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Download a PDF of this article The Tuskegee Airmen, Building Wings and Learning to Fly as a Readerby Jerry Stemach & Carol SeibertJerry presents a compelling comparison between Henry Gooding, a Tuskegee Airman in WWII, and Don Johnston, a struggling reader who also dreamed of flying someday. Carol then uses the backdrop of the Tuskegee Airmen and Don's book, Building Wings: How I Made it Through School to build a lesson using the principles of Universal Design for Learning. She's included everything you need to use the lesson in your classroom: PDFs, audio file and detailed steps to follow or adapt. |
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What the Experts Say
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"The research shows that children who struggle as readers tend not to ask questions at any time as they read—before, during, or after. It confirms what I’ve seen so many times in classrooms, particularly with upper-elementary and middle-school kids. They’re inert as they read. They read—or I should say they submit to the text—never questioning its content, style, or the intent of the author.
When we read, we stretch the limits of the literal text by folding our experience and belief into the literal meanings in the text, creating a new interpretation, an inference.
To infer as we read is to go beyond literal interpretation and to open a world of meaning deeply connected to our lives. We create an original meaning, a meaning born at the intersection of our background knowledge, the words on a page, and our mind’s capacity to merge that combination into something uniquely ours."
“When Henry Gooding was a small boy in the early 1920s, he wanted to fly. On sunny days, he would lie down in the middle of his mother’s garden and look up at the sky. There was an airport nearby, so Henry could watch the planes buzzing in and out of the clouds. He wished that he had wings so that he could fly like that.
During World War I, Henry’s father and Uncle Leon had gone to France. At that time, the United States did not allow black Americans to become pilots, so some black Americans went to France to learn to fly. Henry’s father and Uncle Leon had joined the French Air Corps because they wanted to become pilots. Just before Henry was born, his father was killed in a plane crash in France.
Henry decided to go to the library and take out a book about black pilots.”
—Excerpted from The Tuskegee Airmen by Godwin Chu, Start-to-Finish Gold Library, Don Johnston Incorporated
Henry Gooding and Don Johnston
Henry Gooding went on to become a Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, a member of the black American air corps that helped secure an Allied victory. But in his mind’s eye as a young boy, Henry was already seeing himself as a pilot.
Henry was a proficient reader and so, books about flying opened up a world of meaning deeply connected to his life. You might say Henry was making text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections before teachers ever used these catchy phrases.
When Don Johnston was a small boy in the 1950s, he wanted to learn about rockets. Like Henry, Don decided to go to the library, too, and take out books about the space program. But unlike Henry, Don was not a proficient reader. In fact, Don could hardly read at all. Why then, you may ask, would he bother going to a library?
In the words of Ellin Oliver-Keene, both boys were creating meaning that was born at the intersection of their background knowledge, words and pictures on a page, and their mind’s capacity to merge that combination into something uniquely theirs. Don could not make text connections the way that Henry had done, but nonetheless, Don was building wings and learning to fly. Don became a pilot, too, but, as an educational leader, he soared to even greater heights…
Asking Questions, Talking
Like Henry, Don knew that the town library was a storehouse of knowledge about rockets and space and things that fly. Unlike Henry, Don could not read most of the words in these books, but he could “read” the pictures and a few words in the captions, enough information to merge that combination into something uniquely his.
Henry asked questions of himself, the texts, and the authors as he read, then, with his Uncle Leon, talked about what he had learned. Don asked questions, too, then talked with his dad and his friend, Rudy, about the ideas and pictures—from books and television—that filled his head.
Both boys were taking information, then DOING something with it, increasing the likelihood that they would not only remember it but refine their remarkably sophisticated mental models of aeronautics as well.
What Good Readers Do
In their book, Mosaic of Thought, Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmerman remind us that proficient readers use cognitive strategies. They activate relevant, prior knowledge before, during and after they read. They ask questions of themselves, the authors, and the texts. They create visual images during and after reading. They draw inferences in the form of conclusions, predictions, and new ideas. They use “fix-up” strategies to repair comprehension when it breaks down.
Do struggling readers know to do those things, or are they, as Ellin suggests, “inert” as they read, never questioning a book’s content, style, or the intent of the author? We are amazed at how frequently teachers allow students to read without ever “checking in” to monitor their cognitive strategies or to engage in conversation and discussion before, during and after reading.
A Lesson and an Invitation
This month we give you a free classroom lesson AND an invitation. The lesson is to share the first part of Henry Gooding’s story (The Tuskegee Airmen, chapters 1–3) with your students, implementing the strategies we suggest — strategies that all good readers use. The invitation is to listen to Don's story as a struggling reader, Building Wings—How I Made It Through School and share it with your students. It’s written at the second-third grade reading level to inspire struggling readers of any age. View the computer book online as Don narrates. There is no charge but we do ask you to register to hear the entire book. You may also wish to order one or more copies of the paperback book.
Getting Started with the Lesson
Everything you need for this lesson is available here. Simply click on the links provided below.
- Download and Print the chapters from the PDF file, The Tuskegee Airmen (Start-to-Finish Gold Library, gr. 2-3 readability) (TIP: Print 2-sided to match the audio. Test 1 copy before printing all copies.)
Download the MP3 audio file to a player such as an iPod®. The MP3 file is a fluent reading of the passage by a professional narrator.
Here's how: On a PC, RIGHT CLICK on the MP3 link, choose SAVE TARGET AS...
On a Mac, press CTRL key, click the MP3 link, then SAVE LINK AS....
Browse to the location where you want the file saved. Click OK.- If you prefer, play the MP3 from here over your computer speakers.
- If you want to make the entire book and audio recording available, order them before you begin the lesson. You can purchase it online here. TIP: If your school already owns Start-to-Finish titles, it may save you money to add to your school's license rather than buying online. Call 800.999.4660, option 2 and request Code F35MWB for the paperback, Code F35AWB for the audio book.
This article was introduced in the April 2007 LeaderLink eNewsletter.
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