Tuesday 22 May 2012, Cambridge Park HS
Teacher Librarian: Alison Johnson & Library Assistant: Renae Wheeler

Welcome: Mr Tony Diaczok (Deputy Principal Cambridge Park HS)
• Thank you to everyone for attending
• Key focus on literacy
• Teacher Librarians drive the literacy agenda in their schools
• Acknowledgement of the valued work done by Alison and Renae in the Library
• Enjoy the day.

Welcome & General Business: Jenny Scheffers (Chairperson PMBW Committee)
• Acknowledgement of traditional custodians
• Thank you to everyone for attending
• Apologies from Colleen Foley (Team Leader, School Libraries and Information Literacy Unit)
• Housekeeping matters – Alison
• Welcome and thank you to our presenters and sponsors
• Special presentations – on behalf of the PMBW TL group to Ian McLean (Penrith PS) and Paul MacDonald (Children’s Bookshop) for recently receiving School Libraries Association of NSW awards:
Ian – John H Lee Memorial Award for excellence in leadership in innovative and collaborative teaching practice through the integration of learning technologies (See also Penrith City Star article.)
Paul – inaugural Maurice Saxby Award for excellence & passion in promoting reading to children & young adults
• Committee has organised a gift to pass on to Colleen Blancato – past-PMBW Secretary, now working at DEC CLIC
• Beginners OASIS Training course – see Julie Grazotis (TL @ Banks PS) if interested
• PRC update:
 Thanks to Belinda Guymer (Emu Heights PS) and Ian McLean (Penrith PS) for their assistance in sending a letter to Alan Booth (DEC State Office) re changes to PRC certificates
 PRC now run by one staff member
 Open to feedback at the end of the year
 DEC reviewing the situation
• Sydney International Storytelling Conference – June 1-3 @ Baulkham Hills – see Jenny for further information
• Folder contains the following documents:
 Agenda
 Term 3 Afternoon Tea flyer – Wednesday 29 August (week 7) at James Erskine PS, 3:30 – 5:00pm, Topics – Book Week activities and CBC update; no cost and no need to register on MyPL@EDU
 Term 4 Literary Conference – Thursday 8 November 2012, Penrith Panthers 9 – 4pm, Cost: approx. $100
 Evaluation Form
 Flyer – CLIC
 Flyer – Alison’s Children’s Books
• Badge draw at the end of the day – prizes donated by sponsors and Colleen Foley.

Guest Speaker: Paul MacDonald (The Children’s Bookshop)Review of the Shortlisted CBCA titles and What’s Hot
• Email Paul at staff@thechildrensbookshop.com.au
• Rise of visual literacy – picture books
• Rise of Teacher’s Notes – lot of support material available for books
• Book Trailers – Google the term “book trailers” – way of the future – using technology to bring kids back to books, eg:

The last Viking book trailer – Norman Jorgensen & James Foley

Rudie nudie book trailer – Emma Quay

• CBCA 2012 Theme – “Champions read”
• Provides a focus to be advocates for reading
• CBCA awards tend to reward the adjective over the verb – nothing wrong with page turners – action books
• Should be a CBCA category for debut authors
• Children and teen book market booming – authors for the adult market are now writing teen fiction
• Books on Muslim faith are popular
• Easy reads abound – Beast Quest, Bill B Brown, EJ12, Hey Jack!, Zac Power
• Kids love book series
• Diary of a wimpy kid – format is a hit, new book to be released later this year
• Dystopian teen fiction dominates
• Classic is cool! – The great Gatsby
• Graphic novels are popular
• Non fiction picture books – lighter on text.

* Download Paul’s presentation from HERE.

Guest Speaker: Jill Bruce (Author and NSW judge for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Literature Awards 2012-2013), Children’s Book Council of Australia
• Total of eight judges – one from each state
• Judges chosen from CBC members from each state – members apply or nominate for the position as judge
• 365 books read – every book read by every judge – report written
• Books can be entered in more than one category
• Attend Judges Conference – one award category dealt with per day – shortlist and honour books decided by secret ballot
• No category for books in a series – problem created when each book ends with a hook and the next in the series needs to be read
• Criteria for all categories:
 Outstanding titles with literary merit
 Language appropriate to the theme and style of the work with regard to the aesthetic qualities of language
 Originality in the treatment of literary elements
 Quality of illustrations, book design, production, printing and binding.

* Download Jill’s presentation from HERE.

Sponsor: Syba Signs (Jodie)
• Jodie is sharing conference visits with Phyl Williamson
• Involved with National Year of Reading – promotional products available eg. bookmarks, posters, floor mat
• Supporting the reading hour
• Professional Development program 2012 – available at venues beyond Sydney CBD
• Happy to visit schools to discuss your Library needs.

Guest Speakers: Cheryl Farkas (Literacy Consultant K-6 Western Sydney region), Caroline Hopwood (Middle Years Literacy Consultant Western Sydney Region), Julie Grazotis (Teacher Librarian, Banks PS)

Literacy Comprehension Strategies: Cheryl and Caroline – Introduction
• Literacy Continuum K-10
 Provides clear and accessible representation of the development of the critical aspects of literacy across the seven years of primary education
 Sound research based evidence to plan teaching to meet individual student needs at all levels
 Explicit descriptions of the skill and knowledge involved in progressive development and achievement in literacy
 Recognises and includes digital literacy across all levels of schooling
 Covers 8 critical aspects – 3 constrained skills and 5 unconstrained skills
Constrained skills – Phonics, Phonemic Awareness and Concepts About Print
Unconstrained Skills – Reading Texts, comprehension, Aspects of Speaking, Vocabulary and Aspects of Writing
 Each of the 8 critical aspects need to be unpacked:
One aspect at a time
Unpack the definition
Select the cluster most appropriate for your students
Unpack the cluster marker under the chosen cluster
Select the marker that needs to be explicitly taught
• Handouts – Literacy Continuum PowerPoint presentation & Teaching reading comprehension strategies.

* Download Cheryl and Caroline’s presentations from HERE (Introduction to the literacy continuum), HERE (interactive literacy continuum chart) and HERE (K-6 comprehension strategies).

• Contact Cheryl cheryl.farkas@det.nsw.edu.au
• Contact Caroline caroline.hopwood@det.nsw.edu.au

Primary Session: Julie Grazotis
• Super Six Strategies – how to use them in the Library
• Good readers – Read, Make Connections, Predict, Visualise, Question, Monitor and Summarise
• Books are like windows and mirrors:
 Windows allow us to look through the book and see the lives of others. We can learn new ideas about people in the world
 Mirrors reflect our own lives
• Predicting – use ‘See, Think, Wonder’ model
• Visualising – ‘See With Your Mind’
• Questioning – The 5Ws (Who? What? When? Where? Why?)
• Monitoring – ‘The Five Finger Test’, ‘Can It Be For Me?’ – steps to select suitable and interesting books
• Summarising – PMI chart.

* Download Julie’s presentations from HERE (strategies) and HERE (reading solutions).

Guest Speaker: Lisa Forrest (Author/Olympian) – ‘Making the Most of It’
• A varied career to date – author, actor, TV and radio presenter, interviewer, mother and Olympian
• Experiences as a swimmer representing Australia, in particular, her representation at the 1980 Olympic Games, have influenced and provided subject matter for her writing
• 2012 CBCA theme might use a sporting angle in this Olympic year: “Champions read”.

Next Committee meeting: 3.45pm, Wednesday 6 June at Penrith Panthers.
Meeting concluded: 3:30pm