As I read Allington's chapter three and the Jones Family's article on blackboard there was one big idea that kept floating through my head. All I could think about was how both articles stressed what kind of literary experiences a child has before they begin school. Children come from thousands of different backgrounds and cultures and in these they all have different, valuable literary experiences.
These literary experiences are given to the child by their parents, grandparents, siblings, caregivers, neighbors, aunts, uncles, etc. All of these people have a crucial role as a reading role model. They are modeling for the young children daily. Some realize it and do obvious things to show children how to read, like Kiki Reynolds in the Jones Family article. Some, though, do not realize how much they are modeling for the children in their lives. Regardless of this, it kept sticking in my head that these role models make all the difference in a child's learning to read. Even us as theteachers have to model for the children in terms of reading and writing. We cannot expect the children to all enter our class on a level playing field so our modeling job takes some practice to be effective. I think that more people should pay more attention to how they are reading and writing around young children because they do not realize how much they are impacting them.
As a teacher, what can we do to help those who have had few or no positive reading role models?
I'm sure some of you have seen this video of the baby thinking the magazine is an iPad. Is technology hurting how we teach our children to read? Is there some way we as educators can harness this tech-savvy world to our advantage when it comes to teaching kids to read? Is the technology a role model also?
Rebecca, do you ever wish that schools could go out and educate all parents on tips to helping their young children learn to read at a young age? I do.
ReplyDeleteI think that you bring up a good point about technology taking over. I would challenge that question with how much technology should parents and care givers allow their children to be exposed to outside of school. What is a good amount? (I want to be my children's role model not my laptop...)
ReplyDeleteI think as a teacher it is very important to realize that all children come from different home backgrounds. I like how you brought that point up because while I was reading the articles the unifying factor was the importance of early literacy concepts and the power that a literacy filled environment has on young children.
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up the point that some role models don't even realize that they are role models. If they realize that they are role models, I feel like they could give the child so much more than they are already.
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