Hicks points out from the beginning of these two chapters that a student’s engagement with reading, writing, and oral language is linked to their own history and formed by those that they love and respect. It is a person’s first and usually most comfortable discourse but as a student moves from one situation to another there is a shift. In Hicks view it is important for teachers to work with students so that texts are approachable to the students. This notion struck me as a profound statement about teaching to the masses. I taught fifth grade for several years and every year at EOG time we would panic because there were always a couple of passages that a large portion of our students did poorly on. They simply could not relate to the story because it was so far removed from what their reality was. I feel that this is a real injustice to the students and it sets them up to feel as though their culture is less valued than their classmates. The test assumes that all students have vacationed with their family at the beach or gone to a summer camp where they make leather crafts. One student in particular was reading a piece of poetry about the seashore. It included the sights, smells, and sounds that you might find there. After the test the student came to me very upset because she had never experienced such a place.
Hicks also brings out the differences in the way working class and middle class students address the classroom. They bring their own values and beliefs. Each group comes to the classroom with different expectations for education and how they will use the knowledge they gain. These students also enter our classrooms with preconceived ideas about themselves as readers. She Hicks points out that most teachers come from a middle class background and may not completely relate to their students and their values. As teachers I believe we must work to ensure that all students are successful in the classroom that we can make help to make the “shifts” in their discourse in a way that is comfortable.
Candy Mooney
Comments (3)
In our school we have less and less students that can relate to many of the stories that are read to them. Many of them have not experienced the beach or places we have teacher might have visited. These students have a hard time relating to these things because they have not experienced them. Most of these students also have not been read to from books with rich language. Our job as teachers is to help them experience these things through rich language books.
Posted by michelle moffitt | June 21, 2010 2:53 PM
Posted on June 21, 2010 14:53
I wish that I could take my students with me when I go on vacation or do something special but that is impossible. I also wish that those who write the stories would think about our students while they are writing them, but they don't.
My goal every year is to try to immerse my students in so much background knowledge. I try to use videos, pictures, stories, hands on activities, anything that I can! When we are reading about going to the beach, I will try to find a short clip on what the beach looks like and what kinds of things you do on the beach to help my students understand a little bit more. I find that if you can build background knowledge your students will have an easier time with the reading that is assigned to them.
Posted by Natalie Enns | June 22, 2010 5:13 PM
Posted on June 22, 2010 17:13
t is sad that some children have not experienced going to the beach or camp. So many families do not have the money for such trips. I agree with you that the students who have not had these experiences are at a disadvantage because they have no prior experience or background knowledge to relate to. In my classroom, I always pick writing topics that I know each student has experienced before, such as playing on the playground. I was shocked when I asked my students how many of them had not been to the zoo before. I think that teachers assume that every child has had these experiences when most have not. It is a sad reality.
Posted by Ashley Caldwell | June 23, 2010 4:38 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 16:38