Teachers and Librarians: Working Together to Improve Reading Comprehension

Alicia Eames, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 2/14/2008

Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact (American Library Association, 2007). 
While studies from Alaska to Florida have demonstrated the positive impact of school libraries on student achievement [download an updated version of School Libraries Work! (Scholastic, 2007)], school teacher-librarians are being called upon to justify their educational role in measurable terms.

In Collaborative Strategies, Judi Moreillon, a veteran teacher-librarian and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Arizona, argues that one way teacher-librarians can demonstrate their contribution to student learning is through collaboration with classroom teachers. Collaboration benefits students through a lower student/teacher ratio and provides in-house professional development as educators learn from each other. These are powerful points to share with administrators who are wondering whether or not to keep (or hire) certified librarians.

To get teacher-librarians going, Moreillon provides a set of three ready-to-use lesson plans (emerging, advancing, and advanced readers) for each of seven specific reading comprehension strategies, from activating prior knowledge to synthesizing. Each lesson, designed for the elementary grades, relies on specific book titles, but all can easily be adapted for use with other books. Graphic organizers and other supplemental materials are available online for easy access and printing. Additionally, Moreillon is working on aligning reading comprehension strategies with the new American Association of School Librarians Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and her results can be viewed at http://storytrail.com/Impact/matrix.htm.