Just a Play Away

Kids like what they like...and when we encourage them to pursue their interests, they feel validated and are engaged in the learning process.  Whether what fascinates them is the latest muscle car, the new champion on League of Legends, a Disney princess' fate, or something from amid this array nearly as vast as the number of individuals, we are all students of something.  And when parents and teachers tap into the interests that children bring with them, we can engage them where they are with what they like in the manner they prefer, which results in more children being more wholeheartedly engaged with what's around them.  So what does this look like?  It looks like engaging in play with them.  It looks like asking good questions and then listening to their answers.  It looks like encouraging them to pursue research about and saturation in their topic(s) of choice.  And it looks like supporting them in these pursuits with the resources that you have at your disposal, whether that’s a trip to a field museum, the local library, or a couple minutes of focused time in meaningful conversation.

Play's Place? In the Classroom!

It was so refreshing to read about the success of a class in which play is a focus!  All too often, it seems like the “c[h]ool” is being taken out of school, leaving behind assessments and the rigorous curricula deemed necessary to prepare students for them.  As recess shrinks to an infinitesimal speck on the daily schedule and the so-called “specials”—music, gym, art, library—disappear altogether, children spend an ever-increasing amount of time in an environment in which they’re expected to sit quietly and focus on whatever task is at hand, be it listening to the teacher, working on projects or worksheets alone or in a group, reading, or writing.  And teachers are told that this is what we have to do in order to keep up with the expectations laid out by the standardized tests of the hour.  But is it really?  Is sitting in straight rows, silently listening then working on assignments really what’s best for our students?  Is that how they learn most effectively and engage best with the material?  Karen Wohlwend’s (2011) book Playing Their Way into Literacies:  Reading, Writing, and Belonging in the Early Childhood Classroom makes a case for play as a frame for early childhood learning, and makes it quite convincingly.  In the second chapter, Wohlwend cites multiple instances from her case study of a class taught by Abbie Howard, and focuses on a group of students styled the “Abbie Wannabes”:  these students routinely choose to participate in teacher/student modeled play during choice time, drawing on the strategies they have been explicitly taught or have picked up on from their surrounding contexts in order to help themselves and their playmates successfully engage in their play.  And perhaps most heartwarming for me, the students were able to help each other to become better navigators of the literacies surrounding them.  Even students who were independent readers in the kindergarten context could learn from their peers who may not have been reading as readily, but who were experienced and confident storytellers.  This kind of natural give-and-take and sharpening of skills by peers is something exciting to see.

What's in a question? More than you may've thought...

          According to Dr. Diana Leyva, it turns out that while book-reading is important, it may not be the most vital thing.  Yep, that’s what I said…you read it right!  Book-reading is important, but Dr. Leyva advocates for the significance of reminiscing and especially of asking your children or students open-ended questions to positively impact children’s phonological awareness.  Why open-ended questions?  Because if I ask, “Did you go to the park yesterday?” the child responding has a lot less mental processing to do than if I query instead, “Where did you go yesterday?”  To answer the second question, the child has to recall what s/he did yesterday and where it took place.  And the child may even inform me that s/he went to a whole list of places, instead of only responding that, “Yes, s/he went to the park.”

          So where does reminiscing come in?  Well, that’s where parents who are uncomfortable reading aloud or don’t have the resources to do so can still immerse their children in a narrative structure and where parents can pick up a productive conversation while in the middle of other activities, like eating or while in the car.  This reminiscing can be as simple as asking and answering the question above, “Where did you go yesterday?” or could be something more involved, such as a parent sharing stories from 

his/her childhood and interacting with the listener(s), for instance, asking children to connect with the stories or say what they may do in a similar situation.  The engagement with vocabulary helps children to become more comfortable more words, increasing their phonological awareness as they encounter more words and sounds.

A Call to Speak Out!

