Their Decodables Versus Ours: Culturally Responsive Decodables Co-Authored by Urban Multicultural Second Graders

• In Event: Allowing Culture to Lead in Spaces of Professional Development and Practice

Abstract

Multicultural students can co-author stories using phonics instruction, lived experiences, and native languages, including English varieties, to develop decoding skills using decodables. If children cannot decode successfully, their reading comprehension will not exist (Hoover and Gough, 1990). This paper will discuss a qualitative study conducted in an urban multicultural second-grade classroom. When children include their lived experiences in the classroom, they are more likely to engage in meaningful learning experiences and are more attentive to instruction (Gay, 2002). Additionally, the Language Experience Approach advances children’s early literacy development using students’ funds of knowledge, and existing language experience (Van Allen, 1964). By combining the two, students will be placed at the center of the classroom to receive a more equitable education.

Author

• Amber Lawson, Michigan State University