Issue #02Print Friendly Version (PDF)  

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Dr. Z-Coe's Corner

Dear FOR-PD Participant:

I hope that this message finds you well and that your life has returned to some level of normality after all of the recent hurricanes we have had in Florida. Many of our facilitators and participants have been severely affected by the storms-many people have lost schools and homes. In last Friday's Orlando Sentinel there was an article about a school trying to locate one of their eight-year old students who had been missing for many days. They found him and his family living in a horse trailer! The mother said that she did not send her child to school because he was dirty and she did not want others to make fun of him. Our thoughts continue to be with all of our fellow Floridians who have been devastated by the hurricanes. We would like to inform you that FOR-PD has been assisting participants who were hurt by the hurricanes-special thanks to the facilitators who are collaborating with us on this effort; we could not have done it without your help.

October is already here and the FOR-PD course is on a roll! We are happy to announce to you that we have 1,300 preK-12 teachers taking the course this semester. Before we know it 2006 will be here and the deadline for secondary teachers to obtain the reading endorsement will be over! I want to encourage all of you to keep up with the course and I especially want to encourage secondary teachers to complete it as soon as possible. Help us spread the word to other secondary teachers who need to complete Competency 2. We are here to support Florida's teachers in their professional development efforts.

Because we are so close to the time of completion of the reading endorsement, we want to do whatever is necessary to help you and other teachers to successfully complete Competency 2 through FOR-PD. We appreciate and value all of the time and effort you are putting into this course. Continue to participate, interact with your facilitator, other colleagues, and the FOR-PD office-engagement and participation will help you stay on task and benefit from the FOR-PD content and the process. Take a look at the 10 Reasons for Florida Teachers to take the FOR-PD Course (QuickTime Movie) and the ABCs of Successful Participation. I would like to encourage you to study the course material critically, be proactive and plan ahead with course requirements, and continue to interact, post, network, and share your reflections and "voice." Although this is an online class, it does not mean that you will have to complete it independently-interactions with text, facilitator, and colleagues are vital to your learning. Thank you for continuing to reflect upon your learning, continuing to learn from and with others, and continuing to benefit from the FOR-PD experience-we are here to support you and help you learn and succeed.

I also wanted to share with you about some of the work of the National Endowment of the Arts Foundation on literacy and the arts. I recently read Dana Gioia's speech on the Reading at Risk study that was published this summer. Gioia is the current chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Reading at Risk is a descriptive survey of national trends in adult literary reading (especially for 18-35 year-old adults) that is conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and spanning 20 years of polling, the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. If you have not read this study, you need to-it is very significant to all of us in literacy and especially for content area secondary educators who sometimes question the relationship between reading and content areas. This study provides a wide-lens view of American reading habits that carries significant implications for family literacy and students' language and literacy development. If young adults and young parents don't read, what will happen to their children's language and literacy development?

Here is the bottom line: literary reading in America is not only declining rapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline has increased, especially among the young. The magnitude of the decline is sizable. The results highlight a massive cultural shift toward electronic media for entertainment and information. Here's my editorial note: if Americans continue on this path, the reading gap will continue to get bigger and bigger. I hope that you create an opportunity at your school to further discuss the results and implications of this study and possibly develop some plans for consistent family literacy and young adult literacy efforts. I also hope that you and your school plan to celebrate Teen Read Week (October 17-23) by involving more and more teens in reading. For the past three months we have been revisiting every aspect of our project as we want to make sure that we provide teachers with the best product and best support they need to successfully complete the reading endorsement. Please feel free to send us your feedback-we listen carefully to what facilitators and participants say about our project and make necessary changes to better serve all. Let us know how we can better support you and help you grow professionally, too. Thank you, again, for all of your work. I hope that you enjoy this month's literacy resources. We look forward to hearing from you.

You may reach me at vzygouri@mail.ucf.edu and/or 1-866-227-7261.

