Presented at the 21st Century Children's Nonfiction Conference June 20-22, 2014 at SUNY New Paltz. All presentations from the 21st Century Nonfiction Conference on SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/aedwright/presentations. Presentations on: * new trends and opportunities in nonfiction for children * common core in school and public libraries * nonfiction comics for kids * making it to the shelf: getting your nonfiction noticed * primary sources for kids

1. Amie Wright
New York Public Library
amiewright@bookops.org
21st Century Children’s
Nonfiction Conference
June 20-22, 2014
Common Core in Public and School
Libraries….

2. Practical Aspects
1) leveling* - lots of systems + how it fits into the common core
text complexity triangle
2) meta data - doesn’t match requests (‘I need informational texts’
or ‘I need books with opposing viewpoints/unreliable narrator’ etc.)
3) marketing - ‘common core aligned’....but what does this mean?
4) materials confusion - ‘where is the common core list?’
5) politics - disagreement over what common core is, what it should
be achieving, and how materials collection should support it
*want to know more about this? Click through to the end of the presentation where I have embedded additional information about leveling and the library

3. Pedagogical Aspects
6) Uneven professional development or awareness especially
about common core materials, leveling, and the text complexity
triangle*. Some school or state districts have comprehensive
professional development; many do not.
7) New standards for school librarians - AASL Standards for 21st
Century Librarianship stresses the inquiry process, the sourcing and
evaluation of content rich materials, and the development of digital
and information fluency
*want to know more about this? Click through to the end of the presentation where I have embedded additional information about leveling and the library

4. What does this mean?
OR, how do we cope? library responses
back matter really matters - with the focus on evidence based
instruction and learning, we really do read and evaluate the back
matter on every title and scrutinize the text (especially direct quotes)
why we don’t level in library* - but how we can still work with
educators and parents to find ‘on level’ materials through tools like
Scholastic Book Wizard and professional expertise about materials
lots of training and outreach - especially about materials,
materials use, and 21st century learning (importance of ‘e’)
*want to know more about this? Click through to the end of the presentation where I have embedded additional information about leveling and the library

5. What does this mean?
OR, how do we cope? common core strategies
Market and Promote
your texts using a variety of terms to reach the
widest audience describing how they can use this
text – not just ‘common core aligned’ or the dot
notation of a particular standard (ex. CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.SL.3.2). A text only becomes ‘common
aligned’ through its instructional use.
...and don't reserve this information to marketing
alone - promote educational uses in your back
matter too!
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Good for: STEM, Picture Book Biography,
Innovation, Nonfiction Read Aloud
GO: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design
Good for: Informational Text, STEM to STEAM,
award winners (YALSA NF Award Finalist 2013)

6. What does this mean?
OR, how do we cope? common core strategies
Fact and Fiction book displays, lists,
and bundles further expand on the
connections and possible uses for your text.
Many publishers/authors are using social
media – like Pinterest – for this
(#commoncore is a very popular hashtag)
Teacher’s Guides give educators directed resources to guide
their instructional uses for the text, as well as providing additional
resources to explore the topic further

7. Common Core - not just Lexile
It is also….
● focus on primary source content
● ‘stretch reading’ – to both build confidence, and expand skills
● firsthand accounts
● compare/contrast evidence
● multiple perspectives and formats
● opposing viewpoints
Common Core is an opportunity to EXPLORE topics in great depth

8. Questions?
Amie Wright / amiewright@bookops.org
All presentations on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/aedwright/presentations
Learn More
Comics and the Common Core:
Full presentation from NYC Comic Con 2013;
additional Common Core resources, research links
and standards that refer to graphic novels.
Classroom Connections:
Teacher created Common Core aligned resources
using primary sources from NYPL Digital Collections
And, due to popular demand, keep clicking for more
information on Leveled Books….next slide!

