Multiple Paths to Learning Literacy
"My mother never read to me, and yet I am an avid reader and writer." -Zulmara Cline
"My mother never read to me. She never read me books or bedtime stories. My family did not have a print-rich environment. -Juan Necochea
"My mother always read to me (and my brothers). She read to us every night before bed. She built up an extensive library of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in our house and she encouraged us to read inside and outside of school. I believe I am a relatively strong reader and writer, but I do not enjoy it in the slightest" -Me
I'm sure you all understand I was not mocking those authors, but trying to show the varying degrees of parent involvement, in particular parents reading to their children. It is often believed that if parents read to their children, they will grow up to become strong readers and writers, as well as love to read. I can assure you this is not always the case. We all know everyone has a different experience at home and in school. My goal for this blog is to show everyone that non-traditional parent involvement should be valued in our society, and that there are many paths to literacy for English Language Learners, not just the traditional in-school canon approach.
What is considered "normal" parent involvement in their child's academic life has often been transparent, relegating it to a scripted role to be performed, rather than unrehearsed activities that parents and family members routinely practice (Lopez, 417).
If parents of our students (whether they are ELL or not) don't show the "normal" involvement approach, we can't stand idly by. These articles relate to much of what we have learned throughout this program, that getting to know your students personally (interests, culture, learning style, values, community, etc.), is key in order to have your students grow in literacy. We must have a deeper understanding of our student's lives in order to give them the best possible education. If parents aren't involved in the traditional sense, we have to reach out and understand how they are involved, because more than likely they are involved, we just don't see it. Also, it is not enough to just understand the non-traditional involvement, we must bring these ideas and values into our classroom to show our student's their culture is VALUED.
Why isn't the tradition of oral story telling (which is a rich tradition in many cultures) valued in school, especially for children of those cultures learning in English?
I truly believe any and all reading is beneficial. Regardless of the context and academic value of the text, any reading is practice and is beneficial. BUT READING ISN'T THE ONLY WAY TO BECOME LITERATE. Storytelling, music, art, and social conversation are all ways to become literate. The way words are spoken give ELL's a sense of how sentences are constructed, and the things people value.
So why are we continuing to value and focus on one avenue of literacy in schools? What are different ways we can value and implement different avenues of literacy into our classrooms rather than the traditional canon?
While we want our ELL students to excel in English literacy, we also want to value their first language. Mari Herneda states in her article, "In many cases, students were seen to engage in literacy practices that are bilingual or multilingual in nature as an integral part of their lives" (Herneda, 342). The link below is a link to a blog from Education Week. The author discusses the increase in ELL in schools, as well as the value of being multilingual. Check it out!
When you were in school (K-12) how involved were your parents? If they were involved, were they involved in the traditional "normal" sense or a non-traditional sense?
If you are a parent, how involved are you in your child's schooling? Traditional? Non-traditional?
If we're not bilingual ourselves, what are ways we can show we value our student's language(s) even if we can't speak another language?
-Will Minito
Will, it took me a second when reading the quotes to realize that the last one was yours! I think you make a good point that we wrongly assume if children come from homes where they’re read to then they will grow up to love to read themselves. We also assume that if they aren’t strong readers, it’s their parents’ fault. In the article on “becoming literate in a second language”, the author says, “for school-age English language learners (ELLs), there is not a single path to becoming literate in their second language (Haneda, 2019, p. 337)”. I think this is important to keep in mind. Literacy isn’t one size fits all. Just because one method works for one student does not mean you’ll have success using the same method with another student.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your last question, I don't think we need to be bilingual or multilingual to make those connections with our ELL students. It's not possible for us to know every single language and be well versed in the customs of every single culture worldwide. What we can do is actively work on a daily basis to be cognizant of the various backgrounds our students come from. I also think the blog post you've included on listening makes a good point. Truly taking the time to listen to our ELL students and value what they have to say instead of correcting them can go so far. If we're open to it, learning can be reciprocal.
