Engaging Children to be Readers — What Ingredients are Needed For Learning to Happen? Part 3

“To learn to read is to light a fire, every syllable that is spelled out is a spark” — Victor Hugo

In yesterday’s post I shared the five ingredients that are needed for learning to happen. Today I want to discuss how these five ingredients: desire, interest, purpose, engagement, and confidence are necessary for children to become readers. I believe that all student can learn and specifically can learn to read. So why do the students who want to succeed and can succeed still fail?

I believe that if success is possible, students will choose it. No one wants to fail. No one chooses to fail. As a teacher I take the stance that if a child isn’t achieving or being successful, first I must take a look at what I am doing or not doing as a teacher that is potentially interfering with their success. Am I making sure that all five of the learning ingredients are present for this student? The difference in children’s achievement is not their ability to learn and succeed, rather it is the ways in which they are taught and the resources available to them (Halverson, Duke, Brugar, BLock.Strachan, Berka & Brown, 2012). Ernest Morrell, Ph.D in his white paper, New Directions in Literacy teaching: Engaging Readers and Writers in 21st Century K-12 Classrooms, states, “a child’s socioeconomic background is not the strongest predictor of academic success.” I have worked in many schools which serve students from a lower socioeconomic background both as an employee and as a literacy consultant. In my experience, a student’s socioeconomic status is often used as an excuse for lack of achievement. What I have learned recently in my interview with Dr. Antonio Cediel during the Achieving Students’ Best Outcomes: Different Paths to Success summit presented by Learning for Life, funding for public schools is based on property taxes so financial resources are not distributed equally to all students. The students that need more resources do not receive them. Let’s take a look at an area that teachers can have a dramatic impact, the five learning ingredients necessary for reading success.

Desire — is to want; to wish for earnestly. The learning journey starts here with wanting to do something. At this stage, a child wants to learn how to read. They want to unlock the magic code and be able to read the words on a page. If a child never engages any further that’s all it will ever be, a desire.

Interest — is to engage the attention of; to awaken interest in; to excite emotion or passion in, in behalf of a person or thing. The next step is to move desire to interest and to get excited about this new prospect. At this stage, the child starts engaging with books and their desire is heightened and wanting to learn how to read. They want to be able to pick up a book and read it.

Purpose — why you do something or why it is important. There needs to be a reason why this thing is important to learn. In regard to reading, children see how important it is to learn to read. Most families and society in general place a high level of importance on learning this skill. Without a reason to learn, it is difficult to put forth the necessary energy to be successful and have the perseverance to overcome the difficulties and challenges that will be faced.

Engagement — the act of engaging or the state of being engaged; involvement. This is where the magic starts to happen, where the learning begins. This is when children start breaking the code of reading. This can be as simple as when young children recognize logos, such as the McDonald’s logo. This is the earliest stages of learning to read. This is where all the hard work happens and is necessary to keep the learning moving forward. This stage must continue throughout the process of learning the skill and improving.

Confidence — the quality of being certain of your abilities. Confidence is the driving force that allows learners to persevere and not give up when things get tough. This is a critical stage that is often missing. When you think of a young child learning to read and they are struggling day after day and they are met with failure rather then success. How long would you as a learner continue when faced with failure every day?

One explanation for why students who want to succeed and have the ability to succeed still fail is that they lose confidence, which affects their ability to persevere and push through and continue learning to read. It is critical that teachers meet students where they are at and encourage them on a daily basis and help them push through and persevere. Encouragement will motivate a child and is a function of confidence. I have spent over twenty years working with and studying struggling readers. Being a struggling reader is a lonely place and leaves the child feeling helpless, defeated and discouraged. It is the job of teachers to inspire and rebuild the confidence necessary in each struggling reader to overcome their doubts and feelings of failure. A tall order but I have seen it happen daily in classrooms across the country.

Tomorrow we will take a look at the ingredient of purpose in the learning process, often stated as the “why” this is important.

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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

― Frederick Douglass

The joy is in the journey!

Blessings and Peace,,

Mary