In this ISSUE of the GALA FOCUS NEWSLETTER:
1. GALA UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
- GALA Mini-Grant Update!: South Douglas Reading & Sports Club (2023 $500 Mini-Grant Winner)
- Start a LOCAL LITERACY COUNCIL in Your Community!
- GALA READ ALOUD Event! Win $25 Starbucks or Dunkin' Gift Card
- SAVE with GALA's NEW GROUP BUNDLE Membership Options!
- Giving Tuesday! Consider Donating to School Is In (Provides funding for teachers in Title I schools across Georgia)
- Interview with Jennifer Serravallo ~ Follow-Up from Literacy Learning Series #14 Webinar
2. STUDENT BOOK TALKS!
- The Hula Hoop Queen (Godin, 2017), Reviewed by Madeline & Cayla from South Douglas Elementary
- Casey Back at Bat (Gutman, 2007), Reviewed by Noah & Luke from South Douglas Elementary
- America's Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle (Adler, 2005), Reviewed by Cameron & Zeke from South Douglas Elementary
3. FEATURE ARTICLES
- Meeting Diverse Learning Needs: Differentiation Strategies for New Teachers in Literacy Classrooms by Marie Ojofeitimi
- Empowering Adolescent Multilingual Writers: Practical Strategies for the Classroom by Robert A. Griffin
4. K-12 BOOK REVIEWS!
- Welcome to Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony (Murphy, 2018), Reviewed by William Bintz
- Buffalo Dreamer (Duncan, 2024), Reviewed by Bethany L. Scullin
5. GEORGIA JOURNAL OF LITERACY UPDATES
- Call for Submissions ~ SPRING 2025 Issue
- GJL Welcomes a New Editorial Assistant ~ Hannah Best!
- Call for REVIEWERS! Become a Reviewer for the Georgia Journal of Literacy
6. FREE RESOURCES
- Stay UP-TO-DATE on the Most Recently Published Children's, Adolescent, & YA Literature!
GALA $500 Mini-Grant Winner Update!: South Douglas Reading & Sports Club
An awesome club for fourth graders at South Douglas Elementary School in Douglasville meets each Wednesday afternoon! The South Douglas Reading/ Sports Club integrates and encourages reading, sports and overall physical and academic activity. At club meetings, the kids read books for half of the meeting and play sports like kickball, flag football, basketball and Wiffleball for the second half of the meeting. The club was started with the aim of building excitement about books with our kids who excel in sports, but who are often reluctant readers. At the same time, our goal is to encourage our book lovers to be more physically active. The club is a huge success this year, with over 40 club members!
We are proud recipients of a $500 Mini-Grant from the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates! All the funds that were acquired through the grant were used to purchase books for our club. We now have titles about Muhammad Ali, Tom Brady, Wilma Rudolph, Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens and many other sports heroes that are enjoyed by our club members each week!
Build connections, address local literacy needs, and create meaningful opportunities for literacy within your community. Local Literacy Councils host impactful activities, contribute to international literacy projects, while fostering literacy and community engagement.
GALA will guide you through every step of starting your own council. Email chair@galiteracy.org to learn how you can make literacy thrive in your area!
Follow-Up from Literacy Learning Series #14 Held on August 19, 2024
**As a special offer for members of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates, Corwin is offering a 25% discount and free shipping for Teaching Reading Across the Day. Simply use the code SERRAVALLO at check out.**
How does your new book, Teaching Reading Across the Day, speak to the moment – the ideas that are shaping education today?
There are several big ideas shaping education right now – relying on research-backed reading instructional materials, making sure instruction is explicit, incorporating knowledge- and vocabulary-building, and supporting foundational skills. All are important, but today I’m going to speak to two that I think are particularly relevant to educators in Georgia.
Jen on the science of reading. There is a lot of legislation sweeping the country that mandates that schools use evidence-based resources to teach reading in elementary school, what many refer to as “science of reading legislation.” Unfortunately, the legislation is often vague, which leaves schools scrambling to figure out just what the research says and how best to implement it in the classroom.
I’m a big believer in using research to inform how we teach reading. Research can help us understand what’s most likely to work for the most students. Controlled studies, meta-analyses, brain research, etc. are all a great starting place. Teachers then need ways to understand how best to implement the research findings in the classroom, and to make room for inevitable variability as individual student needs come into play. That’s where I come in. I am honored that Rachael Gabriel, a professor of Literacy Education at the University of Connecticut calls me a faithful translator of reading research. I study the research, work to help teachers understand what it says, and then translate the information into doable classroom practices that my team of literacy experts and I have tested and refined in hundreds of classrooms across the country. Everything I share in my books like Teaching Reading Across the Day—the recommended practices, strategies, and guidance—are not only grounded in decades of research, they are also classroom-tested.
Meeting Diverse Learning Needs: Differentiation Strategies for New Teachers in Literacy Classrooms
Marie Ojofeitimi, Doctoral Candidate, Georgia State University
As a doctoral student in teaching and teacher education with over a decade of lead teaching experience, I understand the challenges new educators face in today’s diverse classrooms. While supporting secondary literacy and social studies provisional and student-teachers this semester, I have noticed a consistent theme: their desire and need to understand differentiated instruction—a crucial tool for addressing the varied learning needs they encounter daily. Differentiation allows teachers to tailor their instruction to meet students where they are, ensuring that each learner can succeed despite differences in skill levels, interests, and learning styles. This article explores practical strategies for new teachers to effectively implement differentiation in their literacy instruction.
