Reading Philosophy
She is sitting in the doctor’s office with her in daughter in her lap, both holding up the same book. Her mother is very surprised; Barbara has learned to read! Most of the other kids in her kindergarten class are in the process of learning to read basic words, like ‘cat’ and ‘dog.’ But Barbara has just read an entire Dr. Seuss book to her. She is certainly proud of and astonished by her daughter’s achievement.
Opening the Door
The simple process of learning to read has been
a monumental accomplishment in my life. At an early age, I was able to explore
the world through the written word. I have always been an avid reader. Sneaking
a book to bed at night since I was seven, flashlight in hand, I remember
vicariously enjoying the characters that came to life before my eyes. I think many
people (people who also cherish the act of reading) have similar tales of
‘reading by their flashlight’. I do not precisely recall the process I
underwent in order to accomplish this task, but I do remember that I have
always been interested in books. My mom tells me that every moment I got, I
asked to be read to. Every night, my brother, sister, and I gathered for my mom
and/or dad read to us. However, I was never satisfied with only one or two or
even ten books. I always wanted more. When both of my older siblings learned to
read, the gift of reading was passed to them. They each became another
storyteller for me. Naturally, they became irritated at my constant begging
to be read to. Therefore, my entire family strongly encouraged me to learn to
read. I, of course, pretended that I could read certain books – the ones that I
had heard countless times. But they truly gave me the push to learn to read;
although, I believe I would have had this desire even without their guidance.
I also see this strong desire to read in the
children I take care of. Rachel, when she was three, would pull out book after
book, and be content to be read to for hours at a time. Her younger brother,
Zach (when he was 1 ˝) was the same way. Both snuggle up with me and sit for
hours while I share the magic that is in their books. Bedtime has become a
long, drawn out process to them; we spend at least 2 hours reading
before going to bed. They both show tremendous interest in what is being read;
they show that they actually are following along. (This applies more so to
Rachel than to Zach.) Shortly before her fourth birthday, Rachel decided she
wanted to learn to read. Her parents and I began by showing her the
letter-sound connection. She was so excited to be able to match people’s first
names with their corresponding initial. ("Barbara begins with a ‘B’! Mommy
begins with an ‘M’!") She also took pride on learning to print the letters
of the alphabet. Now, at age six, Rachel is a fantastic reader. She is at the
top of her Kindergarten class, and constantly craves a great challenge. I also
see this same spark with the students I teach at Sylvan. At various ages,
As mentioned above, once I learned to read there
was no turning back. I constantly had a book in my hand. Going to the library
was a huge treat. Thinking of all the other kids that were in my class, we
bookworms could not live without some outside reading book in our possession.
We constantly buried ourselves in a good book, surfacing only to do necessary
tasks. In the various classrooms I have
been in, I have –with great ease—been able to pin point the bookworms in the
class. All these kids have one thing in common. They all have trouble paying
attention to monotonous lessons. This is not because they have a short
attention span; it is because they are anxious to find out "what will
happen next" in their book of the week. During my practicum a few years
ago, one student in particular stands out. Almost every day she came to class
with a new book to read. She always had whatever she was reading in class, but
also had at least one other outside reading book to accompany her. I
certainly deem her an avid reader. I have seen many children just like this
particular girl. I went to school with them; I myself was one of them. I am one
of them.
Non-Readers
However, with as many children who I see
plunging daily into the joy of reading, I painstakingly see an equal number of
students who lack this love of reading. Perhaps they have had a sour experience
with reading. Perhaps no one nurtured their curiosity for books. Perhaps they
were taught to read in the "old school" style, which completely
turned them off to reading for pleasure. I do not know why these individuals do
not read, but I do know that they are missing one of life’s greatest gifts.
Therefore, for the child who has no encouragement to read, no desire to read,
then does reading have no significance for him or her? Does this child go
through life sensing that he or she is missing something monumentally
important? Or is this child left unchanged, since he or she has never known the
thrill, the joy, the sheer pleasure that reading can provide. Again, I do not
have the answers; I can only speculate.
I have been blessed with the unique experience
of encouraging a fellow classmate to read. After a heart-breaking scene I
witnessed in one of my classes in high school, it became painfully clear that
this student was a rather poor reader. I approached him after class, and –without trying to embarrass him—asked him why
reading frustrated him so much. After some serious thought (and much prodding
and probing on my part) he explained that when he was in early elementary, his
teachers gave very little praise with his accomplishments. "If you didn’t know a word the first
time you saw it, they would criticize you and humiliate you in front of the
whole class. Even when I was able to read all the words in a sentence
correctly, they would ask why it took so long to read the sentence. It
was like I could not please them….no matter what I would do, I had failed.". After listening to this tragic (yet, probably all
too common) story, I sat down with my classmate and encouraged him to give
reading another chance. I explained to him that the more you read, the better a
reader you become. I told him that, even if he started out with car magazines
(I knew he was a car fanatic) he was still reading. Reluctantly he began to read. I would see him
in class proudly showing off his latest issue of Hot Rod or Road
& Track. He would ask students around him if he wanted them to read to
them a particular article. Though he would stumble here and there with words
occasionally, the more he read, the better he became, and the more confidence
he had as a reader. This certainly became a significant part of his life again.
