The Oklahoma Reader V55 N2 Fall 2019

Dr. Lisa Delgado Brown, Dr. Laura Wilhelm, and Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Harden Willner

Windows and Mirrors: Community Building through Literacy Instruction

Nationwide our schools are facing a crisis: our teacher education programs are graduating new educators at lower rates, yet K-12 enrollment continues to grow (US ED Title II report, 2015). Stagnant pay and attrition aside, recent articles discuss poll results indicating that teachers are disenchanted with the field and report feeling more stress than they did in decades past (Brown, 2015). A U.S. Department of Education longitudinal study of 1,990 first-year public school teachers from 2007-2012 found that of those new educators, about 17% left the profession within the first 5 years (Gray & Taie, 2015). In Oklahoma, the State Department of Education reported that a higher than average percentage of teachers have left the profession since the 2012-2013 school year (just over 10% in Oklahoma, compared to the national attrition rate of 7.7%) (Dekker, 2019). Further, the report shows that beginning teachers also leave the profession at higher than national rates- 81.8 % still taught after 3 years, but only 53.9% remained in the profession after year 5 (Lazarte-Alcala, 2018). Of those beginning teachers who stayed in the profession, having a collaborative mentor was the most valuable factor for retention, according to a large-scale study through the National Center for Educational Statistics (Gray & Taie, 2015). Similarly, Ingersoll & Strong (2011) found that participation in a program that offered support for beginning teachers resulted in not only higher rates of retention, but also more effective classroom instructional practices (including classroom management, organization, and lesson planning) and higher levels of student achievement (described as higher scores or gains). Thus, the need for mentors who work collaboratively with new classroom teachers was found to be both valuable and effective. The authors are professors at a university located in a major urban community in Oklahoma. The first author has expertise in special education and literacy education; the second author has expertise in early childhood and urban education, and the third author has expertise in elementary and literacy education. Collectively, we wrote and received a grant through the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education titled Windows and Mirrors: Community Building through Literacy Instruction. There were two main goals of the grant: 1) to mentor elementary teachers in their first three years in the profession and to provide time and tools for them to develop their own professional learning goals and 2) to build the capacity for beginning elementary teachers to use literacy instruction to support classroom community building. In addition, we hoped to not only provide mentorship to beginning teachers, but also encourage them to build a community of supportive peers. Participants included seven administrators (five building principals and two assistant principals), and nine beginning teachers (grades represented included Pre-K (2), first (1), second (2), third (2), and sixth (2) grades). Seven teacher

participants were female and two were male. Participants taught at five elementary schools all within the same urban school district.

Community Building through Literacy Instruction

Effective literacy instruction provides an opportunity for teachers to focus on individual students as well as the whole class. Interestingly, love, consistency, engagement, and support are elements that Prior (2014) found to be the foundation of a successful learning environment in elementary school classrooms. Windows and Mirrors sought to allow teachers the tools and time to provide these four elements in three ways: 1) teaching children about themselves and others through oral storytelling and inviting them to tell their own stories, 2) having daily shared reading of quality children’s literature that allows children to see outside and inside themselves, and 3) providing meaningful assistance to struggling readers as they participate fully in a wide variety of language and literacy activities with their classmates. Windows and Mirrors addressed classroom community building through literacy instruction because, as Lifshitz (2016) writes, “seeing yourself reflected in a book is one way to believe you matter, you are worthy, and you belong” and “walking into a classroom filled with books that represent all sorts of people sends a message that everyone is welcome, and most important, safe” (p.25). Salmon-Grosswirth (2016) brings the power of literature to bear as she writes, “Each of us is unique and has something special to share with the universe. It is incumbent upon us as educators to shine a light inside each of our students and bring their potential to the surface” (p. 43). The implementation of Windows and Mirrors showcased the potential for thoughtful mentoring to “shine a light” on each of the beginning teachers’ strengths and “bring their potential to the surface” by supporting and strengthening their classroom community building through literacy instruction.

