Urban Students

The article “Raising urban students’ literacy achievement by engaging in authentic, challenging work”, by William H. Teal and Linda B. Gambrell, discusses the significance of the successful In2Books program that was used in urban public schools to improve the student’s literacy. Schools could choose to use the program for one year or for a few years to be more effective. The programs curriculum consisted of using 5 mentor texts which the students received throughout the year. The books chosen were of different genres that spoke to the culturally diverse students who were using them.  The teachers were also given related read aloud books to use throughout the year. The teachers had a huge responsibility in implementing this program with fidelity. They went to extensive professional development throughout the year in order to effectively instruct their students and score their work. Another major component of this program was the writing. Students wrote to volunteer adult pen pals who were trained in In2Books program. Students would write to their pen pals about the books they were reading. This proved to be an engaging and motivational aspect of the program. Students loved and looked forward to reading their letter’s and other students’ letters. Students were also motivated to put effort into their writing since they had an audience other than their teacher. The letters also forced students to reread and discuss their books on a higher level, as the books were the subject of their letters. The In2Books program proved that urban students could make gains on state testing without “teaching to the test”.

I was able to fully relate to this article as a teacher from an urban school. I love the idea of the pen pal to give my students a new audience. As the article discussed, many urban students had never received a letter before. I know my students would be so excited to receive a letter and motivated to respond back no matter what the topic. I also see the importance of choosing books that are culturally relevant to my students. They are so much more engaged and invest more in their related assignments when they can relate to the material that they are reading.