We have been dealing with both issues of reading as a general theoretical
process
both through
* Accepted
work of literacy experts
* the
Semiotic Perspective and Theory of Abstraction and
Theory of True Narrative Representations
I want to make more direct and tangible some things that we have spoken
of before in John Oller's ideas about True Narratives and fictions
and the very important ideas of Frank Smith regarding the importance of
reading materials that make sense rather than materials that are
nonsense.
* Since
reading consists of as much or more of what you bring to
the process in terms of your cueing systems and background, the
types of materials you use are very important.
* In effect,
you must utilize materials that ENHANCE PRAGMATIC
MAPPING
Let me talk about some principles that are important in this regard......that is, selecting materials that enhance pragmatic mapping:
Points To Keep in Mind
*
The types of books that you choose are really dependent on the
children and their reading level and the things you are doing
with the books.
*
If you are using the books for read-alouds and for heavily
scaffolded reciprocal reading, then you can use books that
are two or three grades above the kids reading level.
-- Research shows us that kids can comprehend books that
are above their independent reading level
-- You should read to them at that type of level to push
their meaning-making systems.
*
If you are getting the kids to read themselves...always with
some level of scaffolding..... you would need to observe the
kids and use materials that are at their level of reading ability
or age-level attached to that level of reading
* There are a number of general points that you should consider:
General Point One: It is primarily Important that the books
selected
will enhance pragmatic mapping.
--
This
requires material that reflects a true narrative representation
by directly representing actual events.
-- Alternatively,
fictions that are well-grounded in true narrative
representations
-- Care
must be taken to ensure that the materials possess strong
episodic structure.
--
Materials are motivating (this may involve conflict)
--
Materials have well-organized sequential and temporal structure
--
Materials are culturally relevant (Pragmatic Cueing)
--
Materials are experientially relevant to the students.(Pragmatic
Cueing)
General Point Two: It is important that the books are motivating
for the kids.
--
This involves several factors:
* The books should be well-written.
--- Materials should include good language which help kids
build a set of pragmatic maps by allowing utilization of
the cueing systems.
---This is easily done with good literature because good
literature uses the systematicity of language.......the
patterns of language as manifested by:
the grammaticality of the linguistic system
the predictability and inclusionary aspects of the
semantic system
the cultural experiences of the children (that act
as scaffolds)
the adjacency principle
the flow of experience (both in terms of
1) how the world works in one's culture,
how reality is tied to temporal sequentialness
2) and the literary genres that we -- and the kids
-- become used to reading).
This helps kids anticipate what comes next.
General Point Three: Good literature also uses language that
is similar
to what kids hear in the real world
--
so they not only have previous experience with the language but they
are also able to start seeing the interrelations between the spoken
language of their meaning-making experience and the language of
literacy
--
This reveals the interrelations between print connections
and
oral connections
-- In
effect, the experiences in real life and experiences in books
can be seen as related.
Interrelated
Point ONE: You should avoid basal readers
They use readability indices to determine reading levels that
are based on superficial aspects of language structure and
those are simply not very good measures.
* such indices take a simplistic view of language as
only
linguistic elements ( and superficial ones at that)
* these indices ignore many other aspects of language and
meaning-making that make print more easily processed
* Consequently, these simplistic readability indices often
strip the very "turns of phrase" and literary devices
the sound and sense
the rhythm and rhyme
The very elements that make the language
of literature memorable and easy to map
and remember
These reading indices often strip the essence of
good language and make the books frightfully
boring.
Using texts that exist just to create sound and meaning contrasts
but without good writing and without well-motivated stories
don't work.
* They end up using artificial language patterns that are
not predictive,
* That the child can't link to experience,
* That have little or no plot
* They may also use language that is foolish and almost
non-sensical.
Of course, there are exceptions to these principles........I'm
generally talking about basals and contrived reading series.
* When selecting books that use rhymes (rhymes and alphabet
books for very young children so they can "play with the language")
* There are books that still use word-play and interesting
rhymes and
STILL use other aspects of predictability -- but these are not typical.
-- For example, I think that a lot of the Dr. Seuss books are good,
even with nonsense language
-- They have good plots
-- Are well-motivated stories
-- They use predictability well
-- They are heavily and well-grounded in grammar
-- The nonsense typically is with the lexemes
-- So you still can make use of the patterns and
predictability of language
-- Children are fascinated with the strange sounds and
words WITHIN the predictable schemes.
