Creative Writing: Go, Dog Go ! By P. D. Eastman

Literacy memories and events began at a young age for me, and while teachers and family members all impacted my opinions and preferences for reading, every book I read and writing assignment given to me helped me form my literacy story and come to enjoy reading. Many literacy moments came from when I was young, like my mom or dad reading to me before bed or teachers reading to me at school their favorite books. All of these memories were accompanied by everyone saying how great reading was, and for a while I didn’t believe them. I had so many forced experiences with reading that it was almost painful for me to pick up a book. But as time went on and the reading I was still forced to do intensified, a better relationship with reading and writing

I have acquired many literacy opportunities throughout my literacy life my parents, grandparents, and teachers ,I hold them very close to my heart because if it wasn’t for them pushing and encouraging me to read and write I wouldn’t be the literate person I am today. I bear a huge family so there are always many voices going through my head so it wasn’t long until I started speaking, as well as comprehending what all these strange words meant recognizing the words was very difficult before I started practicing them. My parents always encouraged me to read and write in a way no child can resist with toys and candy who could say no to that. Every chance they got to help me read they would read with me. I wasn’t forced to read on my own because I didn’t know how.

My mother taught me how to read at a young age. She read to me before I could read which helped me learn new words and develop a basic understanding of literature at an early age. When it came time for me to attend elementary school, I remember heading to the library quite often. Books were organized based on what was thought to be the appropriate reading material for that grade level. I often found myself wandering down the isles with the older kids. I’m so grateful my mother encouraged reading as much as she did. If she hadn’t, it’s very possible I could have struggled with reading. If this were true, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did, or had the desire to read, which is very important in order to become as advanced in literature as possible.

Last week we wrote a blog and one of the questions was “How did you learn to read and write?”  I found this question interesting because I never had really thought about the moment when I actually learned how to read and write. My mom was the first person to expose me to reading and writing. A popular tactic she did to make sure I was staying engaged was to read aloud stories and make me follow along with her. My mom would read me many different stories like Tarzan, Bambi, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lion King, The Jungle Book, and Hercules. whatever I wanted to listen and follow along with, she would read with me. This really helped with my want to read. The books contained a lot of adventure, which made it easy as a kid to follow along with. I became to gain an imagination and then all of a sudden reading was easier.

During adolescence, I began reading and writing through a fundamental learning program called, "Hooked on Phonics." This program consisted of long hours spent reading short novels and writing

During adolescence, I began reading and writing through a fundamental learning program called, "Hooked on Phonics." This program consisted of long hours spent reading short novels and writing

I was not always a fan of reading though. I blame this on the type of school teachers I have in my secondary level education. It was not until I got to community college where I began an appreciation for both reading and writing. The first book that grabbed me was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, which is Walls’ memoir that focused on the events of growing up with her family that, at times, caused her to be homeless--among other harsh situations.

My literacy journey had begun earlier than most kids, according to my mother. I started reading in kindergarten, with help with the BOB books and the PBS show Between the Lions. I don’t know when I had started writing exactly, but I remember clearly writing short stories about my cat Stormy in 3rd grade. At that time we had to write weekly short stories, and I only ever wrote about my cat. In 4th grade, I had started exploring writing more; I would write plays for me and my friends to practice during recess. Most of them, I’m happy to say, were actually educational, so my teacher had even let my friends and I perform one about early-American settlers in front of our whole class.

Most of what I can remember from my childhood is being read to by my mom and her teaching me how to read, alongside my older sister. During the day all that I wanted to do was have my mom read to me, so she would. And every night before I went to bed she would let me pick one book for her to read to me. It was my favorite part of everyday. It wasn’t just at home that people would read to me, my grandma would too whenever we went to her house. She had this book full of short stories that always had a good lesson at the end. I loved hearing my grandma’s soothing voice right before I fell asleep. My favorite book was “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” by Dr. Seuss. Since my mom read it to me at least once everyday, I began to memorize it. I wasn’t actually reading the words on the page, I just knew the story so well that I could recite it.

My beginnings as a reader and a writer were most difficult to say the least. When I was almost five years old, I was up-rooted from my home during the middle of my pre-kindergarten year. My family and I moved halfway across the country so that my dad could take a well paying job that would financially support our family. Sadly, this majorly halted my learning abilities. As a little girl in a brand new school, surrounded by brand new people, I was scared. I didn’t know how to introduce myself, let alone speak with teachers that I had never met before.

My earliest memory of learning how to read was when I was about four or five years old. My siblings were mainly the ones who taught me to read before I even entered elementary school. By the time I did start attending school I was reasonably literate. One vivid memory I have that always comes to mind when I think of how I started reading was of my sister teaching me. We had these square little red Dora the Explorer books that were only 4 pages. My sister would have me read them out loud and waited patiently as I tried to figure the words out and get the pronunciation right. She made sure I was fluent in my reading abilities for that day before I could go play.

Then one day in eleventh grade I was sitting in class contemplating my future, and how my standardized test scores would have a major impact. At that moment I realized there was one thing holding me back, my reading. It was just something I hardly ever engaged in during my classes or outside of school. I had great comprehension skills but my reading speed was terrible. Therefor, I went to my Advanced Placement Language teacher, Mrs. Smith and asked for help. I started reading books outside of school on my own time for the first time in years. There was one particular author I greatly enjoyed and that was John Grisham. After a few weeks I was reading an entire book every four or five days. Plus, during a study hall period in school I would go to

Kevin might do was to get Cromwell and become a dog trainer. Kevin will have Cromwell trained to jump fences jump though rings etc. Kevin is way too young for that kind of stuff I know because Kevin still needs to ask his parents on what to do. Kevin has a plan to ask his friends to help him in training Cromwell. Each of his friends will have a specific course chosen by themselves to see how much Cromwell has learned and what it will learn. The first thing Cromwell will learn is jumping through rings Kevin is holding a ring as Cromwell runs then jumps through it. The first try Cromwell was distracted by a squirrel and was about to chase it but one of Kevin's friends grabbed it just in time.

Reading never came naturally to me. As a child, I would always find myself struggling to read the assignments I was given for my classes and to make matters worse, I had never read books that challenged me. I never found a book that called to me, so I found myself hating to read. This notion never left me until my mom had to drag me from my house to the library. She had to yell and threaten to ground me until I agreed to leave with her. Surprisingly, the library felt inviting as I entered and was greeted by an old woman. On her desk was a thick book with a large bird featured prominently on the cover with the words To Kill A Mockingbird wrote across its back and her thick reading glasses resting on top of it. My mother proceeded to ask the question I dreaded to hear the most, “Do you think you could help my son find a book series to read? He has never been big into reading.”

My earliest memory in life is being read aloud to by my parents as a baby. There I was, being rocked in a rocking chair by my mother, in one of the oldest homes in Columbia City. On the corner of Walnut Street, it was home to the young Parker family of three, one dog, many bats, and dust. The few years of my life on Walnut Street consisted of Dora the Explorer, asthma treatments, and being read to. Since these early years, I have outgrown Dora and asthma but my love for reading has continued to grow. Although my literacy story is mundane and similar to many others, reading has helped shaped me into the person I am today.