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An End to the Reading Wars?

Finally, after years of hard work and consensus building, a concrete, practical set of standards for teaching reading and writing.

Don’t be put off by the word “standards” in the title of the new Reading & Writing Grade by Grade: Primary Literacy Standards for Kindergarten through Third Grade.

This important new resource isn’t about the old sort of reading standards, guidelines that were often either too broad to offer teachers any real guidance or so specific they left teachers no room for exercising good judgment. The standards in Reading & Writing Grade by Grade, by contrast, are actually useful—and even lively.

Created by 22 reading experts assembled by the National Center on Education and the Economy and the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center, these standards come illustrated with vivid examples of the reading and writing real students should be able to do, at each level from K through three.

And, to help make these examples even more vivid, two CDs are packaged with each book. The CDs feature videos that show what children who are reading proficiently at different grade levels sound like.

The examples of student work that Reading & Writing Grade by Grade uses to illustrate proficiency aren’t limited to end-of-grade achievement. Some of the book’s student samples can help track student growth over the course of a a year, others over four years.

The “Primary Literacy Standards” in Reading & Writing Grade by Grade range over three areas:

• Print-Sound Code, including knowledge of letters and their sounds, phonemic awareness, reading words.
• Getting the Meaning, including accuracy and fluency, self-monitoring and self-correcting strategies.
• Reading Habits, which, among other points, emphasize the importance of having children read a lot every day.

The book features similar standards for writing, and all these standards are ideal resources for planning instruction. But the standards can be put to other uses as well. Imagine a meeting of a grade-level teacher team. The faculty first look at the samples of student work from the book or the videos, then compare the samples to the actual work of their students.

What fascinating insights might result! The comparisons might lead to significant changes in classroom instruction strategies—or confirm what teachers see as good practice.

At any rate, such discussions would certainly constitute an improvement over what too often passes for professional development in reading, herding staff into a room to hear an “expert” who has never seen them—much less their students—before.

Parents are also likely to appreciate Reading & Writing Grade by Grade. Imagine showing parents of a second grader a video of what a proficient second grade reader sounds like. Picture parents sitting with teachers, comparing the work of their children to the examples of acceptable work in the book.

These new standards also clearly indicate the conditions necessary for reading success. The standards, for instance, note that libraries of books need to be readily available in every primary classroom, at levels that appeal to students with wide-ranging abilities and backgrounds.

Students, the standards add, need time with books. Kids need to be reading or be read to, on a regular basis, and, to help this process along, Reading & Writing Grade by Grade conveniently lists both books for reading aloud and books easy for students to read at each primary grade level. What a wonderful piece of information for teachers to hand to a principal—along with a purchase order request!

The standards in Reading & Writing Grade by Grade, please note, have the blessing of both sides in the reading wars, with support from partisans in both the phonics and whole language camps. That may be the best part of all.

Order Reading & Writing Grade by Grade at www.ncee.org. For additional information and phone orders, call 1/888-361-6233. The cost: $45, plus s&h.

—Barbara Kapinus

Books by NEA Members

Chemistry Quickies
Vivian Owens. 164 pp. $13.95 plus $2 s&h to Eschar Publications, P.O. Box 1196, Waynesboro, VA 22980, 540/942-3650. Full of chemistry quiz questions, this book is designed to help students study and learn quick chemistry facts. Over 300 questions cover topics such as atomic structure, nuclear chemistry, and chemical reactions. Owens has also written two historical fiction works, I Met a Great Lady and I Met a Great Man.

Know Yourself Syntirpously
Donald L. Womick, Sr. 148 pp. $17.95 plus $2.50 s&h to Vantage Press, 516 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001, 800/822-3273. To help beef up your vocabulary, turn to this book, which is devoted to the etymology of words related to the human body. From head to toe and bitter to sweet, the Latin, Greek, or Old English word derivations help students to understand the origins of words and to relate them to other word meanings.

What Year Am I?
Hope Martin. 195 pp. $25.95 plus $4 s&h to Hope’s Books, P.O. Box 1693, Skokie, IL 60076, 888/993-HOPE, fax 847/679-4656. For students in grades 3 through 6, this book offers 365 puzzles—one for every day of the year—that require students to use their math and reading comprehension skills. For each day’s date, students are presented with three hints to calculate the year in which a certain event, birth, or invention occurred.

