Two More Student Voices

*Names have been changed in both of these posts to protect student privacy

During the independent practice section of reading workshop, Jessica and Evan who are learning English as a second language receive literacy instruction in Everson’s ELL classroom. In the ELL classroom Jessica and Evan are supported in applying the comprehension strategy or teaching point they received from Mrs. Thomsen’s whole class mini-lesson. A few weeks ago, when Jessica and Evan returned to Mrs. Thomsen’s classroom and sat down for share circle; they each had a comprehension tool for telling a story summary. They had been introduced to a three column chart to help organize a summary of a story they listened to on tape.
Jessica and Evan drew pictures and wrote a few words to remind them of their story’s summary elements. When it came time for Jessica and Evan to share, they held up their story summary and proudly displayed their pictures to the class. This was encouraging because Jessica and Evan were usually hesitant to share each morning during share circle; often hiding their mouths and smiles with their hands.
To witness Jessica and Evan share was a proud moment for me and I wondered how the other students would respond. The other students reacted positively to Jessica and Evan’s sharing, complimenting their drawings and exclaiming, “I want to do that! Why did they make those charts?” Mrs. Thomsen then explained to the class that Jessica and Evan had practiced summarizing their story using the chart as a tool. She asked Jessica and Evan to each share one summary element such as the name of the main character in their story; which was the same question all of the students were responding to.
“Belonging to a group means being needed as well as to need, and believing that you have something vital to contribute. Every child can contribute care for others in many ways- by listening with attention and responding with relevance, by showing concern for feelings and viewpoints of others, by developing a capacity for empathy”(Charney, 22).
Both Jessica and Evan shared and exemplified to the group that every student has an important voice and something valuable to contribute. Other students were impressed with the work Jessica and Evan did and asked to see their comprehension chart after the share session had concluded. Reader’s workshop has the component of sharing built into the structure and it allows children to feel included in the community, and to view reading as a valuable tool for creating new understandings.