http://oh.webjunction.org/ohctrointro

Using Choose to Read Ohio in School

A Tipsheet for K-12 Educators

 Choose to Read Ohio (CTRO) is a statewide reading initiative encouraging Ohioans to

“Read together – Read Ohio – Read for life”! 

CTRO spotlights Ohio authors and promotes reading across Ohio. The State Library of Ohio, in partnership with Ohioana Library Association, created CTRO to encourage people of all ages to share literature by authors native to, residing in, or associated with Ohio.  The debut 2009-2010 CTRO booklist features 15 titles.  A new CTRO booklist with 20 titles was announced at the 2010 Ohioana Book Festival.  Each booklist is promoted for two calendar years, but readers are encouraged to read and share any current or past CTRO books at any time.

This tipsheet to help you use CTRO in the classroom and school library includes:

·        Information about free downloadable toolkits available for every CTRO book

·        How CTRO supports the Ohio Academic Content Standards and, coming soon, the Common Core Standards

·        Ideas for using CTRO to support 21^st Century Skills and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner

·        Activity ideas for extension and integration

·        The 2011-2012 and 2009-2010 CTRO booklists

Choose to Read Ohio Toolkits

A free downloadable toolkit is available for every CTRO book.  The toolkits feature book summaries, bibliographic/ordering information, author photos and biographies, discussion questions, extension activities, and links to resources for further exploration.  The 2011-2012 toolkits also feature author contact information. 

2011-2012 toolkits for K-12 appropriate books include representative connections to Ohio Academic Content Standards across the curriculum and activities that support the 21^st Century Skills.

All CTRO toolkits, past and future, will be revised to correlate to the Revised Academic Content Standards and Common Core State Standards.

All CTRO toolkits are available online and as convenient, printable PDF handouts, and will remain available after each CTRO program biennium.

2011-2012 Toolkits

Toolkit Intro

CTRO and Academic Content Standards

All CTRO titles support the Ohio Academic Content Standards.  Reading anyCTRO book will address benchmarks for these English Language Arts standards:

·        Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies Standard

·        Reading Applications: Literary Text Standard

·        Acquisition of Vocabulary Standard

Suggested projects and extension activities are included in the CTRO toolkit for each K-12 appropriate book.  These activities are directly correlated to OACS benchmarks in various Content Areas as appropriate, including Arts, English Language Arts, Library, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Technology. 

CTRO supports integration across academic subject areas, and extension beyond the experience of reading the book.

As Common Core State Standards are implemented for English Language Arts and Mathematics, and OACS revisions implemented for other Content Areas, all CTRO toolkits will be revised to correlate to the new and revised standards.

CTRO, 21^st Century Skills, and Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner

21^st Century Skills prepare students for life in the 21st century through the “four Cs” (critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation), information media and technology fluency, and life and career skills development.

CTRO supports 21^st century skills and the American Association of School Librarians Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner.  Suggested projects and activities, found in CTRO toolkits, include example activities focused on technology and media literacy to encourage students to practice the four Cs.

Depending on grade and on local needs and resources, many book-related activities may be designed to enhance 21^st century learning.  Student responses to CTRO books may include, for example:

·        Using technology tools to create and present products from slideshows to book trailers;

·        Collaborating with other students in school, across Ohio, or around the world;

·        Using INFOhio resources in an inquiry-based process to gain understanding of the issues and historical realities reflected in literary texts.

The 21^st Century Learning Commons is an online resource created by INFOhio for all educators to explore. It is designed to enhance 21st century learning, provide a technologically-advanced method to utilize INFOhio electronic resources, and foster a sense of global community through a variety of technology and learning methods.

Learn about the 21^st Century Learning Commons here:

http://learningcommons.infohio.org/

The Standards for the 21st-Century Learner offer a vision for teaching and learning for school librarians.  Learners use skills, resources, and tools to:

·        Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

·        Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

·        Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

·        Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

Learn about the Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner here:

http://bit.ly/2mHzC

(opens AASL website)

Activity ideas for extension and integration

Here are some additional ideas for using CTRO in your school:

·        Create a display of CTRO books in your library.

·        Select a CTRO title for your book discussion group.

·        Assign a CTRO title for your students’ summer reading.

·        Integrate CTRO titles into your curriculum. 

·        Plan a read-aloud in the classroom or a school-wide reading event.

·        Encourage families to read a CTRO book together and plan field trips or other family activities related to the book.

