Competency 9: Internet

While using the meta-search engine: www.surfwax.com, I located this site regarding Reluctant Readers which is my topic of interest. At this Scholastic website: http://scholastic.com/familymatters/read/reluctant/ there was relevant information regarding tips for motivating reluctant readers, age appropriate booklists, and a message board for tips and techniques.

Competency 8: Multimedia

The purpose of the study was to explore fourth-grade pupils (aged 10 to 11) attitudes towards reading and writing. The boys attitudes towards reading were significantly more negative than the attitudes of the girls. They liked mostly comics and humorous books; adventure books were favourites of the girls. Poetry did appeal neither to the male nor the female pupils. Most pupils, especially boys, did not like to read aloud. Even many fluent and motivated readers felt embarrassed when doing it. I found this relevant to my interest in motivating reluctant readers.

www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00003818.htm

Competency 7: Social Networking: Ning

My area of interest is Public School Library so when I found a Ning site called Texas School Librarians, I knew I found a great resource for my job as a future school librarian.

http://txschoollibrarians.ning.com/profile/CathyP

Competency 6: Search 4 Browsing in LexisNexis

Browsing in LexisNexis

Motivate reluctant readers: (used power search, natural language, previous years, US newspapers and wire)

This search generated 33 hits. I felt like article #6 was informative to my query.
6 At the library: Tips to boost reluctant summer readersTulsa World (Oklahoma), July 22, 2007 Sunday, Entertainment; Pg. H8, 533 words, Staff Reports

I spent some time at the Tulsa Library to see how they motivate reluctant readers. I thought they had some very interesting information on their website. http://kids.tulsalibrary.org/adults/newsletter.htm

Regarding this particular search, I was surprised that hit #6 was the most relevant to my search topic. I like LexisNexis because I'm able to review newspaper articles from other cities around the U.S.

Competency 6: Search 3 Citation Pearl Growing in Academic Search Premier

Citation Pearl Growing in Academic Search Premier

I used (reluctant or remedial) and (elementary or primary school) and (interest or motivate) which produced 8 hits:

I felt like 5 of the 8 hits were relevant to my search.

The first hit was very relevant:

1. PROMOTING an Addiction to Reading. By: Preddy, Leslie B.. School Library Media Activities Monthly, Oct2007, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p24-26, 3p, 1bw; (AN 26881383)

It looked like a great match, but to be on the safe side, I used the "find more like this one" tab to see if I would get more relevant information. That produced 51989 more hits and none of them were remotely close to my first search. I went back to my original 8 hits.

I effectively located information that would relate to my topic regarding motivating reluctant readers. This was very relevant information that I would use again in the future to provide me with accurate and plentiful information on motivating reluctant readers.

Competency 6: Search 2 Successive Fractions in ERIC Internet

Successive Fractions in ERIC Internet

Search Strategy:
S1 = elementary school library=6078
S2 = elementary school library AND reluctant readers = 6
S3 = elementary school library AND reluctant readers AND incentives=1

S1 and S2 and S3 = Results (see below)

Results:
. Listen to Me! I Want to Tell You Something! (ED262372)
Author(s):
Dunne, Jane G.; McGrath, Mary R.
Source:
N/A
Pub Date:
1985-00-00
Pub Type(s):
Reports - Descriptive
Peer-Reviewed:
N/A

I located one relevant resource regarding motivating reluctant readers at the elementary school level. I do not fee lit was very good reference material on my subject of motivating reluctant readers. I have found more relevant materials regarding this subject in other databases in the past.

Competency 6: Search 1 Building Block in Library Lit

Building Block in Library Lit

Search Strategy:

S1: (reluctant or remedial) = 6

S2: (elementary or primary school) = 39

S3: (interest or motivate) = 22

S1 OR S2 AND S3= 24

Results:
Crow, S. R. Information Literacy: What's Motivation Got to Do with It?. Knowledge Quest v. 35 no. 4 (March/April 2007) p. 48-52

I located several relevant resources for future use regarding motivating reluctant readers. I feel like I can successfully learn new techniques to help motivate reluctant readers within the school library that I will work in by using this database.

