My own experiences with literacy...Well, I started reading in kindergarten. I remember the Dick and Jane books that we read at school and then brought home to read our parents. I loved them. I have an older brother and I wanted to be able to read because he could read. I must say that school was fairly easy for me. I was blessed to have a mother that stayed home and helped us learn. We weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but we had the basic needs and a few books to read. We went to the public library and checked out books too. I learned to read and then was ready to read to learn. I have seen so many struggling elementary students trying to read to learn when they never really finished learning to decode the words. It is sad. They fall through the cracks.
I did not LOVE reading in middle and high school. Even the coursework in college was a bit tedious to me. When I finished college, I became an avid reader. My husband even caught the reading bug from me. We have decided that we were never given the opportunity in school to choose what genre that we identified with the most. Kids need to "buy in" to the material in order to foster their interest. Now, that is not to say that textbooks, trade books, picture books, etc...should not be an everyday essential. I am just saying that it is important for teens to find a place where they can fit in the world of literary works. I think that group discussions like book talks are a fantastic way to reach adolescents. I use think, pair, share in my art classroom frequently. It is a great way to get thoughts generated. Each member of the group gets to participate in the discussion. I remember teaching at Lamar County Middle School where we ALL taught reading. I actually had a decoding group. We were an America's Choice school. Reading and literacy in general was our main focus. The kids loved the variety and pervasiveness of the Principal's Book of the Month. Every teacher had a copy and used it in their classroom throughout the month. I read to the students selections while they created artworks to go along with the narrative, or biography, or whatever genre we were studying for that month. I really enjoyed that school wide implementation of the book.
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Loved reading your experience at Lamar County Middle School, Lisa. By having a common book, your principal was creating a literate school community. It reminds me of the community read projects. You also see the importance of choice. By having students decide what they will read, they take control of their reading identities. I love the way you connected art and reading. Visualizing is a very powerful comprehension strategy. You were really helping your students learn new ways to construct meaning from text. What a great experience!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about not reading in middle school and high school. As I got older I realized the importance of reading and wished I had put forth that effort to read more. If only I knew then what I know now there is a world of knowledge in reading.
ReplyDeleteI can recall being an elementary school student and reading books in order to get a free personal pan pizza. I believe the program was Book It, but I'm not sure. I think that's where my love for reading began. That love like you mentioned died down a little in middle and high school, but now that I am in college, I have added fuel to that dying flame.
ReplyDeleteNow realizing the importance of literacy in all disciplines, Lamar County Middle School seems like the ideal place to work! Although the students' may not see the importance of all the reading that was done; they will definitely appreciate it later in life.
What a great way to include reading in your art classes. Way to go :)
Sweet rememberances of times when reading became and remained vital to you! Well-said! I pray you share those warm-fuzzies with your students. I can realate your marital sharing of reading and your early experiecnes with your mom to similar experiences with my mother, on her lap reading and being read to, as well as the early days of my 25 yrs. of marriage when my teacher wife and I were so poor we would check outlibrary books and sit on the couch together (as we still do) and read with one hand while holding each other's. Sadly,for the vast majority of our kids, this is foreign. Loving book experiences like these are a precious gift: we need it more now than ever.
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