Literacy Is An Understanding Of Text

Basic literacy is the ability to read and write, my literacy skills began to develop while I was a small child. It all started with the bedtime stories my mother would read to be. It wasn’t until I got to school that it developed even more as teachers began to teach me how to read and write. I feel that in order to be successful you need to learn how to read and right, that’s why I took pride in learning it. I’m glad that I learned that at a very early age. I notice that to get a good grade on my writings I had to write how my teachers wanted me to write things. In the long run it did pay off because I got good grades on my papers. Obviously you can see that I had to

Literacy. The Google dictionary definition will say “The ability to read and write.” Or “Competence or knowledge in a specified area.” But what does the word literacy mean to you? What literacy means to

Literacy, as I see it, has a very broad definition that solely depends on the interpreter. I believe literacy is the ability to read and evaluate the content in their own way of thinking, along with the ability to write and display understanding on a story, topic, or your own thoughts. Reading by itself is useless without being able to think past words on a page and develope one’s own conclusion to form the connections to what the author is trying to say. Writing, and how it is displayed, is a useful tool for the audience in which it is being written for. Effective, descriptive writing makes a more enjoyable read and ultimately a better piece of literature.

Since a child going up, literacy was not my strong suit. Literacy throughout my life seem not to cope with me. Later as I grew up, literacy meant to me that it is one’s ability to read, write, and speak. More importantly there is a more meaning of literacy, meaning that not only writing, reading, and speaking, but able to understand, analyze, and communicate with other peoples’ ideas. Soon enough literacy has made an impact on my life, it has been and will be a lifelong process. Literacy will always be with me, starting from my past and ending in my future.

I define literacy as being able to express my thoughts and emotions. I know everyone has different opinions and emotions. Therefore, everyone will write differently and read in a different pace. Also, everyone likes different types of books, for example fiction or nonfiction. As a result, everyone’s literacy journey is unique. Everyone has a different definition when it comes to literacy which is what makes it special. Some prefer to read and others prefer to write. It all depends on personal preference.

Phonics will start to be taught in nursery or reception and a child will not be able to learn to read without proper understanding of phonics.

As the standards of education change a consistent factor remains the focus on reading. Early childhood educators must provide an atmosphere that is both developmentally stimulating to the student while also meeting the standards of education. The methods used to help recognize phonics and begin the transition into emergent readers vary from student to student. Without the foundation of phonics research shows that a child will not learn to read. All children must know the alphabet in order to communicate effectively. Phonics cannot be drilled into the child. This will only produce memorization. Instead, educators must understand a child’s individual needs as well as balance. There is no true need to teach phonics as a separate subject. Most children will develop a sense of curiosity from their own knowledge, ideas, and interest. There will of course be a select few that may benefit from a more formal instruction. When children

Literacy is defined as being literate, that is, being able to read and write in a language. My personal experience with literacy began at an early age, at the age of 4 when I began to sit and read words and letters in the back of my mother’s car. Soon enough, she would bring me a magazine called “Majed” which, in the 90’s, was a popular magazine. With this, I began even more interested in reading and writing and reviewed every word in the magazine associated with each of the short pictured stories. It was the first memory I deeply recall of literacy and it was what laid the foundation for my personal love of reading and writing. The methodology used for this is an interview. There are three interviews which are analyzed and brought together in the form of a narrative. This narrative serves to better explain the emotions and thoughts that the interviewees had about the idea of literacy.

The definition of literacy is "the ability to read and write”. A large portion of people in the world are literate. But how did we get here? How did we learn how to pronounce words that we saw on the pages of a book, and in turn, write them? We all learned in some way. We weren’t born knowing how to read a chapter book or write a sentence. It was stressful, and a lot to learn considering that the English language is one of the toughest to learn. Today, literacy is a factor in most of our lives. So, there was a starting point for all of us. Although it was many years ago when I first learned to read, there are many factors that I vividly remember that influenced my ability to read and write. We all have a unique story on how we became literate.

