Read and Succeed by Terry Husband

Author:Terry Husband [Husband, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: R&L Education
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Practical Strategy 1: Learn from the Homes and Communities of African American Boys

It is impossible to develop a substantive knowledge base and understanding of the texts that are readily available in the homes and communities of African American boys by simply asking questions. Therefore, teachers should spend some time visiting the homes and communities of the African American boys in their classrooms as a means of learning firsthand the nature of the texts that are used on a daily basis outside school.

Teachers can accomplish this goal in three ways. First, they can visit the homes of the African American boys in their classrooms. Parents and teachers should negotiate mutually agreed-on dates and times for these visits. During these visits, teachers should make an effort to document the types of texts that are visibly being used in the home. They should also note the reason that each text is being used.

The second way that teachers can accomplish this goal is by conducting casual interviews with parents, guardians, and other significant community members of the African American boys in their classroom. This will give teachers another means of learning about the types of texts being used in their homes and communities on a regular basis.

The third way that teachers can learn from the homes and communities of African American boys is by serving in a volunteer capacity in the local communities of the African American boys in the classroom. For instance, Ms. Turner might decide to volunteer once per month at the local church where two of the boys in her classroom attend to learn more about the types of texts that are available for reading within this context. This will give Ms. Turner valuable information to use in her reading lessons at school.

Practical Strategy 2: Establish Connections between Texts

A second strategy that teachers can use to incorporate real-life texts in the classroom is to structure lessons in ways that allow students to make natural connections between texts used outside of school and texts used inside of school. For instance, let us suppose that Ms. Turner is teaching a lesson on goods and services. After learning about the types of texts that exist at a local restaurant that the African American boys in her classroom visit frequently, Ms. Turner might begin the lesson by passing out a copy of the menu for the boys to explore.

After giving the boys some time to explore the menu, she might then ask them to identify the object and its purpose and to read what it says. Immediately, the boys will recognize the menu and its source of origin. Ms. Turner might then establish a connection between the local restaurant and a text used in school related to “services” in the community. This type of building background activity is likely to motivate the boys to read more about goods and services in the classroom.

Principle 10: Teachers Must Establish High Expectations for African American Boys

There is a direct relationship between teachers’ expectations and student performance in the classroom.

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