Hands-On Science
Phil Parratore. 212 pp. $30.95 plus $6 s&h to SkyLight, 2626 S. Clearbrook Dr., Arlington Heights, IL 60005, 800/348-4474, fax 847/290-6609. This book contains 90 inexpensive and easy-to-use experiments that science teachers can build into their lesson plans. Grouped by curricular area, difficulty level, and amount of time, these activities-at-a-glance teach students about subjects ranging from chemical reactions and jet propulsion to electricity.

Seth’s Anxiety
Jay Thornton. 44 pp. $3.50 plus $2 s&h to Dramatic Publishing, 311 Washington St., Woodstock, IL 60098, 815/338-7170, fax 815/338-8981. A production that is ideal for both theater groups and classes, this two-act play focuses on the life of a boy struggling to come to terms with his parents’ divorce. Seth meets a girl his age and soon learns that he’s not the only young person in the world going through a troubling divorce experience.

New from the NEA Professional Library

The Multicultural Resource Series: Professional Development Guide for Educators
Paul Gorski, Gene-Tey Shin, and Martha Green, eds. NEA Professional Library, 136 pp., $13.95, Item #2005-7-00-WB

Real multicultural education goes far beyond focusing on a particular group for a month. It's ongoing, inclusive teaching that validates the lives and experiences of all children. The Multicultural Resource Series is a valuable guide for educators committed to quality learning for all their students. The first book in the series,Professional Development Guide for Educators, offers personal essays written by educators who describe how multicultural education is transforming their teaching. This practical guide also features comprehensive lists of multicultural organizations, publications, national agencies, videos, Web sites, and more.

For more information or to order, call 800/229-4200. To order on the Web, go to www.nea.org/books.

Excerpt
WHAT’S INSIDE
The Multicultural Resource Series: Professional Development Guide for Educators is an essential addition to every educator’s bookshelf! This handy guide will help you develop creative teaching strategies for every curriculum area, from science to literature. You’ll find listings for:

• Books on curriculum and teaching, education reform, multilingual classrooms, and a host of other topics
• Journals and magazines
• Web sites, E-mail forums, and listservs
• Music and book distributors
• Film and video producers
• Small presses
• General and national organizations

TV Tips

KIDSNET, a national resource for children's media in Washington, DC, provides the TV Tips listings. For more information on children's shows, check out the KIDSNET Web site.

Children in War
HBO Feature Presentation, January 31, 2000, 8-10 p.m. ET HBO presents the story of children who have become victims of war. On location in Bosnia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, and Israel, acclaimed filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond outline the history of each conflict and capture the experiences of the children who are caught in the middle. The feature-length film explores war-torn neighborhoods, orphanages, schools, and refugee camps. Over the past 10 years, 2 million children have been killed in wars throughout the world.

The Nickellennium
Nickelodeon and Noggin, all day Saturday, January 1. This 24-hour, commercial-free New Year's special presents visions of the future from the perspective of kids around the world. Nickelodeon has interviewed thousands of children from 4-14, allowing them to express their hopes and fears about the future from the point of view of their various nations and cultures. The initiative will continue over the next two years with a series of Nickelodeon specials. Visit www.nick.com for a timeline of children's predictions for the next 1,000 years.

Born to Trouble: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
PBS, Wednesday, January 26, 9-10:30 pm ET, check local listings. This documentary follows the development of Mark Twain's classic novel from the early criticism on it for "low morals," through its installation into the American literary canon, and into the current controversy over whether its satire attacks or reinforces racism. The program opens Culture Shock, a brief series also examining the scandal surrounding Manet's Olympia (January 26, 10:30 pm), the Hollywood Production Code (February 2, 9 pm), and 1920s jazz (February 2, 10 pm). Activities and a teachers guide are available at www.pbs.org/cultureshock.

Detention
WB, Saturdays, 10:30-11 am ET. This new, animated series follows the adventures of a group of pre-teen outsiders at Benedict Arnold Middle School, whose personalities range from brainy and independent to reserved and shy. With all the challenges of being 12, the well-meaning friends can't seem to stay out of trouble as they face the usual triumphs and pitfalls of adolescence and middle-school life.

Fox Family Afternoon Specials
Fox Family Channel, Sundays, 2-4 pm ET, check local listings. This new series of specials features award-winning programs from both the ABC Afterschool Specials and CBS School Break Specials. The programs are designed to help young people and families understand the serious issues that many adolescents face, including discrimination, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, divorce, and teenage pregnancy.