-- Read the "Cat in the Hat", "Horton hears a Who",
"Green Eggs and Ham", or even "One Fish, Two
Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and you will see what
I mean.
General Point Four: You should choose books that have topics
that the
kids are interested in
-- Important because mapping and the motivation to both create
comprehensibility and to continue reading things depends on how
engaging something is to the children.
-- If they are not interested in what they are reading......they
will not
listen when you read or they read themselves
-- Since reading is what strengthens reading skills, you want to
get
them to be independent readers and for that, self-motivation is crucial.
-- Of course, what is motivating to a particular child is dependent on
the child's:
age
gender
experience
interests.
You certainly can't always anticipate. You should always ask them.
-- Some general areas of interest that I have noticed:
* For very young children (18 months to
3 years)
-- books that are reflective of common home
routines
and experiences
-- that also help the children feel secure and
loved are
very good and often preferred.
-- They help the Children create their first pragmatic
maps of real life experiences.
Themes like preparing for bed, being cared for,
sitting with Mama, playing with Daddy, playing
with the pet are often preferred.
"Goodnight Moon",
"Where does the Brown Bear Go?",
"Can't you sleep,Little Bear?"
"The Runaway Bunny"
"Where the Wild things are"
comforting Nursery Rhymes are examples.
Another mapping need for children this
age is to
recognize how language and its patterns work -- the
linkage between sounds and words and objects in the
world and words
* so another preferred activity or theme that children
this age migrate to are books that:
-- play on the beginning awareness of language
being able to link sounds with pictures and print
link rhymes and see that words go together on the
basis of how they sound -- patterns in that very
salient sense.
-- The books that use rhyming and that talk about
the sounds
that animals make
-- books that are repetitive with regard to names
and sounds
are often preferred at this stage
* helps the kids start becoming aware of both what
language is
* how it links to objects and print and experience
* how many of the simple patterns occur in language,
patterns like rhymes, and repetition, and alliteration.
-- These early and simple patterns enable
young children
to start making and fulfilling predictions
-- It enables them to start seeing linguistic
systematicity.
* For older children
-- Many children like simple mysteries and
books that deal
with these are much sought after.
* "Magic Tree House" series is very popular.
* For older readers (9-12) there are books like
"The Boxcar kids" series,
"Hardy Boys",
"Nancy Drew Mysteries" (both of which
have new and up-dated books),
the "Baby Sitter Club" series, and even
"Goosebumps" books that are oriented to
mystery and suspense.
* In each of these and others, there are mysteries
and puzzles to solve
-- but they are very simplistic and the kids
can really latch onto them and even
anticipate solutions themselves
-- they see their ideas come true......it is very
exciting to them.
* Many children like books that reflect the
actual experiences
of life or common problems that they encounter or that they
can identify with.
-- Remember true narrative representations or
fictions grounded in them.
* They see themselves -- to some extent -- and can
better identify with the plot and settings and conflicts
and this, in turn, acts as a scaffold to help them map
and to create motivation.
* That is why the "Berenstain Bears" series and
the "Arthur the Ant eater" books are so popular
with young children and beginning and young
readers.......they all revolve around experiences
and problems common to young children (going to
school, trouble with manners, bullys, trouble with
siblings, conflicts between friends, scouting trips,
staying at grandma's, mom going to work,
camping in the woods, an experience at Halloween....
and on and on).
* The same can be said of many books for older
children (again, the "babysitter's Club" series as
an example and a lot of the pre-teen social and
"dating" (Sweet Valley High) and sports books
and series).
* Many children -- particularly pre-teens
and teens like
adventure type books.
-- These books enable them to start extending their own
understanding of the world and their place in it in a
safe and vicarious manner
-- These books help pre-teens start "trying on" the clothing
of adolescence and even adulthood as they believe these
roles to be. Through literature, they can experience
being brave,
being independent,
being able to act and think for oneself
being successful at it.
these are essential needs and desires and themes for
children and their psychological development at these
ages......and the books they seek out provide such
experiences.
The books like
"Julie of the Wolves"
All of Gary Paulsen's books ("Hatchet", "Dogsong",
Tracker"),
"The Hundred Dresses",
Beverly Cleary's books
are all examples of such materials that are preferred by
this age range.
