WEBVTT

00:00:15.887 --> 00:00:17.555
15 years ago,

00:00:17.555 --> 00:00:20.668
I was a teaching artist 
in the New York City public schools,

00:00:20.668 --> 00:00:24.276
and one of my projects 
was adapting and directing

00:00:24.276 --> 00:00:26.080
a production of "Charlotte's Web"

00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:29.224
with a group of third graders at PS 220,

00:00:29.224 --> 00:00:32.355
the Mott Haven Village School
in the South Bronx.

00:00:32.355 --> 00:00:34.762
As a way to begin our work together,

00:00:34.762 --> 00:00:40.060
I read aloud the first chapter from 
E. B. White's famous and beautiful book.

00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:41.968
As some of us may recall,

00:00:41.968 --> 00:00:46.773
the story begins with Fern
learning that her father, Mr. Arable,

00:00:46.773 --> 00:00:51.863
is off to the hoghouse to kill the runt 
of the litter with his axe.

00:00:51.863 --> 00:00:55.265
(Reading) "Please don't kill it,"
she sobbed, "It's unfair."

00:00:55.265 --> 00:00:57.214
Mr. Arable stopped walking.

00:00:57.214 --> 00:00:58.990
"Fern," he said gently,

00:00:58.990 --> 00:01:01.165
"you will have to learn
to control yourself."

00:01:01.165 --> 00:01:03.134
"Control myself?" yelled Fern;

00:01:03.134 --> 00:01:07.334
"This is a matter of life and death,
and you talk about controlling myself?"

00:01:07.334 --> 00:01:10.511
Tears ran down her cheeks,
and she took hold of the axe

00:01:10.511 --> 00:01:13.362
and tried to pull it 
out of her father's hand.

00:01:13.362 --> 00:01:14.652
(Reading ends)

00:01:14.652 --> 00:01:17.269
Well, the pig is saved,
and later that morning,

00:01:17.269 --> 00:01:21.089
Fern discovers a carton
on her chair at breakfast.

00:01:21.089 --> 00:01:24.265
(Reading) As she approached her chair,
the carton wobbled,

00:01:24.265 --> 00:01:26.575
and there was a scratching noise.

00:01:26.575 --> 00:01:30.692
Fern looked at her father,
then she lifted the lid of the carton.

00:01:30.692 --> 00:01:34.843
There, inside, looking up at her
was the newborn pig.

00:01:34.843 --> 00:01:36.381
It was a white one.

00:01:36.381 --> 00:01:40.112
The morning light shone 
through its ears, turning them pink.

00:01:40.112 --> 00:01:44.398
"He is yours," said Mr. Arable,
"Saved from an untimely death.

00:01:44.398 --> 00:01:47.531
And may the good Lord 
forgive me for this foolishness."

00:01:48.477 --> 00:01:51.747
Fern couldn't take her eyes
off the tiny pig.

00:01:51.747 --> 00:01:55.007
"Oh!" she whispered, "Oh! Look at him!

00:01:55.007 --> 00:01:57.333
He is absolutely perfect."

00:01:57.333 --> 00:01:59.249
She closed the carton carefully,

00:01:59.249 --> 00:02:01.953
for she kissed her father,
then she kissed her mother,

00:02:01.953 --> 00:02:03.620
then she opened the lid again,

00:02:03.620 --> 00:02:06.856
lifted the pig out
and held it against her cheek.

00:02:06.856 --> 00:02:08.276
(Reading ends)

00:02:08.276 --> 00:02:11.755
Well, when I finished reading the chapter,
the kids lined up for lunch,

00:02:11.755 --> 00:02:14.900
and a little boy named Joey
tugged at my sleeve and he said,

00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:18.693
"Miss B., I felt like I was right there.

00:02:18.693 --> 00:02:21.370
Like, I could really see that little pig.

00:02:21.370 --> 00:02:24.989
I never got inside a book 
before like that."

00:02:24.989 --> 00:02:27.987
Well, I was thrilled
that Joey was enjoying the story,

00:02:27.987 --> 00:02:30.273
but, to be perfectly honest, at the time,

00:02:30.273 --> 00:02:32.543
I was much more concerned
with how in the world

00:02:32.543 --> 00:02:35.096
we were going to make 
all those farm animal costumes

00:02:35.096 --> 00:02:36.402
just using pillow cases,

00:02:36.402 --> 00:02:39.293
and whether the kids 
would memorize all their lines or not.

00:02:39.293 --> 00:02:41.492
They did. And we did.

00:02:41.492 --> 00:02:43.968
And everytime I visited that classroom,

00:02:43.968 --> 00:02:47.790
the kids couldn't wait 
for me to read aloud to them again.

00:02:47.790 --> 00:02:49.984
For all the kids in the audience:

00:02:49.984 --> 00:02:52.912
would you raise your hand 
if you really like it

00:02:52.912 --> 00:02:56.135
when teachers read aloud to you
or parents read aloud to you?

00:02:56.135 --> 00:03:00.195
Or adults? Do you remember 
being read to? And loving it?

