Resources
Teaching Reading: Fighting for What You Know

A new book urges educators to resist caving in to federally anointed reading programs at the expense of methods they know work.

Resisting Reading Mandates: How to Triumph with the Truth
By Elaine M. Garan
128 pp. $15 Paperback; Heinemann (www.heinemann.com)

If you teach reading, it's likely that you are:

1. being ordered to follow a reading curriculum based on a currently popular selection of reading research
2. struggling to make room in these programs for your own informed view about how to teach
3. feeling new pressure to use only reading programs based on "scientific research" because those are the only the ones the U.S. Department of Education will fund; or
4. all of the above. The result, in any event, is probably frustration and confusion.

Resisting Reading Mandates: How to Triumph With the Truth seizes on this frustration by giving reading educators a tool for using what they know, and fighting back. Cleverly, Elaine Garan uses the very document that ruffled her feathers--The Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read--as the battery in this tool. It is, after all, the NRP report that defines the "scientific research" now driving the reading recommendations in the Bush Administration's new education plan. Garan plucks from the panel's findings to help educators defend their professional autonomy. Significantly, she tries to show how the panel's executive summary actually contradicts the findings of the report itself.

Garan promises readers that her book will "empower" them. "It will enable you to hold a mirror to the scientific claims made in the Bush Education Plan and refute them using the National Reading Panel's own words," she says.

Garan, no doubt, has firmly held biases. Yet she represents the thinking of many reading researchers and teachers who believe that research being embraced by federal policy makers is limited, even misinterpreted. Readers, then, must judge for themselves the validity of Garan's analysis. Still, they will find the core of her book--the verbatim references from the NRP report--useful and sound.

The book begins with background on the reading panel, followed by dozens of questions Garan solicited from educators concerned with everything from teaching comprehension and phonemic awareness to the value of specific commercial programs such as Open Court and Direct Instruction. For each question, Garan serves up an answer with a direct quote from the NRP report. This quote is largely meant to be ammunition for educators who want to make a point--to administrators, to policy makers, to parents--about a view of reading instruction they support.

Garan explicitly maps out how she wants readers to use the book. She urges them to get copies of the report online. Then, for each issue she tackles that's relevant to them, she tells what to do.

Under her book's section "NRP's Support for Investing in Classroom Libraries," Garan discusses what the NRP says about promoting comprehension and access to books, then gives a page citation from the report itself. Garan tells the reader to find that page in the report, mark it with a sticky note, and highlight the quotes she has offered. A handy list of the studies the NRP examined, additional references, and an index help make this an easy-to-follow process.

Some teachers will want to read Resisting Mandates from cover to cover. The points Garan makes and her perceptions of the process for anointing certain reading programs is fascinating. Others will simply want to use the book for an occasional reference. But that's fine, too. After all, this is not a how-to book, but rather a book that explores the thinking that currently is driving reading instructional decisions. It will not tell educators how to help students learn to read. It will, however, give information to support programs and decisions likely to help all children learn and love to read.

--Barbara Kapinus
NEA Student Achievement Department

Excerpt
"The [National Reading Panel] report is not just some pesky little mosquito buzzing in our ears. It is Godzilla and it has its foot on our heads. Like it or not, we must deal with the findings of the National Reading Panel. And so we shall, by meeting them on their own ground."

From the NEA Professional Library

Word Power: What Every Educator Needs To Know About Teaching Vocabulary
158 pp. $15.95 NEA members
$19.95 nonmembers
#2022-7-00-PL
A good vocabulary is one of the major building blocks for success in reading, and every content area has vocabulary to master. Whether you teach math, literature, or science, Word Power offers K-12 classroom teachers proven techniques for effective vocabulary instruction. Find out how to increase the vocabulary and content understanding of students, involve them more actively in word learning, and guide students toward the deep understanding of words that comes from thoughtful learning rather than rote memorization. Word Power gives teachers the tools they need to turn their students into "wordophiles," by verifying what all readers know--there's a vital link between a love of words and a love of reading.

To order, call 800/229-4200, or check the Web at www.nea.org/books

Looking up words in a dictionary is not an effective way of improving students' comprehension. Dictionaries can be a useful adjunct to word learning, however, if used correctly. Consider the following strategies:

• Use dictionaries after a student reads a word in context, rather than before.
• Teach students about dictionary definitions.
• Try some nontraditional dictionaries, such as the COBUILD English dictionary.
• Have fun with definitions, such as The Word of the Day on the Oxford English Dictionary Web site.

Books by NEA Members

Middle School and the Age of Adjustment: A Guide for Parents
By Eileen Bernstein
A resource for any parent with a child in middle school. Parents need to be aware of the physical, emotional, and social challenges their children face in middle school so they can help them deal with adolescent issues. The author, a middle school counselor, provides suggestions for how to guide children and help them deal with these inevitable trials. 176 pp. $36.95 from Greenwood Publishing Group. To order, go to www.greenwood.com/books/BookDetail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=H906.

