I finally got my book!!! Now, I can start blogging. Sorry for the delay.
I Wonder...
1. What experiences have you had in classroom settings that remind you of Quantez, Robert, or Elaine?
When I started teaching, I was at my home country. In my country, we follow the American curriculum so we use texts from the US. A lot of stories and passages that we use for Reading are about the culture in America. At first, I did not give it a thought and just used the passages. Then I saw that some of my students, at least 2 of them, who were new to our school and to the city where I work were struggling and showed disinterest in my class. They were not "poor or struggling' students but they did not seem to be motivated. After reading about Quantez, Robert and Elaine, this brought back this memory again and it just reinforced my belief in "authentic" and "culturally-sensitive" education. Now that I am here in the United States, and have actually seen a "maple leaf" after reading about it for a long time...I can see why some of my students back then showed disinterest in reading. Our passages did not mean anything to them. They did not see how these stories can relate to their lives. They were just reading "words."
2. What would you say are some guiding assumptions about literacy that were prevalent in these two classrooms?
Both classrooms assumed that literacy is the same for everybody. They assumed that everybody learns the same way, the book or teacher's manual is enough so that these students will learn how to read. They assumed that "one size fits all!" These classrooms did not take into consideration a child's cultural background, a child's "way of learning", and a child's personal experience that they bring to the classroom. The classrooms did not make learning "personal."
3. These two classrooms used traditional reading textbooks (also known as basal reading materials) to conduct reading instruction. What other options are you familiar with that the teachers might have considered?
The teacher could have considered culturally-relevant and sensitive books. The teacher could have used realia or should have built on the children's prior knowledge to introduce the new concepts. The teacher could have given an "interest inventory" so the teacher can use those as a tool in teaching concepts that seem to be difficult to understand.
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2 comments:
I wonder how many children experience each year just reading words from a book or other text with no meaning for them. As you said, there is no realtionship to the material and so there is no interest in wanting to read. I think that is when children fidget and goof around because it is "boring" to them. I hope teachers are being "culturally sensitive" and incorporate some forms of material that will pull in the interests of the children and get them motivated to learn to read and write.
Your "interest inventory" is a good method to use to take into account the students' interests and what is happening in the students' lives. I would think teachers know by now that all students do not learn the same thing in the same way and would incorporate a method like this to use material that the students can relate to. A teacher has to discover what methods and activites will work to get the students to read and write successfully. Hopefully the students will learn to enjoy reading at the same time.
HI Paulette
Your example of using text that in no way connects to the lives of students is a good one. (I liked your story of the maple leaf for you). The basal reading programs (all scripted to some degree) do not allow for these important needs of young readers. Even those that say that teachers must connect to prior knowledge or give examples don't get the extreme importance of connected knowing for all readers but especially our very youngest.
Dr. C.
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