Chapter 9 By Jim Trelease: Article Analysis

Summary

In the Read Aloud Handbook Chapter 9 by Jim Trelease (2006), Mr. Trelease discusses the issue of Television and Children. He starts Chapter 9 with a story about a single mother raising two young boys in the heart of Detroit, Michigan. The single mother is Sonya Carson and her youngest son is Mr. Ben Carson known today as the leading pediatric neurosurgeon and current Republican nominee for President of the United States. Mr. Trelease (2006) mentions in his article, how Mrs. Carson made her boys study, and in turn their grades improved; by the time Ben graduated from high school he was “third in his class” (p. 1). Mr. Trelease (2006) continues on in his article talking about the effects television can have on young children and that

The brochure, The Connection Between TV and School Scores (Trelease, 2011) is a very interesting, and informative brochure, that gives the parents a chance to read about the life of Ben Carson, and how his mother helped him overcome his low grades, in elementary school, to become one of the top five children in his school on graduation day. This is an inspiring story, and one that needs to be told as an encouragement, and inspiration to those parents that are discouraged and feel like there is no hope. In the brochure it talks about Finland, and the children watching television with closed caption on in their native tongue, and the parallel to their reading scores. Again this can give hope to parents struggling to find a way to help their children, and they may not have thought about the television as a learning tool before being handed this brochure. The second brochure, 10 Facts Parents Should Know About Reading (Trelease, 2009) is a wonderful little brochure that breaks things down quickly, and precisely, so that if the parent does not want to, or does not have the time to read the whole brochure they can skim pieces of the brochure and glean valuable information that they can use at home. For example, one idea inside the brochure talks about televisions in the bedroom and the correlation to grades in school. For a parent that might not have known, about the correlation between television and bedrooms, this brochure would be an informative way to explain it to them. The brochure would give the parents information, and ideas on how to help their children with reading. While all parents might not read the brochures, there will be some that will read the brochures, and change their minds about how much television their children watch, especially