I must have done 35 Back To School nights in my teaching career. Like an open house, a Back to School night occurs after the first month or so of the new school semester and gives parents an opportunity to meet their child's teachers and learn a bit ab out the expectations and curriculum for the school year. Of all the post presentation comments I ever received from parents, the most memorable came from a parent who whispered something in my ear and then walked away. Apparently her need to tell me something was greater than to stand in the modest line and wait her turn to talk with the teacher.
Still the comment did not fall on deaf ears. "Thank you for reading to your class," she said. "Especially at this level." That latter comment meant that she believed just because they were high school Juniors in an Honors class, they weren't beyond being read to. In my view, she gets it. Reading aloud is a vital part in educating a person. Language, in all its rhythm and flow, needs to be heard out loud.
Research tells us that parents and people who read to kids model important skills and help insure lifelong reading. Given that we live in a country where half the people did not read a book in the last year, this is significant. I'd wager no reading in the last 10 or even 20 years for most. Scary, no?
With the increasing impact of technology, that figure isn't going to improve any time soon. Maybe audio books will have an impact, but they compete with so many things that are available. I guess listening to something whether it's music or pod-casts or audio books is time well spent, but does it reproduce the experience of personal engagement with a text and the various skills that develops.
I recall having a class of virtual non-readers. It was a small group of mostly teenage boys who started the academic year late. Some came from Juvenile Hall, others had been expelled from one school district to another. Still others had moved recently. All were seen as students with low skills that were reluctant readers. Quite a challenge. This came at a point when I was a fairly young teacher and did not have the classroom library I ultimately developed over 30 plus years. I had only the materials that were available to me. This group consisted of 14students, of which 11-14 showed up daily. Mostly male, African-American, and low skilled. I chose Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea to start the year for a couple of reasons. It involved fishing, and it was there in the textbook room. Ever aware of meeting the needs and interests of all my students, male and female, diverse ethnic groups, all skill levels, I often supplemented other genres of thematic literature while teaching a novel. Could be a poem, a sone, a short story, or even a film.
We read that Hemingway novel together. Every word, aloud in the classroom. I'd read a while, and then ask for volunteers. While I'd read for 15-20 minutes at a time, students would usually read for 5-10 minutes. If there was a lag, I'd emote, vary my voice inflection, pause for digesting a particular poignant event. I gave that novel all I had in me. As a friend of mine would say, "I taught the hair off that book."
For some in that class, it was the first time they'd completed an entire adult book. By that I mean a piece of literature rather than a child's book. I like to think it set a tone and made reading other books by that crew possible. People like a good story. They like being told a good story. Isn't that what happens when we mature readers sit down with a good book.
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