Competency 5: Librarything Tags

I searched at www.librarything.com for books that are recommended for children. I searched with keywords such as love, reading and found 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey. My tags came from: http://www.librarything.com/work/73918

Another great source was How to Get Your Child to Love Reading, by Esmé Raji Codell

Competency 4: RSS Feed

I found Zarah Grace C. Gagatiga's blog (she originates from Pasig City, NCR, Philippines) very informative. She is tagged as a School Librarian. Teacher. Storyteller. Writer. Reading & Literacy Advocate which parallels with my future vocation. I particularly was interested in her post on How to Build a Library. You can find her feed at: http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
and her blog at:
http://lovealibrarian.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Dr. Vardell's Blog

Dr. Vardell sent a note via Cassandra. Upon reading the message her blog site url caught my eye. I went to her site and enjoyed reading the goings on in the poetry world. I love how she recognizes the various poets birthdays and gives out a little information about them along with a poem.
Check it out if you have a moment!
http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/

Competency 3 Podcast

Promoting Literacy through Geocaching
I found many creative podcasts pertaining to school libraries. I decided to pick this particular podcast about the uses of geocaching. I felt that it suited my school and topic best because of its innovative way to promote literacy while actively engaging the students in a hands on process.

Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps (global positioning system) users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

Libraries are a perfect place to stage a virtual scavenger hunt. “Going on Safari” could be one theme. In this geocache, you could provide clues based on all the books in your collection that have to do with that topic. Having each clue build on the previous one adds a fun element of suspense. And, if you can arrange it, hide actual caches, which you can expand to the surrounding community so parents and kids can enjoy the hunt together. Answers to clues could also be derived from books from a recommended reading list. You could even offer a prize or actual treasure that can be collected after all the clues have been solved.


More on Geocaching, from the Tech Chicks The chicks, Anna Adam and Helen Mowers, discuss geocaching, with practical tips on taking your students on a high-tech treasure hunt.


http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/podcasts/47162/The+SLJ+Podcast.html#


I found this podcast by Googling: school librarian literacy

Competency 2 Blog Link

I found an actual, bona fide blog that was very interesting and informative. This blog is written by a "Mom" from Charlottesville, VA. This blog is a fantastic source for all kinds of categories: books for boys, bilingual books, children's book reviews but what especially caught my eye were the literacy and reluctant reader archives!

One excerpt from her blog really made me think:

Reading or learning to read may be one of those things that causes great anxiety for our kids.* Parents, teachers, TV commercials all tell us how important it is to read ... and to do it NOW.* Their friends may already be reading books.* As parents, we fall into the trap of thinking our kids should be reading "just like their friends."* Kids may feel uncomfortable reading words aloud. They may be afraid someone will laugh if they mispronounce a word.You can think of other reasons, too. The bottom line is this: some kids find the idea more than a little bit overwhelming. Regardless of their reasoning, in their mind, learning to read seems "too hard." So our role is to encourage, not pressure!

I believe that as librarians, we need to be in tune with the reluctant reader. We need to encourage growth in their reading by sparking an interest within them.

You can find this blog at: http://thereadingtub.blogspot.com. I found it through my Yahoo web browser.

Web Link: Motivating Reluctant Readers

I found several librarians who have created blogs that cater to the students and parents who need information to motivate their reluctant readers in the classroom and at home. I particularly LOVED this "blog" (which under scrutiny, I don't believe that it qualifies as a "blog". I believe it is more of a website). Despite that, I would like it include it as a great example of what an elementary school library site should include! It is easy to maneuver, has wonderful links to community and school related activities and resources, and is colorful and pleasing to the eye! http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/default.aspx

Below you will see information from Mrs. Chauncey at the Grandview Elementary School in Monsey, NY. I loved how she is helping parents and students with the very basic idea of "Selecting A Book".


Select a Book... Your child may be reading simple text, but he can understand more complex stories. Read books that are more difficult than the ones your child can read. The stories that you share will challenge her with ideas and vocabulary that will build comprehension skills. Select books from a variety of genres, including: non-fiction, realistic fiction, science fiction, poetry, fantasy, and biography. Visit your local public library often and be sure to get your child his own library card! Ask the children's librarian if there are story time hours at the library. Please stop in and visit the Grandview Library -- visit the grade level links to find out what's happening! Find out what books we have in our library by visiting our online catalog page and entering a title, author, or keyword in the search box.

I found this site by http://blogsearch.google.com/

Compentency 1: Welcome To My Blog

This blog was established as a requirement of my TWU course: Information Storage and Retrieval (LS5013.22). Currently, my main subject of interest is to motivate reluctant readers to read within public school elementary libraries.