EC2
During the winter quarter, I’ve been working with Dr. Christine Lee to observe Demonstration Teacher Kelly Peters’ students read wordless books. Wordless books are children’s books with little to no words. These books have great potential in helping young readers immerse themselves and actively engage with reading in a way that’s accessible to them; ultimately fostering an intrinsic love for reading.
When I first walked into the EC2 classrooms, I noticed how lively and excited the students were. Their imaginative creativity always seems endless. It made me wonder how reading wordless books makes them feel as developing readers.
Towards the end of the quarter, I observed Ms. Peters leading a classroom discussion about reading, specifically how wordless books made them feel. I was intrigued by this question and was interested to hear students describe how they felt while reading wordless books. Week after week I’ve seen their sustained and even growing excitement to read wordless books and share the experiences with their fellow classmates. I’ve seen them create elaborate stories with layered emotions and clear plots, and so I was eager to hear how they would describe this experience in their own words.
During the discussion, students described reading wordless books as a way to make connections with others. One student shared about her experience reading to her younger sister, “And when I read the books to my sister she always says ‘book book book”. She described how as the older sister she is actively a part of passing on her excitement for reading and her reading skills to her younger sister. Other students also agreed that they used reading as a way to connect with others like family members, “you can write on your own paper or you can write books with no words and you can read them to your mom and family and friends.” I was excited because I got to hear their desire to share stories with others. Storytelling is historical, cultural, is from personal experiences, and is something that people can learn from. Thus hearing kindergarten students talk about reading in this way makes wordless books a powerful tool for emergent readers.
I also noticed how students not only felt happy and excited but felt like they had agency and creativity in how they tell stories in wordless books. For example, one student said he felt “happy because you can make the characters say whatever they want.” Another student added that they felt, “excited because I like making up my own stories.” Hearing kindergarten students talk about having a voice and getting to share their views and perspectives on the world through wordless books was powerful. This is because reading should include critically engaging with text and using knowledge gained about themselves and the world.
I learned that wordless books can be empowering for students while they are finding their voice as new readers. I’ve seen them use wordless books to create and share their creative ideas with those around them. I’ve seen the same wordless books take on a different voice and communicate new meaning as it’s passed through different students in the classroom. Their ability to speak, communicate, and understand the world through their interactions with wordless books has made me reflect on my understanding of how young learners develop literacy. While being able to phonetically read is a crucial literacy skill, being able to communicate your perspective on the world through the things that you read with the people around you is equally if not more significant.
Olivia Moxie is a fourth-year Education and Social Transformation major at UCLA. Olivia is inspired by the connections between how play helps aid in student language development, and getting the opportunity to research this firsthand. Olivia plans on pursuing Speech-Language Pathology and utilizing play-based therapy techniques throughout her career.
Questions about this blog post can be directed to Dr. Christine Lee (clee@labschool.ucla.edu).