00:03:00.195 --> 00:03:04.527
Well, I've been an educator 
for almost 20 years.

00:03:05.388 --> 00:03:09.078
And I've read thousands 
and thousands of pages aloud.

00:03:09.078 --> 00:03:12.487
And I've never met a group of kids
who didn't love it,

00:03:12.487 --> 00:03:17.133
who were immune to the spell
of a great book being read aloud.

00:03:18.266 --> 00:03:21.036
As a teacher and a mom,
I can't think of many things

00:03:21.036 --> 00:03:23.960
that matter as much
as reading aloud to our kids.

00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:26.776
At all ages. At school and at home.

00:03:26.776 --> 00:03:30.924
Because reading aloud gives kids 
a special kind of access

00:03:30.924 --> 00:03:34.011
to the transformative power of story,

00:03:34.011 --> 00:03:37.211
and the experience 
of what real reading is all about,

00:03:37.211 --> 00:03:39.392
which is to deeply understand,

00:03:39.392 --> 00:03:43.216
to think, to learn and discuss 
big ideas about the world,

00:03:43.216 --> 00:03:45.999
about the lives of others
and about ourselves.

00:03:45.999 --> 00:03:49.224
So, when I think back to what Joey said
to me all those years ago,

00:03:49.224 --> 00:03:53.189
"Miss B., I felt like I was right there.
Like, I could really see that little pig.

00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:55.972
I never got inside a book
before like that."

00:03:55.972 --> 00:03:57.849
I'm struck by this idea

00:03:57.849 --> 00:03:59.710
that reading aloud for Joey

00:03:59.710 --> 00:04:02.737
made it possible for him
to get inside a book;

00:04:02.737 --> 00:04:05.985
as though before that experience
he was outside.

00:04:05.985 --> 00:04:08.926
Because Joey is not alone 
in feeling that way.

00:04:08.926 --> 00:04:12.992
Reading for a lot of kids
can feel like a locked building.

00:04:12.992 --> 00:04:15.304
Without the right key or the right code,

00:04:15.304 --> 00:04:17.648
or the right experiences,
they can't get in.

00:04:17.648 --> 00:04:19.534
They feel like they're outside.

00:04:19.534 --> 00:04:22.686
Because for some kids, 
dealing with the code,

00:04:22.686 --> 00:04:25.766
the tangle of letters and sounds,
tricky words and vocabulary,

00:04:25.766 --> 00:04:29.357
is a more difficult process
for any number of reasons.

00:04:29.357 --> 00:04:32.497
The decoding of words
takes up so much brain energy,

00:04:32.497 --> 00:04:34.940
they don't have 
a lot of brain space left over

00:04:34.940 --> 00:04:37.821
to actually take in the story 
or the meaning.

00:04:37.821 --> 00:04:40.669
For other kids,
the decoding isn't so difficult,

00:04:40.669 --> 00:04:44.794
but it can sometimes feel like they're 
just translating words across a page,

00:04:44.794 --> 00:04:47.999
like how I might do with a medical 
textbook or a medical journal.

00:04:47.999 --> 00:04:50.189
I could translate or decode the words,

00:04:50.189 --> 00:04:54.189
but I wouldn't be able to understand them,
or think, or talk about them.

00:04:54.189 --> 00:04:58.189
How many of us here have found ourselves
halfway down a page only to realize,

00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:00.339
"I have no idea what I just read."

00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:01.919
(Laughter)

00:05:02.945 --> 00:05:06.667
When teachers and parents read aloud,
we do the decoding work.

00:05:06.667 --> 00:05:09.798
We deal with the print 
and the tricky vocabulary and words,

00:05:09.798 --> 00:05:12.146
and we free kids to think.

00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:14.929
So they can use all their brain energy

00:05:14.929 --> 00:05:18.114
to imagine the story
and learn new information.

00:05:18.114 --> 00:05:21.467
So all children listening have access

00:05:21.467 --> 00:05:25.611
to the amazing reading party
happening inside the building.

00:05:25.611 --> 00:05:30.081
And we want kids to get in the building
and get to the party and stay there.

00:05:30.081 --> 00:05:33.965
Even while they're still strengthening
their decoding or comprehension

00:05:33.965 --> 00:05:38.425
or vocabulary muscles
in books they can read on their own.

00:05:39.115 --> 00:05:41.903
Because even when kids
are reading on their own,

00:05:41.903 --> 00:05:45.078
reading aloud to them 
has a tremendous impact

00:05:45.078 --> 00:05:47.345
on their independent reading lives.

00:05:47.345 --> 00:05:49.981
Because when kids go back
to their own books,

00:05:49.981 --> 00:05:54.629
they know that world should come alive
in their brains as they read.

00:05:54.629 --> 00:06:00.270
They know that real readers pause
to wonder, think, ask questions.

00:06:00.270 --> 00:06:04.494
They know that real readers
let the stories affect them.

00:06:04.494 --> 00:06:06.960
Maybe even change them.