When I read the comments of one primary teacher, "I know it's developmentally inappropriate, but I've got to do it" (Wohlwend, 2009, p. 345), my immediate response was to be moved nearly to tears of empathy and frustration.  How can the mandates handed down to teachers be in favor of teaching writing as merely a "task through which children demonstrate skill competency or display content knowledge, rather than communicate personal meanings or carry out social functions" (Wohlwend, 2009, p. 344), when writing can be something so much richer and more fulfilling?  Something that can give voices to students' imaginations and let them express themselves.  So what can we do, the concerned adults who see the children around us going through an educational system where mandates trump children's needs?  Dr. Caitlin Dooley makes a case for advocation, saying that if we--parents, teachers, and concerned citizens--don't speak out, how can we hope that change will happen spontaneously (Baker & Dooley, 2010)?  She calls for teachers and parents to work together and speak out about what's best for students.  And she asks for principals and administrators to tell the policy-makers when they feel that mandates aren't helping students.  Policy-makers she recommends to discover what achievement really is so that they can truly create an innovative way of assessing it.  And what might this assessment look like?  Well, Dooley mentions the video games that her children so enjoy and questions why assessment can't be more authentic, perhaps built into games that are engaging.  So what's our starting point?  Parents:  a good place might be to find out what your children know and what they're learning...and how they're learning it.  Teachers:  take note of where your students are and what practices are helpful--and which ones aren't--and ask parents to get involved with speaking up about what's good for the children you all care about so much.

Baker, E. A., & Dooley, C. (2010, March 1). "Teaching language arts in a high stakes era." Voice of Literacy. Retrieved from http://voiceofliteracy.org

Wohlwend, K. E. (2009, May).  "Dilemmas and discourses of learning to write:  Assessment as a contested site."  Language arts, 86(5), 341-351.

Dibs on Not Using DIBELS!

As we learn more about how ineffectual many of the “pop” reading assessments based on the “National Reading Panel’s (NRP) five pillars (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension)” that seek to boil down “reading to a narrow set of skills that can be easily tested” (Wohlwend 2012, pg. 117) really are, what should we turn to instead?  We know that such assessments as DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) aren't cutting it, with their emphasis on constrained skills and lack of focus on comprehension.  So a turn to something more complex that measures comprehension and how it’s reached is necessary; something that incorporates not only an inquiry into how readers combine print and image information, but also how they navigate the interactive process of constructing meaning from what they read and how they navigate different cultural language patterns.  Simultaneously, there should be a restructuring of Reading First, based on more than the NRP’s five pillars, that would encourage teachers to teach not only fundamental skills, but also growth processes, such as reading comprehension and composition in writing (Baker & Pearson  2010).  Why are these changes so vital?  Because while being able to turn the text on the page into a mental or spoken stream of language is important, it doesn't do a student much good unless s/he is able to understand and manipulate what s/he’s reading.

Sources Cited:

Baker, E.A., & Pearson, PD.  (October 18, 2010).  “Reading first: Hard to live with—or without.”  Voice of literacy podcast.  Podcast retrieved from http://voiceofliteracy.org

Wohlwend, K. (2012).  “A new spin on miscue analysis:  Using spider charts to web reading processes.”  From Language Arts, 90(2), (pg. 110-117).

More than 100 Little Things...and "More Like 'Guidelines'"

