This summer I took two art classes, one of which was ARED 464: Author/Illustration in Art Education where I learned about the intersection of illustration and literacy. Reading is an active, cognitive, and affective process to create meaning. Readers actively engage with the text and build their understanding, which is why picture books are so awesome – they help young readers engage and build their comprehension.
Reading is also a sociocultural process: it occurs within a situation whose participants, time, place, and expectation affect the reader and the meaning they construct with the text. Ergo the meaning is constructed from what the students already know – culturally, socially, topically, etc. This is called cultural funds of knowledge – teachers can take advantage of the fact that diverse students have different background knowledge, and leverage that to improve and encourage reading. In fact, English Language Learners (ELLS) need more intense and intentional scaffolding to bridge their experience to the content of the text, develop schema, and internalize academic language. Ergo not simplify but rather amplify!
After investigating author/illustrators, our final project was to write / create our own picture book! As many of you know, I teach Meditation for Kids class on Sundays in Baltimore (click this link for kids meditation class information). For these classes, I regularly read children’s books that exemplify the topic for the class, whether it is compassion, recognizing our feelings, listening, loving kindness, etc. For this reason, I really wanted to write a children’s book about how to do a basic breathing meditation. I used this website, <mystorybook.com>. Check out my final picture book here!
Also more good news: next week I start a summer internship with Reading Partners! I wrote about them in my March post, and now I get to work for them! My job will be mostly community outreach, introducing folks and encouraging them to volunteer with Reading Partners. What I love is this organization is that it is evidence-based and community-driven, working one-on-one with students for 45 minutes twice a week, following a structured, research-based curriculum. Last semester I volunteered at Robert Coleman Elementary school and witnessed first hand the progress my students made in reading. They just needed some extra scaffolding and support to build up their skills and comprehension. Consider volunteering by visiting this link! It was a ton of fun and really powerful honor to help a student so directly, without needing to be a teacher or parateacher.
MONICA HEISER 