* Many children at all levels are interested
in books that
discuss topics that they find interesting.
-- Dependent on the child's age, knowledge, and learning
style, they may prefer topical books that are more narrative
over those that are more expository -- or vice-a-versa
-- But there are plenty of both....and there are a continua
between the two on many, many topics.
For example, on the topic of Dinosaurs, one could use
"Patrick's Dinosaurs" (simple story narrative),
"The Land Before Time" (a more complex narrative)
"Dinotopia" (an even more complex adventure
narrative),
"Raptor Red" (an adult level adventure narrative
from the perspective of a velioraptor),
The "Eyewitness Book" series volume on Dinosaurs
(Expository and scientific).
There are many examples on other topics (look at the topics
in the "Magic School Bus" series and the great "Eyewitness
Books" series by the publisher Alfred A. Knopf. By the way,
for older kids, the "eyewitness books" have titles for over
72 different topics.
III. You should choose books -- at least for pre-literate and
early literate children
-- that has good and interesting
artwork that lines up with the print on the
page so that it is easy
for the students to see illustrations of (at least) some
part of what they are reading.
This is important to help the children make
the connections and use both the
verbal language, the print and the pictures
as scaffolds in their meaning-making.
This also means that the artwork is
interesting and well-done itself
and that the pictures and print are on the
same page. Such multisensory
representations cannot be over-emphasized
with beginning and early
readers or with language disordered or learning
disabled children.
IV. You should choose books that have themes and environments
and children
that reflect the ethnicity
and experiences of your children. To effectively
scaffold, the stories and
pictures and issues should reflect who your student
happen to be.....that means
plenty of books representing African-American
children if they are your
students, or Southerners or Westerners, Mormons,
or Native Americans or Anglos
or whomever they happen to be. As
Sims Bishop wrote
(to paraphrase), " The children have to see mirrors of
themselves in the literature".
If this is not the case, it sends a message to
the child with regard
to how we value him or her as a person and how we
regard who they are and
where they came from. Not only is pragmatic
mapping more effective if
we include reflections of our children and their
experiences, so too are
their affective systems strengthened. This is
essential. Of course,
that doesn't mean you don't also use books about
others......that is also
important....but don't ONLY use books about White
kids or middle socioeconomic
children. You might notice that many
early series are about
animals (e.g.. Berenstain Bears series, Curious
George) and not about white
or black or rich or poor kids or chicano or
pacific-rim kids.........this
has been done on purpose to sidestep the
issues just described......and
it is an effective strategy......these are
appropriate to use.....but
add a dose of books where the kids can see
themselves as well.
V. Think of the accessibility of the reading materials
that you use for
the children outside of
your activities. It is important that children
have the opportunity to
read and re-read books that they like...that
they can share those with
others....or that they can read the same things
and have the opportunity
to discuss those books that they like with other
children or adults outside
of your intervention or teaching setting...so,
think about how accessible
the books are to the children ....you may
make certain sufficient
numbers of a book are available in the library
or you may get additional
copies or personal copies for the kids...this
is often an important issue.......it
is important to pre-readers and
beginning readers because
they often want and need multiple
opportunities to hear and/or
read the books....for older students the
books and the reading experiences
are enhanced when you provide
enough copies so that their
peers can read the book and they can share
the story......This is not
the most important consideration....but it is an
important one.
VI. Think about using (at least some) books that are a
part of a series. This
enables the children to
have a constancy of characters and/or writing
style so that it is easier
for them to read the subsequent books both due
to a knowledge of the background
of the characters and the writing style
of the authors.........several
other advantages accrue:
1. They start
getting a better feel for literary genres when they read a
series (like the "Magic Tree House" series or the "Indian in
the
Cupboard" books). this will serve their future reading
practices well.
2. They start
recognizing even more wide ranging patterns in both
language and literacy because there is the continuity of the series
and the writing
3. They usually
become more motivated to read another work about a
character that they liked.....so there is a strong motivation to keep
reading the series........this creates more independence and
self-
motivation as a reader
4. There is
a continued satisfaction to complete books in a series.
VII. Well, these are some of the issues that we can think of as
a set of
criteria that we might
use in selecting material for children. Many
other teachers and
researchers have discussed these types of issues.
