My Pursuit Of Literacy

“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.

As a girl growing up around a group of bikers, boys and two parents who listened to eighties hair bands and metal, you wouldn’t think that I read or was read to frequently before starting school. I pursued in reading quite often, actually. When I finally started school, I had the tendency of keeping to myself and staying quiet. There never have been very many friends in the picture of my life. I learned at a young age that there often are going to be cliques, even when you’re an eight year old in girl scouts. I stood out in more ways than one, but for now I’m only going to elucidate why reading is so salient to me.

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.

One of the most eye opening experiences of my life occurred in the second grade. I would have never thought that doing one simple assignment in elementary school could change my whole perspective on literacy. My understanding of literacy was sparked when I had read my first real book. I remember sitting down on the vividly colorful carpet day dreaming about playing Mario Cart on my Nintendo 64 while everyone was obediently listening to the teacher read a book out loud. It wasn’t that I did not know how to read or listen, I just didn’t care. Reading to me used to be tedious because I did not understand the purpose of it. I did not grow up with the luxury of my parents reading to me because they weren’t literate in English, so I had to figure out for myself why literacy is vital in everyday life. My ongoing learning experience with literacy can be traced back to one simple visit to library.

When I was a child I truly detested reading. I thought reading was dull so I never wanted to do it. I remember my 2nd grade teacher would have us read a specific number of books each week. I would always try to sit in the back in the classroom behind everyone so the teacher could not see me all that well. I did this so when it came time to read I would be able to switch between doodling in my notebook and pretend to read when the teacher walked by me. I would never meet that goal so my teacher contacted my parents. I remember hearing my teacher talk to my parents over the phone and a feeling of dread took over me. On my way home on the bus my stomach felt like knots knowing with each passing moment I would be closer to my destination. When I got home my parents scolded me and gave me a lecture on the importance of reading. They told me that if I wanted to be successful then I should take the opportunities that they themselves did not have as children. They also told me that being able to read and write would mean I have the chance to get the job of my dreams. The next day I woke up with the words that my parents shared with me still on my mind. I got dressed and went outside to wait for the bus. When the bus arrived, I got on and sat down the usual noise of laughter and chatter was drowned out by my intense focus on my future. when I arrived at school the very first thing I did was head straight toward the library. The library had an enormous selection of books I had no idea where to start. I wandered around the library for what felt like hours not really sure what I was looking for. The librarian must have noticed my confusion because she came straight toward me

Everything that we do requires words. Even when we think we create our memories out of words. One reason why we do not remember stuff when we are young is because we don’t have the words to put the information into to store it. Writing is very important because writing means everything, and if we didn 't have writing, we wouldn 't be able to spread ideas. The local and world news are in writing also so we need to be able to read the information. Also directions on how to use something or directions to go somewhere for transportation are also written in words. It is unimaginable how many roles writing plays in our lifestyles and we don’t even think about it.

My literacy path has a lot of exciting events that happened during my childhood. At that time I was inspired by my mother who was my literary guardian, and encourage me at that path. She was the closest person to me at that time. She has been teaching fine art for more than thirty years at one of reputable schools back home. She didn’t settle for that job only. She was cooperating with many other artist running exhibitions that won awards. Five years ago, my mother was promoted to be a supervisor at the ministry of education of all the art instructors over the region. As child whose literary guardian is an artist, I spent most of my time trying to imitate my mother’s painting.

Many people across the globe adore to read and write but there are also many people who don’t. Dictionary.com defines literacy as “the ability to read and write.” Personally, I don’t think that reading or writing is enjoyable because it leaves too many question unanswered.

My literacy skills have grown and progressed throughout this course in the way that there have been a lot of things that I have learned and that I have been continuing to learn. When I first started this course, I did not know how to write an essay, I learned to use the before, during, and after reading technic, and I learned what a summary paragraph was. But now with this course, I have written a couple of assignments which have helped me keep learning.

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.

A child learns his/her first word from a mother. She teaches her children how to take an initial step in reading and writing. I have different experiences in the journey of literacy. I remembered how my mother used to teach me mathematical tables to strengthen my reading. It was my first lesson of reading. Afterward, comes my teacher who polishes me as a reader and a writer. In my journey of literacy, I remembered how a page of a book in English class helps me to strengthen writing and reading ability; furthermore, it creates love for reading in me. For me, a book is a doctor and reading is a medicine which treats during the time of

The word literacy to me, is being able to comprehend what a group of letters would mean together, basically is having good comprehension skills. One of many ways we can understand literacy, is to relate the word literature with every writing we do or read. Not only that, but in the world of literacy, having good writing skills can help the reader understand what you’re trying to get across. Even though literacy is associated with letters and words, a picture can also be a good example of it. When we see the logo of Facebook we know what it means, even though if it doesn’t have the complete word, our brain made the connections until your mind associated with the actual word. If you really think about it, we use literature in every part of our

“Literacy” is a word that can having different meanings to different people. Upon hearing the word, I think of the ability to read and write. If you can read and speak a language, you are literate in it. However, I believe that there are different types of literacies. First, there is the obvious English literacy- knowing how to read and write. But there are also other kinds of topics that I am literate in thanks to my culture and upbringing. I also begin to think about what constitutes literacy? Spanning many heated discussions from multiple classes, for the sake of this autobiography, I am defining literacy as the ability to communicate within a topic. Using this definition, one can be literate in many, many things. I think the true test of

“Our Role as Mentors, demonstrating a Love of Literacy, this says it all! A teacher who foster literacy in his or her classroom will help “expand a student breadth of experience in reading and writing”. Students will start to take on the value system of their teachers. So it is important as educators to be a good role model, especially when it comes to helping children learn to love reading and writing. Teachers who take time to read a book that has nothing to do with the curriculum and allowing students to write about their own life experiences will give students experience in the wonderful world of reading. Teachers who model the value system when it comes to reading and writing, will only heighten the joy students get from literacy activities.

If someone ask me what is the definition of literacy was a couple years ago, my answer would be I honestly do not know. Growing up, education was not my main priority. Through the ages of five to nine, I attended Henry Ford Academy. I must say while I was there, it was the worst time period of my life. The teachers did not really care for the students and they honestly did not teach us anything. I would go to school for a couple of hours and come home to the realization that I did not learn anything. That is what my daily routine consisted of throughout the weekdays, learning absolutely nothing. On my free time, I did not read nor did I write. Reading and writing was not my favorite “hobby” to do so there was no way I was going to spend any of my “free time” carrying out them.