Closing Thoughts Learning to read is typically defined as learning to control a specific set of skills. And though it’s certainly true that children must learn to orchestrate a complex set of strategic actions that enable comprehension, it’s equally true that learning to read is a social-cultural event. In other words, learning to read is more than simple skill building. Children become readers when they are immersed in a community of readers, surrounded by rich book talk and animated demonstrations of reading, and provided with the social-emotional support that enables them to develop identities as readers and become members of the “literacy club” (Smith, 1987; Allyn and Morrell, 2016; Harvey and Ward, 2017). Thus, at the same time we’re helping students acquire the technical skills necessary for proficient reading, we also work to help children develop the confidence to take the risks needed to propel their learning. Learning to read, like any human endeavor, requires practice, perseverance, and persistence to push through the challenges to proficiency.
39
STRIVING READERS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs