Community Advisory Committee for Gifted and Talented Education

Irvine Unified School District

October 30, 2007 Meeting Highlights

Submitted by Patrick Traynor, Ph.D., Lakeside Middle School GATE Parent Representative

Dr. Susannah Richards, Assistant Professor at Eastern Connecticut State University presented “Connecting Kids and Books: The Parent Role” to the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) at the October 30, 2007 CAC-GATE Meeting. As Lakeside Middle School’s GATE parent representative, my role is to share information presented at these meetings to the school community. So, I would like to briefly share some main points from my notes.

First, Dr. Richardson emphasized flexibility as an important factor in connecting children with books. For example, the time of the day and location to read does not necessarily have to be scheduled. Books can even be brought to the dinner table. Dr. Richardson added “all kids should have book-lights” so they can have the opportunity to read themselves to sleep. Also, allowing children to read the last chapter first can increase motivation and focus. Rearranging a child’s selection of books at home can further make books at home more appealing and less a part of the furniture that goes unnoticed. With respect to reading speed, many children do not read every word on a page and frequently appear to be skipping words. Dr. Richardson said that this is fine especially for pleasure reading. She added that some gifted readers and writers do this simply because too many great books exist. So, speed-reading them allows many more books to be read. Also, providing the child with choices over what to read helps develop deeper decision making criteria. A young reader has developed several criteria for selecting books such as the current interests, personal identification with a main character, illustrations, number of pages, etc. Allowing choice helps refine or add to a child’s set of criteria. Love of reading is the underlying factor that should be considered when connecting kids with books. Imposing more structure when influencing the reading environment should only be done if justifiably necessary and then only with caution.

Productive reading does not even have to occur within books. When a child desires something, for example, a video game, a television show, a particular treat, or not to do something such as practicing piano, the child should be able to justify why the preferred choice would be beneficial. In our information rich culture, Dr. Richardson said a child should be able to “use Google as a verb” and readily find information in support of or opposed to a particular position. When reading this Internet information, a child is motivated to decipher relevant words and phrases in text while building reasoning skills. When negotiating with the adult, the child must show relevant credible data to support a particular preference.

Reading to children also can increase comprehension and a love for reading. Dr. Richardson said a question parents should not ask themselves is, “When should I stop reading to my child?” Rather, she said parents should ask, “What should I read to them?” She added that audio books also have a significant effect on increasing comprehension.

As kids develop intellectually and emotionally, their interests change. A parent should help the child find books based more on interest as opposed to grade or reading levels. Although a book’s title might reveal much about the grade level of a book, books that are above and even below the reading level of a child should be considered. Graphic novels are also beneficial in instilling a love of reading.

Non-fiction reading is also important for kids to develop into critical thinkers as adults. In non-fiction books, readers must make sense of real life concepts. This, Dr. Richardson said, will help them grapple with any profession. Broad content knowledge increases reading comprehension and increases access to more books. With respect to selecting non-fiction books, a parent should cultivate the child’s interests. For example, if a child is interested in skateboarding, a parent should facilitate the selection of skateboarding books, magazines or articles. If a child is interested in marine life, a parent could plan a trip to a beach or museum and help the child pick out books and articles about various marine animals seen.

Dr. Richardson also recommended many books for young readers. Included in her recommendations was The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong. This is a book of 100 short, five to seven minute stories that tell the history of our nation in an entertaining tone geared to students at the fourth through seventh grade level. Pick Me Up – Stuff You Need to Know is a book that describes many interesting historical and physical facts in an entertaining manner with engaging graphics and Internet references. This book was written at the fourth through eighth grade level. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming is an adaptation of Al Gore’s adult book on global warming. This version is for kids at the fifth through eighth grade level and includes easy to grasp graphics with before and after photos with one third fewer pages than the adult version. Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt is a second through sixth grade level fiction book that features a pirate, Jack, who finds he is not good at plundering and being a pirate in general. Several other occupations do not suit him either but he finds he is good at telling tales. A graphic novel Dr. Richardson recommended was The Arrival by Shaun Tan. This book is about immigration to a new country and describes the language and cultural experiences one particular immigrant faced.

This meeting was the first of three CAC-GATE meetings scheduled for the 2007-08 school year. The next meeting will be held at 6:30 PM on January 29, 2007 in the IUSD Board room (5050 Barranca Parkway) and will feature guest speaker Dr. Ed Zaccaro. The third and final CAC-GATE meeting for the 2007-08 school year will be April 24, 2007 at 6:30 PM and will feature Dr. Jim Delisle. All CAC-GATE meetings are open to the public.

Meeting highlights submitted by Patrick Traynor, Ph.D. (www.PatrickTraynor.com), GATE Parent Representative

Contact information: Patrick_traynor@colton.k12.ca.us