An Example of Co-Teaching

Mary Fobbs-Guillory

CO

Ainsworth, L. (2016). Teacher and teacher librarian collaborative inquiry. Teacher Librarian, 44(2), pp. 28-31.

This article gives a detailed account of a co-teaching experience between a 5th grade teacher and a teacher librarian in Canada.  The class was studying Inuit culture and the skill of questioning.  The article documents the process of the professionals planning the lesson together and then teaching the class in two groups.  This method is also called Station teaching because the students rotate from being taught by one professional to the next.  The teacher librarian created a short video on challenging vocabulary for students to view ahead of time and posted it to the class blog.  The teachers taught how to ask questions and provided them with question builder frames and rubrics.  They read books, facilitated discussions, and provided artifacts and art prints from the local museum for the students to analyze and develop questions about.

This article gave a very detailed account of the lesson, I felt as though I watched it.  It gave me a full picture of what co-teaching looks like and how fun and powerful it can be.

When Reading and Coteaching Mix

Maricar Laudato

CO-Collaboration Strategies

Conklin, K. P. (2012). Making the case for coteaching—the evidence-based way. Knowledge Quest 40(4), 46-49.

Summary:
In this article, Kerry Pierce Conklin discusses how coteaching practices are vital to improving reading comprehension for students of all ages. She argues that when you mix the expertise of a content professional (the teacher) with the information literacy professional (the librarian), significant improvements in the student learning process take place. Conklin provides 3 different types of what she considers coteaching: "one teaching/one supporting," "parallel teaching," and "team teaching." The "one teaching/one supporting" is when one person teaches and the other person walks around to help answer any questions on the content. "Parallel teaching" is when the teacher and librarian each teach half of the students at the same time. "Team teaching" is when both the librarian and teacher share teaching responsibilities and work together throughout sections of the lesson. Conklin then goes on to mention findings that involve teachers recounting positive outcomes as a result of coteaching. For example, these teachers felt that their students all used high quality websites and showed an ability to draw conclusions as a result of critical thinking.

Evaluation:
I felt that this article fell a bit short of making the case for coteaching across all academic disciplines. I wanted to feel a strong conviction after reading the article that a solid argument had been made for why school librarians should be in high demand, but I didn't feel that. I do believe that Conklin's article, however, makes an excellent case for why teachers should work with her to boost the level of reading comprehension for all students. I was completely convinced that Conklin's strategy for improving reading comprehension through coteaching could provide the basis for her eventual tenure should she go that academic route. Where the article falls short is that Conklin goes straight to the outcomes of coteaching, the sound bites that PR executives like to pepper reports with, yet does not really delve into the intricacies of why or how coteaching works.

Letting the Text Take Center Stage

Jennifer Brickey

CA—Curriculum and Assessment

CA--Common Core Assessments

CO--Reading Workshops

Shanahan, T. (2013). Letting the text take center stage. American Educator, 37 (3), 4-43.

Retreived from

http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/fall2013/shanahan.cfm

In his article, “Letting the Text Take Center Stage,” Shanahan underscores the importance of making the text central to student learning under the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). What the CCSS do that the old standards do not is they acknowledge text complexity. Because of these new demands, Shanahan explains that students will experience more acute frustration when reading difficult texts and “teachers must learn to anticipate text challenges and how to support students to allow them to negotiate texts successfully, but without doing the work for the” (p. 6)--a difficult task for any teacher. In past practice, teachers spend ample time preparing students to read by connecting to prior knowledge and gathering background information on a text; however, Shanahan argues that this “daily reading ritual found in most US classrooms” (p.7) may not be the best approach for helping students access challenging texts. He promotes a hybrid approach--Shanahan acknowledges that background knowledge is needed to help deepen understanding of a text, but the time spent on building background should be minimal. Instead, he suggests that in order to maximize the depth of knowledge gathered a brief overview of a text and deep concentration on the text itself through close readings is the most important strategy. “Part of the CCSS (and of “close reading”) is that text must play a central role in reading and cannot profitably be ignored” (p. 8). In addition, teachers must decide what questions to pose to students that emphasize this focus on text. Teachers will need to ask questions that tap into higher order thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluative questions; these questions should be text-dependent and ask “Why” and “How.” Lastly, Shanahan points out the questions related to the craft and structure of the text should be asked, since these frequently lend to a reader’s interpretation.

