Fostering Literacies
New technologies and evolving methods of communication and sharing drive expanding understanding of literacy. This reality has made the refinement and demonstration of strong literacy skills ever more important for learners. Exploring and connecting various ways of knowing and learning is part of the process of personalizing learning and involves embracing new literacies and skills. The school library learning commons has a leading role in assisting learners to hone and apply an expanded notion of literacy as well as fostering an active reading culture. Leading Learning
Fostering Independent Reading
White Pine Book Club
Guest Speakers (Authors, Illustrators, Poets and other experts)
Community Outreach with Toronto Public Library
Virtual Book Club discussions f2f meetings
Engaging readers with displays and contests
The Research
Research has shown that children who don't read for pleasure have an extremely tough time developing the language and literacy competencies necessary to succeed in today's world.- Krashen, Stephen The Power of Reading ; insights from the research. Heinemann (2004)
Insufficient background knowledge is a chronic cause of low achievement. Independent reading builds background knowledge as well as improving basic literacy skills. - Marzano, Robert Building Background Knowledge ASCD (2004)
Reading Builds Empathy “What psychological effects are there of reading short stories and novels? By now there has been a substantial amount of research to answer this question. The consensus seems to be that reading fiction as an individual pursuit can enable people to improve their empathy and to understand others better.”- Keith Oatley, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto http://www.onfiction.ca/
Supporting School Wide Literacy
addressing SIP Smart Goals
building library collections (print and digital )to support all curriculum and literacy needs
involving students in book choices and learning goals
aligning library goals with school literacy goals
encouraging cross curricular literacy in unit and project design with teachers (e.g.teaching questioning skills)
providing professional literature and links for staff (e.g.21st Century Competencies: Foundation Document for Discussion (Draft, Ministry of Education, 2016)
new teacher orientation (e.g. utilizing the potential of the school and virtual libraries)
designing pathfinders with teachers to support curriculum projects
infusing information literacy skills in instruction (e.g. teaching information searching and database skills)
infusing multiple literacies in learning (e.g. creating book trailers)
exploring learning through global competencies (e.g. dance with students in Ghana)