Grant Project Design and Activities

The Windows and Mirrors: Community Building through Literacy Instruction project allowed us to act as collaborative mentors to a small group of beginning teachers. Each professor partnered with three beginning teachers and their site administrators to support the new teachers’ developing abilities to engage the students in their classr oom communities as they sought to strengthen the literacy skills of all students. We began with a dinner meeting in January that included the nine beginning teachers, five administrators, and the three professors. During this meeting, the overall goals of the grant were introduced, and the beginning teachers completed the pre-survey instrument and signed the participation agreement. We then conducted three workshops in January, February, and March. The foci of them were (in sequential order) interactive storytelling, supporting struggling readers, and effective read-alouds. Each workshop included time at the beginning for teachers and professors to socialize, an interactive presentation by one professor, time for participants to consider how the workshop topic could work in their classrooms, and additional time for teachers to share their thinking and add to their list of ideas. Following are short descriptions of each workshop. The interactive storytelling workshop, led by Laura Wilhelm, included a presentation on the value of storytelling to build classroom community and opportunities for the teachers to participate in group storytelling. They also practiced simply putting down the book and telling

the story. They were provided with materials including a list of books that would translate easily into oral stories. In addition, the value of children’s own stories was emphasized and methods such as partner sharing and using props that engage children in telling their own stories was presented. The teachers then shared their own ideas for how they could incorporate storytelling in their own classroom in ways that could build rapport between and among students. The workshop focused on supporting struggling readers led by Lisa Delgado Brown, included a presentation on research-based strategies to include all readers in classroom reading activities. We looked at how to use visual media to inspire students to relate to other struggling readers, such as Malcolm Mitchell’s inspirational journey towards loving to read (Hartman, 2014), and to use as resources within their classrooms, such as Storyline Online. Teachers shared the types of literacy assessments they routinely conducted and as a group, we brainstormed additional ways to assess students and to infuse the results of said assessments into their future lesson planning and teaching. Teachers were also encouraged to share classroom activities that they found to be successful for their struggling readers and writers. Finally, we talked about sample strategies that might be of use in increasing student achievement, including Reader’s Theatre, Think Alouds, Open Mind Portraits, SQ3R, among others. The workshop on read-alouds led by Elizabeth (Liz) Willner included a guided activity during which teachers learned and practiced specific strategies to improve their own oral reading, including ways to sit; methods to vary one’s volume, tempo, and pitch; and ideas for including students in the reading while encouraging them to share their responses to stories with each other. We then considered the text and illustration features of books that lend themselves to engaging read alouds. The final activity led the beginning teachers in practicing book talks that are short and help students make decisions about books they might like to read alone or with classmates.

Beginning in late February, each professor planned to bring their teacher candidates to the classrooms of the three beginning teachers’ they were mentoring. The teacher candidates worked in their university classes to develop activities for groups of 4-5 children relating to that professor’s workshop topic. Laura’s teacher candidates learned to tell stories using props and led activities related to the stories, Lisa’s candidates developed activities to assess and support struggling readers and Liz’s candidates fine-tuned their oral reading of one book, interviewed each student about his/her reading tastes, and presented book talks on books they thought their students would find engaging.

While the teacher candidates were working with their students, the professors and beginning teachers observed and shared perceptions of what they were seeing related to the classroom community and literacy instruction. They responded to each other’s questions and ideas of ways to use literacy instruction to support the classroom community. The two final grant activities occurred on the same day. First, the beginning teachers and professors attended a state literacy conference which included two keynote speakers and two breakout sessions of the attendees’ choices. After the conference, the teachers and professors met for a wrap-up meeting. Together, we discussed the ideas from the conference that could be used in each teacher’s setting and shared information about breakout sessions so those who attended different ones could learn. We then reflected on and shared the elements of each of the three grant workshops that the beginning teachers had implemented in their classrooms and each teacher completed the post survey. The day ended with the professors presenting each teacher with the professional development books they had selected at the previous workshop. This, of

course, was the most exciting part of the whole day. Please see Appendix B for a listing of the various books that the beginning teachers selected. Windows and Mirrors supported and strengthened beginning teachers as they developed their own visions (windows) and reflected (mirrors) through community building in their classrooms. The project also provided a way for the teachers to build supportive professional communities outside their own classrooms and schools. In fact, our overarching aim was to build upon the strengths these beginning teachers already had and support them in developing visions for their classrooms developed through literacy-related experiences, collaboration with peers, collaborative work in their classrooms with a professor, and opportunities to select their own professional development readings. The grant activities were developed based on our adaptation of the Practical Inquiry Model: Perception, Conception, Action, and Reflection (Garrison, 2007). We chose this Deweybased constructivist model because we wanted to strengthen and explore the cognitive and social dimensions of participating teachers’ actions within their classrooms. Each element of the adapted model is explained below.

