Visual/Verbal Literacy - Part 2: Reluctant Readers and Brick Walls

Aside from my confession below, I can think of no better way to begin this post than with another slam poem by Taylor Mali:

Confession:  I remember being in high school, home sick and asking my mom to read aloud to me.  She refused, saying I was too old.  With some serious prodding from me, she relented and read to me, and I will always remember and love her for it.  Even now, I beg my husband to read aloud to me too.  I just love it.  I love hearing his soothing voice - it relaxes me. I don't think you're never too old to be read aloud to. 

Aside from the intimacy of being read to, reading aloud helps kids hear and integrate the rhythm and sequence of language.  It is an excellent way to encourage reluctant readers and boost their language skills.

Overview: Getting reluctant readers can be as much fun and as effective as hitting your head against a brick wall!  As my last blog was on visual literacy - an important skill to emphasize for all, especially reluctant readers, I want to spend more time now on visual literacy.  With summer here and school out, there is a lot parents can do to help build kids' literacy skills.  Here are some suggestions:

Read aloud at bed time, down time, or on a stormy afternoon (I recommend your reading Thundercake by Patricia Polacco and then bake a thundercake together). You can even read aloud at breakfast - if you're awake enough and have the energy - read cereal boxes together, read or summarize a newspaper or magazine article, or even share cool blog posts together.

Model reading independently- let your kids see you reading for fun and for work.  Let them see you enjoying it - finding humor, excitement, information!

Tell Stories -  making up crazy, zany ones or writing/telling serious ones.  The point is to become more comfortable using words.

Read wordless books and tell you the story:  Reading wordless books offers a wonderful opportunity for your child to become more comfortable with books and with using his or her words.  The more your kids use words (spoken, heard, or written), the easier it will be to USE them.

So, from as soon as your child can talk encourage him or her to read books aloud to you or silently to themselves -  just looking at the illustrations and telling the story (also great practice with visual literacy).  Here are some more of my favorite wordless books (I have recommended others in previous posts):

Looking Down by Steve Jenkins

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Flotsam by David Wiesner 

Little Star by Antonin Louchard

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

Make up stories - (even or especially zany, crazy stories) - the point is to play with words

Rhyme - play rhyming games, make rhyming poems (zany crazy poems work well here too) - rhyming provides opportunities to play with phonemes (word sounds).  The more familiar you are with word sounds, the easier they will be to visually recognize in print.

Graphic novels great motivators integrate visual and verbal literacies.  Check out some of my other posts with graphic novel suggestions:

http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/06/visual-vs-visual-literacy-no-contest.html

http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/05/science-fiction-skills-chills-and.html

http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/03/learning-with-laughter.html

 http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/03/kicking-back-bitwhats-all-this-about.html

http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2011/01/great-reads-for-avid-4th-and-5th-grade.html

http://departingthetext.blogspot.com/2010/10/graphic-novels-at-home-and-in-school.html 

Encourage your kids to read alone - even if it's a picture book.  

Make sure your kids are reading high interest books on their "INDENDENT READING LEVEL" An independent reading level is the reading level the person can read comfortably with little to no error.  It is the reading level that is "easy" but engaging.  If your child is putting down a book mid-reading it is either because she or he has lost interest in the content, or because the book was too challenging, or both.

How to find an independent reading level? You can ask your child's teacher and/or you can experiment yourself.  Have your child read aloud to you.  If he or she stumbles over words when reading AND/OR cannot define words read, then that reading selection is too difficult to read independently.



Some high interest easier reading books for weak readers:  These books are entertaining but the language is easier and there are visual cues to help with comprehension and word recognition.

• Sophisticated picture books
• Horrible Histories by Terry Deary are wonderfully funny and often colorful and unusual stories from history or science.  There are also occasional illustrations to further express a point.  This a wonderful series of books for middle school students of ALL reading levels.
• The Magic Tree House series are easy to read stories (second grade reading level) that older, less talented readers can enjoy reading as well.

NOT SURE?  Ask a Librarian!  They are fantastic resources for appropriate reading materials for kids of all ages.

Join or establish a parent/child book club.  Talk to your local librarian for assistance.  I did this with my daughter and it was a lot of fun.

