Book Raps

An Internet Curriculum-based Project

Let's Get Serious!

A paper presented at the Association of Independent Schools Teacher Librarian Technology Conference - Roseville College, Sydney, 3 September 1998



The Internet Curriculum-based Project of Book Raps is one of the oz-teachernet curriculum projects advertised on their web site from the RITE group at Queensland University of Technology at

http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/index.html

Books Raps are relatively new in the field of educational programs having only started in 1996 with Space Demons for upper primary and lower secondary school students. Last year I introduced the project to children as young as five with the Stellaluna Book Rap. (McGhee,1997) For many it has been seen as something interesting and fun to do when there is some spare time. It has not been viewed seriously as an activity that has a permanent place in the curriculum as a value packed activity. For secondary schools it can also be incorporated into the English curriculum as part of a unit of study of a set text for in the different year levels.

Literacy now invloves being able to communicate in many different ways than the usual traditional notions of reading and writing. It is being able to make sense of and navigate through several forms of information including images, sounds, animation and ongoing discussion groups. It is being able to integrate reading and writing, discriminate between important and unimportant information and respond to email. The role of teachers is not to impart their knowledge of universal truths about text but to foster an environment where students actively construct understanding of texts through interaction with others.(EI-Hindu, 1998) This can be done through using the Book Rap project.

What are Book Raps?

Book Raps are book discussions held on the Internet for students of all ages. The books selected are always examples of good literature although not necessarily the most recently published. One of the aims is to promote Australian literature and Australian authors but all others are included. The home page is at

http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/projects/book-rap/index.html

The book discussion takes place on an email list set up for each book which each class, group or individual has to join. There is a coordinator for each book rap. The coordinator selects the book, prepares and guides the rap. To do this the coordinator joins the list too and posts the rap point to the email list. Groups who have joined the same email list get the rap points and each others email messages. Students collect and read the rap point then write their response and send it to the email list. Replies can also be sent to other responses. This process is repeated for each rap point.

Authors, illustrators and experts pertaining to the field can be included in the book rap as guests. Stellaluna by Jannel Cannon, the "exotic" book rap, had bat experts and the author involved while the recent secondary book rap of Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney had a chat session with the author.

Why Rap?

Participating in a book rap provides a real purpose for reading and writing activities. It allows discussion and the sharing of ideas with children outside of the classroom.The audience then becomes all the students on the list rather than just the teacher. In particular for secondary school students it allows them to respond without their usual peer group pressures which face to face contact maintains.

The use of the Internet allows speedy delivery of messages maintaining the interest of students and eliminating physical barriers. Students and teachers no longer need feel isolated as distance is no barrier for taking part in a book rap. As more international students become involved students become aware of the similarities and differences between students in different places. In this context not only are they taking part in a book rap but they are taking part in a global classroom activity. (Williams,1998)

For more talented students it may provide relief from the more mundane routines of school life. It also allows these students to become more emotionally involved in the book rap discussion and with the other 'rappers' than may be possible in the normal classroom setting. This includes writing longer and more detailed responses and a greater reaction when reading other students responses. For primary book raps, gifted and talented students are more likely to stay committed to finishing the task when typing up their email response. (McGhee,1998)

While providing a different context in the classroom for a book discussion book raps still allow other literature techniques to be used like literature circles, critical literacy approach and for younger children story maps, semantic mapping and character maps.

Besides using the Internet and building technology skills for students book raps are helping children to become information literate as the new definition for literacy now includes using computers and telelcommunications to read, write, find, construct and produce information. (Lepani,1997; EI-Hindu, 1998)

For teachers participating in this telecommunication curriculum-based project with their class it can help build their learning technology competencies besides moving the centre of attention away from the teacher to the book rap and other students. The same applies to teacher librarians when they are workng in colloboration on a book rap with teachers.

Book raps can be treated just as seriously as any other work in the curriculum with assessment still included as for other units of work. Overall book raps provide powerful motivation for reading and writing by being part of a larger online community which values each others contributions.

Finding Book Raps

For teachers and teacher librarians, coordinators advertise their book raps on a variety of teacher lists depending on how big they want the rap to be. Usually they are advertised on br-teachers (book rap teachers), ozTL_Net (teacher librarians) and oz-teachers. On the Internet on the oz-teachernet site they are advertised on the book rap work room or the calendar at

http://www.pa.ash.org.au/rite/projects/book-rap/form1/engine.asp

Each book rap has its own web pages. The first gives all the publishing details of the book, dates for the rap, suitability, coordinator's name, resource links often including a link to the author's page,and a link to the student email archive. The second gives a brief introduction to the book, dates and another link to the students email archive . You can subscribe to a book rap from the first page or the second web page or by sending an email message.

