Prompt #6

Prompt: number 6
Connection: Delpit

The first day I read a book to the kids at The Garden Academy, I was concerned about my techniques because I was not sure if the children were really paying attention. I went home and researched what I could do to best get their attention. I felt it was important for them to attend to the story. I found some suggestions but they just didn’t seem to fit my classroom. So, I thought on my own, what could it be? We just finished reading Lisa Delpit in class. Lisa Delpit talks about explicitness being the key to communicating with students, especially children from low income families. Delpit says in her fourth rule, “if you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier” (Delpit 4). When a teacher explicitly tells the class a set of directions, such as “take out a piece of paper”, she is giving them the power to learn.

I decided to be explicit with my students when it came to the story rug. Before I read the kids a book, I called them one by one to the rug. “Mayra!” “Come sit on the green number six on the rug please.” “Liu!” “Come sit on the blue letter “A” on the rug please.” I would continue to call all the children in my reading group to the rug. They were each told exactly where to sit. Next, once all the students were on the rug, I held my finger to my lips. This told them that they were to be quiet and listen. I welcomed them to the carpet. I next reminded them of the rules of the rug. I held my finger to my ear and told them, “we are listening to the person who is reading.” I then put my hands on my feet and said, “we are sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the rug.” Finally, I put my finger a little below my eye and say, “we are looking at the pictures on the page.” I smile and say, “We are now ready to read.” It worked beautifully. I have done this ever since when reading and when giving other directions on class work.

I have also found that picking out books that relate to the students works best. I knew I should be reading them books about living in the city, walking to the market, playing ball in the neighborhood, etc. this worked well. Next, I ventured into using their imaginations. I knew they could do that. They really enjoyed “Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me” by Eric Carle. I also knew that they enjoyed moving and it was a good way to have them respond to the story. So, I had them act out certain parts of the story. For instance, I had them hold out their hands to show how big the ladder was to get up to the moon. I also had them reach up high to pretend they were reaching for the moon. The movements helped me to communicate. By being explicit in my classroom and using gestures and movement, I am demonstrating sensitivity and responsiveness to the linguistic differences of my students.

Explicitness is not the only way I responded to their sociocultural and linguistic differences. I responded to them by using well-known hand gestures such as giving them a “thumbs up” when they did something good. This does not require any verbal communication. I also smiled or shook my head from side to side to give them positive or negative feedback. If I needed silence, I would put my finger on my lips, just as I did on the story rug. This would tell them it was time to be quiet. There are many, many ways of communicating non-verbally. I feel that non-verbal communication and explicitness worked very well as a way to communicate in my classroom due to the myriad of sociocultural and linguistic differences. The expressions on the children’s faces told me that what I was doing was a success.