Chapter 6 Article

Time is ticking

Time lost during the school day offers little potential for fostering literacy development

By CAMILLE SOGLUIZZO

STAFF WRITER

            Time Town – There has been much discussion about instructional time for reading and writing in Time Town. Teachers are complaining that there is not enough time to teach everything and to help struggling readers. Studies have proven that students show the greatest gains in literacy development when more time is spent on reading and language arts instruction. How can teachers find more time to teach reading and writing?

            National studies have shown that time varies within schools and schedules for reading and writing time. This variation causes a difference in achievement for schools in different communities. For example, schools with many lower-income students schedule less instructional time than schools with the fewest lower- income students. Cameron, Connor, and Morrison reported from first grade classrooms that, “on average, teachers spent 54 minutes per day in transitional, nonacademic activities. These activities included lining up, waiting for the lesson to start, handing out materials, taking attendance, cleaning up, eating snack, and managing disruptions” (Allington & Cunningham, p.134). To save instructional time, schools need to become more efficient by improving the beginning- and ending- of -the -day routines. The next step would be to create “safe” periods or days in all classrooms. According to Allington and Cunningham, “safe periods would provide uninterrupted blocks of instructional time” (Allington & Cunningham, p. 140). Creating these “safe” periods seems easily achievable in many schools.

            Elementary schools in the United States are open for 180-190 days each year. Some may argue that this is a lot of time for students to learn. However, it is important to remember that children come to school with different literacy experiences. Some children enter school with no literacy experiences and need time to catch up to their peers. They will need more instructional support to catch up. Allington and Cunningham have reported that, “expanded preschool experiences rich in literacy learning might provide this extra time. The time might come by enrolling such children in summer-school programs before they enter Kindergarten and between Kindergarten and first grade. Parent training might be another possibility if started early enough and parents are supported adequately” (Allington & Cunningham, p. 136). Schools must find this time because not all children have literacy experiences at home.

            During the summer, economically disadvantaged children and struggling readers experience a “summer reading loss.” This means that they lose literacy abilities and time. Allington and Cunningham suggest an approach to get these students to read. They reported that, “This approach is designed to promote summer reading by providing children with reading materials” (Allington & Cunningham, p. 143). The goal is to put books into the community and get students interested in reading. It is time to keep the school library open all summer and arrange “reading clubs!”   

            Literacy development can be improved if instructional time is managed correctly. Time is important and how it is used is even more important. Teachers from Time Town now have more ideas to use the time that is ticking away more efficiently!

Allington, R., & Cunningham, P. (2007). Schools that work: Where all children read and write (3^rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.