Regards,
Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, FOR-PD
vzygouri@mail.ucf.edu

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Florida's Hurricane Relief Fund

Following the devastation caused by four major hurricanes, thousands of Floridians are in need. Governor Bush has established the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund to assist communities in rebuilding. This fund will be used for needs unmet by other disaster relief organizations also working to help rebuild lives and communities. Communities will decide how their allocations from this fund should be spent, and the most heavily impacted communities will receive the greatest percentage of these funds. Please give. Your donation is tax deductible. To donate via the Internet, visit http://www.flahurricanefund.org/. For questions about this fund, or to donate by phone call 1-800-825-3786. To volunteer your time or make in-kind donations, call 1-800-FL-HELP-1.

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Florida Add-on Reading Endorsement

The FOR-PD Project office receives many emails and phone calls about the Add-on Reading Endorsement Program. As many of you know, secondary teachers of reading must complete either a certification program at a state university or an endorsement program either through your district or the state university system. If you are looking for the latest information concerning the Reading Endorsement, check out the JustRead, Florida! Web site which contains information on the Reading Endorsement Competencies, questions and answers about the Reading Endorsement, as well as copies of approved district plans.

 

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Reading with a Horror Theme

Teen Read Week is a national literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association. The initiative is aimed at teens, parents, librarians, educators, booksellers and other concerned adults. Hundreds of public and school libraries, classrooms, and bookstores across the country will celebrate this year's theme, "It's Alive!@ your library." The theme encourages teens to read books about mysteries, forensics, science fiction, horror and the world around them for the "fun of it."  Horror is a favorite genre with teens and can be used in even the most conservative of communities and schools by focusing on mystery and fantasy elements, or mad science. The Teen Read Week web site is filled with ideas on how your school can celebrate, books, movies, and web sites that relate to the theme. We are interested in hearing how you, your school, or your district celebrated Teen Read Week.  Email us to let us know how your school celebrated forpd@itrc.ucf.edu

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Reading At Risk

Reading At Risk is a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, which focuses on the number of adult Americans, age 18 and over, which attended artistic performances, visited museums, watched broadcasts of arts programs, or read literature. For the literature section, respondents were asked if, during the past twelve months, they had read any novels or short stories, plays, or poetry. A positive response to any of those three categories was counted as reading literature, including popular genres such as mysteries, as well as contemporary and classic literary fiction. No distinctions were drawn on the quality of the literary work. The report documents an overall decline of 10 percentage points in literary readers from 1982 to 2002 - a loss of 20 million potential readers. The rate of decline is increasing and, according to the survey, has nearly tripled in the last decade. The accelerating declines in literary reading among all demographic groups of American adults indicate an imminent cultural crisis. The trends among younger adults warrant special concern, suggesting that - unless some effective solution is found - literary culture, and literacy in general, will continue to worsen. The rate of decline for the youngest adults, those aged 18 to 24, was 55 percent greater than that of the total adult population. Indeed, at the current rate of loss, literary reading as a leisure activity will virtually disappear in half a century.

10 Key Findings from Reading At Risk
1. The percentage of adults, in America, reading literature has dropped drastically over the past 20 years.
2. The decline in literary reading parallels the decline in total book reading.
3. The rate of decline in literary reading is accelerating.
4. Women read more literature than men, but literary reading by both groups is declining at significant rates.
5. Literary reading is declining among whites, African Americans, and Hispanics.
6. Literary reading is declining among all education groups.
7. Literary reading is declining among all age groups.
8. The steepest decline in literary reading is in the youngest age groups.
9. Decline in literary reading foreshadows erosion in cultural and civic participation.
10. The decline in reading is due to increased participation in a variety of electronic media, including Internet, video games, and portable digital devices.

-National Endowment for the Arts

What does this means for our students? What can we do differently to start addressing this issue? Email us at forpd@itrc.ucf.edu and tell us what you think about this report.
Read the full report Reading At Risk.

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All Aboard The Polar Express Reading Challenge!