00:06:06.960 --> 00:06:10.641
Because the way that we stop and react
at something that we read aloud

00:06:10.641 --> 00:06:14.184
gives us an opportunity 
to model compassion,

00:06:14.184 --> 00:06:17.282
to wonder aloud in a genuine way

00:06:17.282 --> 00:06:20.205
about a choice 
a character or a community made.

00:06:20.205 --> 00:06:24.134
When we read aloud, we can help kids
walk in the shoes of people

00:06:24.134 --> 00:06:27.224
who might be 
radically different from themselves.

00:06:27.224 --> 00:06:30.121
Or see reflections of themselves,

00:06:30.121 --> 00:06:32.337
which might make them feel less alone

00:06:32.337 --> 00:06:34.331
or more hopefull.

00:06:34.331 --> 00:06:38.442
What happens 
when we walk in the shoes of Kek,

00:06:38.442 --> 00:06:42.005
a young refugee from Sudan
who comes to Minessota

00:06:42.005 --> 00:06:45.729
after seeing his brother 
and father killed in a war?

00:06:45.729 --> 00:06:48.562
What can we learn from Auggie,

00:06:48.562 --> 00:06:51.618
who was born with a rare facial anomaly?

00:06:51.618 --> 00:06:53.557
Or Delphine,

00:06:53.557 --> 00:06:56.897
who is eleven years old 
and goes to Oakland, California in 1968

00:06:56.897 --> 00:07:00.943
to meet her mom for the first time,
who is active in the Black Panther Party?

00:07:00.943 --> 00:07:02.682
Or Annemarie,

00:07:02.682 --> 00:07:05.178
who helps her best friend
escape to Denmark

00:07:05.178 --> 00:07:07.183
during The Holocaust?

00:07:07.183 --> 00:07:09.356
We can give kids access

00:07:09.356 --> 00:07:12.245
to stories, and books,
and ideas, and information

00:07:12.245 --> 00:07:15.420
that they otherwise
might not get a chance to explore,

00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:18.711
or explore as deeply.

00:07:18.711 --> 00:07:20.410
And finally,

00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:24.674
reading aloud 
gives us a chance to look up

00:07:24.674 --> 00:07:27.454
from our screens,
our phones, our computers;

00:07:27.454 --> 00:07:29.804
to connect with each other

00:07:29.804 --> 00:07:34.419
through the simple act of reading
and talking together.

00:07:34.419 --> 00:07:37.888
When we read aloud at school
we're often gathered together in one place

00:07:37.888 --> 00:07:40.692
and we're teaching kids
how to talk together,

00:07:40.692 --> 00:07:42.045
how to listen,

00:07:42.045 --> 00:07:45.365
how to look each other in the eye and say:
"What do you think?"

00:07:45.365 --> 00:07:47.935
To say, "I think differently
and here is why."

00:07:47.935 --> 00:07:52.020
But we're also creating moments
of connectedness and joy

00:07:52.020 --> 00:07:54.968
in our classrooms, on a daily basis.

00:07:54.968 --> 00:07:56.323
And at home,

00:07:56.323 --> 00:07:59.669
it's a chance to carve out a time
when we're not on our phones,

00:07:59.669 --> 00:08:02.503
but we're entirely focused on our kids.

00:08:02.503 --> 00:08:07.437
Or we pull up alongside them
and read and talk together.

00:08:07.437 --> 00:08:10.312
Even when they can't sit
in our laps anymore.

00:08:10.312 --> 00:08:14.677
Even and perhaps especially 
when they rather be on their phones.

00:08:14.677 --> 00:08:17.727
Even when they're not three or four,

00:08:17.727 --> 00:08:20.329
but they're eight, ten, twelve, a teenager

00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:23.922
and they might not be as inclined
to share so much with us anymore.

00:08:23.922 --> 00:08:29.179
Having a book to lean on
can help us get inside them.

00:08:30.806 --> 00:08:34.583
In her new book, Reclaiming Conversation,

00:08:34.583 --> 00:08:40.095
Sherry Turkle reminds us
how esential face to face conversation is.

00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.793
She says, "We're tempted to think
that our little sips of online connection

00:08:45.793 --> 00:08:49.681
add up to a big gulp of real conversation,

00:08:49.681 --> 00:08:51.458
but they don't."

00:08:51.458 --> 00:08:54.060
I believe that reading aloud together

00:08:54.060 --> 00:08:58.062
provides an opportunity for a big gulp.

00:08:58.062 --> 00:09:02.676
For a chance to connect and talk together,
in consistent meaningful ways.

00:09:03.638 --> 00:09:06.958
So the kids not only fall in love
with books and reading,

00:09:06.958 --> 00:09:09.299
and get better at it,

00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:12.212
but they also learn to think deeply,

00:09:12.212 --> 00:09:14.849
to consider other points of view.

00:09:14.849 --> 00:09:18.668
They learn to listen
and they learn to look up.

00:09:19.742 --> 00:09:21.031
Thank you.

00:09:21.031 --> 00:09:22.381
(Applause)