The child who cannot read or struggles with it can still find meaning in the picture of whales or wolves or werewolves. There is a downside. Without a print-rich reading environment, reading achievement flounders. In a preview of the 2000 edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook, Trelease quotes the results of a 1996 University of Southern California research study. The researchers examined the print climate in classrooms of three California communities.
Readers raise readers because they do the raising in an environment that nurtures it.
It's possible to develop an outstanding read-aloud program in an impoverished school district. No matter how poor the community, it costs nothing for a teacher to read to a class. They take their library card, borrow a book, and then read to the class. Trelease provides tips for developing print-rich schools even if funding new books isn't possible. Learn about the research connecting the richness of print with good school scores.