With regard to general
issues of book selection,
1.
Do use trade books rather than basal readers or magazines. The
market place is a brutal arena that usually rejects bad or poorly
written books so best sellers in the bookstores are likely fine
pieces of literature for kids. If the kids buy em........they are
readable and often popular (but always apply the points mentioned
above too)
2.
There are a lot of awards given to kids books and these are
generally book indications. The Newbery Awards are always
good bets in our experience.
3.
Every Spring the journal "The Reading Teacher" has panels of
children, teachers, and parents rate and comment on the books
published that year...we have found these lists to be really excellent.
4.
Your local librarian is often a great source for you....either at your
school or your public library......make use of them
5.
Make use of your students/children. Ask them what they like
6.
Always use the reactions of your children as the final judge....if
they don't like a book, then that is the key.
7.
Here are some series that I have found very helpful:
Magic Tree House Series (pre-readers & beginning/young readers)
Puffin Easy to Read series (excellent titles -- for the most part
-- for
4 years to 9 years ....three levels)
Seuss Beginner Book Series (pre-school to beginning readers
and even young readers........excellent
Seuss and Seuss-like books (P.D. Eastman,
Rosetta Stone)..........but look at them
carefully....most are predictable, motivated
and fun (due to some nonsense/play with
language) -- a very few are only nonsense.
The Berenstain Bears Series (excellent for pre-literate up until
8 or so years. Then they have "Chapter
books" that can go a few more years.
The HarperTrophy "My First I can Read Books" series (pre-
readers and Beginning readers)
The BoxCar Kids series (young readers)
The Indian in the Cupboard Books (young to preteen readers)
Eyewitness Books (Excellent expository books about many topics)
8.
There are numerous sources for finding literature for young readers.
A. Books
Cullinan, B.E. (1989) Literature and the child. (2nd Ed.)
Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.
Huck, C., Hepler, S., & Hickman, J. (1987). Children's
literature in the elementary grades. (4th Edition).
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Lewis, V.V. & Mayes, W.M. (1998). Valerie & Walter's
Best books for Children: A lively, opinionated
guide. New York: Avon Books.
Routman, R. (1994). The blue pages (pp. 103b-169b)
Invitations: Changing as teachers and learners
K-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
B. Journals
International Reading Association
Each year the IRA - Children's Book Council publishes a
listing of selections of newly published children's books
that children themselves like. Titles selected are grouped
by reading abilities and contain biographical data.
Basal Readers and Pedagogy
* You must never be controlled by materials. You
must take more
responsibility for the materials you use and how you use them
* Materials in the hands of a teacher who holds a skills model
are
skills materials
* Materials in the hands of a teacher who holds a whole language
model are whole language materials.
* It is not unusual to see classrooms with no basals but where
books
of literature are read whole class, round robin style and seatwork
consists of packets of vocabulary words to look up and lots of
questions to answer in written form for each chapter
* Using literature, reading Big Books, and doing journal writing
are
not enough. Unless we know why we are doing what we are doing,
the way we do things may be no different than the skill-based and
fragmented way.
How do you determine the level of text for students if not with readability
Indices?
--
Employ a cloze procedure (Pikulski & Tobin, 1982)
* Take the text in question, leave out every fifth word
* The student reads the text and when he/she gets to the
deleted word, he/she provides the best guess of the word
the author actually used.
* Only exact replacements are scored as correct. Not
even
synonyms that maintain the meaning are correct.
* If a student can fill in 40 to 60 percent of the blanks with
the same word as the author, the text is within the student's
instructional reading level.
Employ a miscue analysis
* Have the child read approximately 100 word passage in
the questioned text
* If there are more than 8 or 9 miscues......of any quality,
it
is a bit too difficult
* If there are no miscues in a 100 word passage, it is
probably not difficult enough.
Ask the teacher what level the student is reading at.
* Generally they can read interesting and motivating material
one or two grade levels above what is determined by a
standardized reading test.
* Generally they can read well-written material one grade
level above their "in-class reading level.
Let the student determine what he/she wants to read and the
reading level
* Tell them you are going to use some reading material
for a while and he/she can determine what they want
to read. Tell them to make sure it interests them and
"sort of pushes your ability"
Check out the various lists of good reading material at a
student's grade level. These are always available in The
Reading Teacher and with other lists.