Avid Readers

This has to be the greatest picture ever!

Bringing books to our urban community

Katrina Hobbs has been dynamic since she was five years old. She was probably dynamic before then, but I didn't know her before then.

When Katrina was little, she and her sister, Lewanna, attended our summer Kids Kamp program. While other kids just showed up to attend, Katrina and Lewanna would go home in the evenings and turn cheers and chants into songs and activities and bring them back for us to do at Kids Kamp.

Katrina's family lived in Roseland Homes and attended J.W. Ray Elementary. They would always bring reports of winning different oratorical contests and straight A's on their report cards.

As they got older and moved to different neighborhoods, I didn't see them as much, but they still stayed in contact. Both sisters went to Townview Magnet and were determined to become educators so they could effect children's lives like their teachers had for them.

Katrina has now come back to Roseland to run the Roseland Library/Bookstore. She loves that she gets to work with kids on their reading. I love her excitement. She's doing storytime with the kids, but just today I watched her working with two boys on their rhyming words.

Opportunity is underestimated

The Roseland Library/Bookstore was a buzz of activity when I entered. Ms. Anna's class from the After-School Academy was there for their KidzLit reading class. They had finished reading the book and doing their activities and were all browsing the library.

I noticed a low-key rucus begining to take place. I looked over to see Randy rather upset. One of the kids had picked up a book and Randy was afraid he was going to buy it. Miss Katrina intervened, "What's wrong?" Randy, upset, tried to explain, "He's got the book I wanted to buy!!" Katrina calmly explained to Randy, "He doesn't have any money with him today. He was just looking at the book." The other child finished looking at the book and turned it over to Randy. Randy was then able to get his book and pay Miss Katrina at the check out desk. (I believe I heard a sigh of relief. :) )

After his purchase, I realized Randy had already bought three other books that same day.

Randy quickly settled into one of the library tables and began soaking in every word on the page.

The Roseland Library/Bookstore is open for kids, teens, and adults Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:00-7:30, Fridays from 3:00-5:30, and Saturdays from 10:00-4:00. Miss Katrina facilitates story times and book clubs for kids and teens. All books are available to read in the library or to purchase--25 cents for paperbacks and 50 cents for hardbacks.
In the past, we've given away books to the kids so they could build their library. It wasn't uncommon to see books laying all over the yard outside as kids dropped them in order to run and play and then forgot to pick them back up. Now that we have a bookstore in the community, books are going like hotcakes. And, as far as I can tell, not a one of them gets left behind. Miss Katrina has sold 24 books so far...and we've only been open for 8 days.

1) Charity is not the operative word; opportunity is. Affordability is the issue. Charity can be devalue opportunity. 2) When kids are given the opportunity, don't underestimate. Families want the best for their children and children love to learn. 3) How can we expect kids to love to read when there are no libraries close to Roseland (and many other inner city communities) and bookstores are cost prohibitive?

I am not surprised how the kids are responding. For 14 years I have been engaged with people who live in inner city communities who simply want the same access and opportunity as people in other neighborhoods. When that access is available, people respond.

Storytime Campout

As I came into the office today, I noticed that the After-School Academy window that is usually brightly lit up like this:



was very dark, as if no one was there. Though there were no lights, it seemed darker than usual.

Perplexed...and, I admit, a little concerned that the teachers weren't doing their job...I started to walk in.

As I opened the door, little voices started chattering, "Someone's coming in!" and one of the dark black curtains hanging from the ceiling, encircling the kids, slightly opened so the kids could see their intruder.

"It's Ms. Janet!" they exclaimed. And quickly started telling me, "We're having a campout!"

Indeed, it was very dark...like a campout. And I looked down to see their "camp fire" in the middle of the circle (baby carrots on a piece of white tissue paper with a flashlight underneath to make it glow).

The kids had read their morning story, Bear Snores On, and were role playing and learning about kindness.







Shines go out to Nazareth, their teacher for the day, who stepped in for their regular teachers. I'm glad I walked in when I did. Sometimes it's the little events that help me realize how much the kids are learning and how much the teachers (many of them high school students...and Nazareth, a former student herself) are teaching.

Thanks, everyone!

So much more than words...

The problem is...kids need to learn to read.

The problem is...kids don't comprehend.

The problem is...they don't enjoy reading.

....

The problem is...

...we are so busy teaching reading, teaching comprehension, and telling them how to enjoy reading, that we forget that they need the fun experiences and the context to understand what they read so that they can read, comprehend, and enjoy it!

After doing reading assessments on our After-School Academy kids, I had a realization:

Our kids can read!

That may sound bad, but with all of the talk about how low-level inner city children are, I bought into it. I think what happens is we see the ones who struggle and begin focusing our thinking on their decoding skills (or lack thereof).

At the beginning of the school year, 64% of our After-School Academy kids were reading at or above grade level. By the end of the school year, nearly 90% of our kids were reading on or above grade level. Because of the ASA staff, the school, the parents, and the kids, we've done pretty good.

Problem solved, right?

Not quite.

I had an a-ha moment after testing three of our 6th graders. Each were tested separately; all were given the same story. All three read at an 8th grade level, with a reading accuracy of 96-97%. However, when I asked them to tell me about the story, they completely missed the main point. After coaching them on how to look for the main idea, something prompted me to ask them to tell me what a couple of key words were in the story: "the sun sears my back," "the molten pavement," and maybe one or two others. Although they pronounced the words perfectly, they had no idea what they meant and, therefore, missed the whole meaning of the passage.

Although 90% of our kids read on grade level, only 10% are at or above their grade level in comprehension skills.

Kids need new experiences.

I grew up in the country. I had never really seen "art." However, after going to a semester of college in Europe and traveling around seeing the Van Gogh museum, the Sistene Chapel, looking at Renior paintings, going to the place Monet painted his water lilies, etc., I came back to the states and passed my Art Appreciation 101 class with flying colors. I had context. I had experience.

I remember reading the Agony and the Ecstasy after returning from Italy. As I read, the references to Michelangelo, his apprenticeships, the towns that were known for their marble, Michelangelo's struggle with painting the Sistene Chapel...it all came alive! I could visualize the David. I had seen a pieta and now knew what a pieta was! I was tired as I read about Michelangelo walking up and down the steep, Tuscan roads; I had walked where Michelangelo walked.

The book was easy for me to read because I knew what they were talking about. Why, then, do we focus so much of our energies on drilling kids on words and quizzing them on definitions?

I don't suggest sending everyone across the world to gain different experiences. It's a little improbable (though that isn't a bad idea!). I do, however, think we should re-evaluate our approach to urban education. Learning isn't just about reading words. Decoding is important, but kids must learn to decode while gaining multiple experiences in multiple settings along the way. Our society has become global. We have to recognize that and equip our kids accordingly.

"Teach kids to read," sounds good on the surface, but there is so much more to reading than just learning the words.