As the wee one is now at an age when she’s starting to read, I have been wondering how I can help her enjoy reading. Recently, I came across a two-part post by Jennie, a teacher of thirty years, titled Language, Literacy, and Storytelling. She shares there some remarkable statistics which gave me pause:
- Every child wants to read when they begin school. Enthusiasm is 100%.
- By fourth grade, only 54% read something for pleasure every day.
- By eighth grade, only 30% read for pleasure.
- By twelfth grade, that number has dropped to 19%.
As Jennie points out, the key word here is pleasure. We drown our children with so much reading that they learn to associate it with drudgery. In their minds, reading becomes synonymous to homework. Is it any wonder they start avoiding as soon as they’re allowed to?
On that note, I remember reading how homework was introduced in the 50s and took off in 60s mainly because of the fact that Soviet Russia did it–and the West didn’t want to be left behind. This is despite a number of studies which show that less homework often brings better academic results than more.
So, given the lack of a concentrated effort to reduce homework for our children, what can we do to break the association between reading and homework misery?
This is where Jennie surprised me. Apparently, the U.S. Department of Education’s report in 1985 on Becoming a Nation of Readers stated:
“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades.”
This shocked me because I had always thought that the practice of reading aloud to your children came to an inevitable end as soon as they started reading for themselves. So much for that myth.
Story Time
Jennie continues by sharing her own experience with a project she’s been trying out: writing picture stories with her students.
In late September, she asks each child what they like to do in school. This is not a casual question. Jennie explains that this is the first time their teacher has asked them, one-on-one. First, they have to think. With no other prompting or questions, she gets “the story”:
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- Image: jenniefitzkee.com
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- Image: jenniefitzkee.com
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- Image: jenniefitzkee.com
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- Image: jenniefitzkee.com
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- Image: jenniefitzkee.com
Each child watches as she writes their exact words. She not only puts their thought into a written image, she also validates that what they say is important.
Next, each child draws a picture of their story. Jennie mounts it along with their photo and hangs it in the hallway. Of course, they then have a field trip to the hallway to read aloud everyone’s picture story. It is a fun activity for children, because they want to tell you a story. Yet, children really have to think in order to do this. They must pull words from their heads to tell a story.
When we write stories, or picture stories, it gives children the opportunity to use all those wonderful words they have heard, over and over again, through picture books and chapter reading. Now, it is their turn. Instead of listening and learning, they are taking their own experiences, using what they have learned through reading, and making stories. That is why their stories are rich in vocabulary and text. Writing stories also increases social skills, language skills… and confidence.
Another trick for me to try out, then, in my continuous effort to make my little darling love books–and the written word!
Read the full post on Language, Literacy, and Storytelling.
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Great practical suggestions for engagung young minds
Thank you, Zahra 😀
Jennie is spot on. I read to my children until they were in high school. It sounds odd that someone would do that, but when they are older you can discuss the book you are reading. It’s best at that point to let them choose the book, however. When my middle son was in 4th grade, his teacher admonished him for reading a book of poetry, telling him (and the rest of the class) that boys don’t read poetry. Later that year she again criticized him openly for reading a book that the 6th-grade class was reading. He understood the content and had no difficulty with the book. (Needless to say, I had quite a few words with her). Over the next year and 1/2 I noticed he was no longer reading on his own so much. I decided to introduce him to Edgar Allen Poe, who coincidently shared his birthday with Greg. We read his short stories and his poetry every evening. Greg was mesmerized with his stories such as The Cask of Amontillado and how it contrasted to some of his poetry such as The Bells. After his introduction to Poe, he went on to broaden his exposure to other authors. He remained an avid reader until his death. His brothers are also avid readers.
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful memoryies with us, Michelle 🙂
My mom read to me a lot when I was little, even before I could really understand what she was reading. She’d sit me down in her lap and read book after book. She had chronic mono but that didn’t stop her from reading The Chronicles of Narnia and the Little House on the Prairie series to us when my sister and I were elementary-school age. Fond memories. Keep it up Mr. Rossis! Your daughter will thank you for it later.
Thank you so much for that! I certainly hope so 🙂
Lovely post! And so timely! My 8-year-old treats reading as homework, and I really needed some ideas to change her outlook. Thanks!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that Sonya may benefit from some of the ideas here! Personally, I loved the concept of drawing the story they tell you as they tell it. I’m planning on trying it out on the wee one soon.
Love this article. It’s in line with a project I’m working on with other authors: Mom’s Favorite Reads, which is geared towards promoting literacy. I think this would be a great article to include in one of our newsletters with your permission. Thanks.
Thank you so much for including my post there! And yes, of course you have my permission. I’d love to hear more about your project. Drop me an email through the contact form if you wish to publish a guest post about it here 🙂
Great post Nicholas – I had a teacher in year six at Primary School who used to read aloud to the class and we loved that time. We got through the entire Chronicles of Narnia that year – she was an inspirational teacher. I used to save my pocket money as a child just so I could buy books and to this day I have always had a passion for reading 🙂
Wow, I’d love to have had a teacher read us the Narnia Chronicles! You’re so lucky. Even better, it looks like it sparked something wonderful in you: the appreciation of reading!
You cannot beat Jennie for inspirational teaching of the very young. She is simply the best, and I wish I could have had a teacher with her skill and compassion at that age.
Best wishes, Pete.
I know what you mean, Pete! It’s wonderful to see people–especially teachers– who are so passionate in what they do. I, too, wish I’d had a teacher or two like her!