Figure 1

Conception (Ideas)

Perception (awareness)

Adapted Practical Inquiry Model

Action (practice)





Reflection

Perception/awareness: The first stage of the project was to help each teacher develop a vision for creating a community of learners in his or her own classroom. We facilitated this journey through three workshops focused on creating community through storytelling, reading aloud, and assisting struggling readers and by helping to establish an open professional discussion with their peers. Each of these areas of literacy instruction had the potential to positively impact the classroom community by building skills and strategies that served to help teachers adjust instructional activities and expand opportunities students have to interact with each other and the teacher. This goal was measured through the pre- and post-survey questionnaires. Conception/ideas: Each professor worked directly with three teachers and their building administrators to facilitate the teachers’ journey through the time of the grant. We reached out directly to the teachers we were working with to arrange for teacher candidates to come to the class and to listen, share advice, clarify workshop concepts, and support the implementation of classroom practices related to the workshop topics.

 Action/classroom practice: 1. When each professor brought her class of teacher candidates to work with small groups in the participating teachers’ classrooms, beginning teachers had the opportunity to see the workshop topics come to life. At each workshop meeting, those who had experienced the teacher candidates’ teaching shared with their peers what they had noticed about their own students’ engagement, relationships with other students, and their learning. Besides discussing with the professors, the needs of their students in general, this allowed the professor and classroom teacher to consider additional options for literacy instruction that could serve as a bridge to community development. 2. Toward the end of the school year, teachers attended a state reading conference with the other teacher and professor participants and met afterward to connect the day’s learning with their current literacy practices and future professional development goals. 3. Throughout the time of the grant, as the teachers and professors gathered for the introductory dinner, three workshops, classroom visits with teacher candidates, and the last meeting after the conference, a community of like-minded practitioners developed. Teachers provided ideas for each other and shared the elements of the workshops that most affected their literacy teaching and community building.  Reflection: Experiences throughout the time of the grant helped beginning teachers become more intentional about planning their own professional development. They were afforded the time and resources to observe and act on their use of literacy to create a positive sense of community within their classrooms. Taking time to collaborate with peers and share ideas with each other was another reflective strategy that emerged as one that was important to the participating teachers. Reflection was infused throughout the monthly meetings. We sought to encourage participating teachers to reflect upon how the strategies or activities we suggested could further enhance both their classroom communities and overall teaching. Participating teachers specifically addressed ideas presented during our monthly meetings that they wanted to add to their own teaching. One commented that they liked a “video about a football player who struggled with reading and writing [because] I think my students could really relate.” A few commented specifically on collections of books we introduced or on using books to teach about broader concepts. Further, another said that they appreciated the “hints about bringing joy back.” Being able to reflect upon and respond during the monthly meetings served to encourage the participating teachers to infuse new ideas and methods into their teaching. Each participating teacher developed a vision for a community of learners in their own classroom based upon their individual awareness and perceptions. They selected professional literature that they believed would support their vision for the classroom community and the grant provided the funds to purchase the books. Many requested copies of titles we referenced when they ordered their professional development materials.

Data Collection and Results

The Windows and Mirrors project included multiple data collection strategies to determine if the project goal and objectives were met. The data included an initial vision

