A Positive Response
By Susan Mandel Glazer

It has been a common practice to send students home with book lists, journal assignments, projects and research reports to carry out during their summer break. We've justified these "chores" for children by suggesting that formal activities keep their skills intact while they're away from school. Now, if you're like I am, after a day at school, you like to just flop down on a soft chair with a newspaper or favorite book, or watch some TV and relax. We need down time when we don't have to perform and so do our students. We should keep children reading and writing but, more importantly, we need to be sure that children are eager to engage in these activities. Requiring rather than desiring transactions with text does not help to get kids hooked on books. So, this is a plea to create a desire in your students rather than require that they participate in summer literacy activities.

Adult expectations
Over the years, my staff and I have collected language often used by adults that can kill a child's desire for learning. Those who use these phrases have good intentions. Rarely, however, do these folks realize that these phrases are negative and, sometimes, even intimidating. Oftentimes, adults are unaware that some phrases can impede progress.

Responses like "You should be able to answer this one!," "That's okay, but can you think of a better one?" and "You ought to know the answer, you learned this in the second grade" reek of adult expectations. These types of responses tell children that they are not up to par. The words "should" or "ought to" must not be used in any situation, especially when it applies to a child's performance. These words are natural set ups for failure. They imply that the expectancy for a child has not been achieved.

Building distrust
Acknowledging that a response is "okay" but then asking for one better is a contradiction. If the reply is acceptable, then why is another requested? This type of behavior builds distrust and often teaches children to second guess what adults are "really" saying. The child also learns that what he or she's contributed is really not "okay" at all because a second response is being required.

More than one answer required
Instead of saying "okay" and asking for a second answer, let your students know that more than one answer will be requested when you begin the activity. "Don't you remember, we did that yesterday," is another phrase that irks me. I don't know about you, but often I can't remember what I did only a few moments ago.

It's always best to remind students what they've accomplished and then ask them to repeat it. For example, you might say, "Sally, yesterday we read three chapters in Isabelle Holland's The Man Without a Face (HarperTrophy, 1987). The title makes me think of someone who is ashamed of himself, embarrassed about something or wants to hide from a situation." A statement about a story's idea or theme spurs children to enter into the conversation, contributing what they are able to rather than what one wants them to.

Feeling inadequate
When I hear an adult ask one child to assist another, I become infuriated. If second grader Sally can't tie her shoe and her classmate Samantha is asked to help, imagine how Sally must feel! Asking a child to help another child, especially in front of his or her peers, can create feelings of inadequacy for both the child who needs help and the one who provides it. Sally might be teased by her peers for not being able to carry out what many refer to as a kindergartner task.

Samantha might be called the class nerd. If left alone, Sally just might have gone over to Samantha on her own and asked if she could help. Sally would have then had the option of either accepting or refusing the offer. Even though Sally may be unable to carry out a task independently, when the student makes her own decision, she still has control over the situation.

Accentuate the positive
I'm truly convinced that our society thinks negatively 99 percent of the time. Newspaper headlines and news broadcasts publicize stories about burning buildings, homicides, murders, abused children and other atrocities before ever sharing the good deeds that are carried out by the good samaritans in our communities. This summer, think about possibly negative statements and how the same message is received when it is rephrased positively.

Susan Mandel Glazer is the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.