The Ethos Of Literacy : The Literacy

In the essay ‘What is literacy?’, James Paul Gee, presents to us a very detailed examination, of concepts that are rather deemed to be similar by most. He explores the definition and meaning of “literacy” by taking into account other related ideas such as “learning”, “discourse” and “acquisition”.

Our view of literacy upon commencing this course, was that it is the ability to read and write. Our understanding of it however was partially true because, reading and writing are essential of any person’s literacy, but reading and

In my opinion, literacy is the foundation of education. To be a reader or writer can encompass a broad definition. It can range in meaning to describe a child who is just learning the sounds letters make when joined together to form a word, to a description of a poet, music producer, and so on. My experience with reading and writing began with the love of my mother, and grew from my continual interest and fascination for greater knowledge.

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.

Throughout my first year as a middle school Language Arts teacher, I have developed a theoretical understanding of what I believe are the necessary components to providing a meaningful and generative environment in which students develop and expand literacy skills. The teaching of literacy needs to include a balance of reading, writing, speaking and listening activities, and needs to be a social endeavor that provides a variety of instructional strategies to meet the needs of all diverse learners. My teaching strategies, beliefs and personality that I bring to my classroom can be characterized as a blend of two types of philosophical theories: social constructivism and relational teaching and

Literacy is being able to read and write; having said this it would be safe to say literacy means learning from books. However, think about the evolution of literacy and the different ways in which children and people learn and retrieve information; this definition could also include interaction with the digital text. There is a wide range as to what counts as literacy such as blogging, social networking, emailing, digital storytelling, online chatting and even shopping online just to name a few. Not everyone will agree with what is now counted as literacy, but if students are not enlightened on the many aspects of what could make them valuable assets in the future; that would be negligent. In Rich’s article digital literacy is being discussed which is the topic this response will focus on. Learning is not restricted only to the classroom. Digital literacy can be beneficial with

As a future teacher of a fast-changing generation that searches restlessly for new interests, I believe that old and new must meet to keep the basic values of a balanced literacy. Focusing on prior knowledge, collaborating with colleagues, peers, families, and community, creating connections with our surrounding, and empowering students’ learning style throughout the process of gaining knowledge of reading and writing. Foremost, my personal philosophy of teaching literacy is based on constructivism and sociolinguistic, where hands on experience and guidance are priority in an informational world. To facilitate a child’s acquisition of literacy skills , as I plan for literacy instruction for my future classroom, I will take into consideration

If you were to ask me what literacy meant to me when I was younger I would tell you, that it represented reading a book, and simply writing. The first thing that would come to my mind is English, reading and writing is what I do when it comes to that subject. Being young I was never taught the true meaning of literacy, and if you’re anything like me, you would eventually have to just learn on your own. Growing up I rarely thought what literacy truly meant, yet growing up it was a question I was always curious about, because this is when my writing became more serious. The more I began to write essays, the more it seemed to bother me. I asked myself, how could I truly write a good paper without knowing the basic true meaning of it all?

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.

The literacy narratives were not only a means to base where my writing skills are at, but take in information about people I barely know. Amongst my group, I would have to say the two foreign students had my attention indefinitely the entire time, because I was intrigued to hear about their journey to the U.S. The both of them had suffered great culture shock and went through the tedious process of learning American English. I can only assume that the difficulty was astronomical at first, due to the fact that we don’t speak proper English a majority of the time, which conflicts with the rigid learning that comes with learning a secondary language. It’s something about that culture shock that interests me as it shows a certain determination

Literacy plays a huge role in many people’s lives everyday, whether it is learning how to read and write for the first time or writing a five-page essay for the hundredth time. We experience literacy differently and have our very own unique stories on how it has impacted our lives and had made us who we are today. It is an essential aspect that I use in my everyday life, such as in relationships, daily interactions with others, and learning. It has become such a powerful aspect and human right in which it allows one to speak his/her mind and in some cases express their opinion to the world. My personal literacy history has shaped me into who I am today because without my experiences I would not have been able to gain the confidence and

“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.

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.

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.

Literacy is the cornerstone to all learning; it is imperative to future academic success. (Tracey and Morrow, 2012). Due to the significance of literacy instruction, there are a myriad of ways to teach literacy. Literacy is a complex subject, honing in on balancing reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of the complexity of literacy instruction, we arrive at the age-old debate of what is the best literacy instruction. My philosophy of literacy instruction centralizes around the Whole Language Theory and Balanced Literacy; however, I also blend in additional theories/approaches to teach effective literacy.