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Literacy expert puts Island?s teachers on the write path

Reading a-loud: Dr. Frank Serafini explains the benefits of reading out loud during his reading workshop.Photo provided by Department of Education
Reading challenges in Bermuda?s classrooms are not unique to our Island.But those challenges and ways to overcome them were addressed by teachers from across the Island last weekend at a Reading Workshop with literacy education specialist Frank Serafini of the University of Nevada.

Reading challenges in Bermuda?s classrooms are not unique to our Island.

But those challenges and ways to overcome them were addressed by teachers from across the Island last weekend at a Reading Workshop with literacy education specialist Frank Serafini of the University of Nevada.

?Every English speaking country has the same reading problems,? explained Dr. Serafini, who gives teachers ideas and inspiration on how to organise a better reading classroom during his workshops and through his books.

He says one difference in Bermudian schools is there isn?t an overemphasis on testing like there is in schools throughout the United States, which is often only a narrow look at how schools are doing.

Dr. Serafini explained that a student capable of reading well translates to a successful student in the long run.

?Success at an early age is an important indicator of success in reading and at school throughout all grades. Students that struggle in primary grades, tend to struggle throughout school,? he said. ?Proper, early intervention, focusing on decoding and comprehension is important for setting expectations and providing support for students continued success in school.?

He explained that the recipe for an outstanding student involves teachers who also enjoy reading and an emphasis on creating ?joyfully literate human beings?.

His four pillars to creating a student who enjoys reading are:

Time to engage in reading.

Access to good quality books.

Choice within a framework so that the student should have a say in the process of choosing reading material.

Response to the reading with questions and discussions about the literature.

He added that teachers should be a literary ?docent? ? someone who takes people on tour of a museum ? when it comes to children and reading.

?Teachers must help children make sense of literature but let them bring their own meaning to a story ? just like a docent would of art in a museum. Students must be able to defend their opinions and teachers should challenge them to rethink and discuss their ideas,? says Dr. Serafini.

The challenge for the Ministry of Education is to find more ways to support teachers. ?We are always looking for that one silver bullet that will make children read and be successful,? he says. ?They need to fill classrooms with knowledgeable, well prepared teachers.?

Workshops, quality education and programmes at universities all add into the mix to being a great teacher, he says.

Reading Recovery teacher leader Darnell Todd-Wynn, who masterminded the workshop and brought Dr. Serafini to the Island, said that teachers who attended the day?s event left with many ideas and new ways of looking at reading in the classroom.

?With Darnell?s vision and what she is trying to do at the Ministry (of Education) they are heading in the right direction,? says Dr. Serafini. ?A ministry has to have a vision to know where they want to go.?

He added that as the teachers who attended the workshop came on their own time he was hopeful that many of the teachers had the right vision.

Reading should also be an important part of a student?s home life too, he says.

?Read to your children, provide access to books, take your children to the library and above all, talk to your children.?