Freaks and Geeks
NBC, Saturdays, 8-9 pm, check local listings. Set in the early 1980s, this new comedy-drama series follows the experiences of Lindsay, a rebellious idealist, and her nerdish brother Sam as they struggle to find their place in the fringes of high school society. Though frustrated by confusing issues of adolescence and acceptance, both realize that inclusion in the cool, popular crowd is not the key to high school happiness. Freaks and Geeks offers a sympathetic look at the combination of hope and alienation that many young people face as they navigate high school.

Mental Engineering
PBS, weekly, check local listings. This program joins media critic John Forde and a changing panel of journalists, political scientists, attorneys, advertisers, and entertainers as they view and critique the latest popular commercials. By using humor and common sense to deconstruct the commercials' methods of "mental engineering"--the manipulation of consumers through images and simple psychology--the panelists demonstrate an irreverent but effective approach to media literacy. Visit www.mentalengineering.com for listings information.

The More You Know
NBC, PSAs airing between programs. This series of public service announcements has begun its 11th season of broadcasting brief messages on important topics and social issues. Delivered by popular NBC personalities, the messages this season will focus on such issues as prejudice, hate crimes, and violence prevention. The companion Web site features information on these and other subjects, with links to related services. Visit www.nbc.com/tmyk for more information.

What's in the News
PBS, Fridays, check local listings. Designed for use in 4th-7th grade classrooms, this interactive series uses current issues in the news as a springboard for exploring issues in history, geography, civics, world cultures, science, and language arts. Weekly programs alternate between "News Summary," which reviews international issues and events, and "Feature" programs providing in-depth examinations of important subjects in the news. For each program, teachers can review the script and related materials via listserv or at www.witn.psu.edu. Other online materials include schedules, lesson plans, and interactive opportunities for students via E-mail.

National Geographic Explorer
CNBC, Saturdays and Sundays, 8-10 pm ET. Now airing on CNBC, this award-winning documentary film series will continue to feature its compelling mixture of science, natural history, and human-interest films. Videos, program schedules and descriptions, along with National Geographic educators' resources, are available at www.nationalgeographic.com.

Announcements

National Board Certification
Thinking about National Board Certification? NEA Member Benefits, through MBNA America Bank, N.A., is now offering low-cost loans (7.9 percent APR) designed to cover the $2,000 assessment fee. For more information, or to apply, contact 800/603-3953 from 9 am to midnight ET, seven days a week.

Beginning Teachers
After a successful pilot conference in October, NEA will once again host a Web-based conference for all new teachers early in the new year. The October conference attracted several hundred NEA members from all over the country who were able to talk with each other via the virtual forum. Discussions focused on everything from discipline to parent-teacher conferences, to classroom management. The new NEA conference is titled "Staying Afloat" and will offer practical tips and a chance to learn from experienced teachers nationwide. The Staying Afloat conference will run from January 17 to February 7, 2000, at www.nea.org/btvc.

Census 2000
The Census in the Schools Project, "Making Sense of Census 2000," offers educators free materials such as lesson plans, a giant wall map of the United States, and a teachers guide with grade-specific material. The Census Bureau, in conjunction with Scholastic Inc., also offers a kit for principals to help them get teachers and parents involved in the project. The goal of the project is to develop awareness, participation, and support of Census 2000, which will be used to determine the allocation of resources for schools. Lesson plans integrate the Census into the educational application of math, social studies, and geography skills. Many of the lesson plans are linked to the World Wide Web. All educational materials are available on the Internet at www.census.gov/dmd/www/schindex.htm. Contact Scholastic/Census 2000, 555 Broadway, Room 478, New York, NY 10012, 800/296-5923, Fax 212/343-4867.

Free Eye Care
Vision USA is offering free eye examinations for low-income working families. To qualify for free eye care under Vision USA, children and teens must live in a household that has an income below an established level, have no health insurance that covers eye exams, and have had no eye examination within two years. In January, applicants can be screened by phone for eligibility by calling 800/766-4466. Applications are available from Vision USA, 243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141. Applications must be postmarked by January 21, 2000.

