HOUSTON ACADEMY FOR INTERNATION STUDIES

Gilbert Silva Pract. Buss. Mgt.; 4th Period

Literature in Early Education;

Libraries in Elementary Schools

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Education is the most valuable form of ideologies that society has taken for granted in the
United States. Many programs, and funding in general, has been cut in public schools multiple
times by the federal government. In primary education, schools are more focused on providing
methods for students to read and write. The method these schools approach this is through their
libraries. These libraries provide resources and methods for students to obtain mastery of
different subjects.
However, libraries were not always around to provide resources. Lyman expresses how
libraries in the 1970s were not able to meet the demand of education in the environment.
Colleges and other investors paved the way for libraries to create programs for everyone in the
community to access. Libraries are fundamental to not just students, but to everyone in the
community. That is important to address, as Guzzetti would agree, because literacy overall is
lacking throughout the United States.
Guzzetti focuses more on the idea that Americas education system is severely lacking,
and it can be proven through the research of Saracho. Saracho realized that teaching children
requires proper preparation and execution. She believes that writing and reading are equally
important and should be taught at the same time, rather than focusing on one. Another point is
that students at a young age should actively engage in their learning environment. Their
cognitive development is focused more on performing actions rather than sitting at a desk doing
tests.
Teaching students how to read and write sounds simple only because we already know
how to do so. It also requires reading material to practice in class, and at home. This is where the
libraries would come in. They would have programs to assist teachers with sufficient reading
material for the class. It is the best method to provide students with reading material, or is it?

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Recently in our society, technology has advanced to the point where our phones can
contain dozens of books that can be accessed in seconds. Many scholars have raised the issue of
human ignorance due to the increasing accessibility of technology. Gee points out that
dependence on technology for childrens growth is dangerous for their future development. Such
dependence may cause children to deter away from critical thinking by looking towards
technology for the answer.
It seems that technology has overpassed traditional reading material, but a certain
individual disagrees. Herring depicts the idea that libraries still have use in our society. Although
he admits that technology has its uses. Libraries provide unique resources that the internet cannot
provide. Liberians cannot be replicated online, and give information on books checked out at the
moment. In schools they could create literacy programs that enhance the students development
by using different techniques.
Libraries are universal, because they usually are connected by sharing books through an
exchange system. Information within the libraries are also universal, because the subjects range
beyond just one country or culture. Perhaps drawing upon universal thinking will help strengthen
library programs in schools. Booker must have had the same idea because she gathers data from
all across the globe on how they teach literacy to their students. For the powerful enabling role
of play in development and learning, framing play as a self-valuable activity which helps
children to express what they know and see in their lives. (Booker) In the United Sates, many
people see recess as a way for children to have fun in school. In other parts of the world, it is
seen to be an engaging experience to demonstrate information outside the classroom.
Falks research promotes the ideas that Booker is trying to communicate. Falk argues that
the curriculum of literacy needs to be changed. Students should learn different disciplines and

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interact more with their teacher. Falk also critiques the ability libraries have when it comes to
educational programs because of the lack of effort they actually provide. There should be a
bigger focus on the teachers rather than outside resources like libraries because the teachers, not
the libraries, are the main focus of the classroom.
Following Falks ideologies, J.R. Goodwin, from the Houston Community College
System voices his goes beyond the call of duty to support his students in the classroom
environment. I love to teach; I feel that I have a God-given gift to be able to explain things in a
way that students can understand. Students frequently call upon me for help with any number of
problems. Sometimes they need advice regarding a personal situation, sometimes they need
special counseling, other times they need referrals or recommendation letters. I consider doing
this sort of thing a privilege but doing them is not in my job description. Recalling Falks
ideology, the curriculum overall should be more focused on the teacher. Rather than the
environment. It promotes trust and allows the teacher to have a better understanding of the
students.
Teachers should not be the only focus when it comes to the students education.
Parents/guardians have as much responsibility in insuring that their child is being supported
throughout their years in school. Mosiman writes about her personal interactions with her child
since pre-school. She decided to experiment with at-home education combined with her childs
school education. By preparing her child properly at home, Mosiman gave her child a way to
better prepare for future education.
As the years go on, these points of interest has spread across America. Efforts to improve
literacy rates have been implemented, but the results are all but satisfactory. Government
officials and politicians say that education is great as it is now, but what does the public think

