“Child learners come to be and know with others as they engage in discourse practices fully saturated with cultural meanings” (p. 23). This beginning quote comes from chapter 2 of Reading Lives, but I feel like it fits perfectly with what I just finished reading in chapter 3. Hicks wrote this quote in her discussion of Heath’s work, Ways with Words, where she studied the literacy and language practices of children and adults from 2 different communities in the Piedmont area. This quote speaks, for me, to something that we take for granted as teachers. Our students are learning to know themselves and one another through the daily practices that occur within their culture. At the same time learning to read and write occurs within a child’s situated history, their literacy development is connected to their lives and in many ways can become a way to deal with, work through and grow up in their communities.
I found myself connecting many times in this chapter. I too learned quickly how to be the ‘good’ student and wanted so badly to be liked by my teachers. I worked hard, studied harder, and tried my best to do everything that I was asked. (However, I consistently got suggestions on my report card to work on excessive talking. I probably still need to work on that.) I think I fell in love with school and reading because of my teachers and school was one of the most important things in my house. My dad read ALL the time and my mom read to us ALL the time. I always saw my dad as the scholar because he would go through books at lightening speed and I rarely saw my mom read for her own enjoyment or knowledge until my brother and I were older. Now that I look back I’m pretty sure that was because my mom worked full time as a teacher’s assistant and then took care of us the rest of the day. My dad, while a hard worker, worked third shift so we didn’t really know him like we knew mom. When my dad was awake with us, he took us to the library and helped us check out books. It was what he knew so it was his way to connect with us. I remember one trip to the library in Rural Hall, NC. I was in the Beverly Cleary section on my way to the L.M. Montgomery section and my beloved Ann of Green Gables books, when my dad found me. He asked me to walk with him into the adult section and there he proceeded to pull out Moby Dick. I looked at it and then I looked at him like he was crazy. I remember him asking me to just give it a try, so I went up to the desk, pulled out my library card, and checked out Moby Dick. The librarian just gave me a quick grin but my dad couldn’t stop talking about how interesting and well written the book would be. I never did finish it that time, but I think my dad was just looking for a way to connect with me, to share in my literary history – whether he knew it or not.
Amie Snow
Comments (4)
As I read your post, it keeps hitting me that we cannot just give a kid a book and ensure she will love reading. I wonder if programs like More at Four are effective more because of their environment or because of the literacy opportunities. After reading the postings so far, it is more and more obvious that a person is influenced by her culture and family. However, something in our lives make us turn toward reading or against it. A kid who grows up in a house full of books will not necessarily be a great reader.
So then, what are the factors teachers can control in this whole process?
Ashley Catlett
Posted by Ashley Catlett | April 3, 2009 9:22 PM
Posted on April 3, 2009 21:22
As I have read this week's posts, I am more aware that in most cases readers produce readers. It is no accident that you "caught" your dad's love for reading. I am equally reminded that students who do not have the foundation of trips to the library and bedtime stories are at a great disadvantage in the classroom. However, I do think teachers have an opportunity and responsibility to make up some ground with students who do not have homes that are language-rich havens. To take a child from a home where books and reading are not valued and help that child "catch" the reading bug is one step toward change that only increases the possibility of that child's success in life.
So considering Ashley's follow-up question, I believe one of the factors a teacher can control is the environment of her classroom. While there are many factors that influence a child, the classroom environment is critical to literacy development. If that environment is safe, welcoming, and accepting, students are much more at ease to try something new. Learning to read is a daunting task for many of our students. If we can ease the pressure some of our students feel we may do more to promote literacy than we could accomplish through pushing the child into the latest new program.
Posted by Lisa Rasey | April 5, 2009 10:22 PM
Posted on April 5, 2009 22:22
I loved the image of you and your dad walking through the library, with him attempting to be a part of your literacy history, even though he might not have been aware of it. I think most of what parents do in terms of literacy are done without really being aware of the effect. From what I've heard from many of you, one of the biggest factors for us learning to love reading was watching our parents do it. They were probably not thinking "oh, I'll read this book in hopes that she will learn to love reading." It's the routine and the actions that we pick up on as children.
And I appreciated Ashley's comment about how children won't learn to love reading simply by us shoving a book into their hands. It definitely has to do with the environment--creating one in which they feel comfortable. But it also has to do with modeling, just like our parents did. I have silent reading time often with my high schoolers, and during that time, I make it a point to not do anything else (no grades, no computer) but read as well.
Posted by Christy Rivers | April 6, 2009 10:39 AM
Posted on April 6, 2009 10:39
So many people ask me how I managed to achieve, educationally, even though I came from a working-class family. I've thought about it a lot over the years, and I keep coming back to literacy. Though my family didn't have formal education past high school, they were ALL readers. Nothing was censored for me (and maybe it should have been!) and my love of books kept me interested enough in school. I had a similar event as yours, Aimee, with my grandmother, except the book was To Kill a Mockingbird!
Posted by Alecia Jackson | April 8, 2009 9:22 PM
Posted on April 8, 2009 21:22