The role that the school media and library plays cannot be overemphasized. A library is an important source of knowledge for the young mind. It plays an important role in building the knowledge of young minds in institutions. The school media center plays a critical role in the life of students by serving as a storehouse of knowledge. Effective integration of the media center to the student’s life will promote reading development. There are various stakeholders such as teachers, parents, and media specialists that should work together in order to motivate the children. This paper discusses how media specialists can ensure that they provide the best support for literacy within a school by promoting effective reading development, book selection, technology usage, teacher support, motivation, and parental involvement.
Reading Development
One of the strategies to ensure that children are reading books at their developmental level while growing in their ability to master higher level text is through reading books that are part of a series. The series in the book should be structured in a way that increases in complexity as the student advances. Books that are in the early sections of the series should use simple language and simple vocabulary that is easy to understand. As the series advances, the books should increase in complexity in terms of the language structure and vocabulary. Doing this would be a way for children that are struggling to engage with reading. Hooking the reader with the first book in the series will ensure that they choose the sequel in the next series. The children should be able to enjoy the book and progressively become more confident and fluent with their reading.
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Assistive resources can be important to ensure that students have supportive materials that can help with their reading. Examples of assistive sources include first language books, bilingual books, multicultural literature, picture books, nonfiction titles for lower reading levels, and graphic literature (Morin, 2014). The school media center should provide students with access to these resources based on the level of their reading. Students can also have access to audiobooks and other digital resources that make reading easier.
Metacognitive strategies are ways to ensure that the student effectively improves thinking while reading. Through the approach, readers should continually monitor their own thoughts and control their experiences to enhance understanding (Djudin, 2017). For an individual to grow in their reading, they should be able to take charge of their reading by monitoring their own comprehension. Students should direct questions by asking themselves questions such as whether they understand what they are reading. In case they do not understand, they may try to seek assistance from other resources such as the dictionary.
Book Selection
Readers that would like to progress their own reading will be happy to select their own books. However, students can seek assistance and enjoy the benefit from the encouragement and interaction from the librarian. In order that students improve their reading, there are a variety of programs and activities that should make book selection easier and better. A few of the programs that can be used to improve book selection include thematic literature units, literacy circles, guided reading, critical reading, and reading logs.
Thematic units are meant to inspire and motivate students to read and write about a theme. Students can select a particular theme and read about it in different areas. They can find magazines, newspaper, and book articles relating to a specific topic. This should make book selection easier because it ensures that students can find a variety of materials that should improve their knowledge (Lipson et al., 1993). The media specialist can ensure that literature is arranged in a way which features the specific themes.
Literature circles consist of a small group that is formed regarding about a particular text choice. The literature circle would consist of a group of 4 to 5 individuals that have different academic levels or different reading abilities. Literature circles should assist in book selection through the sharing of articles, essays, or textbooks that one of the individuals liked. Students should be able to identify plenty of resource books on literature circles.
Guided reading is a way to ensure that students read their books based on their specific level. Students should be able to narrow their choices of books through quite easily. The school media center should arrange books based on those that should interest individuals in a specific age group. The books should be categorized based on the themes, genres, and topics that interest the age group.
Critical reading is a way of reading where one asks themselves several questions regarding the particular topic. One can try to analyze the topics put forth by the author and identify the main argument present. Critical reading will identify the arguments in a particular reading assignment and use those arguments to help in future book selection. Students can identify topics or themes which they have not fully understood and try to read more about the specific topic.
Reading log is a journal where an individual records their reading activity. It takes note of what one read, when they read it, and the number of pages read. Keeping a reading log should help an individual identify the selection of books that they find interesting. The logs should be a way for students to express their attitudes towards a piece of text and reflect on the discoveries or make connections to what they know what they are learning and what they wish to learn in the future. Reading log can act as a road map to help students with their future reading.
Technology Usage
Technology presents itself as one of the best ways that students can use to find relevant materials which they can easily read and understand. However, the internet is made of several materials and students can become easily confused regarding a specific topic. Better practices on information search can be used to ensure that one can easily identify the information. The first step to ensuring that students find better resources is through clarity with their searches. Students should use the right keywords, synonyms, or alternative phrases when searching for words. Smart searching makes use of precise words to ensure that one identifies the specific material that they are searching for.
There are different search engines that one can use to identify different types of reading materials. Google Scholar can be used by students when they want to find academic or scholarly sources for information. Google Books allows students to read pages from books. In case the information is useful, then the student should find the book in the media center. Additionally, there are other online databases where students can find materials that should aid their reading. Students can also find information that comes from specific websites. Materials that come from the website of a university, the government, a museum, or a state-run agency should be reliable. However, when searching for different websites, students should identify the individuals that wrote the specific materials to ascertain its validity.
The media center specialists and teachers can teach students on different techniques that should make searching for information over the internet easier. They should model the process of searching for information online and make it something that the students can do regularly in their classes. Students can turn in search logs or annotated bibliographies to show the process of their search and its effectiveness. The teacher should make use of the information provided in order to ensure that they can help students with their difficulties.
Teacher Support
The media center specialist can make use of reading strategies that should support teachers in the classroom. One strategy is through a collaborative reading approach. A collaborative approach should ensure that the teacher relies on the librarian in the provision of a reliable online and real-world text from databases and websites. The school media specialist should be experienced and ensure that they select books that ensure equity and diversity. They should be able to supplement the classroom library with that from the school’s collection. The collaboration should ensure that teachers get a supply of ebooks, digital audiobooks, and books for display that should help with their teaching ( Roe et al., 2012 ).
