A tidbit

I finished my independent study paper a few days ago.  There were days when I thought it was the most boring lump of tripe I'd ever read.  Other times, it seemed fairly interesting and, well, not bad for an old lady in graduate school.  No grade on it yet, but I believe today is THE day.

In any case, I thought I would post a piece of it that moved me when I wrote it. It is the conclusion of the section that addresses how early reading experiences have an impact on the use of picture books in high school.  I'd been tra-la-laaaing through sources that discussed reading stages in children, adolescents, young adults, etc.  Each stage so nicely builds upon the previous one, until voila, we have a fully formed adult who relishes all sorts of reading experiences. But what troubled me were the mental images of my students who had not had any decent early reading experiences at all. No adult took them to the library for story time or folded them up in their lap to point to the pictures, "do" voices, and sigh at the end of the story.  These kids ... well, they probably arrived in kindergarten pissed.  And by the time I got them?  They had figured out how to make dang sure I was so distracted by their nutty behavior that I wouldn't notice they were terrified I was going to figure out some truths about their reading.

Anyway, the independent study paper was terribly formal. But, in a couple of places, I shared my own thoughts.  And here was one of them:
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Many of the students who have walked into my classroom did not encounter positive early reading experiences. That loss is incalculable and most keenly observed in their deep resistance to independent reading. Time and time again, I’ve seen exactly those students open their eyes in wonder (and sometimes sadness, too) when I read aloud a picture book. During independent reading, they furtively reach for the picture books on my shelves. And when my classroom is empty but unlocked, it is the picture books that most often mysteriously disappear.