Reading the Environment

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Some struggling readers are unaware of the actual number of words they can read because they often perceive reading only as a school activity. The words around them in their community outside of school can be used to bolster their confidence and broaden their view of the place of reading in the real world. You can assist struggling readers by bringing the students’ world outside school into the classroom and thus help students to read the world around them and acknowledge the importance of nonschool print.

The use of environmental print in the classroom was a topic of interest during the 1980s (Bissex, 1980; Taylor, 1983; Teale & Sulzby, 1986). Researchers suggested that teachers could help young readers and writers better understand the connection between oral and written language by bringing print from the real world into the classroom. More recently, Orellana and Hernandez (1999) suggested that literacy walks in urban environments also help teachers to learn more about their students while using environmental print to teach words.

The Power of Reading the Environment for Struggling Readers

Reading the environment helps struggling readers because it:

• Demonstrates the use of print and its importance beyond the classroom.
• Builds self-confidence by showing struggling readers that they know many words even though they may not find the words in the classroom.
• Provides second language learners with concrete examples.
• Utilizes local resources.

Steps to Follow

1. Take students on a walking tour around the school neighborhood and have students write down any words or phrases that they see. If the walking tour is not possible, then take pictures of the community that include store signs, billboards, and street signs.
2. Back in the classroom, have the students create a replica of the community. They can make a mural or a model. Make word and phrase cards for labeling each item.
3. In small groups, have the students write about their community by incorporating the words and phrases into their text.
4. Have all students contribute to the making of a class community dictionary to keep track of new words.
5. Use community newspapers, flyers, and advertisements to expand word recognition.

Using Reading the Environment with English Language Learners

Since reading the environment focuses on the use of text outside of school, you can encourage ELL students to notice all forms of text including signs written in their native language. This also helps students value their language because they see it as an acceptable response to a school activity.

Text in the form of international signs and symbols can also help students learn new words. For example, when some students see the symbol below, they may say it means that “no smoking” is allowed in a particular place. Other students may comment that the symbol means “smoking is prohibited” in a place. Both interpretations are correct but the meaning is expressed differently, thus helping ELL students, as well as English-only students, to learn new words in meaningful contexts.