Web Resources

For teachers to fully utilise the book rap in their program other web resources can be used. These can be linked to the first web page for the book or the coordinator may make a web page with resources for teachers and students.See Hillview's Page for teacher resources for various book raps.

http://www.schools.ash.org.au/hillview/currstell.htm

An Apology to Bilbies web page http://www.schools.ash.org.au/bilbyrap

Also the coordinator might mention when advertising the book rap more web resources (in the form of URL's) which could be used.Using a search engine will give more resources while asking on a teacher email list can be helpful as well. Librarians and teachers also use the archives of past raps when studying a set text.

http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/cgi/lyris.pl?site=oz-students&page=topic&topic=past+book+raps&text_mode=0

Participating in a Book Rap

Basically after you have decided on the book rap you want to use with your class you must subscribe to its email list. As I mentioned before you can join from its web page or by sending an email message. If you have individual students email addresses then each student will have to join. This can be in one message listing all the email addresses. Next read the book and discuss it. Sometimes there are special suggestions on how to do this from the coordinator's resources pages. After the welcome message is received from the email list post one message introducing your class with specific location details. Collect and read other introductions. Sometimes a rap map or a list can be kept to help work out where the other rappers are. This naturally brings comparisons. You can also respond to the introductions.

Be ready to collect and read the rap point on the date given by the coordinator. Prepare and send a response. The mail should be checked daily and other responses read. Some should be selected and replied to. This same procedure should be repeated for other rap points which will usually be posted each week for three or four weeks. In the last week there will be a wrap rap up message which is something to do but signals the end of the rap.

Check out how to participate on the book rap home page.

http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/projects/book-rap/participate.html

Book Raps In the Classroom

Book Raps are flexible and teachers can adapt them depending on what they want to do in their program. If it is just the basic book rap the program will centre around the discussion of rap points, writing and reading email messages. If it is becomes the theme of the teacher's program then art, science, social studies and even mathematics can be involved. In secondary classes the book rap could be the unit of work for five to six weeks with programmed access into the computer lab or library for at least two times a week.

Teachers can also join the book rap late and catch up by using the student archive or due to other commitments may only take part with their class in one or two rap points.

However let's be serious about book raps. We still have to give the same guidance and teach lessons on skills as we would in other circumstances. Discussing, modelling and writing responses together is part of the process if we want all students to get the most out of it. Student responses can be from the class, partners, small groups, individuals or individual or small group compilations into one email message.

Some netiquette rules need to be formulated with the class. This is very important for secondary teachers. See this summary for ideas. The most important is that the person reading the message is a person with feelings. Including a greeting at the beginning and who the message is from is very important in this regard too.

Assessment can be made by students keeping a personal portfolio and by teacher checking the email archive for the book rap. Teachers can also formulate assessment crtieria as they do for other work. Normal observation with the use of group work in formulating replies can be part of the assessment.

Different Roles

Teacher Librarian

Besides telling teachers the information of what book raps are coming up it is the teacher librarian who often acts as a facilitator in collaboration with the teacher. This means that they share some of the activities of the rap with students.This could include small groups or the whole class. I know that some librarians took small groups for the chat with the author, James Moloney. They can also act as a mentor for a teacher who wants to get started on a book rap. This support is very valuable for teachers starting to use technology. It was a special librarian friend of mine, Libby Daly, who helped me through my first book rap on Stellaluna. Another librarian friend, Jenny Stubbs, also helped with the rap and setting up the web pages for the Stellaluna Book Rap.

Librarians or their aides can be the post office especially when the only Internet connection is in the library. This can involve collecting and printing the mail and sending the email messages. (McGhee,1998:p6) Another important job is actually finding web resources associated with the book rap. These may be part of their electronic vertical file that schools are now starting to build up.

Teacher librarians can be coordinators of a book rap. In secondary schools a librarian can use one of the set texts for the book rap and develop the rap with an English teacher, especially the rap points.

Classroom Teacher

To be serious about book raps teachers need to be well prepared keeping in mind that a book rap lasts from four weeks to six weeks. I suggest that classroom teachers use the 3 Circles Model ( Williams and McKeown, 1996) to prepare for the Book Rap.

This involves thinking about the curriculum issues, logistics and professional development and training. Curriculum issues involve how the book rap is going to be used in class. Logistics can be the biggest stumbling block for most teachers. Teachers need to know the computer set up in their school. They must adapt to what they have and apply pressure, if necessary, to get more by being a user of technology. My access to the Internet for my class is my laptop and its connection through the fax line. For some teachers the only access is in the library so the library can help either by working directly with the teacher or collecting and sending the mail. For highschools a difficulty is often the computer lab timetable. This is where a few laptops can be of assistance as they can be easily carried to different classrooms with the email message quequed and sent later.

The last circle is training and professional development. This usually means knowing your email program and how to collect and send the mail. If you need this help grab someone on staff until you are able to do it by yourself or go to a professional development seminar. Writing down steps in these early stages is important. Other ways to manage is to train students so they can troubleshoot other student's problems or use help from students who are used to sending email.

These circles fit in two squares of which the first is the community of teachers. Find someone on staff to help you with technical problems. Don't worry about how dumb your questions may seem we all started out like that. This helps us sympathise with students when they are learning new things. Teacher email lists are always good support for technical and curriculum issues as well.

The wider community can help too. Parents can be a source of support both technical and as a willing helper. Parents with computer expertise often enjoy helping, for example setting up a web page.

