Chapter 2 Reflection

Last week, we discussed some reasons that students might not enjoy reading and writing, or why they might struggle with it. Gunning’s second chapter goes into more detail regarding these factors. There are SO many different things that could cause these struggles, including environmental, physical, psychological, and educational factors. In my last post, I talked about the specific factors that may cause the lack of interest or the struggle with reading. (I guess I got a little bit ahead of myself!) But, I can go back and talk about them in a little more detail, because this was very interesting to me.

Some kids weren’t read to as children. They just weren’t exposed to literature of any kind. This is something that is so important to start doing from birth. Immerse the children in literature! It’s hard for me to wrap the concept of not reading to your children around my head. Growing up, my dad read to me nearly every night. I loved books and I loved reading. Now, some families don’t have books around because they have a low income, or maybe they speak a different language at home, but when the parents just don’t do it, it can be a little upsetting. Another sad thing is that some kids never learned. While it is the parents’ main responsibility to immerse them at home, some teachers might not have taken the time to really teach these kids how to read. They might have been looked over because they were behind, and the teacher didn’t want to waste time on them while the rest of the class was right on target.

While some of these reasons can be harder to adjust or get past, I think it is still possible to instill the desire and better the ability to read in a student. You have to keep in mind that all children have different reading styles, too. Maybe you’re not catering to their needs in a way that works for them. Differentiate styles of teaching so that each child will be able to take something away from the lesson. Some children just simply aren’t interested in reading. Maybe the literature they’ve been exposed to hasn’t really captured their attention. Get to know the students and suggest books to them and make ones available to them that you think they may find interesting. 

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