Despite the popularity of leveled reading instruction, there's a real possibility that it will become a one-size-fits-all instructional method that doesn't really fit anyone.  When students with very different instructional needs--but who have similar quantitative data on reading analyses--are grouped together and taught as though they all have the same needs, it can easily turn into a time in which none of them receive the instruction they actually need.  Furthermore, leveled readings often fail to take into account what will actually interest the students reading these texts, and particularly students who are reading below-grade-level.  When a third-grader is asked to read a highly repetitive book with little plot and no character development, it is little wonder that s/he becomes frustrated and bored; and when a child is denied access to a text simply because it is beyond his/her reading level (but would, in all actuality, be within reach with help), it seems counter-intuitive:  why would we ever discourage reading?  As Kath Glasswell and Michael Ford discuss in their article, "Let's Start Leveling about Leveling" (2011), the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has developed a model of reading that identifies 100 possible combinations of factors to which children may be exposed while reading:  5 major reader factors (motivation, subject knowledge, background experience, vocabulary, and purpose); 5 major text factors (content, format, concepts, organization, and author's purpose); and 4 major contextual factors (physical setting, activity, outcome, and emotional climate) (pp. 209-210).  With all of these factors to keep in mind, how can we possibly expect leveled reading to effectively guide us?  Especially in light of Glasswell and Ford's assertion that leveled reading:  1) oversimplifies text selection (by focusing on oral reading accuracy to match students to texts), 2) overly complicates text selection (which should be focused on providing students with materials that they're able to read), 3) results in teaching to levels, not to needs, 4) targets progress without aiming for proficiency (looking for results, rather than to catch a student up to his/her peers), and, 5) has the possibility to limit students' exposure to stimulating, challenging, and grade-appropriate learning (pp. 209-214).  Yet despite these objections, it can be quite detrimental for students to struggle through books that are too difficult for them, or to be bored to distraction by texts that are too easy, and--in theory, if not always in practice--leveled reading  is supposed to remove that possibility.  When treated as guidelines rather than as the final word on the matter, leveled reading can be a helpful tool to give parents and instructors both a general idea about what sorts of books may be suitable for an individual child...but it's important to remember that they are "more like 'guidelines!'"

Teaching Explicitly

When teachers use explicit language strategies--I mean, really share in adult language what is going on in their heads as they read and think--it helps students catch on.  Whether the teacher is talking about making connections with a text (text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world) or helping them learn vocabulary, getting down to the nitty-gritty and authentically modeling and sharing makes it possible for students to do the same. In chapter 5 of her book Reading with Meaning:  Teaching Comprehension in the Primary Grades, Debbie Miller relates her struggles and successes with teaching kids how to access their schemas (the background knowledge they have available to them) as they read and think; she shares how every year it's a struggle and she's not sure they'll make it this time around...but they always do.  From simple connections like, "...my cousin's name is Eve" (p. 59) to more sophisticated ones such as being lost in a mall and the feelings associated with that (pp. 60-61), her students grow in their understanding of what it means to make solid connections to the themes and emotions within a text, and in their ability to discuss them.  But Miller’s careful preparation and explicit modeling go a very long way toward making these things possible.

On a somewhat related note, Dr. Susan Neuman talks about “Using Categories to Teach Vocabulary to Preschoolers,” and how creating themed vocab lists around a certain topic is useful not only for vocab-retention itself, but also for the discussions that can happen because of the categories.  For instance, she talks about how you can build the category of “fruit” from a discussion about apples, and you can incorporate into that a talk about how fruit is healthy and what it does for your body.  Neuman also points out that when doing this, you can use category games like BINGO or Jeopardy! to model strategies for organizing words, as well as to have some fun in your classroom.  Finally, a point where Neuman and Miller really agree is on their stress of adult-level conversation with kids:  without exposure to the words and patterns of speech that adults use, kids can’t pick up on them, which only holds them back.  So it’s vital to not only use sophisticated language with kids, but to explicitly express what it means and how concepts and strategies can be applied.

Alphantastic Learning!

Dr. Shayne Piasta shares some of her research in a podcast called “Alphabet Learning and Early Literacy,” where her focus is on what she's discovered about how alphabet instruction can be used in conjunction with phonological awareness instruction and other forms of early literacy education in order to maximize the impact of students' time spent in these types of instructional settings.  Basically, she points out that when we make explicit the reading process we're going through, it helps the children with whom we're reading.  Specifically, she states that when parents point out individual sounds/letters as they’re reading and talk about their importance to the outcome of what’s on the page, it's particularly helpful for young children, especially when done in conjunction with discussions about the meaning of what's happening in the story.  Piasta's recommendation lines up nicely with what Catherine Compton-Lilly says in her article "'Sounding Out':  A Pervasive Cultural Model of Reading," where she highlights the popularity of "sound it out" as the fix-all answer for children when they come to a word they don't know, and points out that while even children cite this as the thing to do when they don't know a word, it's not actually that helpful, and it's not the thing that they're really practicing.  She says that strategies like going back and trying again, thinking in your brain, asking a friend for help, trying the first or last letter, looking at the context (pictures, other words), and making sure it makes sense are much more widely used and more helpful for students.

