Elementary School: Becoming The Reader And Writer

I eventually began taking the initiative myself to perfect my reading and writing skills. I was determined to have this down by my fifth-grade year. I would make charts and write repeatedly until I learned the letter or word. My mother would make me spell out words and write the out until I was blue in the face. I started reading books with bigger vocabulary; and I had to test on the books to pass to the next level of

I 've loved to read and write ever since I was taught my ABC 's for the first time. It 's been a huge part of my life in a lot of different aspects. I learned how to read when I was three years old because I went to a daycare where I was the youngest kid and the only one who couldn 't read. Reading and writing just stuck with me after that. After I started reading better than my older daycare-mates, school was ready for me to conquer. The school put me with older kids right away and I was in English class with 3rd graders when I was in kindergarten. It helped me out with making friends and I always got along with older kids better

Our teacher would sit in front rocking her chair away she would read to us we would read it back to her so she knew were following along. Every day after school I would go to my grandparents and I could already smell the delicious food coming off the bus, my grandma would make the best homemade dishes they would help me focus after a long day of school as a little girl. We would do my homework together my work wasn’t so hard but as a child I just wanted to finish! When I was done I had the liberty to go play with my friends , Although, my friends were never available because they had homework I was always confused I mean I had homework but I finished it why would it take them so long , little did I know my friends didn’t have the same literacy sponsors as I did their parents were always working to be able to provide for them they were with an older siblings or grandparents that didn’t understand the English language . For a child in a low income family can affect there literacy not having their parents around to help them read and write. At the age of three is when the child’s brain is rapidly growing and with parents that are less educated might not know that importance of using language with their

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.

For this project, we worked with Eloise Leatham. She is a kindergartener, 5 years old, from St. Paul. She attends Saint Paul Academy, a secular private school in St. Paul. She is exposed to books on a regular basis, as she has an 8-year-old sister who loves to read. Her parents, who are both working professionals with a relatively high income, read to Eloise and her sister every night before bed. Both parents enjoy reading, and have instilled a value for reading in their girls. Eloise attended preschool for 3 years, and was exposed to reading and writing there as well. She speaks fondly of her preschool experience, and continues to enjoy going to school now that she is in kindergarten.

As a teenager, I now look back and realize how vital it is for children to learn to read and write at such young ages. I am so thankful for parents that read books with me before I even started school, and I am also thankful for the teachers who taught me vowel sounds, prefixes, suffixes, and much more. Teachers also taught me that reading could be fun, which encouraged students to want to read in their free time. Reading and writing are unique activities to me because these activities can be used academically or for personal entertainment. Reading has had a huge impact on my life in the past, present, and hopefully in the future.

Growing up in elementary school every day presented a new obstacle that needed to be overcome. Most of the time they were reading and writing challenges, and most of the other students at my grade level didn’t have the difficult time I did.

I learned how to read at a very early age. My parents taught me my ABC’s when I was two years old. They would read Dr. Seuss books to me such as “The Cat in the Hat” in which they would have me to repeat the words as the read to me. They also would read “See Spot Run” which became one of my favorites. As well as, “Dick and Jane: Jump and Run.”

Memories of reading Junie B. Jones and learning her address flooded Katelyn’s memory as she talked about her journey of becoming a reader and writer. She recalled times that her mother read stories from the Precious Moments Bible. These memories she recalled were things that took place routinely. As these events consistently took place, they shaped her literacy development and writing process. The times that she read for accelerated reader points for school also demonstrate how she saw the importance of being able to read. Katelyn also recalled memories of tracing letters on the wide ruled kindergarten sheets and the task of knowing how to write in cursive being stressed in elementary school. These events show the beginning stages of writing.

The information shared this week was very interesting in the early acquisition of reading. I connected to the early acquisition of reading articles, but I give my elementary teachers all of the credit, especially my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Tipton. She was an excellent teacher and made time to sit with each student to practice letters and words. Arlene Barry’s “Reading the Past: Historical Antecedents to Contemporary Reading Methods and Materials” stated “it is the teacher, and not the material, that is the key to quality instruction (47).” One excellent teacher and the environment he or she establishes is all it takes to spark an interest in learning for a young child. Mrs. Tipton was that type of teacher and truly dedicated to her job.

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales

I don’t really recall learning how to read and write but I do know that I enjoyed it a lot when I was younger. All throughout elementary school reading and writing was like a science to me. Even though, reading and writing can get challenging reading out loud always helped me learn how to pronounce and spell words correctly. I soon became more comfortable reading large text like chapter books and newspapers.

Literacy can only get as far as one can allow. There is a lot of potential in learning and acquiring new knowledge. We just have to want it enough. Most students remain as poor readers because of the vicious cycle- professors explain readings and students don’t read because they know that the professor will explain everything from the readings. This narrative is meant to show the importance of going the extra mile when it comes to writing and reading. That is how literacy levels are developed into skills that can be beneficial in school and after school. I chose to share of my accomplishment because it marks an important step in my learning and has inspired me always to go the extra mile when communicating and acquiring

Starting Early by Susan Percy is an article that details the importance of building a strong literary foundation for children beginning as soon as possible. “Early childhood experience has a huge effect on your life later on”(Percy, 2014, p. 1), so it is vital to immerse children in a learning-rich environment. Emergent Literacy, also known as early literacy, “is a concept that supports learning to read in a positive home environment where children are in the process of becoming literate from birth” (Vacca, et al., 2015, p. 114). This concept works under the assumption that all children are constantly being engaged in reading and writing and that everyone is born with the ability and capability of learning how to read.

I have very few recollections of my early years and at what exact age I was able to read and write. Some of my earliest memories are vague on the topic of my literacy. However, I do remember small memories, such as, learning how to write my name in cursive, winning prizes for reading, and crying over every assigned high school essay. Over the last twelve years my literacy has grown rapidly with the help of teachers, large school libraries, my family, and so on. There is always room for my literacy skills to grow, but my family’s help and positive attitude towards my education, the school systems I have been a part of, and the horrible required essays from high school helped me obtain the level, skills, habits, and processes that I use as part of my literacy today.