April 10, 2014
Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant
newsletter. It will contain a quote or
smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote
your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a
shameless plug for the programs I offer.
Enjoy!
If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues,
you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com.
And please tell your friends about it!
In this issue:
Library Quotes
Promote Reading and Common Core COMBINED
Shameless Plug
Library Quote/Smile
“I still love books. Nothing a computer can do can compare
to a book. You can’t really put a book on the Internet. Three companies have
offered to put books by me on the Net, and I said, ‘If you can make something
that has a nice jacket, nice paper with that nice smell, then we’ll talk.’ All
the computer can give you is a manuscript. People don’t want to read
manuscripts. They want to read books. Books smell good. They look good. You can
press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket.”
Ray Bradbury, author
"In the nonstop tsunami of global information,
librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to swim."
Linton Weeks,
Washington Post writer
Promote Reading and
Common Core Tip COMBINED
This week I have had the wonderful opportunity to listen to an
audio recording of Ron Clark’s The
Excellent Eleven - Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire, and
Educate Children. WOW! I really enjoyed his ideas and examples! One of my
favorite strategies that he discusses comes from the Reflection chapter (I
think it was reflection. It’s hard to “thumb through” an audio CD to find the
page!), where he talks about helping students develop vocabulary BEFORE they
read particular selections. A quote from this section:
“Teaching kids to love reading and to have all the necessary
skills is important, but a key to helping students become successful readers
and getting them to perform well on standardized reading tests lies in building
their vocabulary.”
As he taught, he realized that one of the big problems with
his students was that they were not familiar with the vocabulary in certain
standard texts. Finding the challenging vocabulary words and teaching those
terms BEFORE the class read the text dramatically increased comprehension, test
scores and ENJOYMENT of reading! He went on to develop a list of “1,000 Words
You Need to Know to Enjoy Reading This Year.” The list was taken from the texts
that the students would be reading during the year and, as expected, reading
scores soared!
So, how does this apply to media specialists? As you prepare
for the end of the year, collaborate with your teachers and encourage them to
develop an essential vocabulary list for next year’s readings. The entire grade
level or department could make this relatively simple work, if they all took
part. And we all know that when we improve reading comprehension EVERYTHING
else gets better!
If you can get a copy of the audio of The Excellent Eleven, I
highly recommend it. It runs for a little over 2 hours and you can listen to it
on your commute in just a few days. (www.audible.com has a download for $11.95,
or you may be able to check it out from the public library. OR you could order
it for the Professional Development section of the school media center and be
the first to check it out!) I think it would be a very good book study for
faculty interested in recharging their batteries.
Shameless Plug
A few words from your colleagues:
“Tommy is a delight to work with, from start to
finish. I appreciated the information he sent ahead of time --
everything from posters to tax forms included in one packet. I
appreciated his flexibility -- he was able to change the time on one of our
shows at the last minute, and he was also willing to work in another show the
same day for a community group. Most of all, I appreciated the way he
interacted with the kids before and after the program. He has a magic
touch, in more ways than one.
“Oh, and the shows were terrific, too -- full of books, jokes, magic, science, puppets, and audience participation. The kids and the parents had a ball!”
Jan Daniel, Children's
Librarian
Okefenokee Regional
Library
Waycross, GA
“You were so easy to work with. You did exactly
what you said you would do. You were prepared and on time!
Awesome!”
Betsy Simmons, Media
Specialist
Oglethorpe Point
Elementary
St. Simon’s Island, GA
Call me and you can see what all the fuss is about!
Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!
Encouraging kids to read, I am
PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with
your colleagues!
Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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