Web Winners

A Teacher's Guide To Drugs
Drugs are a problem that all of Americas youth face, but how do we prepare kids for the consequences of drugs before they are confronted with a decision between using and walking away? With lesson plans, activities, and discussion guides, the Freevibe Teachers' Guide can help educate Americas youth about illegal drug use. The guide is designed to give teachers all the necessary tools to steer youth away from drug use by explaining the consequences of using drugs, engaging students through productive activities, and interacting with the Internet. Linked with the Freevibe Web site, students can get lifestyle tips, scenario-based games, entertainment news, and links to other quality drug-prevention Web sites. The Freevibe Teachers Guide is on the Web.

Sensing the World
Learn everything there is to know about our five senses from this Web site. Optical illusions show how our brain functions, diagrams display how our eyes see color, and scientists discuss how all our senses together define our environment. Fun for the young scientist and scientific enough for educators, this site explains how our everyday activities--like surfing the Web--work biologically in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. On the Web at www.hhmi.org/senses.

America On Display
The Library of Congress houses more than 110 million items, including the American treasures of Thomas Jefferson's handwritten draft of the Declaration of Independence, Alexander Graham Bell's lab notebook, and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The Library now exhibits many of its historical treasures online.

Your Future
For high school students, life after graduation can seem overwhelming, with so many choices to make about which college to attend, how to pay for it, how to find a job. At MyFuture.com, career and college counselors, teachers, and students can access information about career planning and, most importantly, where to start. With numbers to call and Web site links, students learn about such career options as vocational training, college, and the military.

Here Comes the Sun
Why are there seasons? What is solar heating? Guided through the site by questions, kids learn about the sun and how it affects life on Earth. With geometric diagrams and solar maps, things heat up in this educational site. On the Web at vortex.plymouth.edu/sun/sun.html.

Culture Studies
Created by the National Park Service, Culture Themes of Golden Crescent offers information on the areas indigenous people, colonial influences, African-American heritage, plantation agriculture, and resort development. Spanning Georgia and Florida, the Golden Crescent reaches from Savannah south along the Atlantic Coast to Cape Canaveral and then up the Gulf toward Tallahassee. With detailed and rich maps, students and teachers can learn much about the area and its history.

Weather for Kids
For kids and for teachers, whether its winter, fall, or spring, Weather for Kids has fun activity ideas for the classroom and the home. The site is also full of links to information about natural disasters, a homework helper, a weather glossary, curriculum help, and jokes. Sponsored by the National Weather Service, State College, Pennsylvania.

Kidz Korner
Learn about life on the farm in Michigan. With pictures, an agriculture game, and information on different crops and animals, farm life is brought to your computer via the Internet. Also included are stories about farms and pets that give an understanding of farm life to kids who dont live near a farm. On the Web at www.mda.state.mi.us/kids/index.html.

Freebies
Want free stuff? Everything from T-shirts to cards, flowers, software, E-mail, games, mp3s, and screensavers is being given away. With over 900 links to free stuff, the site is organized by category in order for you to take care of all your freebie shopping. On the Web at coolfreebies.com/.

Free or Inexpensive

One Union
Words that Built a Nation is a collection of historic documents such as the Constitution, Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King’s March on Washington Address. Each historic document includes a brief description of its context and author, plus interesting facts about its impact. $18.95 plus $2.25 s&h from Scholastic Reference, P.O. Box 7502, Jefferson City, MO 65102, 800/325-6149, fax 573/635-5881. On the Web at www.scholastic.com.

Voices
Some of the most pertinent issues facing young women today—sex, peer pressure, and media images—are discussed in this compilation of responses received during Sister-to-Sister Summits. Teenage girls ages 11-17 talk openly about their experiences of sexual pressure, wanting to fit in, and trying to meet the images of women in the media. Most importantly, Voices of a Generation includes solutions proposed by young women to combat these societal influences. From the American Association of University Women Education Foundation, 1111 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036, 202/728-7602, fax 202/872-1425. On the Web at www.aauw.org.

Fight Hate
Ten Ways to Fight Hate is a guide for responding to the incidents of hate that too frequently occur in our schools and communities. Defined are 10 principles, with personal stories about people who have acted to push hate out of their communities. Free from Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334/264-0286, fax 334/264-0629. On the Web at www.splcenter.org.

Sleepy Students
Five authors discuss the research surrounding adolescent sleep needs and school day starting times. $10 plus $3 s&h from Phi Delta Kappa International, P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402, 800/766-1156, fax 812/339-0018.

