Cultural Literacy

Cultural Literacy According to E.D. Hirsch According to E.D. Hirsch, to be culturally literate is to possess the basic information to thrive in the modern world. It is the "grasp on the background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has." In his book, Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, Hirsch sets forth 5,000 essential words and phrases of which each person should be knowledgeable.

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is how Dr. Seuss thought of reading, and I think of it in much the same way. Literacy is everywhere and influences us every day, therefore, it plays a major part in each of our lives. I believe that reading is an interactive activity in which learning happens, or as Clay (2001) defines it, “…a message-getting, problem-solving activity” (p. 1). Reading is the process through which one reads information and from doing so, constructs meaning about the material. The more exposure and practice one has with reading, the more knowledge one gains. In this paper, I will begin by discussing my own personal educational philosophy, then continue by stating and explaining four of my beliefs about the reading process and the research that is found to support each of them before sharing the remaining questions I have about literacy. I am an existentialist, and a strong supporter of a balanced literacy approach. My beliefs about literacy come from these foundations and perspectives that I embrace. For students to be successful in their literacy development, I believe that identity acceptance in the classroom is crucial, instruction for all students must be differentiated, direct and explicit instruction is at times necessary, and vocabulary is a significant component in the ‘Big Five’ of children’s literacy development.

Many students who struggle with reading ask why should we read, what is the point? The point is that being able to read opens you up a whole new world of knowledge and imagination. But to have that new world opened up you need to be able to comprehend what you are reading. The primary goal of reading is to determine the meaning of

In “Preface to Cultural Literacy” by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., he claims that old theories is not transmitted engought basic knowledge information to young children. First Hirsch points out that it is not teacher or students fault that students did not get enough information about society, but the fault of curriculums, practices, and theories that are not helping students gain the background information that will help students learn about the society. Another time Hirsch reports that Jean Jacques Rousseau theory is wrong about young children that they should not receive an information about society before they understand it. Last, Hirsch believes that history of all the theories in the past is not giving us enough background information that will

While all fields of academia possess some level of practical application, there remains an ever-important and all-encompassing skill which is needed to truly understand each subject: reading. Though literacy rates in the US near 100%, literacy unaccompanied by tools such as context, critical analysis, and sufficient skepticism can leave one lost in arduous texts and vulnerable to flawed arguments. This notion is rarely rejected by anyone at face value, rather, questions regarding the implementation and perceived importance of certain reading strategies alienates differing camps. Many attempts at mitigating the dilemma of subpar reading comprehension have been made, most notably, Daniel Willingham's proposed reform of early education, Michael

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information which is essential in being a productive member of society. If and when a student missed an opportunity to learn the skills necessary for reading, it’s has a profound impact on their lives. As educators we realize that teaching all children to read requires that every child receive excellent reading instruction. We are also aware that children, who are struggling with reading must receive

In the Preface to Cultural Literacy Hirsch discusses the decline of cultural literacy in the American classroom, often using the 17 year old demographic to prove his point. Using the evidence from a variety of sources, notably the SAT’s, Hirsch shows the decline in our nation’s ability to digest, comprehend reading, and the lack of familiarity with things such as basic civic knowledge of America. The main point of the essay is that cultural literacy is required for effective communication. Hirsch believes that communication is essential for success and with increased cultural literacy is how citizens can achieve it. This is what he wants the readers to think about.

Taking into account of many Americans, the act of reading is not apart of our daily lives as it was many years ago. Instead, the media has taken over and leaves us at a disadvantage of developing our minds. The level of proficiency, “Fell significantly between 1992 and 2005, from 40 percent… to 35 percent (Chronicle).” In spite of that, reading gives us the opportunity to get different perspectives, learn valuable lessons, and engage emotions that might not be sparked otherwise. The list can go on and on, however, even with all of these great benefits, the literacy rate in America is continuing to drop.

Reading is the beginning of every child’s learning. The basis of education begins with learning to read. Short (2010) explained that literature acts as “an inquiry to life” and a “way of knowing” (p. 50). However, in order to support children’s learning, it is essential to show children that learning is interesting from a young age. When Short first began teaching using worksheets and a basal reading program, she wrote, “I often felt that children were learning to read in spite of me” (p. 49). The students were not learning to think critically. However, when she began introducing literature circles to her students, she saw them “critically exploring their understandings with each other” (p. 49).

Robert Pondiscio states “To be educated in the liberal arts is to have a broad grasp of literature, art, music, history and the sciences. That's also a fair description of what it takes to be a good reader…If you're a good reader, it's not because you've learned, practiced and mastered the "skill" of reading. Once a child learns to “decode” fluently, a child's ability to read with understanding rests heavily on whether the child knows something about the topic he or she is reading about.” While we focus on English and math being core parts of what we use in everyday life we must also focus on how to get the younger generation to grasp and have a full understanding on what they are reading. It is one thing to literally read something and absorb nothing out of the text that was read, but a completely different story for a child to read something, understand its meaning, and also reflect on what they have

Through reading the passage “The Cultural Literacy” by E.D Hirsch, he expresses his position on how cultural literacy has dropped in the growth charts since the 19500’s. Using the teenage demographic to explain, he goes on to tell how High Schools in the American system and the educational material which is taught. Showing the evidence from the SAT’s scores, the scores show how today’s youth has the inability to read and appropriately comprehend the basic knowledge and history. Most people can’t even recollect when the Vietnam War was(1955-1975). He further explains his stance, how today's epidemic through the education system is how it’s not bringing familiarity of America’s past time. The amount of Americans with ability to read about their

My chosen concentration in Literacy stems from my love of reading. However, I have not studied literacy until enrolling in this course. My orientation toward literacy theory and practice is beginning to take some form of shape. Learning the new theories and models as well as reading the post of my peers is very intriguing and interesting. In this proposal, I will expand on my personal ‘lens on literacy” in reference to readings throughout the course while answering the question, “How does this lens influence, to paraphrase Paulo Freire's words, "how you read your world and the words in it?"

Reading is something that is taught to everyone in their early childhood, the time I learned to read I was very fond of books. I loved to read novels to myself and to read them out loud to my sister. I like reading action, thriller, historical fiction, and mystery. During my early childhood we would have challenges of reading such as wrapped up and reading, golden dragon. These were reading challenges for students to read 20-25 specific grade novels during the school year and at the end you got a party if you read at least 5-10. I used to love reading and at that time I would read at least 20 books because I wanted to go to the party and win something with the lottery tickets I got. My childhood was fulI of reading, even if I read because I was greedy and I read because of the party, it still improved my reading level. As I grew and grew my reading

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be

Reading is an act of perception, analysis, and interpretation done by the reader to get the message to be conveyed by the author in media writing. According to Farr (in Dalman, 2013: 5) suggests that "Reading is the Heart of Education, the reading of reading comprehension is an essential prerequisite for mastery and enhancement of students' knowledge, so after reading the text the reader should be able to understand the text. First, give information, for example by reading newspapers and magazines, secondly, give entertainment, for example by reading a novel.The third one, most importantly reading can provide new knowledge.The book can provide understanding as well as entertaining and providing information.