” to “Really, really interested! I’ll be visiting the library soon!”
Venue – classrooms
Poll results – TL to evaluate results from poll and collate popular genres for each year level. Purchasing of fiction can then target suitable age-appropriate resources in these genres.
Concluding Statement
It is hoped that implementation of this program will result in increased intrinsic motivation levels for all students in the Year 7 – 12 high school. The borrowing history for each year level will be monitored before and after the program has been implemented to determine if there has been an increase in student borrowing. A significant increase will indicate a rise in students’ reading motivation levels and therefore success of the program.
Evaluation of results from the student poll will provide important information to be used by the Teacher Librarian when purchasing fiction resources for the school library. Once resources have been built up in the areas of student interest, future promotions will be aimed at the preferred genres. This will build on the intrinsic motivation established through this initial program.
Activities conducted as part of the R.E.A.D Week Promotion will give English teachers an insight into their students’ literacy skills and will allow them to target any general areas of weakness that they observe. Not only can English teachers target their program at these areas of weakness, but the Teacher Librarian can design future literature promotions and reading programs at these areas also. This will require further collaboration between the Teacher Librarian and the English Department.
References
Curriculum Council. (1998). Curriculum Framework. Accessed 21 October 2010 via
English Rationale/Aims (ACARA). (2010). Retrieved on 25 October 2010 from ACARA website:
Hopper, Rosemary. (2005). What are teenagers reading? Adolescent fiction reading habits and reading choices. Literacy, 39(3).
Accessed on 28 October 2010 via Wiley Online Library:
Krashen, Stephen. (1993).The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. Engelwood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. P 84.
Bibliography of Brochure Resources
Baillie, Allan. (2004). Riding with Thunderbolt: the Diary of Ben Cross, northern New South Wales, 1865. Lindfield, NSW: Scholastic. 200p. ISBN 978 1 86504 580 1
Blume, Judy. (2001). Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. London: Macmillan Children’s. 123p. ISBN 978 0 330 39817 6
Courtenay, Bryce. (1999). The Power of One: Young Reader’s Edition. Camberwell, VIC : Puffin. 360p. ISBN 978 0 141 30489 2
Dahl, Roald. (1998). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. London: Puffin. 121p. ISBN 978 0 14 130147 1
Donaldson, Julia. (2002). Room on the Broom. London: Macmillan Children’s.[32] p. ISBN 978-0-333-90338-4
Dubosarsky, Ursula. (2009). The Terrible Plop. Melbourne: Viking. [32]p. ISBN 978 0 670 07141 8
Fienberg, Anna & Fienberg, Barbara. (2008). Tashi and the Phoenix. Crow’s Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. 60p.
ISBN 978 1 7417 5474 2
Fox, Mem. (1993). Time for Bed. : Harcourt. [32]p. ISBN 978 0 152 88183 2
Gleeson, Libby. (2007). Clancy’s Long, Long Walk. Camberwell, VIC: Puffin. 73p. ISBN 978 0 14 330288 9
Lester, Alison. (2004). Are We There Yet? : a journey around Australia. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin/Viking. [31]p.
ISBN 978 0 670 88067 6
Lewis, C.S. (2000). The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. London: Collins. 188p. ISBN 978 0 00 671687 7
Li, Cunxin. (2003). Mao’s Last Dancer. Camberwell, VIC: Viking. 444p. ISBN 978 0 670 04024 7
Marsden, John. (1993). Tomorrow, When the War Began. Sydney, NSW: Pan Macmillan. 286p. ISBN 0 7329 0775 6
Martin, Bill. (1995). Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? London: Penguin. [25]p. ISBN 978 0 14 050296 1
Paulsen, Gary. (2006). Hatchet. London: Macmillan Children’s. 151p. ISBN 978 0 330 43973 5
Bibliography of Promotion Display Resources
Catran, Ken. (1998). Running Dogs. Pymble, NSW: HaperCollins. 217p. ISBN 978 0 7322 5975 4
Clarke, Judith. (2006). One Whole and Perfect Day. Crow’s Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. 286p. ISBN 978 1 7411 4856 5
Dubosarsky, Ursula. (2003). Abyssinia. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin. 133p. ISBN 978 0 670 04109 1
Gibbons, Alan. (2008). Scared to Death. London: Orion Children’s. 395p. ISBN 978 1 8425 5666 5
Giles, Gail. (2004). Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters. London: Simon & Schuster. 136p. ISBN 978 0 689 86047 8
Hawke, Steve. (2007). Barefoot Kids. Fremantle, WA: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. 373p. ISBN 978 1 920731 53 3
Henderson, J.A. (2008) Crash. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 291p. ISBN 978 0 19 272079 5
Holt, Simon. (2008). The Devouring. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin. 231p. ISBN 978 0 14 132526 2
Hunt, Des. (2009) Cry of the Taniwha. Auckland: HarperCollins. 207p. ISBN 978 1 86950 731 2
Jinks, Catherine. (2007). Living Hell. Crow’s Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. 281p. ISBN 978 1 7411 4828 2
Johnson, Pete. (2003). Faking It. London: Penguin. 179p. ISBN 978 0 14 131542 3
Lassiter, Rhiannon. (2007). Bad Blood. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 317p. ISBN 978 0 19 275473 8
Pryor, Michael. (2000). Blackout. Sydney: Hodder Headline Australian. 234p. ISBN 978 0 7336 1181 0
Tolkien, J.R.R. (2000). The Hobbit: or there and back again. London: HarperCollins. 288p. ISBN 978 0 261 10331 3
Vaught, S.R. & Redmond, J.B. (2010). Assassin’s Apprentice. North Sydney: Random House Australia. 374p.
ISBN 978 1 86471 981 9
Voake, Steve. (2010). Fightback. London: Faber. 222p. ISBN 978 0 571 23003 7
Wilkinson, Carole. (2003). Dragonkeeper. Fitzroy, VIC: Black Dog. 346p. ISBN 978 1 87637 219 4
Williams, Gabrielle. (2009). Beatle Meets Destiny. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin. 290p. ISBN 978 0 14 301149 1