So what does this mean practically for those of us who are blessed to work with prephonemic learners?  It means being aware of our own reading process and being able and willing to translate our thoughts and strategies into explanations for the children around us.  Whether we're cooking together from a recipe, reading a bedtime story, or teaching a lesson, we can use the opportunities presented to point out that the pictures help us know what's going on, that the two slanted lines with a flat line in between is a capital "A" and usually says /ā/ or /ă/, or that sometimes we have to go back and re-read something to get the meaning or the pronunciation down.

All the wonderful alphabet books available are a great way to do this, like Stephen T. Johnson's Alphabet City or Suse MacDonald's Alphabatics, both of which are Caldecott Honor Books.  Getting sensory learners involved using shaving cream, finger paints, rice, sand or something similar in which to draw letters is a fun break from traditional worksheets, and jell-o letters are a tasty alternative.  And while not all poses are realistic for young kids--or, let's face it, me--to do, alphabet yoga is another fun way to get kids to connect with letters.

So on the never-ending journey to get kids to engage with learning and enjoy reading, help them to see the alphabet as a fun, friendly thing that will help them to "go off to Great Places," in the words of Dr. Seuss.

Individual Interests

As Dr. Deborah Rowe points out her podcast "The Role of Interest and Agency for Written Expression Among Preschoolers," even among two-to-three-year-olds, there are four main groups into which a child's interests roughly fall:  socially oriented, procedural, creative, or conceptually oriented.  When a child is socially oriented, s/he most enjoys relating with others, and--writing-wise--ends up being the most varied because they are flexible in order to do whatever their friends are doing; drama is a particularly effective way to engage these individuals in literacy.  Procedurally oriented children like to do things the right way, and may even practice writing letters on their own, for the pure pleasure of seeing neat rows of nice lettering lining up nicely.  Creative kids discover new uses for items and procedures and are the most likely to experiment, in writing and otherwise; using pretending/roleplaying is a fun way to get them into writing.  Conceptually oriented students are those who have a burning passion for something.  You know you're working with one of these children when you can say, "Jimmy is all about dinosaurs.  He's our resident expert."  These students see mark-making as a way to record their ideas, and science inquiry is often a great way to engage them in literacy activities.

How do these distinctions help parents and teachers?  Knowing the child you're working with and figuring out what makes him/her tick, giggle, and focus is always helpful.  While all individuals engage in each of the four interest groups at some time or another, we all have preferences.  When I'm presented with something to organize, I can sometimes get a little giddy:  my brain works procedurally and loves the opportunity to sit in a corner with a knot to untie or a stack of books to shelve in a library; yet if given the choice, I'll generally choose to sit and chat with a friend or family member even over that strong draw, because even more so, I'm  socially oriented.  Given a chance to read something new and talk it over with a partner or in a small group, I'm a pretty happy camper.  But sometimes I get a little lost when I'm asked to inhabit conceptual-land...it's a place where I often feel I'm in a little over my head.  Knowing that children feel this way--and figuring out the aspects with which they're comfortable and those which make them a little uneasy--makes learning how to engage them in literacy learning a little bit easier.