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FCAT Explorer

FCAT Explorer is now up and ready for teachers and students to use. This online reading and math practice program is free for all public school students, teachers, and administrators and can be used wherever there is a computer with Internet access. FCAT explorer provides students with explicit practice and learning guidance for the reading and math benchmarks tested on the FCAT. The program provides skills practice with instructional feedback for both correct and incorrect answers. For students preparing to take the FCAT, FCAT Explorer offers additional instructional support. Galactic Library features an instructional model that adjusts the level of instructional support according to a student's score on practice questions. Reading Timeline (10th grade) offers eight lessons on important skills that students need to be successful in the regular, FCAT-like practice program. FCAT Explorer includes the Classroom Teacher's Desk, which provides the teacher with information on all of the students and their progress on the program. Practice Makes Progress!

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Funding Opportunities

Very Best in Youth Program/Nestle and Reading is Fundamental
The Nestle "Very Best in Youth" program honors young people who have made reading a priority and contributed in their community. The program is designed to recognize young people for their outstanding achievements and to inspire others to do their very best. Students between 10 and 18 years of age must be nominated from RIF coordinators, volunteers, parents, and/or teachers.

Deadline: November 1, 2004
Funding: Winners will be featured in a special publication and honored at a ceremony in Los Angeles in July 2005. Nestle will donate $1,000 in the name of each winner to the charity of his/her choice. Nominated youth will receive a certificate of completion.
Eligibility: Nominees must be legal residents of the U.S. or District of Columbia, between 10 and 18 years of age.
Contact: Nestle "Very Best in Youth," PO Box 29059, Glendale, CA 91209. Email: contactus@rif.org. Web site: www.rif.org/what/eventscontests/verybestinyouth/default.mspx.

Challenge Grants for the Gifted Collaborative Curriculum Projects
The Department of Education is accepting applications for the Challenge Grants for the Gifted Collaborative Curriculum Project. The grant is available on a competitive basis to school districts. The Project is intended to enhance the academic performance of students who are gifted through the innovative redesign of instruction and collaboration between other gifted students, teachers, or agencies. It is expected that this collaboration will enhance instruction and the academic performance of gifted students by introducing new perspectives, information, skills, and talents to instruction.

Deadline: January 21, 2005
Funding: $100,000 total on a competitive basis.
Eligibility: Florida public school districts may submit up to five applications on behalf of teachers.
Contact: Donna Jo Smith at 850-245-0478. Email: donnajo.smith@fldoe.org.


Youth Leaders for Literacy
The National Education Association will award 20 grants of $500 each to student-led initiatives through Youth Leaders for Literacy, a joint program of the NEA and Youth Service America (YSA). The Youth Leaders for Literacy initiative is directed at helping youth direct and focus their enthusiasm and creativity into reading-related service projects. Grant applications should propose youth leadership in developing and implementing a project that begins on NEA's Read Across America Day in March and culminates in YSA's National Youth Service Day in April.

Deadline: October 22, 2004
Funding: 20 grants of $500 each
Eligibility: Applicants must be 21 years of age or younger, can be either individuals or a group.
Contact: Anita Merina at Youth Leaders for Literacy/National Education Association 1201 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. Application information is available on the NEA web site.

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Holidays, Happenings, & Events

The Florida Reading Association's Annual Conference is just around the corner. FOR-PD will have a booth in the Exhibits, #117. Come by and meet us!

Florida Council for the Teachers of English Conference In Love with Words Orlando, FL	October 14-16
Florida Reading Association Conference Reading Round Up Orlando, FL FOR-PD Booth #117	October 17-17
Teen Read Week This year's theme is all about horror: It's Alive @ Your Library	October 17-23
Election Day	November 2
Florida Association for Media in Education 32nd Annual Conference Tampa, FL	November 3-5
DOE 2004 State Conference: Title1 - Bridges the Achievement Divide Orlando, FL	November 7-10
International Reading Association, 23rd Southeast Regional Conference Bridge to the Future: Reading First, Last, and Forever Savannah, GA	November 7-9
Veteran's Day	November11
Children's Book Week	November 15-21
The Reading Expedition North East Florida Educational Consortium & Just Read, FL! A collaborative model for supporting projects such as Reading First, Reading Coaches Model, and the Florida Reading Initiative. Gainesville, FL	November 16 & 17
2004 NCTE Annual Convention "Significance" Indianapolis, IN	November 18-23
National Reading Conference San Antonio, TX	December 1-4
American Reading Forum 2004 Conference A Silver Jubilee of Reading: Legacies, Realities, and Predictions Sanibel Island, FL	December 10-13