Why Differentiation is Critical in Literacy
Differentiation allows teachers to address diverse readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles. Tomlinson (2017) defines differentiation as modifying instruction to meet individual needs. In literacy classrooms, students often have varying reading abilities, requiring teachers to offer multiple ways to access and engage with the material. King-Shaver & Hunter (2017) highlight the unique challenges in literacy classrooms where students may be at different reading levels. Differentiation ensures that instruction is accessible to all students and provides appropriate challenges to promote growth. Without it, teachers risk leaving some students behind while others are not sufficiently challenged. By incorporating differentiation, teachers create a learning environment where all students can thrive.
Empowering Adolescent Multilingual Writers: Practical Strategies for the Classroom
Dr. Robert A. Griffin, Associate Professor of Literacy, University of West Georgia
In today’s diverse classrooms, teachers face the rewarding challenge of supporting students from various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Adolescents learning English while navigating the challenges of their teen years, known as Adolescent Multilingual Learners (AMLs), bring unique strengths to the classroom that, when harnessed, can enrich their writing skills. Below are three key strategies to foster AMLs’ English writing development while honoring their linguistic diversity.
Culturally Responsive Writing Prompts
An effective way to engage multilingual learners is by designing writing prompts that connect with their cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Ask students to share personal stories or cultural traditions and encourage them to use words or expressions from their native languages. Translanguaging like this makes writing more relevant and allows students to express their unique identities. For example, prompt students to write about a cultural tradition that is important to them, using specific terms from their native language. This not only enhances engagement but also builds pride in their cultural heritage.
Welcome to Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony (2018)
Reviewed by Dr. William Bintz
Professor
Kent State University
Some time ago I was fortunate to be a Visiting Professor in Literacy Education at the Armidale College of Advanced Education in Armidale, Australia. Armidale was a small university town located in New South Wales, a southeastern Australian state, and a six-hour car ride from Sydney. I taught undergraduate reading and writing courses and supervised Aboriginal student teaching experiences at K-12 Aboriginal schools in the Australian Outback. I was excited but also apprehensive about this unique opportunity because I had little background knowledge and historical understanding of the Australian Aboriginal indigenous people.
In preparation, I consulted several resources. One resource was my university colleagues, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who were born, raised, and educated in Australia. Another resource were Aboriginal students. I interviewed many students, most of whom were students enrolled in my undergraduate classes. Still another resource was the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, commonly known as NAIDOC.
NAIDOC
In 1956, “major Aboriginal organizations, state and federal governments, all supported the formation of the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC)…and designated the second Sunday in July to become a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and their heritage” (https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/history). Each year, NAIDOC identifies and recommends several First Nation picturebooks for Australian children to read during NAIDOC week. I purchased and read many of these picturebooks to increase my background knowledge about indigenous Aboriginal culture and to read aloud and discuss in my own university classroom. I continue to collect and read to my students recommended picturebooks by NAIDOC.
For 2024, NAIDOC recommended five First Nation picturebooks (see, NAIDOC First Nation Picturebooks). Here, I share a book review of Welcome to Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony, one of the recommended books.
This beautiful and informative picturebook has multiple meanings on several different levels. At one level, it welcomes readers to the traditional land of the indigenous Wurundjeri people in Australia. For them, their land and their people are the same. That is, their people, including ancestors, are part of the land, and the land is a part of their people. It also describes the Wurundjeri Wominjeka, a welcome ceremony and cultural greeting conducted by the elders who give permission for Yannabil (visitors) to enter their traditional lands.
Buffalo Dreamer (2024)
Reviewed by Bethany L. Scullin
Associate Professor
University of West Georgia
"It's good to ask questions; it shows you care. I didn't learn about residential schools until I was in college," my mom says. "It's a huge part of Canadian and American history, yet it was hardly talked about. It's up to us to change that, make sure the stories are told and the truth comes out" (p. 35).
Buffalo Dreamer is an unforgettable story that explores the lingering trauma of residential schools and the importance of reclaiming cultural identity. Set on the Cree reservation in Alberta, Canada, the novel follows Summer as she begins to have unsettling dreams tied to her family’s past. Unmarked graves are discovered at the residential school her grandfather was forced to attended. Summer learns more about her family’s painful history and witnesses her community’s efforts to heal. The author, Violet Duncan, purposefully connects her personal experiences with broader cultural truths, creating a story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
Containing 108 pages with a glossary and author's note, this book is geared towards upper elementary and middle-level readers; however, it is an important story for adults to read as well. It’s a meaningful addition to any classroom and an excellent choice for a read-aloud, offering opportunities for rich discussions about the ongoing impact of historical injustices. Summer’s journey prompts readers of all ages to reflect on the importance of understanding heritage, confronting the past, and finding hope in resilience. I highly recommend Buffalo Dreamer. It's an essential read for anyone wanting to learn more about North American history while engaging with stories that inspire thoughtful conversations and honor Indigenous experiences.
Hannah Best, M.Ed.
Hannah is a dedicated high school English language arts (ELA) teacher at the Academy of Richmond County, Augusta, GA, where she is committed to building equitable, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive learning environments for all students.
As a Ph.D. student in Literacy, Language, and Culture at Clemson University, Hannah brings four years of dynamic and unique classroom experience in the greater Augusta, GA, area. Her work is focused on merging practice and research to increase literacy outcomes for at-risk and multilingual youths. Passionate about trauma-sensitive pedagogy and innovative educational practices, Hannah incorporates emotional resilience frameworks and integrated literacy strategies into her ELA classes to ensure her students develop a love for literacy and a resilient lens with which to approach the world.
FOCUS: A Newsletter of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA)
Dr. Bethany L. Scullin, FOCUS Newsletter Editor
FOCUS Editorial Reviewers
Dr. Jennifer K. Allen
Dr. Robert A. Griffin
