Student Story Challenge #1

O.K., I am going to attempt to do a challenge from Two Writing Teachers (I'm not sure I will know how to link when I am done).

The challenge is to write a story about a student we have had in the past (changing all names, of course).

If you know me, you know that I have struggled and struggled with ideas to use with ENL kids, when teaching them to read. I just feel that meaning is such a driving force with beginning readers, that to eliminate meaning just really handicaps the reader. I have asked for more training to work with the ENL population for several years, because I don't feel like I am doing my best work. I must add here, I LOVE working with this population, I just don't feel like I am doing them justice.

I started out this year with 28 students and 9 of them spoke English as their second, or in one case, third language. I had some very proficient ENL readers and some struggling ENL readers. One of my strugglers was a little hispanic boy, *Juan. He had been to head start and extended day kindergarten. He didn't talk much in English. I made sure that he was always at a table with someone that spoke Spanish so he felt like he could communicate. (I know that some people say we should force our kids to speak English at all times, but I feel it is more important to feel safe and secure) I do encourage the kids to speak English as much as possible, but I also don't want them to feel ashamed of their native language.

When it came time to nominate students to be tested for Reading Recovery, I didn't nominate *Juan. I felt like he was using the stretegies I had taught him and the only thing holding him back was his language issue. During our first parent/teacher conference, his dad asked if it was OK that they read to him in Spanish. Of course, I encouraged reading to him in Spanish. His parents seemed to a have a literate household, he seemed interested, he was a hard worker... and yet he was still reading at a very low level.

I consulted my fellow teachers and reading coach. "Research shows good instruction is good instruction. Just keep doing what your doing" is what I kept hearing. Patti (formentioned reading coach) also told me to read the entire book to my group before they tried to read it. I had been giving really strong book intros, but reading the whole book seemed a little like cheating to me. However, I trust Patti so I gave it a try. This group (two hispanic boys and a Ukranian boy) and I would would meet several times a week. I would read the book to them teaching them the vocabulary they would need. Then, they would read the book. *Juan would struggle through the books, but he would use the strategies that we had learned in class. It never sounded pretty and I was never sure if the fact that I read the book first was helpful or hurtful (Sorry for doubting you, Patti).

I wasn't worried that *Juan would eventually do just fine in class. I fugured, once he mastered more of the language he would take off in reading. He had the strategies down he just needed more time. Well, at the end of each year we give our kids a DRA. We expect them to read at a level 16 by the end of first grade and we don't test them higher than an 18. If they read an 18 and pass we put 18+ on their DRA folder and indicate the child is above grade level. I started *Juan out at a level 10 he read it well and we moved on to a 12 same results... By the time we got to a level 16 (grade level) he was blowing me away with his comprehension responses. He even shared some "I wonder" questions with me during his reading. He passed the level 16 and the level 18. He was definately lower in decoding than comprehension, but always above a 90%. I was so proud of him. He was beaming by the end of the DRA testing.


He was officially reading "above grade level". Why had I not known this??? He and I had individual conferences once a week, he was usually reading lower level books and doing good work. Should I have pushed him up in levels or did he need to practice in easy books? If I was learning a new language would I want to read chemistry books in that language or nursery rhymes? I am just so confused. (what's new?) I can't wait to go to Purdue next month and learn what is considered best practice for ENL students. (Is there a best practice or is each individual different?)

Note: Out of the three boys in that group two ended the year above grade level in reading.