This article proves to be a useful source for rethinking one’s teaching under the CCSS, especially in the area of developing students’ reading skills. I believe Shanahan makes astute observations regarding how teachers can engage students in deep, meaningful reading to meet the demands of the CCSS. However, I would take his logic a step further: By making the text central to learning, not only will a teacher enhance students’ understanding of complex text, but it will also assist students’ writing abilities. When form, structure, syntax, and organization become part of the reading discussion, students can then begin to examine their own writing. This, I believe, will also be needed as well when tackling the CCSS. 

School Librarian's Role in Reading Workshops

Kramer, K. (2012). Reading workshop: The school librarian’s role. School Library Monthly, 28(5), 38-39.

Synopsis: Kym Kramer is a former school librarian and teacher. In this article she provides a very brief introduction to what Reading Workshops are as well as the role that the school librarian can play in helping teachers implement and maintain them. Kramer describes reading workshops as “research-based curriculum that uses self-selected literature as a cornerstone” which “includes daily modeling and instruction on the strategies readers use, and heavy use of formative assessment to guide students as the strategies are applied” (p. 38). The point that she emphasizes the greatest is that the workshops are meant to: assist students with their reading needs, supply them with new books once they finish current ones, and use read-alouds for the purpose of inspiring conversation and thought. It is the author’s belief that these intended results are the same concepts librarians are interested in teaching students and that is the main reason they should be involved.

Review:

The description of what is exactly entailed in reading workshops was fairly brief, it would have been nice to have a more detailed explanation. After looking at other resources, to further explore the topic though, it becomes apparent that Reading Workshops are different in every situation. She does reference two books that she feels are excellent resources to guide those that are new to reading workshops. I feel that author does a great job with first identifying then elaborating the different ways that school librarians can play a part in helping to set them up and maintain them. In the later part of the article she brings up the implementation of the common core standards as well as the increasing use of electronic resources and how these also tie into what school librarians role is.  

Posted by Jessica King

Outstanding Books for the College Bound

Outstanding Books in School Libraries Curriculum Connections and Reader’s Advisory

Wiest, Stefani

CA-Common Core Assessments, CO-Reading Workshops

Dando, P. (2011). Outstanding books in school libraries curriculum connections and readers' advisory. Young Adult Library Services, 10(1), 31-35.

Summary: This article presents information about the comprehensive list Outstanding Books for the College Bound (OBCB) and Lifelong Learners, published by the American Library Association. The article provides suggestions for librarians to achieve both the literary and instructional roles of the school library, particularly at the high school level. The OBCB list can be utilized for reader’s advisory, to develop summer reading programs, curriculum connections, and supplementary reading. It also reflects multiculture and multigenre suggestions to reach a wide and diverse audience. 

Evaluation: Learning about OBCB through this article has given me an additional resource to refer to when helping high school students find relevant material. Although this article focuses on school libraries at the high school level, the OBCB could also benefit the public librarian when working with teens. The article presents fresh ideas of practical applications including reading recommendations through reader’s advisory, summer reading lists, instructional supplements to assigned classroom reading, student-led book groups for students to study and discuss, and team teaching between teachers and school librarians. Undoubtedly, the more abundant the resources that are available to the high school student, the more opportunities for learning are presented.

Reading Workshops with a Teacher-Librarian

Frederick, Lauren

Beard, T. M., & Antrim, P. (2010). Reading Workshops are Most Effective with a Teacher-Librarian. Teacher Librarian, 37(5), 24-29.

-->The article discusses the benefits of reading workshops and the role of the teacher-librarian. With the help of a teacher-librarian, one teacher created a reading program and tracked her below grade level fifth-grade readers. She found that when consulting with the teacher-librarian to select the books that interested them, their scores and success increased.  Benefits of continued contact between students reading below their grade level and teacher-librarians are discussed, and the importance of the teacher-librarian/teacher collaboration is emphasized.  

Reading workshops are important to help promote a love of reading as well as the skills needed for future success. I think that this is a good article to help demonstrate that and how a teacher-librarian can collaborate successfully with a teacher.