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FOR-PD Reading Strategy of the Month

As teachers, we know how important background knowledge is to learning and reading comprehension. Good readers draw on prior knowledge and experience to help understand text. Struggling readers often plow right through a text without considering what they know about the topic or how the information connects to what they already know. The October Reading Strategy of the Month focuses on teaching students how to make connections to text. Remember to give your students many opportunities to practice this strategy so that when they do get confused they can consciously apply the strategy to enhance comprehension. Take a look at the worksheet provided and examples from the elementary and high school level. Try this strategy in your classroom and then email us and tell us how it worked (forpd@mail.ucf.edu). Also, don't forget to share the strategy with your colleagues.

Each month we feature an effective reading strategy, explain the rationale behind the strategy, give directions on how to use the strategy with students, ideas for adapting the strategy to different content areas, ideas for assessing the strategy, and, of course, a printable PDF version of the strategy. Check out our Reading Strategy Archive to see past Reading Strategies of the Month.

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Literacy On The Web

SUNLINK isn't just for teachers!
Check out SUNLINK's Links for Students. There are many different resources the students can use. The Daily Servings section has links to daily vocabulary building, SAT prep, trivia, and the latest news. The Resources for Florida Students has information from the Department of Education on graduation, colleges, FCAT, state projects with curriculum emphasizes, and general information about the state of Florida. Are your students doing research? The Links for Students has Internet links sorted by subject and grade level (elementary, middle, and high). Students also have access to libraries across the state, including the university system's WebLuis. Has a student ever asked you, "What should I read?" Now they can check out the Reading and Literacy section, which features links to web sites promoting the latest and hottest books for children and teens.

How Stuff Works
Do your students have questions about how something works? Looking for informational text that you can include in your classroom? Check out How Stuff Works.  Learn something about many different things with the question and answer format of this web site.

Young Adult Literature Page
There is a wealth of fiction created specifically for teens that reflect the real situations and problems that this age group struggles with, as they become adults. This web site provides lists of novels dealing with the coming of age theme that is so prevalent in young adult literature.

FactMonster.com
This is an award-winning site for kids filled with reference material, fun facts and features, and individualized homework help.

The Academy of American Poets
The Online Poetry Classroom provides free poetry lesson plans for high school teachers. Each month, the Academy's National Poetry Almanac section will highlight a different theme and include activities, ideas, and history for classroom use.

Scholastic's Visiting Author Series
Scholastic offers students and teachers the opportunity to interact with authors through online discussions. October 4 through October 22, meet Jenny Nimo, author of the popular Charlie Bones books. Upcoming authors include Ana Juan (Frida and The Night Eater) and Andrew Clements (Frindle, A Week in the Woods, and The Jacket). You can also have the opportunity to participate in live chats with authors as well. Upcoming live chats include authors Chris Van Allsburg and Ben Mikaelsen.

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Highlighted Books of the Month

Books K-5
The Graves Family (Patrcia Polaco) The spooky Graves family moves to Union City and tries to fit in with the "normal" residents.
Halloween (Jerry Seinfield) A funny look at trick-or-treating. This will have your students giggling.
Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve (Mary Pope Osborne & Sal Murdocca) Jack and Annie are transported back to King Arthur's realm, where invisible beings, giant ravens, and mistaken magic spells have the castle in an uproar on Halloween night.
The Midnight Horse (Sid Fleischman) An orphaned boy, his eccentric uncle, a plot to cheat the boy out of his inheritance, a ghost, and, of course, a horse.
Witches (Roald Dahl) A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witch's plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

