Resistance, Engagement, and Understanding: A Profile of a Struggling Emergent Reader Responding to Read-Alouds in a Kindergarten Classroom

Abstract

Although an abundance of research exists regarding reading achievement gaps with minority students, and it is widely accepted that experiences in the early grades can be foundational to future success, there is a need for more research on what constitutes effective literacy practices for struggling African American emergent readers. The purpose of this article is to describe the complexity of an African American kindergarten student's responses to interactive read-alouds. Drawing on data from a 9-month research project in an urban public kindergarten classroom, this case study describes how an emergent reader, who was identified by his teacher as struggling with both literacy development and motivation, was highly engaged during the daily interactive read-alouds. The researcher used qualitative research methods, and data analysis occurred in 3 phases: (a) descriptive analysis of the classroom context, (b) analysis of emergent themes, and (c) categorical analysis of comprehension levels. Overall, the findings show that classroom read-alouds of children's picture books are a positive aspect of reading instruction because the discussion that occurs can influence and affect children's development of comprehension strategies as well as their self-perceptions as readers.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Ruie Pritchard, Donna Wiseman, Jennifer Turner, Leigh Hall, Susan Piazza, and Ellen McIntyre, along with three anonymous reviewers, for valuable feedback and support on this article. Thanks to Lawrence Sipe for granting permission to use the data in this article.