Some Facts to Consider

Question: How many youths in the United States are incarcerated every day?

Answer/Quote: “On any given day, more than 100,000 youths are incarcerated in the United States. Countless more are considered ‘at-risk’ for incarceration, based on factors such as homelessness, poverty, gang membership, substance abuse, grade retention, and more.”

Quote: “Unfortunately, gender and race can be considered risk factors as well. The most recent Department of Justice (DOJ) census showed that 85% of incarcerated teens are male…. Thirty-eight percent of the youths in the juvenile justice system are black, and 19% are Hispanic…. The DOJ predicted that the juvenile correctional population will increase by 36% by the year 2020, mostly because of growth in the Hispanic male population.” P. 385.

Comment: The author suggests finding relevant books in urban fiction to help students light the spark of reading. Maybe so. But I think it’s going to take a lot more than that to help at-risk males for incarceration to change their motivation for succeeding in reading and school. RayS.

Title: “Using Urban Fiction to Engage At-Risk and Incarcerated Youths in Literacy Instruction.” Stephanie F. Guerra. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (February 2012), 385-394.

Reversing Reading Failure

Question: How can a teacher change failing readers’ perceptions of their reading ability?

Answer/Quote: “When I met Antony (all names are pseudonyms) in September, he was an eighth-grade student in Ms. Winters’s English class. His most recent test scores indicated that he read on a fourth-grade level. Mrs. Winters explained that he had barely passed the seventh grade and had a history of failing to complete assignments. She was concerned that he might drop out when he reached high school because of his difficulties with reading. ‘If his reading doesn’t improve,’ she said, ‘then I think he’ll get frustrated and quit—just completely quit.’ ” P. 368.

Quote: “Rather than trying to force students like Antony to take up and enact our understandings of what it meant to be a good reader, both in general and in English specifically, we engaged them in discussions and experiences about how they wanted to improve their reading, what they needed to do to achieve their goals, and how we could assist them along the way. As a result, students’ experiences with reading evolved into a partnership between the student and Ms. Winters.” P. 369.

Quote: “If you were considered to be a poor reader, ‘you get to do more worksheets and all the books are dumb and boring.’ ” p. 371.

Quote: “Students also had thoughts on how their teachers could help them become the kinds of readers they envisioned. Their most common recommendation was for teachers to provide them with more time to read challenging texts in school. Students believed they did not spend enough time reading in school and that this lack of time prevented them both from learning content and improving as readers.” P. 372.

Comment: What do failing students think about their reading? How do they think their reading could be improved? This might not be the whole answer, but it’s part of the answer. Establishes a partnership between the teacher and the students to improve the students’ perception of their reading ability. I like the idea. RayS.

Title: “Rewriting Identities: Creating Spaces for Students and Teachers to Challenge the Norm of What It Means to Be a Reader in School.” Leigh A. Hall. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (February 2012), 368-373.

Another Approach to Read-Alouds

Question: How can we get the most from reading aloud to young children?

Answer: By focusing less on literal meanings and more on interpretation through discussion. Quote: “This article presents how one researcher and a kindergarten teacher worked together to redesign reading aloud as a classroom practice, to focus on higher level literacy practices to meet 21^st century literacy demands.” P. 184.

Quote: “I define higher level literacy practices as those focused on actively constructing meaning through analysis, interpretation, and critical thinking resulting in interpretations of text, rather than comprehension of literal-level content explicitly in text.” P. 184.

Quote: “For example, recalling character names in a story would be considered a low-level literacy practice, because that information is explicit, leaving little room for interpretation. In contrast, interpreting character motivations would be a higher level literacy practice, because the reader must analyze the information explicitly in the text and synthesize it with her own knowledge and experience to construct meaning that is interpretive and goes beyond the text itself.” P. 184.

 Quote: Typical read-aloud sessions: “In a 1993 The Reading Teacher article, Hoffman, Roser, and Battle described the…average read-aloud experience from their data on 537 classroom observations:

The classroom teacher reads to students from a trade book for a period between 10 and 20 minutes. The chosen literature is not connected to a unit of study in the classroom. The amount of discussion related to the book takes fewer than 5 minutes, including talk before and after the reading.” P. 184.

Quote: Focus on interpretation read-alouds through discussion: “First, her read-aloud sessions grew longer, from approximately 23 to 30 minutes. Second, lengths of discussions within the read-aloud also expanded (increasing 45%)….”

 Comment: Obviously read-alouds focusing on interpretation will require some planning. Sounds like an interesting challenge. However, don’t forget about basic comprehension. I have found that it is necessary to establish character, setting and plot BEFORE launching into interpretation. Otherwise, we can’t be sure that the students have understood the story. RayS.