statement by each teacher, demographic information, pre-/post-assessments, and three workshop response writing activities. The writing activities encouraged self-reflection and were used to aid in the creation of action plans for the participants’ classrooms based on the information provided by each workshop. The professors took careful notes of the oral responses and visual cues from participants at the dinner, workshops, classroom visits, and conference and used these observations along with the response data at our review meeting after the project was complete. Further, each professor recorded field notes during and after each time the teacher candidates were in the teachers’ classrooms. Windows and Mirrors had a positive impact on participating teachers according to the data collected. Especially significant was the change in the question which asked “Rate your knowledge about creating and cultivating a strong community in your classroom.” In the initial pre-survey, no teachers rated their knowledge as “strong”, six rated it as “in progress,” and two rated it as ‘limited’. In the post-survey, five teachers rated it as ‘strong, three rated it as ‘in progress”, and no teachers rated it as ‘limited’. Although there was a small positive change in the item ratings where participating teachers were asked to “Rate your knowledge about using literacy activities to create and cultivate a strong community in your classroom”, many teachers commented that they had become more aware of possibilities and wanted to continue to learn more. This stance of life-long learning is really the ultimate goal of all teaching, so we feel confident about this outcome. Participating teachers developed new ideas for teaching as evidenced in item # 5 on the post assessment. In the pre-survey, six different ideas to create community in the classroom were generated as having been ‘very effective,’ in the post-survey, that list grew to 23 different activities that the teachers rated as ‘very effective’. Some of the ideas that they planned to add included general strategy use such as inserting pregnant pauses or fresh read-aloud strategies, or new teaching methods, such as utilizing Reader’s Theatre. Participating teachers had on-going opportunities to reflect on their own understanding and practices through the workshops, written reflections, conference sessions, and into the future as they read and implement ideas from the professional development books they ordered. Overall, the goals of this grant were achieved and the approximately 250 students in these nine teachers’ classrooms that school year, as well as their future students, will continue to benefit from the philosophical growth and improved skills of these teachers as a direct result of this grant.

Discussion

Windows and Mirrors was an entirely new experience for us and choosing to combine literacy instruction with classroom community building is not prominent in the literature. The response was positive overall. Many participating teachers requested that it be started earlier in the year, and be continued over more than one school year. Participating teachers also reported that they enjoyed having the teacher candidates work with small groups in their classrooms and would like to have more of that. This is an implication for improved practice for all teacher education programs. As professors, we found scheduling times for our classes to visit all the teachers, organizing the workshops, collecting data, and ordering the requested library materials to be very time consuming. A long-term implementation of the interventions attempted through this grant would need more personnel to become sustainable. The scope was wide, addressing Pre-K through 6th grade teachers. Although it was not insurmountable, a narrower band of grade levels would have allowed more focused activities. Additionally, our research has implications

that may be of interest to administrators and PK-12 teachers. There were elements of what we did as part of this grant that could be replicated in a PK-12 setting, including establishing and facilitating collaborative partnerships amongst beginning teachers. Many school districts have established Professional Learning Community (PLC) groups within the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, but encouraging beginning teachers to meet gives them a support system that they seemed to not only enjoy, but wanted to continue to participate in. Giving these beginning teachers time to intentionally collaborate could have huge implications in terms of feeling supported and valued by peers and district administration. Mentor teachers or curriculum coordinators could facilitate and offer support to the groups. Through this grant, new teachers became intentional in using literacy instruction to create positive communities within their classrooms. They were each allocated grant monies with which they could purchase professional development books which reflected their personal goals as literacy educators. This finding highlights the research by Harnett (2012) indicating that professional development will only be effective if it involves teachers in their own professional decision making. Further, teachers need to bring these actions into their classrooms in order to enable their instruction to be effective. The grant provided this opportunity as well. While literacy instruction is of unlimited merit for its own sake, it was found to support classroom community development in this project. Because building a positive classroom community was the end goal of this grant, we will summarize the project through the lens of Prior’s (2014) research that uncovered four foundational elements for a successful elementary classroom community: love, consistency, engagement, and support. Following are descriptions of how these elements were borne out in the grant activities and in the classrooms of nine beginning teachers