The world around you is an oyster of words to read and write - take advantage of this! Read signs when driving.  Make up real and crazy signs.  Read and write blogs together - create meme challenges. Leave notes for each other.  Create and write cards. 

The best way to encourage reluctant readers is to make sure they are reading at the right level and to surround them with books, and reading and writing opportunities.

What's your opinion?

Kicking back a bit...What's all this about Inference?

In my last post I summarized my C2E2 presentation.  What I would like to do this week is kick back, discuss some of the comments and take them a bit further, talking about the nearly unlimited opportunities you can make to read with your kids, talk with them and help them learn to think critically and evaluate the world around them.

What's all this about inference?
Inference is the act of drawing a conclusion by deductive reasoning.  Inferences are assumptions or images we connect or construe when reading, when talking with others, even watching television or movies.  Reading and writing poetry is an example of making inferences.  In poetry the reader provides images, similes, metaphors that the reader must interpret in order to fully comprehend the author's intent. Some people describe making inferences as 'reading between the lines' which is SO appropriate when talking about reading graphic novels.

We make inferences all the time - at work, at home, talking to colleagues and friends, in school, at play, when reading, when thinking about the world around us.  The thing about inference, though is that it is actually hard to teach and hard to learn.  Graphic novels are so helpful because they provide so many cues - text, art, and even page design all provide the reader with important information.

Types of inferences we make when reading graphic novels:
When we read regular novels, we typically make inferences about what the characters, places, events look like.  We are almost always told what the protagonist is thinking and feeling, and motives are often included by the narrator or third-person voice.  In graphic novels that is not the case.  When reading graphic novels we typically must infer:

• Character motives and intent;
• Emotions;
• Time sequences;
• What is happening 'beween' scenes (and in the gutters) that is not 'given' or provided by author/artist.

Kicking back with an example of the awesome power of graphic novels and making inferences:
This image s taken from I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (Image comics).

Story Background:  Barbara is a fifth grader who tells anyone who will listen that she kills giants.  The reader is uncertain at this point if she really kills giants, if she lives in a world of her own, out of touch with others, or if this is one giant metaphor for her having to face huge scary issues in her life.

On this page, Barbara is arguing with her sister.  Barbara hit the school counselor and her sister was called to pick her up.  The sister is really upset.

Inferences we must make:

• Why does Barabaras's sister have to 'do this on her own'?
• Where is their dad?
• Where is their mom?
• Why are there words inked out?
• What might Barabara's sister be saying?
• Why can't Barabara hear them?
• What is with the eye thing in the middle panel on the bottom?
• Why is there a shadow over Barbara's face in the last panel?

This is just one page from one graphic novel.  Each graphic novel is different in part, because the stories, the art, and the page design are different for each book.  That is part of the thrill or reading these new books and formats.  As always, the quality and appropriateness of these books vary.  While I recommend reading them at home and in school, I strongly recommend that adults look through the books before giving them to kids to check for appropriateness of story and vocuabulary.  That said, graphic novels are well worth the effort.

How else can you help your kids learn to make inferences?

• Talk about books you and your kids read (graphic novels, poetry, prose).  Ask them what the author intended when she/she wrote something vague or something different. 
• When reading graphic novels:
• Talk about how the art and the visual details add to the story.
• Talk about how the choice of color palate helps explain depict emotion.
• Discuss how the choice of text font and shape add to the story detail.
• Talk about the titles of books and chapters.  After reading them, would you have chosen those titles?  Why?  Can you think of different titles?
• Talk about metaphors and similes.  They are such graphic means of expression.  When you come across them, talk about them.
• When going for walks talk and think about the things you see around you.  Why are they that way?  Why do you  think squirrels have busy tails?  What color do you think is the most popular one for the outside of a house?  Why?  
• Design scenes and worlds for dolls/lego designs, trains, dinosaurs as you play together.  Talk about the choices your child makes when designing the scenes.
• What is so great about jello - the taste, the texture, the fact that it jiggles?

These questions go on and on.  The point is to notice things around you, to notice things others say or write and to think and further analyze and understand them.  The more you model and practice critical thinking and inference, the easier it will be for your child to tackle the world around them.

What are some of the ways you practice making inferences together?  I'd love to hear some of your ideas or questions!