9. Leveled Books
and the
Common Core
Amie Wright,
New York Public Library
amiewright@bookops.org

10. Leveled Books – A (Short) History
Around for 20+ years
Many programs – the three most popular…..
1. Lexile (0-1600L) - ex. ‘600L’ (grades assigned target
ranges – Gr. 2-3 reading between Lexile 420L-820L)
2. Accelerated Reader AR (1-14) - ex. ‘4.5’
3. Fountas Pinnell (Guided Reading A-Z) - ex. ‘F’
(students assigned a level – “I’m a Q reader”)

11. Leveled Books – A (Short) History
However, each system differs in…
Their use and range
Lexile is the recommended leveling system for Common Core;
however, Guided Reading and AR are still widely used.
Common Core is national standards - locally enacted;
ultimately, leveling, what system to use, what books to use is a
local decision. There is no one universally used level system.

12. Leveled Books – A (Short) History
And each system also differs in…
How they determine their levels:
Lexile is a measure from 0L to 1600L determined by a computer
algorithm measuring sentence length, syllables, and word frequency
Guided Reading is a letter gradient from A-Z determined through
length of sentences, length of words, complexity of letter-sound
patterns, and many other characteristics including Genre/Form, Text
Structure, Content, Themes, Vocabulary, Words, Illustrations, etc.
Guided Reading is determined by computer – and human readers.

13. Level - Grade Band Correspondence

14. Level – Grade Band Correspondence
Is the Level of a book what determines if it is
appropriate/recommended for a certain grade?
Yes and No.
Lexile/Guided Reading/AR are only part of what makes a
title recommended for a certain grade.
Common Core uses a 3 part model to determine text
complexity (of which level is only a part)….

15. Text Complexity Triangle
As defined in Common Core Appendix A ‘text complexity’ is
three-part model composed of 3 equally important parts….
1) Qualitative
measure of a text
(captured to a certain
extent in Guided
Reading)
2) Quantitative measure of
a text (such as Lexile)
3) Reader and Task - this
looks at reader interest, text
suitability to a particular topic
or curriculum unit, and
overall 'fit' for a certain
reader

16. Why we don’t Level in the Library
Levels only capture a part of text
complexity – not the overall fit of the
text for a particular reader/purpose.
Example:
Of Mice and Men…
Lexile score: 630L
[based on Lexile recommended for Gr. 2-3]
Guided Reading: Z
[based on GR recommended for Gr. 6]

17. Why we don’t Level in the Library
Levels are not available for all books – only ~10-20% of
all titles have a ‘level’ of some sort.
1) There is a fee and process involved to have a book leveled -
this can be cost/time prohibitive to publishers.
2) Some publishers choose not to have their materials leveled –
fearing that a text’s qualitative and instructional properties
may be overlooked or distilled
3) Many international publishers do not see leveling as a priority
given its use is almost exclusive to the US.

18. Why we don’t Level in the Library
Levels work best with traditional
narrative form – not with
nontraditional texts such as
graphic novels, poetry, or
dialogue based text like plays
Example:
Persepolis: A Childhood
Lexile score: 380L
[based on Lexile recommended for Gr. K-1 range]

19. How can find ‘on level’ materials to
support Common Core learning?
Tools like Lexile.com and Scholastic Book Wizard allow you to look for titles by
level, or to look up the level of a certain title (provided it has a level); Lexile.com
also allows you to upload sample text to determine Lexile.
In the library we always try to meet parents and students halfway – finding one title
‘on level’, then complimenting that with 2 books that fit the child’s interests – even if
they are ‘harder’/‘easier’ than their assigned level(s) – for example: the DK
Eyewitness books tend to have high levels (just as most dinosaur books do) – yet
they are popular with readers even as young as 2nd or 3rd Grade due to interest.
Bottom line: If children enjoy reading, they will be better readers

20. Questions?
Amie Wright / amiewright@bookops.org
All presentations on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/aedwright/presentations
Learn More
Comics and the Common Core:
Full presentation from NYC Comic Con 2013;
additional Common Core resources, research links
and standards that refer to graphic novels.
Classroom Connections:
Teacher created Common Core aligned resources
using primary sources from NYPL Digital Collections