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about education? Goodwin gives his opinion, I dont like some of the changes occurring,
specifically the interference by government in the operation of public universities. Dr. Goodwin
has been working for almost 11 years as an instructor and has a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry.
Dr. Goodwins response is just one of the many viewpoints on national government
interfering with public universities, public schools. Government should help maintain funding
and programs that are optional, not required. Overall, the government has been adding policies
and cutting funding from public schools. It creates an atmosphere of frustration and disapproval
that Dr. Goodwin has commented similarly.
Overall, it seems that technology is the better method of education. Books are available,
of course, to provide information that technology could not. However, books and libraries can
provide more than what meets the eye. The problem with the all of our technological advances is
our dependence for it. Mainly, the issue that is the biggest concern when dealing with technology
in education as a whole is distractions. Elementary students who were exposed to touch screen
technology treated desktop computers as tablets. The Arabic Immersion Magnet School has a
technology class that helps students develop computer skills. From personal experience, the
results from the first few weeks of the class were split into two groups.
The first group did not touch the desktop computer, and stared at it awaiting instruction.
In accordance with that, that same group could read the password for the desktop that was placed
near the screens. The second group was the group that immediately began tapping on the screen
of the computer when it started up. That second group, unlike the first, was the group that had
more difficulty reading out what the password for the desktop was. This unofficial experiment
was conducted four times across four different classes. There was a few exceptions, but the
overall result showed that the first group was able to read better than the second group.

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The reason why the experiment above was included was to prove a point. The students
that fell under the first group had little to no interactions with devices like iPads or touch
devices. The first group overall seemed happier to be in school near the beginning of the school
year. The students that fit under the second group had access to such devices like iPads or other
touch devices. They were more distracted than the other students, as well as had more behavioral
problems than the others. Based on the information gathered, a strong conclusion is along the
lines of technology promoting dis-learning.
The creation of the internet is both a blessing and a curse. Access to information across
the globe opens many doors for people, but those doors do not always lead to productivity.
Students are not the only ones to fall under the distractive influence of the internet. Adults can
equally be distracted as students are, regardless of age. Because of these distractions, it causes
the users to fall off their productive tracks. People begin to wander and goof off, failing to do
their primary goal.
The young students at AIMS are no exception to the Pandoras Box theory. These
students will be distracted by any little thing, which makes technology dangerous to use in
excessive amounts. There is a trade-off when it comes to book learning and technological uses
within the classroom. Books do not offer outside content so that students will have the
information need. The problem with this method is that there is little reward when going through
books.
The best method to produce and increase in book learning versus relying on technology is
a work and reward program. The reason for this is due to human programming, especially in
young children. Ller has conducted research in the malleability and cognitive functions of the
human brain. Humans, especially when they are young, are gathering information by producing

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memory circuits to better perform that task in the future. Each human being can hold only a
certain amount of memory circuits before the oldest one is replaced by a new one when the brain
runs out of space for the circuits. The older we get, the harder it is to remove these memory
circuits. This is why younger people can pick up subjects faster than older people.
Now that memory circuits have been addressed, the concept of new ideas becomes
present. For the students, they want stimulating new memory circuits to collect. Unfortunately,
textbooks do not provide that stimulation because they are all the same; paper with difficult text
to understand and process. This is why procrastination is a major problem past middle, and even
during elementary school. Books provide a basic bright-line, a clear standard, for education,
while technology pushes our capability and methods to educate others.
Going back with those students who fit under those two categories, we can see the
reasoning behind the data presented. The first group has not been introduced or taught how to
control the technology that can distract them. Because of that, they are more inclined to read
books and be more patient. Group two were exposed to the technology that distracts, so they are
more anxious when told to sit and do nothing. They are more used to playing on touch-screens or
flashing lights and sound. Encouraging reading onto students is difficult without a station to pull
said books from. That is where a school library comes in handy.
Freakly believes that schools have the duty to provide the best education they can
provide. This means teachers and staff going beyond what they are expected to do. Of course, it
is difficult for many schools to assist with reading and writing skills if they do not have a library.
The libraries are just as an important tool for education as a calculators for math, or microscopes
for science. Libraries are more than just a tool for education. There are programs like Accelerated

