There is a 'magic bullet' for improving children's literacy: Libraries and trained librarians
The following letter was sent to the Desert News (Utah), March 24, 2010
In "Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test" (March 24), Sacramento Superintendent David Gordon is quoted as saying that "there is no magic bullet" for improved academic performance.
There certainly is a magic bullet for literacy development. It's called libraries. Study after study shows that those with more access to books read more, and those who read more read better, write better, spell better, have larger vocabularies, better grammar and know more, not just about school subjects but about "practical knowledge" as well.
Studies also show that children get a significant percentage of their reading material from libraries, and that better public libraries, better school libraries, and the presence of a credentialed school librarian are related to higher reading achievement.
Let's invest some of that money destined for new standards and tests in libraries and librarians.
By: John Whitfield
Comprehensive Input
And, as in Krashen's "Theory of Comprehensive
Input", it is no different for those who are learning English as a second language, ESL. That is, given the student already reads in his / her first language, L 1, then it is just a matter of getting high interest / easy read materials in English, the second language, L 2.
If we allow students to continue to develop L 1, and even allow for instruction in other subjects in L 1, then the transfer of concepts into L 2, comes about more readily,
given that comprehsive English as a second language, ESL, is given the same quantity of reading materials for ELL (English Language Learners)as any other group of students that Krahen describes above.