by Lynn Newmyer
Last week a few of my former students were peering into my partially open classroom door. They watched as I unloaded a box of new books onto already overstocked shelves and excitedly talked over each other.
“I remember that one – it’s so funny!” “Do you still have those other books that we used to read?” “Wait – that’s a new one! What’s that one about?” Their eyes were sparkling with anticipation waiting to see if I would ask them to come in and read with me, again. They used to be students who struggled with literacy. Now they viewed themselves as readers. Fortunately, an expert teacher was available just when they needed one.
Never Underestimate the Power of Books
In order to become a reader, students need and deserve access to books.
Andrew had just successfully finished his Reading Recovery intervention with me; he had read more than 100 little books. Many had become favorites that he often took home and shared with his family. Two days ago, Andrew’s sister came to his classroom teacher with a note from his mother with a simple request: “Andrew doesn’t have any books at home. Could we please have some?” Immediately the classroom teacher and I found books for Andrew to take home and keep. They would be the start of his own little library.
In their study of four communities, Neumann & Celano (2001) noted the disparity of opportunities between low-income and middle-income neighborhoods in regards to access to print. Two were middle class and two were lower income. No surprise that children in lower income homes had fewer books in their homes than the middle-class children. Fewer opportunities result in the beginnings of inequity.
“Ensuring that books are available to any child at any time of the year will be a good first step in enhancing the reading achievement of low-income students and is an absolutely necessary step in closing the reading achievement gap.” Allington & McGill- Franzen. (2008)
The Motivation and Engagement with Choice and Independent Reading
If students have greater access to interesting books it is more likely that they will want to read and they will probably read more. Chris, another one of my students, read a story about a boy who wanted a large pet spider, much to his indulgent mother’s dismay.
First Chris wanted to read all the other stories in the series. That led him to ask questions and to seek answers about real life spiders. Later he asked me,” Are there more books that are stories with true facts?” Of course there were, and we read them in our lessons. At independent reading time in his classroom, he had an ever-evolving bag of books from his classroom and from my room that he was avidly reading, and during indoor recess he was writing his own book about spiders.
As Donalyn Miller (2009) states in The Book Whisperer, “We teachers have more than enough anecdotal evidence that the students who read the most are best spellers, writers, and thinkers. No exercise gives more instructional bang for the buck than reading.” Being literate requires wide reading with access and choice of many different types of texts.
It Takes an Expert
Access and choice are critical, but even if those are part of a child’s environment both at home and at school, are they enough to ensure that a child will become a reader? Probably not, as all my students were not readers…yet. They needed an expert reading teacher.
Richard Allington (2013) states, “We have too much evidence that expertise in reading matters for any child who is struggling while learning to be literate.” What defines teacher expertise for a reading teacher? The International Literacy Association created standards for evaluating teacher preparation programs for reading specialists. However, not all professionals who work with students that struggle with literacy have those qualifications.
Investing in teacher expertise is a critical piece of equity. Investing in what works for students based upon valid research such as those reviewed programs listed on the What Works Clearinghouse site is just as critical.
Brittany, my new student, was skipping down the hall holding my hand, as we were moving towards my room. She beckoned me to bend over so I could hear her.
” Finally,” she said. “I wondered when anyone was ever going to come and help me I’ve been waiting!”
Lynn Newmyer is a Reading Recovery teacher leader from Walled Lake, MI.
Any views or claims expressed in The Reading Recovery Connections Blog are those of individual authors, not RRCNA.
BLOG
Access + Choice + Expert Teacher = Equity
by Lynn Newmyer
Last week a few of my former students were peering into my partially open classroom door. They watched as I unloaded a box of new books onto already overstocked shelves and excitedly talked over each other.
“I remember that one – it’s so funny!” “Do you still have those other books that we used to read?” “Wait – that’s a new one! What’s that one about?” Their eyes were sparkling with anticipation waiting to see if I would ask them to come in and read with me, again. They used to be students who struggled with literacy. Now they viewed themselves as readers. Fortunately, an expert teacher was available just when they needed one.
Never Underestimate the Power of Books
In order to become a reader, students need and deserve access to books.
Andrew had just successfully finished his Reading Recovery intervention with me; he had read more than 100 little books. Many had become favorites that he often took home and shared with his family. Two days ago, Andrew’s sister came to his classroom teacher with a note from his mother with a simple request: “Andrew doesn’t have any books at home. Could we please have some?” Immediately the classroom teacher and I found books for Andrew to take home and keep. They would be the start of his own little library.
In their study of four communities, Neumann & Celano (2001) noted the disparity of opportunities between low-income and middle-income neighborhoods in regards to access to print. Two were middle class and two were lower income. No surprise that children in lower income homes had fewer books in their homes than the middle-class children. Fewer opportunities result in the beginnings of inequity.
“Ensuring that books are available to any child at any time of the year will be a good first step in enhancing the reading achievement of low-income students and is an absolutely necessary step in closing the reading achievement gap.” Allington & McGill- Franzen. (2008)
The Motivation and Engagement with Choice and Independent Reading
If students have greater access to interesting books it is more likely that they will want to read and they will probably read more. Chris, another one of my students, read a story about a boy who wanted a large pet spider, much to his indulgent mother’s dismay.
First Chris wanted to read all the other stories in the series. That led him to ask questions and to seek answers about real life spiders. Later he asked me,” Are there more books that are stories with true facts?” Of course there were, and we read them in our lessons. At independent reading time in his classroom, he had an ever-evolving bag of books from his classroom and from my room that he was avidly reading, and during indoor recess he was writing his own book about spiders.
As Donalyn Miller (2009) states in The Book Whisperer, “We teachers have more than enough anecdotal evidence that the students who read the most are best spellers, writers, and thinkers. No exercise gives more instructional bang for the buck than reading.” Being literate requires wide reading with access and choice of many different types of texts.
It Takes an Expert
Access and choice are critical, but even if those are part of a child’s environment both at home and at school, are they enough to ensure that a child will become a reader? Probably not, as all my students were not readers…yet. They needed an expert reading teacher.
Richard Allington (2013) states, “We have too much evidence that expertise in reading matters for any child who is struggling while learning to be literate.” What defines teacher expertise for a reading teacher? The International Literacy Association created standards for evaluating teacher preparation programs for reading specialists. However, not all professionals who work with students that struggle with literacy have those qualifications.
Investing in teacher expertise is a critical piece of equity. Investing in what works for students based upon valid research such as those reviewed programs listed on the What Works Clearinghouse site is just as critical.
Brittany, my new student, was skipping down the hall holding my hand, as we were moving towards my room. She beckoned me to bend over so I could hear her.
” Finally,” she said. “I wondered when anyone was ever going to come and help me I’ve been waiting!”
Lynn Newmyer is a Reading Recovery teacher leader from Walled Lake, MI.
Any views or claims expressed in The Reading Recovery Connections Blog are those of individual authors, not RRCNA.
THE JOURNAL OF READING RECOVERY
Spring 2024
Constructing a More Complex Neural Network for Working on Written Language That Learns to Extend Itself by Carol A. Lyons
Reading Recovery IS the Science(s) of Reading and the Art of Teaching by Debra Semm Rich
Predictions of Progress: Charting, Adjusting, and Shaping Individual Lessons by Janice Van Dyke and Melissa Wilde
Teachers Designing for Context: Using Integrity Principles to Design Early Literacy Support in Aotearoa New Zealand by Rebecca Jesson, Judy Aitken, and Yu Liu