The Tomb of the Boy King
By John Frank
A narrative poem about the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, this book is full of detail and wonderful colorful illustrations. The author, who teaches in a gifted-child program, weaves together the facts and mystery behind King Tut and describes what Howard Carter found in the Valley of the Kings. $16 plus $4.50 s&h. To order, call 888/330-8477, or write to Farrar, Straus & Giroux, c/o Von Holtzbrink Publishing Services, 1635 James Madison Highway, Gordonsville, VA 22942.

Don't Sweat It! Every Body's Answers to Questions You Don't Want to Ask
By Marguerite Crump
From the dish on deodorant to the skinny on skin, this guide uses humor, gross facts, curious myths, and friendly tips to reassure preteens that hygiene can make a big difference in how they feel. Written by a health and physical education teacher, the book covers the personal health issues that can be hard for preteens to talk about and teaches kids how to take care of themselves. 128 pp. $13.95 from Free Spirit Publishing. To order, go to www.freespirit.com or call 800/735-7323.

Fairy Tales On Trial
By Janis Silverman
With this book, students learn about character and law by simulating investigations and trials based on fairy tales. Through the mock trials, students examine the fine line between "doing wrong" and crime. The author, who teaches gifted third through fifth graders in reading and math, provides activities that challenge students as they use language arts, critical reading, analytical thinking, writing, speaking, and drama skills. 64 pp. $10.95 plus s&h from Pieces of Learning. To order, go to http://piecesoflearning.com/store/page9.html or call 800/729-5137.

More Hot Links: Linking Literature With the Middle School Curriculum
By Cora M. Wright
The companion book to Hot Links by the same author, More Hot Links will help make book selection easy. Compiled by a middle school librarian, the book contains informative annotations and bibliographic information on more than 300 recently published fiction and nonfiction books that support and enhance the middle school curriculum. 200 pp. $32 plus s&h from Libraries Unlimited. To order, call 303/770-1220, or go to www.lu.com.

TV Tips

TV Tips are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children's media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and from Cable in the Classroom at www.ciconline.org.

Biography: Frederick Douglass
A&E, February 10, 7 a.m., ET.
This episode shows the key role Frederick Douglass, a former slave, played in the fight against slavery, including his work editing an abolitionist newspaper, recruiting Blacks for service during the Civil War, and conferring with President Lincoln. Can be taped and used in the classroom for two years.

Unchained Memories: Readings from Slave Narratives
HBO, February 10, 8 p.m., ET.
From 1936 to 1938, more than 2,000 interviews with one-time slaves were conducted for the Federal Writers' Project with the transcripts forming a unique record of slave life. This 90-minute documentary brings these words to life through on-camera readings by African-American actors, as well as archival photographs, music, film, and period images. Educators can go to HBO.com for information about access to primary documents, and curriculum and library activities for kids.

The Future of the Milky Way
Discovery Channel (Assignment Discovery), February 14, 9 a.m., ET.
Featuring dramatic animation, this program explores the origins of the Milky Way Galaxy, including the search for a massive black hole at the galaxy's core. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year with a lesson plan at http://school.discovery.com.

Animal Magnetism and Animal Behavior
National Geographic Channel, February 14, 8 and 9 p.m., ET.
This show studies the behavior of animal mating and examines just how similar human and animal behaviors really are. In the game of courtship, are females the power players? Scientists are discovering that animals, like humans, solve problems with mental pictures, make tools, and communicate with sound.

On This Island
PBS, Independent Lens series, February 18, 10 p.m., ET, check local listings.
On an isolated island off the coast of Maine, a disagreement about arts education threatens to tear apart a once close-knit community until a former Broadway producer attempts to heal the rift through the staging and performance of an original musical based on the islanders' stories. Watch the musical's creation and eventual success in this documentary.

The Music Man
ABC, February 23, 7 p.m. ET, check local listings.
Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth star in this made-for-television movie of the Meredith Willson musical. Professor Harold Hill, played by Broderick, waltzes into River City, Iowa, mesmerizing its citizens with the need for a boys' marching band. He cons parents into buying his expensive instruments and uniforms, convincing them that his revolutionary music training program will turn their children into virtuoso performers. Chaos ensues when Hill is about to be uncovered and must prove himself.

Save Our History: The Underground Railroad
History Channel, February 24 and 25, 6 a.m., ET.
Hosted by actor Alfre Woodard, this two-part program uses slaves' engravings, songs, and diary entries to chronicle the story of America's first civil-rights movement and profiles some of the prominent figures of the Underground Railroad, including Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The program can be taped and used in the classroom for two years with a lesson plan available at www.historychannel.com/classroom.

