Second Grade is Important: Literacy Instruction and Learning of Young Children in a High-Poverty School

Abstract

This article is centered on the literacy learning and instruction that 13 children received from kindergarten through second grade. The children were enrolled in a school deemed at risk because of the children's home backgrounds — low SES, minority status, and home language other than English. The purpose of this research was to provide a clearer picture of the day-to-day literacy instruction and learning of children in such a setting to better understand the documented achievement results of children in high-poverty schools. Although there was great variability in the literacy instruction provided to these children from skills-based to more meaning-based instruction, the majority of the children were considered to be at grade level or above at the end of second grade. However, the children displayed variable patterns of literacy development across these grades. During the second grade year meaning-based instruction was made available to students. The second grade teachers were able to build from the skills-based instruction that the students received in kindergarten and first grade and provide a richer understanding of reading and writing. This article shares an overview of the instruction and learning that occurred over the three years and ends with a closer examination of the learning of two children who came to school with a home language of Spanish.