Literacy Dig: PetCo's Learning Environment

We chose PetCo for the location of this literacy dig as a place that would have some specialized language and would be likely to have different people coming and going, as well as having several different sorts of writing displayed.  For this project, I was in charge of eavesdropping--that is, observing and recording bits of talk--and looking out for what people said to each other, who was saying what, and the routine ways of talking in the location.  For most of the time, I didn't hear much conversation happening.  The store wasn't particularly busy, and when people came in alone, they were not prone to talking.  Those who came in as a part of a group were more likely to talk, generally to comment on how cute the animals were or to discuss products.  Something that complicated my attempts to listen were that several of the customers weren't speaking English, so I had to rely on facial expressions and body language (as well as the focus of their attention) to guess what they were discussing.  I did hear one conversation in which a man asked the woman with him if she had ever seen a sleeping turtle, after which they checked out the turtle cages.  I also overheard pieces of a conversation between an employee getting off work and one starting a shift; they were discussing what needed to be done, as well as shipping dates and what was in stock.  I also heard employees greeting customers and checking whether they were finding everything alright.  The cashier, upon finishing a transaction, told the customer to "Have a good day."

But it wasn't until near the end of my observation period that I hit gold.  A grandmother came in with two of her grandchildren, one infant girl and one boy probably around 3 years old.  The little boy immediately noticed that some of the fish tanks were empty.  Then they talked about the cats and the grandma pointed out the dogs.  They discussed things that you can do with pet dogs, like playing fetch.  But what was really great was the conversation the grandma had about the aquarium area.  She pointed out to her grandson that the signs under each tank tell you what kind of fish is in it and what kind of habitat and care it needs.  I loved how she took the opportunity to draw attention to how information was presented to her young charge, even though he couldn't read it yet.  After hearing this exchange, I read Rebecca Powell and Nancy Davidson's (2005) article "The Donut House:  Real World Literacy in an Urban Kindergarten Classroom" (Language Arts, 82(5), 248-256), and I was even more blown away by how powerful the kind of conversation that this grandmother was having with her grandson is.  Powell and Davidson talk about how having topics of study about which children naturally want to learn is really helpful in terms of student engagement and intrinsic motivation, and this was certainly something that interested this little boy, since even before going to the fuzzy critters, he noticed the absence of fish in some tanks and checked out the fish as his grandmother situated the little girl in their cart.  As Dr. Keller pointed out in my social studies methods course yesterday, children experience "sensitive periods" during which they have keen, focused attention on certain areas, but then then their learning is accomplished and they move onto the next thing.  This little boy seemed to be pretty keen on fish, and his grandmother definitely tapped into that interest to create a teachable moment about what writing can tell you and where to locate information.

How to Get Your Six-Year-Old Engaged

 Don't worry, I'm not recommending that you walk your Kindergarten son or daughter down the aisle, I'm simply saying that engagement with what's going on around them is key for students.  As Brian Cambourne (1995) pointed out, "It didn't matter how much immersion in text and language we provided; it didn't matter how riveting, compelling, exciting, or motivating our demonstrations were; if students didn't engage with language, no learning could occur" ("Toward an Educationally Relevant Theory" in The Reading Teacher, 49 (3), p. 186).  In order to make meaningful connections with the texts that students encounter in their daily lives, they have to first be encountering things that interest them and with which they can identify on some level.  When teachers and parents take the time and effort to be good readers of books that capture the attention of the children with whom they're sharing literature, it makes a difference in the lives of those children.  As one teacher's former student shared with her, "When I read aloud to my kids before bed, it's your voice I hear in my head" (Bernice Cullinan quoted in Johnson & Keier, Catching Readers Before They Fall, 2005, ch. 6).  Furthermore, when we make learning fun, we can sneak it in there and before our kids and students know it, they've picked up something new painlessly and effortlessly, and hopefully have been giggling all the while.  One often-effective way to do this is to use a lot of community-based activities:  have kids read and write together (with parents, siblings, friends, peers) and ask them to discuss what they're hearing when you read aloud.  Children naturally want to try things out, and they want to share what they're discovering and thinking about, so encourage them in these pursuits by providing them with opportunities to explore and to experience appropriate literature and through careful question-asking and interest in what they're learning.