Forest Friends
A series of free videos geared to middle-high school students, Friends of the Forest focuses on different environmental issues. Currently available are “Smokejumpers” (how firefighters prevent forest fires), “The River of No Return” (the Salmon River and the effects of human change), and the “Grizzly: Creature in Conflict” (reintroduction of the endangered species). Call Outdoor Life Network at 203/406-2685; www.greatoutdoors.com/oln/fof.html.

Learning Within
Learn how to become a more effective teacher, develop your inner qualities, and organize your life with Dr. Dorothy Rich's Nurturing the Educational Leader Within You! With questions, tables, and lists, the guide uses self-evaluation as the first step to becoming a successful teacher and leader, then describes habits of good teachers, the problems teachers face, and solutions they use to overcome them. Helpful for the beginning teacher, teachers seeking improvement, and the hardened veteran. On the Web at www.dorothyrich.com. $14.00 plus $2.10 s&h from MegaSkills Education Center, 1500 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20005, 202/ 466-3633, Fax 202/833-1400. On the Web at www.megaskillshsi.org.

Soul of a Citizen
In a world that seems to overpower our actions and beliefs, Soul of a Citizen relates the stories of ordinary Americans who challenge the system for what they believe in. The author, Paul Loeb, builds on their experiences with lessons on activism, politics, and personal relationships in order to show how we all can make our voices heard and our actions count. $15.95 plus s&h from St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10010, 212/674-5151 ext. 645, Fax 212/598-9173. On the Web at www.soulofacitizen.org.

Maintaining Momentum
Reports findings from the American Institute of Physics Fourth Nationwide Survey of High School Physics Teachers. The survey reveals why more and more high school students are taking physics: an improvement in teacher qualifications, increased teacher salaries, and increases in laboratory funding. But there are still large disparities in student numbers and achievement levels across gender, racial, and economic lines. Free from the American Institute of Physics, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, 301/209-3070, fax 301/209-0843. Available for download on the Web at www.aip.org/statistics.

Tips for Effective Teaching
Developed by two NEA teachers, Tips and Techniques for Effective Teaching offers 50 tips for improving classroom management, dealing with challenges in the classroom, and learning effective teaching techniques. $39.95 plus $4.00 s&h from Valley Hill Publishing Co., P.O. Box 5021, Lakeland, FL 33807, E-mail hartman_r@popmail.firn.edu.

Diversity Calendar

January
Emancipation Day, January 1
This day commemorates President Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was declared on September 22, 1862, but not effective until January 1, 1863. The Proclamation freed few slaves and slavery was not actually ended in the entire United States until the passage of the 13th Amendment on December 18, 1865, but the announcement of the Proclamation did help Americans see the Civil War as a fight to end slavery. Read the original copy of the Proclamation.

February
Tet Nguyen Dan
Tet Nguyen Dan is the most popular Vietnamese festival, marking the first day of the lunar year and the beginning of spring. Houses and ancestral graves are cleaned, and a ceremonial meal is prepared on the eve of the three-day festival. During the festival, activities include boat races, contests, and dragon dancing. The traditional dragon dance spreads good health and wealth. For more information about Vietnamese culture, history, and music, contact www.explorevietnam.com.

Carnaval
An old tradition celebrated in almost every part of the world, Carnaval’s origins are unclear. However, each year Trinidad, Tobago, Brazil, Canada, and the United States mark the occasion with costume parades, huge feasts, and parties until dawn. The entire period from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday is known as Carnaval and culminates in Mardi Gras. For Carnaval information around the world and travel information, contact www.carnaval.com.

March
Doll Festival, March 3
Hina Matsuri, or the Doll Festival, in Japan traces its roots back 1,000 years. Originally, the Japanese rubbed paper dolls on their skin in order to rid their bodies of evil spirits. They would then throw the dolls into the river. In the 1700s, the tradition evolved into using clay dolls and mothers began collecting dolls for their daughters. Ceremonial dolls are displayed on tiers of shelves covered with scarlet carpet. For more information on Hina Matsuri and other Japanese holidays, contact asij.ac.jp/elementary/japan/jp_holi.html.

Purim, March 21
Beginning at sundown, Purim celebrates the miraculous rescue of the Jews in ancient Persia from a plot by the king’s advisors to murder them. Part of the story relates the use of “groggers,” or noisemakers, to drown out the sound of the king’s advisors’ names. A feast, the drinking of wine, and the exchange of gifts all help mark the holiday. For more information, check www.purim.com.