Will, I thought it was especially meaningful that you added your own experience to the quotes at the beginning. It's easy to assume that children automatically value and do the same things as their parents; however, this is not the case. Parents often lament that their children are on the 'wrong track' and they don't know what they did wrong. Just because my parents are engineers and like to contemplate and discuss complex math problems doesn't automatically make me enjoy math or excel at it.
ReplyDeleteLike Addy, I don't think you need to speak another language to connect with ELLs. We can convey that we value their language by allowing them to use it in the classroom. Instead of making them write every word of a story in English, we could teach them to use meaningful words from their native language that may not translate to English. We could occasionally form small groups where all students have the same native language and allow them to converse in that language. We could let each child teach the class a few words of their language and commit to remembering them--for example, the class could use the Spanish word for 'pencil,' the French word for 'desk,' the Karen word for 'lunch' and so on.
Even learning how to pronounce a child's name correctly can convey respect for them as a person. I read a story the other day about a girl named Maria who had a teacher who only called her Mary. When Maria complained the teacher said, 'you're in America now, get used to it.' I felt terrible when I read that and I never want that to happen in my classroom.
Will, I enjoy your three quotes at the beginning. I grew up in a household similar to Padilla’s where the parents worked many hours — while being raised in a single parent home where my mother worked 16-hour days, raised by my older brothers which only provided safety. I was not read to each night nor was a school a priority. As a parent with two sons at home, if I am home, I reading bedtime stories to them. “There are many studies to back up these claims that reading to children every day,….. can have a positive effect on reading achievement later in life (Person, 123). As a reluctant reader, I want to make sure my sons are the exact opposite of myself. To support this endeavor, I regularly volunteer as a mystery reader for my son’s classrooms. I make sure that they understand that reading is about having fun so, I dress like a character in the story and use voices to accent the characters.
ReplyDeleteIn my magical dream classroom, I would have signs around the classroom such as floor, wall, door, flag, and window in which case I would encourage students to write in their home language the same word. Then, spend two minutes during the day asking the students to share how to pronoun the word. This exercise would show students how valuable their home language is as everyone will have a chance to learn. By sharing 2-3 words a day, this could mean that close to 500 new words would be shared during the school year.
Will, growing up neither of my parents were involved nor did they model reading or writing. However, my sister taught me how to read when I was 3 or 4 so that by the time I entered kindergarten I could read. Reading was an escape for me as a child that I am very grateful to have had. As demonstrated by the readings, there are many ways to engage in literacy practices besides just sitting down to read a book. My grandmother taught me how to work crossword puzzles as a kid and now I am obsessed! She also taught me all the names of the many flowers she grew. I prided myself on being able to take guests on a tour of her flower gardens and call each by their names. My family also delights in teasing each other and telling jokes. These a literacy practices that I hold dear and have continued as an adult. As future educators we must consider the ways families are creating and using valuable practices that enrich the lives of students outside of school. The example of the Padilla family is a perfect illustration. Most would consider them to be non-involved in their children’s education as they rarely entered the school, even for parent/teacher conferences. However, they had made a lasting impact on their children by creating the expectation that they would work hard. They took them to the fields to show them how hard that work was to illuminate their choice of working hard in the field or in school. This effort went unseen at school but shaped the ways the children interacted with school and how they viewed education. As said in the article, My Mother Never Read to Me, “...how to truly help diverse children become literate: by building on the strengths that families and communities of color have to offer (Cline, Lopez, 2003, p. 125).” We must go beyond getting to know our students, to getting to know their families as well so that we can draw on their funds of knowledge. At the school where I work, most students come from Spanish speaking homes. Most parents do not speak English but take classes there in the evenings. This presents an opportunity to get involved to show that you value their language and efforts to learn which would build community. It would also signal to the students that our values overlap, we are all invested in their futures.
ReplyDeleteGood post Will, I liked your quotes at the beginning. It shows me that students' attitudes towards literacy doesn't always reflect on how literacy was brought into the home. Growing up, I was your typical student who didn't read that much and was involved more in extra curricular activities. I often found great enjoyment by exploring magazines and the newspaper. My parents definitely pushed me to read more but did not impose any rules as far as daily or weekly readings. I always attempted to justify my readings by other forms of literacy but my parents would always tell me it's not the same as reading a novel. I most often noticed my parents reading on their own almost daily. I believe my parents wanted me to have more traditional reading practices when I was younger. Sitting here today, I feel confident that my literacy gains were quality even though they weren't directly from a novel.