·        Produce a readers’ theater performance of a CTRO title.

·        Create and publish book trailers for CTRO titles.

·        Collaborate with partner organizations on a community-wide book program.

·        Research and map the Ohio connections of the CTRO authors.

Check out some excellent LSTA-grant-funded projects for more ideas: 2010 Ohio IMLS LSTA Special Grants CTRO Projects.  Licking Valley Local School District assigned four Sharon Draper books, including CTRO title Copper Sun, for summer reading, one for each high school grade.  Fall cross-curricular activities included an author visit, presentations by local historical groups, a writing contest and other activities that connected the summer reading titles to the curriculum.

Cleveland Elementary School and Lane Public Library collaborated on activities featuring Where the Steps Were by Andrea Cheng.  Students read the book and participated in poetry writing and printmaking projects coordinated by Cheng. Student poetry and prints were bound into a published booklet.  Cincinnati Public Schools/Rothenberg Preparatory Academy also worked with Cheng.  The results of their project are at here. 

Starting with the 2011-2012 booklist, every CTRO toolkit includes author contact information when available.  A visit with an author or illustrator is among the most enriching experiences a class can have.  If resources are short, create capacity by partnering with community organizations such as the public library, civic organizations and other groups.  Also consider visiting with an author online by voice, video, and/or chat.  Online visits can be less costly because the author does not need to travel.  Online visits also support the development of 21^st century skills in communication and technology.

CTRO certificates of participation are available for any class or school which has done a CTRO project or program.  Contact jdwyer@library.ohio.govto inquire.

The 2011-2012 Choose to Read Ohio booklist

Age/grade level categories are suggested.  Some titles are appropriate for students in different grades or different reading levels.  Some are appropriate for all ages or multiple grades.

Books for Adults

(some may be appropriate for HS students in some situations)

Jennifer Chiaverini, The Lost Quilter

P. L. Gaus, Blood of the Prodigal: An Amish-Country Mystery

David Giffels, All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House

Karen Harper, Mistress Shakespeare

Robert Olmstead, Coal Black Horse

Books for Teens (Middle and High School)

Angela Johnson, Sweet, Hereafter

Lisa Klein, Two Girls of Gettysburg

Amjed Qamar, Beneath My Mother’s Feet

Jeff Smith, Bone Vol. 1: Out from Boneville

Mildred Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Books for Tweens (4^th – 6^th Grade) 

Tony Abbott, Firegirl

Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

Virginia Hamilton, The People Could Fly: Black American Folktales (Leo and Diane Dillon, illustrators)

J. Patrick Lewis, The Brothers' War: Civil War Voices in Verse

Marilyn Nelson, Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World (Jerry Pinkney, illustrator)

Books for Children (PreK-Primary; 0-8 years old)

Dan Andreasen, The Giant of Seville: A "Tall" Tale Based on a True Story

Denise Fleming, The First Day of Winter

Will Hillenbrand (illus.), Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! (Maureen Wright, author)

Loren Long, Otis

Marcia Schonberg, B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet (Bruce Langton, illustrator)

The 2009-2010 Choose to Read Ohio booklist

Age/grade level categories are suggested.  Some titles are appropriate for students in different grades or different reading levels.  Some are appropriate for all ages or multiple grades.

Books for Adults

(some may be appropriate for HS students in some situations)

Ann Hagedorn, Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad

Toni Morrison, A Mercy

Dan Chaon, You Remind Me of Me

Lee Martin, Riverof Heaven

Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Hollis Robbins

Books for Teens (Middle and High School)

Jaime Adoff, The Death of Jayson Porter

Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons

Sharon M. Draper, Copper Sun

Chris Crutcher, Deadline

Jacqueline Woodson, After Tupac & D Foster

Books for Children (PreK-6^th Grade)

Louise Borden, The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey

Andrea Cheng, Where the Steps Were

Robert McCloskey, Make Wayfor Ducklings

Margaret Peterson Haddix, Found

Shelley Pearsall, Trouble Don’t Last

This tipsheet available at Choose To Read Intro; revised 12/2010.  Please contact jdwyer@library.ohio.govor 614-644-6910 with questions about Choose to Read Ohio.

Choose to Read Ohiois a project of the State Library of Ohio, a state agency that serves state government and all types of libraries.   The State Library of Ohio provides services and resources to assist state government and libraries in providing the best service to all.