Title: “Co-constructing Meaning.” Jessica L. Hoffman. The Reading Teacher (November 2011), 183-193.

Another Responsibility for Teachers of Literacy

Question: In addition to providing effective instruction in literacy, what else must teachers of literacy do?

Answer: Engage in the politics of legislation. Quote: “…it must be said that we as members of the profession have yet to become mature players, both active and adept, in the world of politics and policy.” P. 180.

 Quote: “Today, although you must still have a focus on your instructional program, you must also be able to share the message of quality literacy research and instruction with numerous stakeholder groups, including those who develop the laws and policy that affect our teaching and, even more importantly, the futures of the children in your classroom.” P. 182.

Comment: Instruction in literacy is now in the hands of legislators. The NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND law was the first step in telling teachers how and what to teach. I am guilty of not keeping up with the state and federal legislators. I will use this article to rectify that. But, darn it, my job is to teach, not to engage in politics, for which I have no taste. However, this article is right. We, as professionals, have no choice, if we want to maintain control of our professions, by showing the way to effective instruction. After all, that is what this blog is all about. RayS.

Title: “Building a Foundation Together.” Norman A. Stahl. The Reading Teacher (November 2011), 179-182.

Multi-modal Expression

Question: What is effective multi-modal expression?

Answer: In the pages of my blog, I have several times complained about the models of multi-modal expression in the journals of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)  and the International Reading Association (IRA). These organizations encourage teachers to engage their students in multi-modal expression, but their journals present flawed examples. In my last blog, I reviewed Linda B. Gambrell’s “Seven Rules of Engagement,” about motivation and reading. Contained in the article is an example of flawed multi-modal expression. It contains pictures throughout the article—four of them. They are cute pictures of students reading. BUT THERE ARE NO CAPTIONS explaining their relevance to the ideas in the article. They exist as cute pictures in and of themselves. They do not help to explain the ideas in the article.

Please! Dr., Mr., Ms. and Mrs. NCTE and IRA, if you are going to encourage teachers to teach students how to use multi-modal expression, model it effectively. Captionless pictures add nothing to the expressed ideas in the articles. They have no relevance to the IDEAS in the article. They are simply “cute.” RayS.

Motivation to Read

Question/Quote: “Why is it so important for teachers to consider the role of motivation in literacy learning?”

Answer/Quote: “…students who enjoyed reading the most performed significantly better than students who enjoyed reading the least. Perhaps of most concern was the finding that 37% of students reported that they do not read for any enjoyment at all. These findings are startling. Clearly, instruction that provides students with decoding and comprehensions skills and strategies is not sufficient.” P. 172.

Note: The author’s “Seven Rules of Engagement” are underwhelming. Here they are:

1. “Students are more motivated to read when the reading tasks and activities are relevant to their lives.” P. 173.

2. “Students are more motivated to read when they have access to a wide range of reading materials.” P. 173.

3. “Students are more motivated to read when they have ample opportunities to engage in sustained reading.” P. 174.

4. “Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to make choices about what they read and how they engage in and complete literacy tasks.” P. 175.

5. “Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to socially interact with others about the text they are reading.” P. 175.

6. “Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to be successful with challenging texts.” P. 176.

7. “Students are more motivated to read when classroom incentives reflect the value and importance of reading.” P. 176.

Comment: I’m sure my readers are aware of the substance of these “seven rules.” But the problem remains: how does one motivate students to read, especially as they grow older and have more technology to play with? RayS.

Title: “Seven Rules of Engagement.” Linda B. Gambrell. The Reading Teacher (November 2011), 172-178.

Writing Assignments in School

Question: Do students believe in what they write?

Answer/Quote: “My own students have a lot to say about how little writing in school means to them. In a course on literacy across the curriculum, I ask the students, all of whom are enrolled in the graduate teacher certification program at SUNY-Albany, to write about an important experience involving writing or reading. Not surprisingly, most write about their experiences in school, since school is where most students do most of their writing and reading. These essays are revealing. Semester after semester, they underscore how little meaning school-sponsored writing has had for these students. Vinny, for example, a preservice social studies teacher, wrote that ‘I never took pride in my writing [in school] because most of the time I did not believe in what I was writing about.’” P. 195.

Comment: I’m curious about this comment. Before any writing assignment, on a given topic or on the student’s own topics, I always encouraged students to brainstorm the topic, to find the connection between themselves and the topic. I never had any feeling that the students did not believe in what they were writing. Of course, that’s just my experience and the students might have been faking it.

“Praxis” in the title of the article is defined by Paulo Freire (2005) as “reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it.”  RayS.

Title: “Writing as Praxis.” RP Yagelski. English Education (January 2012), 188-204.