Make It Make Sense: Fostering Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children’s Comprehension Through Student-Generated Decodable Readers

• In Event: Liberating Literacies and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

Abstract

When young, culturally and linguistically diverse children from historically marginalized communities read decodable readers mandated by their school districts, children approach reading the texts with the expectation that the texts will make sense. While decodable readers allow children to apply their knowledge of phonics skills in context to support their automatic word recognition, they tend to lack meaning and are not written in typical oral speech patterns. Therefore, many children may benefit from engaging in weekly instruction using student-generated decodable readers (SGDRs) that not only support their decoding development but support their reading comprehension as well. The author includes illustrative examples of how first and second-graders created and produced SGDRs to support their decoding and comprehension.

Author

• Amber Lawson, Bowling Green State University