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience, I will put value in other forms of literacy. Not being bilingual, I will need to put value in non traditional forms of literacy. It is very important like you mentioned that we know our students personally. Our student's cultures and lifestyles all have different approaches to literacy. Over the weekend I had some time spent with my extended family. Much of the time was storytelling with music and art. It was such a delightful time listening to stories and perspectives on our family history. Music has always had a special place in my family. It is these types moments I believe that will push and open doors for students that are looking for different but acceptable literacy practices.
Omg Will, great memes! lol. You bring up some great questions about ourselves as readers and what that looks like from our own experiences. I have to say that my parents were avid readers, and we had many bookshelves in the house because my dad was a big believer in having them around for reference, and he would certainly reference them! While reading was a big part of my household growing up, I myself have cycled in and out of a love for reading. But I definitely grew up around a family of story tellers, and I loved growing up sitting around the table with the adults as they shared stories and photos and videos of my ancestors and distant family members. I think this is an excellent way to be able to share literacy with students in my classroom. I love how Cline & Necochea shared their own personal stories about the ways in which literacy was supported in their family homes and how you might recognize those ways in your own classroom. Literacy approaches can include more than just reading and writing at home or growing up in a home with those examples, but we should also recognize storytelling, music, and other forms of text like comic books, folk tales, or poetry (Cline & Necochea, 2003). I think the internet and forms of social media can really become an advantage in the classroom and we should try and take advantage of ways we can use apps, graphics, and videos to help us bridge gaps between ourselves and the ELL students in our classroom.
ReplyDeleteWill, I completely agree with your ideas on implementing different forms of literacy into the classroom to meet our students’ needs. I think its critical to understand that not everyone comes from the same literary background and we must provide opportunities for all students to excel. I was raised by a single dad who worked full time and didn’t necessarily have a ton of time to read with me and wasn’t involved in my schooling in the “traditional” sense. The main idea for me growing up was “make sure you get good grades” rather than understanding the critical component of lessons. My reading identity didn’t develop until late high school when I started reading books for entertainment. I think its important to allow students to bring their culture and backgrounds into the classroom both for the student and their classmates. Some ways I’ve seen this happen is through an “about me” poster but this activity doesn’t lend much to further discussions. Also its crucial to get involved in the community as this provides students with the opportunity to succeed. In order to show our bilingual or second language students that their language and culture is valued we must incorporate lessons that not only talk about the standard surface level questions. These questions don’t allow us to gain a good up-close view into their outside lives, communities, and culture. What are some non-surface level questions that you would ask your students?
ReplyDeleteWill, I loved how you used quotes from authors and yourself to show that the way reading is handled in the home doesn't necessarily directly affect how they will view reading. I'm sure you've heard me say before I am an avid reader and enjoy spending a good portion of my free time reading. However, I literally have no memories of sitting down with my parents and having them read to me at bedtime or any time for that matter. My parents were definitely present and deeply involved in my life especially when it came to community involvement and extracurriculars and spending time with family. When it came to school work they left me to work on this independently waiting for me to come to them if I needed assistance rather than watching over me and making sure I was finishing my assignments. Yet, I can recall always having a book in my hand as a child. I would retreat to my room before dinner to read, I would bring several books when we went on vacations, and begged my parents to take me to Barnes and Noble every week! My parents didn't discourage this behavior and honestly found my actions pretty comical. I'll never forget one instance where we were all getting ready to go somewhere and I was ready so I sat down to read before we left. When all of a sudden I looked up and my mom and aunt were looking over me with looks of astonishment on their faces. My mom said they'd been trying to get my attention for several minutes, and she and my aunt laughed about how engrossed I was in my book. We know that Person discusses the positive impact reading to your children can have on their love for reading as adults, however I would be interested to learn more about the circumstances that led to those that enjoy reading now but didn't have parents that read to them.
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