Read me a book, ma or pa

The power of being read at home, regardless of what the primary language may be, is impactful in a child’s development and growth. When reading to children, the reading must be read in a proper way and not slowly – with fluency and prosody (Taback, 1997). People tend to think that if you speak to someone slowly, it will make them understand. Not necessarily. Some people may be offended and maybe thinking you are calling them “stupid” or “incapable.” It has been proven through research and theory, conducted by Vygotsky, that students learn best through social interaction. It is crucial, though, that students are challenged through their zone of proximal development, as Vygotsky has stated. As Taback (1997) states, “’ structuring vocabulary to include learning formats has found empirical support…students may learn vocabulary…when they are simply listening to other students respond’ (p. 219)” (p. 31). So, if parents read to children appropriate age-level reading, the children will progress and continue to grow in their reading experiences. How do teachers help in this aspect of parents reading to their children? Teachers must emphasize the importance of a reading culture in the classroom if it is something that is not happening at home. Parents may work multiple jobs to provide for their family and, therefore, have not time to read to their children. According to Hart and Risley, there are different experiences children could be exposed to regarding language diversity “…and the children in welfare families [had] low amount of experiences” (p. 245). Not being there is a reason why these experiences are low. People must make sacrifices to make sure the family is fed, clothed, and has a shelter over their head -it is a way of struggling for your children to have a better life. Assumptions are always made about families on welfare – they’re lazy, they don’t want a better life, or that they’re living off the rich. Have you thought about the systemic oppression that has caused people to get into welfare?

Imagine you are a person learning how to play basketball, and your coach begins teaching you how to shoot three-point shots without teaching you how to properly make a layup, how many shots do you think you are going to make? You are going to make very little shots because you have not attempted to learn how to make the basic shots – layups and free-throws. Now imagine this happening in a classroom when students are trying to read at a 9th-grade level but only have the skills of a 3rd-grade student. Boom, failure waiting to happen! As Taback(1997) describes, “Students, especially struggling readers, need support as they are learning to read. They need to experience success and to feel confident they can succeed” (p. 31). Be aware of students’ individual strengths when providing instruction – scaffold, accommodate, and differentiate instruction to meet the needs of one’s own students. Parents play a big role in making sure students can feel that success. Parents must provide positive reinforcement when children are showing growth in their reading; it is essential for students to believe and be acknowledge in their development as a learner.

How can this be implemented in my classroom? Through reading aloud of text that is related to mathematics. Students need to feel success through academic discourse and must feel safe when contributing to classroom discussions. Working with their peers is what will help them feel safe and have success.