Another way that teachers and librarians can work together is through the identifying of struggling readers. Teachers usually identify struggling learners by making use of standardized tests. Monitoring the data from standardized tests is one way which teachers can use to identify readers that are struggling. Media specialists can also identify potentially struggling readers by collecting data on the performance of students through library-based reading programs. The media specialist can share the information with the teacher in order to find ways to help the student.
The creation of library media programs that focus on struggling learners can also be used to help students. The teacher and librarian can put the struggling learners on a special program to ensure that they improve their reading. Learners that have dyslexia can make use of various materials such as audio to help with their condition ("The Dyslexia Toolkit", n.d.). According to Lance (1994), library media programs can be used to ensure that students improve in their performance. Working with a library media specialist can help to predict the test performance. This shows that the library media specialist plays a big role in ensuring that students have higher test scores. The collaboration of teachers and students would thus work for the benefit of the students.
Motivation
Students should be motivated to use the media center so that they can grow to become life-long readers. One way to motivate students is to organize a visit to the library in order to find out what it has to offer. The media specialist can collaborate with the teacher and arrange a visit to identify various resources that are available. Students should be able to have a firsthand layout of the rooms, how the books have been arranged and identify some of the technical devices which are available for their use. Additionally, they should be able to find out the check-in and check-out process for books. Doing this will the students comfortable with the media center and make it possible to access it in future dates.
The media center should be structured in a way that it is a place for creativity and collaboration. When students think of projects that are creative and fun, they should think of the media center first. The media center should thus be created with color printers, good computers, and programs that students can use for graduation projects, presentations, and college application programs. Students can have a separate conference room in the media center that can be used as a collaboration station. Students will use more of the media center if they find that it is a place that is both fun and interactive.
Another way to ensure that more students use the Media Center is to turn it into more of a Maker Space. A Maker Space can be referred to as a place where students interact with different types of media and engage themselves with do-it-yourself projects. The inclusion of a 3-D printer could be expensive but is integral for the success of the Maker Space. Additionally, there could be other resources, materials, and equipment that could be supplied to make the place attractive. Equipment and resources such as film-making software, a craft corner, or even a sewing machine can be highly attractive for the students (Roe et al., 2012).
The media center can be turned into a reading environment by making sure that there are magazines, articles, and newspapers available more than books. According to Burks (1996) Students preferred to select recreational reading material from the media center and the library. Students from the study also used the media center when they were given assignments that would require the use of the library media center resources. As such the media center specialist can work with the teacher to ensure that students have assignments that would necessitate the need for the media center. This should ensure that more students get familiar with the media center.
Parental Involvement
Reading at home can help children improve in their reading. Parents can make use of several strategies so that they can help their children with reading at home. One of the ways is through reading to their children. Doing this exposes children to a wider variety of vocabulary and builds on their hearing and speaking skills. Parents can also give the children a chance to read or to tell their story. Children can tell their own stories through the use of very simple words but which can be understood. The child can also bring books from school and the parent can listen to the child read. In case the child does not read well and some of the reading sounds choppy, the parent can have the child read again or read the book to the child. Such a kind of oral reading should make the student become a better reader.
The parent can create an environment in the home that is filled with reading materials and promotes reading. Children that usually have a large collection of reading resources within their homes have been found to perform higher and better on standardized test scores (Tichnor ‐ Wagner, 2016). Having a large array of reading materials such as magazines and books will ensure that children easily find a material that interests them. Parents can also ensure that students engage in a wide variety of reading activities. They can ensure that beginner readers take note of everything that is part of their children’s lives. They should be able to read menus, roadside signs, weather reports, movie names, or any other type of practical information. Children should always have something to do and read in their spare time.
In conclusion, the use of the library media center to promote reading development can be used to improve student performance. There are various strategies to ensure that students can improve their reading. Reading development through series reading, assistive reading, and metacognitive strategies should help the students. Book selection will involve thematic units, literacy circles, guided, reading, critical reading, and reading logs to help students identify the best books for their reading level. Technology usage will be enhanced by acquiring skills in search engines and website search. The involvement of the parents and teachers should also improve the reading process. Students can be motivated to use media centers by making it a place for creativity and fun.
References
Burks, F. (1996). Student Use of School Library Media Centers in Selected High Schools in Greater Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. School Library Media Quarterly , 24 (3), 143-49.
Djudin, T. (2017). Using Metacognitive Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension and Solve a Word Problem. Journal of Education, Teaching and Learning , 2 (1), 124-129.
Lipson, M. Y., Valencia, S. W., Wixson, K. K., & Peters, C. W. (1993). Integration and thematic teaching: Integration to improve teaching and learning. Language arts , 70 (4), 252-263.
Morin, M. (2014). How School Library Media Specialists Support Reading and Information Literacy Skills Instruction for English Language Learners.
Roe, B., Smith, S. H., & Burns, P. C. (2011). Teaching reading in today's elementary schools . Cengage Learning.
The Dyslexia Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/sites/default/files/DyslexiaToolkit.pdf
Tichnor ‐ Wagner, A., Garwood, J. D., Bratsch ‐ Hines, M., & Vernon ‐ Feagans, L. (2016). Home literacy environments and foundational literacy skills for struggling and nonstruggling readers in rural early elementary schools. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice , 31 (1), 6-21.