Love and Consistency. We found a sense of joy permeated the workshops as the teachers began to share their successes with each other. One teacher considered the oral reading workshop and wrote, “I really liked the ideas for adding joy to our story times,” while another responded to the storytelling workshop, writing that s/he “liked the interaction and practicing with fellow teachers.” Some additional phrases from the beginning teachers’ responses to the end-ofworkshop prompt, “I really like…” are as follows: “…the stories, the smile on my face, and even the chills…hints about bringing back joy…fun new books…book ideas for engaging struggling readers…interaction and practicing with fellow teachers.” It was obvious that through the year, they became more confident as well as more consistent in their focus on classroom community building. During the storytelling workshop, teachers responded excitedly as they worked together to tell a story as a group. Subsequent discussion led them to consider ways to continually draw all their students into literacy activities and to use storytelling as one method to do so. The professors, as well as the teachers, regularly shared community building ideas that dovetailed with literacy instruction. Some examples include making “Why?” the teacher’s best friend, allowing students to talk during oral reading of children’s literature, and inviting children to use their imaginations daily. Engagement and Support. We found that both the experiences of the beginning teachers and the time and guidance to reflect were crucial components for our participants as they sought to adapt their practice to more effectively engage and instruct their students. One teacher offered that she will “definitely will use the part about allowing s[students] to talk and raise [their] book[s] to recapture attention. Love the idea of letting them talk.” It was obvious from statements like this that reflection was occurring as they were getting ideas from the sessions. Additionally, research by Harnett (2012) demonstrated that professional development would not

be effective if it involved a passive recipient of information, stating, “If professional development is to bring about lasting change it must involve the teachers concerned in analyzing, critiquing, reflecting upon, and improving their own classroom practice” (p. 382). Active professional development is the key to effectively support educators to act as “agents of democracy” within their classrooms. Thus, our professional development was designed to actively empower participating teachers so they could in turn empower and better support their students.

Inherent in the design of our sessions was time for the participating teachers to reflect and highlight ideas that they would use in their classroom. The International Literacy Association’s 2018 Literacy Leadership brief discusses transformative practices in literacy teacher preparation and posits that experts in the field should position themselves as coaches supporting students in “making sense of their experiences and growing their practices” (p. 6). In essence, that is precisely what we set out to do: support our teacher participants as they listened, reflected, and envisioned new paths for literacy learning that also supports the classroom communities in their own classrooms.

Dr. Lisa Delgado Brown is an associate professor at Oklahoma City University. She may be reached at lcdelgadobrown@okcu.edu.

Dr. Laura Wilhelm is an associate professor at Oklahoma City University. She may be reached at lhwilhelm@okcu.edu

Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Harden Willner is a professor at Oklahoma City University. She may be reached at lwillner@okcu.edu.

References Brown, E. (2015, April 30). Study: Far fewer new teachers are leaving the profession than previously thought. The Washington Post, Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/04/30/study-new-teacher-attritionis-lower-than-previously-thought/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4a93baaa8666 Dekker, M. (2019, February 13). ‘Staggering’: 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left the profession in the past 6 years, report shows. Tulsa World, Retrieved from https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/staggering-oklahoma-teachers-haveleft-profession-in-the-past-years/article_32479aa7-9877-55c9-959c76f7332a7e7d.html?fbclid=IwAR1JhIeTB2GqulBqRahT-fQiSy8- DyHJ4C93VJrdyiYTYJqlPaqOa1vbYCs. Garrison, D. R. (2007) Online community of inquiry review: Social, cognitive, and teaching presence issues. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(1), 61-72. Gray, L., and Taie, S. (2015). Public school teacher attrition and mobility in the first five years: Results from the first through fifth waves of the 2007–08 beginning teacher longitudinal study (NCES 2015-337). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved [May 2018] from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015337.pdf Harnett, J. (2012). Reducing discrepancies between teachers' espoused theories and theories-inuse: An action research model of reflective professional development. Educational Action Research, 20(3), 367-384. Hartman, S. (2014, September 12). Football star shows you can’t judge a book by its cover [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/football-star-shows-youcant-judge-a-book-by-its-cover/ Ingersoll, R., and Strong, M. (2011). The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: A critical review of the research. Review of Education Research, 81(2): 201–233.