Years later, he got in touch with me, and thanked me for instilling in him the
confidence to read.
Technology’s Role in Reading
Since there are a number of people out there who read
better with their ears than with their eyes, technology MUST be involved in the
reading process, particularly for those who fall into the above category. With the help of screen readers, books on
tape, e-text, and other alternative text formats, more people will find reading
accessible. Within the classroom,
teachers need to take advantage of the tools available to them. The state of
Fusing Readers and Non-Readers in the
Classroom
In
the classrooms I have worked in, I have noticed that the best way to promote
literacy is not to simply cater to one group or another (the readers verses the
non-readers). On the one hand, the readers tend to need the constant challenge
and satisfaction of finding the next adventure in the books that they crave.
The non-readers, however, need to find that connection in a good book; if
not in a book, it is essential to at least give the non-readers the opportunity
to discover the empowerment that reading provides. I do not think it is fair to
lower the bar for the avid readers, nor to put the bar out of reach for the
non-readers. Individualized goals and contracts need to be in place to empower
all students. For example, a student who reads 2- 3 books a month should be
challenged to increase the number of books she reads in a month, or challenged
to read 2-3 higher level books in that same period of time. For
a student who chooses not to read (a non-reader), the challenge for her should
be to find one book, magazine, newspaper, etc. that she reads for a set amount
of time per week. (Perhaps 20 minutes a day could be a reasonable goal.)
In any case, once the student reaches his or her goal, the student and teacher
should consider how to further challenge the student. Perhaps they should
challenge themselves with a book from a genre they don’t typically read, or
increase the quantity of books they read, or increase the amount of time per
day they devote to reading.
Another key is to give everyone choices, when
appropriate. A democratic classroom is the perfect environment to see this in
place. This can be done in a variety of ways. For the books students are
mandated to read, give them choices on how to demonstrate their knowledge of
the book. Perhaps they would like to do a presentation on what they’ve read.
Perhaps they could compare and contrast a film version of the book (where applicable).
Perhaps they could MAKE the film version of the book. I have even witnessed a
"talk show" based on the book. Here, students were selected to
"play" the role of a character, as a guest on the talk show. The rest
of the class plays audience members, and attempt to pull out the true character
of the story. This is a challenging, yet fun, way to demonstrate knowledge of
the story at hand. It can be done with a complicated novel (like Wuthering
Heights), or a simple fairy tale, like Cinderella.
Providing various genres and forms of literature
should also help to fuse the readers and non-readers. If students are only
exposed to short stories, then their window of literacy has been greatly
limited. It is important, however, to model how to read different
genres. For example, one typically reads a light magazine article differently
than one would read a novel or a textbook. Show them how to best absorb the
material at hand. Model how to take notes, even with a novel,
and how to keep a reader’s log. What’s most important is to properly
expose students to multiple literacy outlets. How else can they find what is
most appropriate and appealing to them?
Finally, I believe I must let my enthusiasm rub
off on my students. While I am a huge literary fan, a few spots in literature
are not appealing to me. However, I must work to find a bright spot in anything
I teach. Students respond best when they see genuine enthusiasm about the
material. When I did a unit of Greek Mythology, we spent about a month on a
subject matter that I adore. While there are literary fans who
don’t care much for Greek Mythology, I was able to show my students the wonders
of the work at hand. By connecting these ancient tales to their lives, they
became fascinated with Pandora and her jar, with Phaëthon riding the chariot,
with Medusa and her hideous appearance. Furthermore, after we had moved on to
another unit, I still had students exploring Greek Mythology. One student
proudly showed me the Mythology book he had found in the library. Other
students excitedly pointed out the Greek references in the literature they read
today. I asked them why they were so consumed by this subject. After careful
thought, one student said that my enthusiasm rubbed off on them. She had been
exposed to Greek Mythology before, but never had a teacher truly wanted to
teach the unit. Past teachers, she said, made it seem like simply something
they "had" to teach, not something they wanted to teach. The fact
that I had chosen to do a unit on this made it all the more appealing.
My Final Thought
So
what is the key to literacy? I believe the key components to literacy include
giving readers choices on what they read, demonstrating genuine enthusiasm
about the material at hand, exposing readers to multiple genres, connecting the
material to your own life, and –most importantly- finding that intrinsic
motivation.