Books 6-8
Stonewords: A Ghost Story (Pamela Conrad) Zoe discovers that her house is occupied by the ghost of an eleven-year-old girl, who carries her back to the day of her death in 1870 to try to alter that tragic event.
Dragon's Blood (Jane Yolen) Jakkin, a bond boy who works as a Keeper in a dragon nursery on the planet Austar IV, secretly trains a fighting pit dragon of his own in hopes of winning his freedom.
Truly Grim Tales (Pricilla Galloway) A newer, grim version of familiar tales.
Caroline (Neil Gaiman) Looking for excitement, Coraline ventures through a mysterious door into a world that is similar, yet disturbingly different from her own, where she must challenge a gruesome entity in order to save herself, her parents, and the souls of three others.
Be Afraid: Tales of Horror (Edo Van Belkom) Be afraid of an innocent-looking doll. Be afraid for the changes that occur to a young boy as he matures into adulthood. Be afraid for a girl who is teased by her schoolmates for having a scar that has ruined her otherwise pretty face. The stories take everyday situations and recast them in a scary and unforgettable light.

Books 9-12
Witch Child (Ceila Reese) In 1659, fourteen-year-old Mary Newbury keeps a journal of her voyage from England to the New World and her experiences living as a witch in a community of Puritans near Salem, Massachusetts.
Thirsty (M.T. Anderson) Mood swings, pumped up energy levels, sleeplessness, all typical of adolescence. Chris keeps trying to reassure himself. But when they are combined with constant terrible thirst, a lust for flesh and an ever-fading reflection, Chris finally admits that this is not normal adolescence. He is becoming a vampire. Chris notices disquieting changes in himself: violent mood swings, sleeplessness, relentless thirst, and a tendency, when agitated, to fade out of mirrors and other reflections.
The Body of Christopher Creed (Carol Plum-Ucci) Torey Adams, a high school junior with a seemingly perfect life, struggles with doubts and questions surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the class outcast.
Frankenstein (Mary Shelly) A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hates his creator.
Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes (Colin Evans) Learn about cases solved using everything from psychological profiling to ballistics.


Children's Book Council - Election Related Books for Young People

The Children's Book Council is pleased to present a list of election-related books for young people. This list was compiled from titles submitted by members and represents a wide-selection of titles for classroom and home use. From the Constitution and Voting How-To's to Presidential Biographies and vital Supreme Court Decisions, these books provide a detailed and wide-ranging understanding of our electoral process and its effects on our government, society, and day-to-day lives. The books listed span from grades K to grades 7 and up.


Professional Book Recommendations:


Do your students ask, "Why should I read?" Can you or your students answer that question? Do your students see the relevance of reading and the impact that reading has on their lives? Are your students unmotivated to read? Are you looking for ways to get students motivated to read? We suggest you pick up a copy of Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School by Kelly Gallagher. The book offers mini-lessons tailored specifically to middle and high school students, which will help them, understand the importance and relevance of reading. The easy-to-use motivational lessons will help maintain reading enthusiasm in your classroom all year long. "Rather than telling students reading is good for them, the lessons in this book show them the benefits of reading."

We want our students to become independent, life long lovers of reading. To do this, teachers must lay the foundation on which children can build their reading lives. Growing Readers: Units of Study in the Primary Classroom by Kathy Collins assists teachers in planning for independent reading workshops by describing what the independent reading workshop should look like, showing how it fits into a balanced reading program, and outlining possible units of study. Topics explored include: print and comprehension strategies; reading in genres such as poetry and nonfiction; connecting in-school reading and out-of school reading; and developing strategies and habits of lifelong readers.

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Monthly FOR-PD Tips

Quiz Tips

The FOR-PD Help Desk has received quite a few calls about the quizzes. Below are some tips to ensure you are able to access the quizzes without any problems.