International Literacy Association. (2018). Transforming literacy teacher preparation: Practice makes possible. Retrieved January 24, 2019, https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source-where-we-stand/ila-transformingliteracy-teacher-preparation.pdf Lazarte-Alcala, N. R. (2018). Oklahoma educator supply and demand report: Trends, projections, and recommendations. Retrieved February 27, 2019 https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/tulsaworld.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/ editorial/7/6e/76e43e12-685e-580a-96a4-c80fd898be4d/5c7429a866e43.pdf.pdf Lifshitz, J. (2016). Curating empathy. Literacy Today, 33(6), 24-26. Philipp, R. A., & Thanheiser, E. (2010). Showing your students you care: Seeing the individual trees in the classroom rorest. New England Mathematics Journal, 42, 8-17. Prior, J. (2014). Focus on elementary: Love, engagement, support, and consistency: A recipe for classroom management. Childhood Education, 90(1), 68-70. Salmon-Grosswirth, R. (2016). In your words: A go-to list of books. Literacy Today, 33(6), 43. Learning Policy Institute, Retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/comingcrisis-teaching-brief U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education (2015). Higher Education Act Title II Reporting System.

Appendix A: Pre- and Post-Survey

Windows and Mirrors: Community Building through Literacy Instruction

“If professional development is to bring about lasting change it must involve the teachers concerned in analyzing, critiquing, reflecting upon, and improving their own classroom practice (Harnett, 2012, p. 382). 1. Describe the climate of your school: 1 2 3 4 Cold and uninviting Warm and inviting Please explain your response.

2. Describe the climate of your classroom. 1 2 3 4 Cold and uninviting Warm and inviting Please explain your response.

“We have identified two challenges that nearly every teacher encounters: (a) managing a classroom of students; and (b) addressing the needs of individual students” (Philipp & Thanheiser, 2010, p. 8). 3. Rate your knowledge about creating and cultivating a strong community in your classroom. o Strong (I know a lot about what a classroom community is and how to develop a positive one in my classroom.) o In Progress (I know some about what a classroom community is and how to develop a positive one in my classroom.) o Limited (I know a little about what a classroom community is and how to develop a positive one in my classroom.)

4. Rate your knowledge about using literacy activities to create and cultivate a strong community in your classroom. o Strong (I know a lot about how to use literacy activities to develop a positive classroom community.) o In Progress (I know some about how to use literacy activities to develop a positive classroom community.) o Limited (I know a little about how to use literacy activities to develop a positive classroom community.)

5. Describe the practices you have used to create a sense of community in your classroom and rate their effectiveness as Very Effective: 3, Somewhat Effective: 2, Not Effective: 1. Then explain your rating. Practice Rating 3 2 1 Explanation of Rating

6. List three areas in which you would like support to enhance your classroom community. Explain briefly what kind of support you would like and how it might impact your classroom community.

Area Explanation 1

2

3

“The pieceof children’s literature that really moved my students was Peter Reynolds’ The Dot. Each of us is unique and has something special to share with the universe. It is incumbent upon us as educators to shine a light inside each of our students and bring their potential to the surface” (Salmon-Grosswirth, 2016, p. 43).

7. Describe how you could use the following literacy activities to build a positive sense of community in your classroom. Storytelling

Reading Aloud

Supporting Struggling Readers

Appendix B: List of Books Requested by Beginning Teachers

Gottschall, J. (2013). The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. New York, NY: Mariner Books. Harp, B. (2005). The Handbook of Literacy Assessment and Evaluation, 3rd Ed. New York, NY: Rowman and Littlefield. Karia, A. (2015). TED Talks Storytelling: 25 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace. Marcus, L.S. (2012). Show Me a Story!: Why Picture Books Matter: Conversations with 21 of the World’s Most Celebrated Illustrators. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. McKenna, M. C. (2002). Help for Struggling Readers. New York, NY: Guilford Press. McKenna, M.C. & Dougherty Stahl, K. A. (2015). Assessment for Reading Instruction. New York, NY: Guilford Press Miller, D. (2009). The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Miller, D. (2014). Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer’s Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Paley, V. G. (1991). the boy who would be a helicopter: the uses of storytelling in the classroom. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press. Teachthought Staff. 30 Storytelling Tips for Teachers: How to Capture Your Students’ Attention. Retrieved 20 May 2016 from: http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/30-storytellingtips-for-teachers/ Trelease, J. (2013). The Read-Aloud Handbook, 7th Ed. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Tompkins, G.E. (2012). 50 Literacy Strategies: Step-by-Step, 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.