Today I was listening to NPR and the topic was Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Giesel. The host was having people call in with their favorite Dr. Seuss book. A parent called in and said that she had two sons, both on the Autism Spectrum. She said that they are typically not interested in reading, but that they loved listening to her read, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She said that she knew they understood the message of the story because of one of her son's actions. He did something nice for another child in his class. She said the teacher gave her son positive feedback for this action. He replied, "My heart grew three sizes."
It made me think about how it is our job as educators to keep exposing our students to literacy and literacy activities. Even if they appear disinterested, you never know when something touches them and they internalize it.
I thought that story was very sweet, so I wanted to share it.
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Vanessa, this is a great example of how important engaging stories are to reading. And if a child needs an adapted form of a popular book like this, remember that there are many ways of presenting the story. You can even customize the story with your own pictures and words using online services such as www.tarheelreader.org. Here's a simple version of the story: www.tarheelreader.org/2008/12/04/the-grinch
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