FOR-PD Help Desk Information

The FOR-PD Help Desk is available if you run into any technical difficulties. Help Desk hours are:
Monday through Friday 9:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. &  6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. 
Saturday 10:00 A.M.- 3:00 P.M.
The phone number is 1-866-863-READ (7323) toll free, Florida calls only. For non-Florida calls only 407-249-4702.
Technical support is also available through AOL Instant Messenger, screen name "forpdhelp".




From the Help Desk: Recently, the FOR-PD office has received many requests for log-in information. Participants have said that they have not received our introductory email explaining technical information and how to log in. There are a few reasons why this may be happening.

 

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People Are Talking

The FOR-PD office has received numerous emails about the new Literacy Newsletter. We enjoy reading all of your wonderful comments! Many people have asked about how their colleagues can receive the newsletter. People can sign up to receive the newsletter by going to the FOR-PD Literacy Newsletter page on our web site. On this page, we have a subscription form as well as archived newsletters.

"I have just completed the FORPD online course for my Reading Endorsement. It was absolutely wonderful, and I thank you. I am thrilled with the newsletter!" - Susan H.

"Thanks so much for keeping me updated. I really appreciate all the information I have received from you. I find it very useful as I share it with all my ESOL teachers working on their endorsement" - Sonia

"I just read your first edition newsletter, and I am thrilled with all the news. It also was like a refresher course with reminders of all the wonderful concepts I learned while doing the course. I like the strategy of the month. I have an intern and I introduced him to the ABC chart recently. I explained this strategy is wonderful for requiring the students to listen for key concepts, write them on the chart, and then have students explain the importance of the word when we discuss the movie. I have a large poster size ABC chart that I fill in as the students tell me words that begin with the letters. They must also tell me why the word was important to the movie. In the past, I had students take notes and they missed parts of the movie because they were focused on writing the notes. Writing a word or phrase is quick and the students can continue to fill in the boxes. They are motivated trying to find a word for every box or who can come up with the most words. After our class discussion, they often write a summary or essay about the movie using a minimum of 15 words from the chart. (8th grade Am. History) The students enjoy taking notes this way and have fun competing for who can fill in the whole box. Another strategy I will introduce my intern to is the history mapping. So many events in history make this strategy easy to use and more meaningful for my students."- Roberta L.

 

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Online Chat

September's Chat was a great success. We had over 60 people in the session. We were able to address many questions that participants had about the course. The September's chat transcript is posted on our web site.

We are currently working on our next participant chat, which will be at the end of November. We will be focusing on Visual Literacy. Visual literacy is the ability to effectively analyze and critically evaluate messages within a visual format. Mary Alice White, a researcher at Columbia Teacher's College, has found that students learn more than half of what they know from visual information, but that teachers do not explicitly show students how to think critically about visual data. Information on the November chat will be posted in the FOR-PD course. Below are some web sites on visual literacy:

Dear Catherine,

Dear Catherine,
I took the FOR-PD course when it was first offered. I am now ready to take the next course. How do I go about registering for the next session?
-Kathie

Kathie-
We get that question a lot. The course developed by FOR-PD is the only course we are offering. It was developed in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education to assist teachers who need to complete the Reading Endorsement or who want to take a staff development course in reading. The FOR-PD course meets the requirements for Competency 2 of the Florida Reading Endorsement Competencies. If you are ready to take the next course for the Reading Endorsement, you should check with your county to see what courses they are offering. Each county has developed or is developing a specific plan which lays out the training they will offer to teachers needing to complete the endorsement. If you have other questions concerning the endorsement, you can go to the Just Read, FL web site and click on the Reading Endorsement link.
-Catherine

Dear Catherine,
What is the literacy log? Do we have to turn it in at the end of the course?
-Ed

Ed-
The literacy log is found at the beginning of each course and is an effective reading strategy or organizer that you will use when reading the content of the course. This is a pen and paper activity so you must download the worksheet and print it out. We encourage you to use the strategy or organizer with your students. It is important that you keep your literacy log in a safe place because some districts require your literacy log as additional documentation that you completed the FOR-PD course. You should check with the Office of Staff Development in your county to see if they require you to turn in your literacy log or not.
-Catherine