Whichever way you learned to read, chances are you never knew what the terms “phonics” or “whole language” meant. However, these are the terms that are at opposite ends of an on-going debate over the best way to teach children how to read. “Simply stated, supporters of the whole language approach think children's literature, writing activities, and communication activities can be used across the curriculum to teach reading; backers of phonics instruction insist that a direct, sequential mode of teaching enables students to master reading in an organized way” (Cromwell, 1997).

What rules should be taught? What are the best ways to teach phonics? The first recorded known phonics instruction was when Noah Webster wrote the famous Blue Back Spellers (Webster, 1798). Included in this text was a list of letters, how to spell syllables, and then passages to be memorized, and content that had been used since the early 1600s. In the mid 1800s, the word method was used to learn to read, and memorize entire words rather than analyze words according to their sounds. According to Smith (1965), Since the introduction of the word method controversy phonetic approach or a whole-word approach to early reading instruction. In this article was stated, The Great Debate (Chall,1967) and “The First Grade Studies” (Bond & Dystra,1967) phonics knowledge is essential but children must be taught to read for purpose and meaning. Furthermore, the whole language versus phonics approach taught in the context of reading and writing activities and not be isolated. Materials such as worksheets and flashcards are considered inappropriate. The Argument that children need some direct systematic sound-symbol instruction to learn to read (Adams, 1990; Stahl, Suttles, & Pagnucco, 1993). Using an approach of combining phonics instruction and teaching with in-context systematic instruction. A research project was conducted in the classrooms of several different socioeconomic (SES) levels and racially diverse communities. In this study data was collected and teachers were interviewed regarding how they taught phonics, and the importance placed on literacy instruction. The data revealed that explicit instruction is systematic, sequential presentation of phonics skills using isolated direct instructional practices. Teachers taught that letters

My parents love to read, and they even have a newspaper that circulates all over the Valley. Growing up there were plenty of books readily available to us at home. My parents encouraged my siblings and I to read, but weren’t always there to read to us. They have always had their own business, and consequently worked very long hours to make it successful. They helped us with schoolwork whenever they were able, but reading reinforcement at home was not 100%. When I was little I remember being excited about going to school, and did not feel disadvantaged because I only spoke Spanish. I enjoyed going to school, and learning new things. While in kindergarten I picked up the English language quickly, and seemed to be right on track in school. I think that I was a pretty average student with typical learning strengths and weaknesses.

Whole Language versus Phonics has been a question among many top educational groups for years. Which is the best way to teach kindergarten children the proper way to speak and learn the English Language? There are many valid reasons why experts argue for both phonics and/or whole language. Both seem to be exceptional ways to master the English Language. The purpose of this research paper is to compare phonics versus whole language and to determine how technology can support each approach.

I learned to read before I started Kindergarten, by using a Teach-Me-Reader and listening to my mother reading to me from infancy. The Teach-Me-Reader was a toy produced in the late 1980’s by Playskool and it was developed in collaboration between Playskool and reading specialists. It was described on the box as being “ the first electronic teacher with a voice that ‘reads out’ each work your child touches on the page.” I loved it and I can remember spending hours reading the stories over and over before I started school.

To myself, the definition of literacy is having the ability and means to read and/or write. Although this seems as though it is a stereotypical and common definition, I have found during the course of my life that this definition holds to be true to my personal being. When I was younger, I used to think literacy was simply the literacy book that we read out of during English class. The more that I grew, the more I realized that literacy was having the ability to read the book- not the book itself. While in junior high, my English course was referred to as a literacy course. During this course, we learned on what basis literacy forms. The teacher explained that literacy is not the words on the page; literacy is having the means of reading the words, and having the ability to comprehend what exactly it is that we were reading. Though this seems similar to cultural literacy, it is actually quite different. Cultural literacy is having the ability to comprehend and participate fluently in a particular culture, whereas literacy is just having the ability and means to read and/or write in general.