Web Winners

Scholarships for Hispanics
This new website from NEA and the Hispanic Press Foundation makes more than 1,000 sources of financial aid more easily accessible to Hispanic students around the country and world. The site includes application guidelines, an alumni section, and a database of scholarships fully searchable by a variety of categories, including state, college, and field of interest. The website extends the usefulness of the Hispanic Press Foundation directory, making scholarship information for Hispanics readily available throughout the United States. Many of the scholarships listed are available not only to U.S. citizens but to any student of Hispanic descent, regardless of nationality. Go to www.scholarshipsforhispanics.org.

Writing Black
Keele University's American Literature Department has compiled a list of links to important works by Black Americans along with other online resources about Black writers. Authors include Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Frederick Douglass, and more. Go to www.keele.ac.uk/depts/as/Literature/amlit.black.html.

Bite-sized Ed News
This weekly newsletter, available by e-mail, includes condensed versions of the most important education-related news stories found in various print and online sources. The information can be read in less than 10 minutes, which is convenient for educators with busy schedules. Go to www.edbriefs.com.

Need Help Finding a Job?
The National Teacher Recruitment Clearinghouse, hosted by Recruiting New Teachers, Inc., simplifies the task of recruiting, placing, and retaining teachers in America's public schools by helping aspiring teachers find certification and employment information. Go to www.recruitingteachers.org.

News for Teens
More than 68 percent of teens search for news online. Direct them to a trusted source at NewsHour Extra, a companion site to PBS' The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. The site provides interactive news stories, lesson plans that meet national curriculum standards, and context and information so students can understand how world events impact their lives. Go to www.pbs.org/newshour/extra.

Getting Smart About Money
Help young students become financially literate by guiding them to Planet Orange, where kids explore separate islands that outline the basics of earning, saving, investing, and spending money. Credit cards, the stock market, and allowance are discussed, and the site features a dictionary of financial terms and a calculator. Go to www.orangekids.com.

Green Thumbs and Grants
Spring will soon be here and what better way to welcome it than planting a school garden? Visit this site for information on how to create, maintain, teach about, and fund a school garden or schoolyard habitat. Sponsored by the National Gardening Association, the site provides classroom project ideas and a list of grants and fund-raising websites, all the while promoting environmental responsibility and multidisciplinary learning. Go to kidsgardening.com.

Weaver Delivers Message to Lawmakers

NEA President Reg Weaver has hopscotched the country since September, visiting with members firsthand to learn about their accomplishments and concerns.

What he's heard from members in the trenches--in visits from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Billings, Montana--is that public schools need support, not disdain or snake-oil "solutions." Unfortunately, support from policy makers and politicians is in too-short supply these days, while reforms-du-jour are hastily conceived and pasted on overburdened and underfunded public schools.

What are NEA members telling Reg?

• Speak up and educate those who condemn and demean public education. Do not let their message that "public schools don't work" echo unchallenged.
• Don't accept the conventional wisdom that schools need new challenges to get better. We're challenged already--by high class sizes, insufficient textbooks and supplies, and children harmed by physical abuse, hunger, or homelessness.
• Public educators need partners. We need parents and community members to work with us for great public schools, and we must have politicians willing to invest the necessary funds to make quality public education for all a reality.

Weaver hears regularly from members, and he carries their message to policy makers and legislators--those who craft the laws that constrain or unleash your work--across the United States.

In December, for example, Weaver spoke to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Indianapolis, Indiana, powerfully making the case that reform without resources is folly. Exhibit A: The new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which is heavy on new mandates--such as expanded student testing and new requirements for teacher and para quality--but leaves much of the funding to cash-strapped states.

"Nothing makes me angrier than for the federal government to mandate school reform but not fund it," Weaver said. "An under-funded--in many cases unfunded--ESEA is a set-up for public schools to fail."

And if schools are portrayed as "failing" new ESEA standards, opponents of quality public education have the "solutions" at the ready: vouchers and more privatization.

Speaking passionately about efforts to entice poor and minority parents with vouchers, Weaver told Black legislators that, "Vouchers are as dangerous to education now as Jim Crow was 50 years ago. Diverting public money for private gain does nothing to help African-American children. Period.

"Shouldn't poor and disadvantaged parents in every one of your urban school districts have the same choice that 85 percent of the most affluent suburban parents have--the choice to send their children to free, quality public schools that are located in their own neighborhoods?"

We know the characteristics of great public schools, said Weaver: well-equipped facilities, high standards and expectations, small class sizes, quality teachers and support professionals, state-of-the-art technology, and interventions to assure that every public student gets the help he or she needs to succeed. If we fail to provide those ingredients to schools serving poor, minority, and immigrant children, "then we are making a conscious decision to leave those children behind."

"Our challenge is to make every public school as good as our best public school," Weaver told lawmakers, "and we need to stand shoulder to shoulder to rededicate ourselves to strengthening public education."

--John O'Neil