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Reading that influences students to read more books compared to other students in a form of a
competition.
Animals fight for dominance in the wild with territory, but for homo-sapiens we usually
compete for the sake of pride. In this case, AR follows them past elementary into whichever
school they go to next. This stimulates the brains cognitive function to be at the top of the
leaderboards. Ller also thinks that humans work more efficiently if they are actively competing
against other people. The way AR works is through quizzes given on a computer in the library
based on the book(s) a student checked out. If they pass, they receive points based on the type of
book and length. If the student does not pass the AR quiz, they get a few more attempts before
they are locked out of the quiz.
AR quizzes are examples of books and technology coming together. If implemented at
every elementary school, students would get the extra incentive to read, and better prepare them
for middle school. On the subject of middle school, libraries in elementary schools do not have to
be all about counting or learning how to read. McKenna shows several studies that were
performed to see the effects of exposure to middle school content towards 5th graders. Many of
them were unprepared for the difficulty jump, and failed a pre-requisite test required to begin 6th
grade math. Although the test was custom made, it was a shock that the 5th grade students were
able to recognize higher level content within minutes.
The solution that McKenna has provided is a familiar option given to many middle
school students. Elementary schools should provide classes that better prepare the students for
the transition to middle school, both educationally and systematically. The reasoning for this is
for the rendition of knowledge in students. It is natural for people to be frustrated and struggle,
but what if students face too much of it? Pinkham decided to trace the origins of dropouts

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from elementary school. During her research, she accidently found the answer to
that question.
Humans are sociable creatures that can only handle so much in the
environment. Going over Pinkhams research it seems that dropouts truly do begin
that path at middle school. The transition from elementary school to middle school
is seen to be the most dramatic shift in personality for people. This also begins their
path to maturity as they have better access to resources around the world.
Unfortunately, they are expected to learn at a much faster pace than what was
originally performed. That change of pace adds stress to the student as they
continue on with their lives. Due to their unrefined education in elementary school,
they are even less prepared to tackle middle school education. More stress piles on
and as they finally make it to high school. Because they did not receive a stable
educational foundation in middle school, because they did not learn necessary
information in elementary school, they are pushed to their limits. It is no wonder
that people drop out in the first place.

The opportunity for change needs to happen for public schools. Rosenfield concedes that
government intervention to assist public schools has given such schools the chance to create new
programs and upgrade teaching material to better benefit the students that attend the schools.
Funding is a welcome form of government intervention in public schools.
Libraries are important to incorporate in schools, especially elementary schools. Without
them, it is difficult to give a proper education to a student that may need additional help. It would
be difficult for the student to find information that would not distract them, and worse if there is
no librarian to answer any questions the student may have. Adults need to realize that reading
and writing is difficult, that we only see it as trivial because we already learned it. More
resources need to be provided to ensure students education. If we can manage that, then one day,

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a young student from my generation may grow up to write their own reports like me. Because
they were taught proper literacy in their elementary school.
Works Cited
Allington, Richard L. No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in America's Elementary
Schools. New York: Teachers College, 1995. Print.
Booker, Elizabeth. The Sage Handbook of Play and Learning in Early Childhood. London: Sage
Publications, 2014. Print.
Falk, Beverly. Defending Childhood Keeping the Promise of Early Education. New York:
Teachers 1College, 2015. Print.
Freakley, Mark, and Gilbert Burgh. Values Education in Schools a Resource Book for Student
Inquiry. Camberwell, Vic.: ACER, 2008. Print.
Gee, James Paul. The Anti-education Era: Creating Smarter Students through Digital Learning.
New York City: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.
Guzzetti, Barbara J. Literacy for the New Millennium. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2007. Print
Herring, Mark Y. Are Libraries Obsolete? An Argument for Relevance in the Digital Age.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2014. Print.
Ller, Aage R. The Malleable Brain Benefits and Harm from Plasticity of the Brain. New York:
Nova Biomedical, 2009. Print.
Lyman, Helen H. Literacy and the Nation's Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association,
1977. Print.
McGuinness, Diane. Early Reading Instruction What Science Really Tells Us about How to
Teach Reading. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 2004. Print.
McKenna, Michael C. Promoting Early Reading: Research, Resources, and Best Practices. New
York: Guilford, 2010. Print.
Mosiman, Renee, and Mike Mosiman. The Smarter Preschooler Unlocking Your Child's
Intellectual Potential. Mesa: Brighter Insights, 2009. Print.
Pinkham, Ashley M. Knowledge Development in Early Childhood: Sources of Learning and
Classroom Implications. New York: Guilford, 2012. Print.
Rosenfield, Sylvia A. Implementing Evidence-based Academic Interventions in School Settings.
Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

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Saracho, Olivia N. Contemporary Perspectives in Literacy in Early Childhood Education.
Greenwich, CT: Information Age Pub., 2002. Print.