Bobbie Solley writes about the lives of people who are bent, but certainly not broken…. (Her) descriptions provide us with a voice of hope that the poor will not ever need to bend.
—Patrick Shannon
The richness in every child's voice reaches out to be heard. Yet many underprivileged children's words are muffled, never to be acknowledged, destined only to become white noise beneath childhood-poverty statistics. You can do something about it.
When Poverty's Children Write addresses the unique challenges that teachers face when teaching disadvantaged children to write. Bobbie Solley begins by identifying the unique characteristics of oral language and print knowledge that poor children typically bring with them to school. Then she argues against a deficit-based approach, demonstrating instead strategies, activities, and classroom dynamics that capitalize on students' strengths and innate knowledge to build written-language skills.
Solley examines classroom rites and rituals and suggests techniques that foster a trustful, respectful, and collaborative environment that promotes active writing. She tells the stories of real children who come from impoverished homes, showing you in powerful examples how by celebrating every child's voice you encourage them toward literacy habits, and how by understanding the specific needs of poverty's children your teaching moves away from struggling with student deficits and toward supporting student success.
Read When Poverty's Children Write and loosen the grim grip of poverty from the voices of your students. Show them the hope that literacy can bring and then watch as joyful writing fills your classroom.