Teachers can use book raps in their program to extend gifted and talented students, those that are gifted in language and those that are gifted in the use of computer technology.

What needs to be emphasised is that students need the same support and scaffolding as you would give them in other areas. These include sharing, discussing, modelling, doing drafts, small group work, class work and by using different types of literary approaches.

What is necessary before any email messages are sent is the responsibilty of the teacher to set up netiquette rules and the consequences for not abiding by these. Remember the email list for their book rap is a community of people with feelings not a whole lot of computers. Read this summary.

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/0963702513p32.html

Coordinator

This important person does all the preparation for a book rap. Selecting the book, setting the dates, composing the rap points and the welcome message and then advertising the rap on various lists. Extras can also be organised such as resources, web pages, illustrator or author involvement including chat and experts pertaining to the content of the book. (McGhee, 1998: p5,6 )

My job as book rap manager is to nurture these precious people. See this web page for more details on what the coordinator has to do to get prepared.

http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/projects/book-rap/how.html

Finally the coordinator manages the rap while it is in progress setting a good example with their own class if possible.

This can be a very satisfying personal experience to see the positive results from the preparation and coordinating the book rap keeping in mind that you don't need many classes to have a good book rap.

Organising a Book Rap for Secondary Students

I would like to share with you what a group of teacher librarians and English teachers in Brisbane East did to organise the Bridge to Wiseman's Cove Book Rap earlier this year. The coordinator, a teacher librarian worked in close collaboration with one of the English teachers from her school and another librarian, who acted as her mentor.

In March, a meeting was held which included the author and a computer tutor. It was organised along the professional development model of Ideas Into Action. It was a practical, friendly session starting with a brief introduction of the book rap project to the whole group and then approximately half of the time spent on computers learning how to use the chat program and the other half spent composing rap points. The prerequisite was to have read the book. I helped with the rap points. We used Bloom's Taxonomy to focus on higher order thinking to help compose the rap points. Points were listed as teachers discussed them.

Here's an example of one of the rap points: Several characters need to forgive events in the past and move on with their lives. Who had the most to forgive? Why?

When the group with the author in it had their turn at composing the rap points there was a long silence followed by a wonderful discussion involving the author and the teachers talking about the different aspects of the book creating some great rap points.

A final session of the whole group was held and a consensus of opinion was used to agree on the final rap points with thank yous to helpers for helping to make a sucessful afternoon. It was left up to the coordinator to choose the rap points.

The Rap

The coordinator organised the web pages to be made rather than making them herself. See them at http://www.uq.net.au/~zzloreto/bookrap/wisemans.htm There were some technical hassles just before the start which caused problems for the coordinator. The rap points were posted and many classes joined in including some individual students under the guidance of teacher librarians. The discussion which took place impressed everyone including the author James Moloney, who joined the list and made comments. Jim by the way is a teacher librarian.

Teacher librarians helped especially with the chat part. A whole day was organised. The sessions were in half hour blocks for different schools. This was a big success even though two big servers in Brisbane went down early in the day.

Participating in a Book Rap for Secondary Students

The primary school curriculum and its organisation allows greater flexibility than secondary school. The book rap in secondary school has to be a set text and time is needed for the preparation of students and teachers to set the context including their netiquette. Keeping up with the rap points is important to keep communication going. The book rap needs to be part of a unit of work with assessment as in other subjects. However the energy of a book rap is created by the involvement and commitment of students and teachers.

Summary

Let's get serious about book raps. Book raps can become a permanent part of the English curriculum as this book discussion is not only a good way to use literature and reading and writing skills but it helps students become information literate by the use of telecommunications and taking part in a global classroom activity.

References

Book Rap Home Page URL: http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/projects/book-rap/index.html (Date visited: 16/08/00)

Carr,J (1998) An Apology to Bilbies URL: http://www.schools.ash.org.au/bilbyrap (Date visited: 16/08/00)

El-Hindu, A (1998 May) Exploring Literacy on the Internet The Reading Teacher vol 51, no 8 Journal of the International Reading Association pp694-700.

Lepani,B (1997 August)Technology and Learning: A Catalyst for the Re-Design of Teacher's Work - 3 Curriculum Matters Brisbane Catholic Education Office Curriculum Services pp2-6

Loreto College web site URL: http//www.uq.net.au/~zzloreto/bookrap/wisemans.htm (Date visited:16/08/00)

McGhee, C (1998 June/July)) Participating in a Book Rap Gifted issue no 104 NSW Association for Gifted & Talented Children Inc. pp 23-24.

McGhee,C (1998 August) Rapping with a Difference: Junior Book Rap Insite Queensland Society for Information Technology in Educatin Inc pp 4-7.

McGhee,C (1997 August) Rapping with a Difference: The Stellaluna Book Rap, Access vol 11 issue 3 Australian School Library Association pp 31-33.

Netiquette Core Summary Rules URL: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/0963702513p32.html (Date visited: 16/08/00)

Oz-teacherNet web site URL: http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/index.html (Date visited: 16/08/00).

Williams,M (1998 June) Let's Get Serious about using the Internet in Computer Studies Quick Qeensland Society for Information in Education pp 13-19