As an English teacher for Grades 7 & 8 and future school librarian, how could I not acknowledge the Isinglass Teen Read Award from the Hopkinton (New Hampshire) Middle and High School? This has what any school librarian or English teacher would want, in that books important to teens end up discussed or excerpted in podcast booktalks. The Isinglass Award originated in Barrington, New Hampshire's Public Library, for which a link has also been provided. Once you enter the BPL site, click on the Teen Zone tab to find the podcasts and more information about this endeavor.
I accessed both the Hopkinton and Barrington sites after finding them through Google with the search terms "school library podcasts." On the Hopkinton site, teachers and librarians seemed to be the primary readers and ones talking about the books.
Four years ago, I began an outside reading program at my school where students set reading goals for the year, usually in the range of 15-20 "extra" books. Researching what other middle schools do for reading, I limited the number to that because students at our school take eight classes and can get bogged down with homework. International schools are busy places for students, with arts, sports, academics and other activities competing for their attention. Therefore, 15-20 seemed to be a realistic number, given the time constraints. (Some schools were "requiring" 30-35.)
In order for students to receive "credit" for a book in my class, they have to write a review of it. If they reach their reading goals, they get a prize at the end of the year. As for the book reviews, since I'm looking for uniformity in style and want similar information on all of the reviews, I give students a format guideline for them.
Over the last four years, I've accumulated five three-ring binders bursting with reviews. (The strange thing is I only keep reviews for the "4- and 5-Star" titles.) Though I have these reviews in my room, easily accessible to my students, they generally go unread. Only the most enthusiastic readers even bother to look at them. Although I have yet to research this with a use study, I suspect the paper format of the review is to blame.
For our school, interested students could easily record their own reviews and post them as podcasts on our library portal (once we create one). This could increase student access to the reviews because they could listen to them on their own. They wouldn't have to wait to come to my room or for me or the librarian to recommend books. Their peers could do it for them, and they could listen to the reviews at their leisure. Other teachers and even parents could do their own podcasts on books for that age group. The possibilities are endless. For storage, we'd have everything available on the Web through the library portal, eliminating the need for paper copies.
Here's a sample podcast, for Runaway by Wendelin van Draanen. Enjoy it...a teacher reads and shares her feelings on the story. Its url is:
http://www.hopkintonschools.org/hhs/library/podcasts/Runaway.mp3
I accessed both the Hopkinton and Barrington sites after finding them through Google with the search terms "school library podcasts." On the Hopkinton site, teachers and librarians seemed to be the primary readers and ones talking about the books.
Four years ago, I began an outside reading program at my school where students set reading goals for the year, usually in the range of 15-20 "extra" books. Researching what other middle schools do for reading, I limited the number to that because students at our school take eight classes and can get bogged down with homework. International schools are busy places for students, with arts, sports, academics and other activities competing for their attention. Therefore, 15-20 seemed to be a realistic number, given the time constraints. (Some schools were "requiring" 30-35.)
In order for students to receive "credit" for a book in my class, they have to write a review of it. If they reach their reading goals, they get a prize at the end of the year. As for the book reviews, since I'm looking for uniformity in style and want similar information on all of the reviews, I give students a format guideline for them.
Over the last four years, I've accumulated five three-ring binders bursting with reviews. (The strange thing is I only keep reviews for the "4- and 5-Star" titles.) Though I have these reviews in my room, easily accessible to my students, they generally go unread. Only the most enthusiastic readers even bother to look at them. Although I have yet to research this with a use study, I suspect the paper format of the review is to blame.
For our school, interested students could easily record their own reviews and post them as podcasts on our library portal (once we create one). This could increase student access to the reviews because they could listen to them on their own. They wouldn't have to wait to come to my room or for me or the librarian to recommend books. Their peers could do it for them, and they could listen to the reviews at their leisure. Other teachers and even parents could do their own podcasts on books for that age group. The possibilities are endless. For storage, we'd have everything available on the Web through the library portal, eliminating the need for paper copies.
Here's a sample podcast, for Runaway by Wendelin van Draanen. Enjoy it...a teacher reads and shares her feelings on the story. Its url is:
http://www.hopkintonschools.org/hhs/library/podcasts/Runaway.mp3
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