The Importance Of Literacy

Literacy is having an understanding that oral language can be brought to life through print. Thoughts, that are translated in text or through writing, are used to inform, entertain or persuade the reader. Literacy (the ability to read and write) is a much-needed tool to survive in today’s society. Without it, one would become a life-long dependent. The building blocks for becoming a successful reader begin with emergent literacy.

The clear cut definition of literacy is the ability to read and write, pretty simple. The more elaborate definition of literacy, though, is being able to read, write, and comprehend what is being read or written. People apply it to everyday life such as reading a book for school to reading a menu at a restaurant. Throughout

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.

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.

So everyday I would beg my mom and sister to help me with my reading. My mom would always help me whenever I asked, but my sister was a little bit harder to convince. Usually she would help me though. Once I began learning how to read, I realized how much fun it was. It was all I ever wanted to do. Whenever I was bored, I would just sit down and write out all the words that I could. But I would soon learn those words and go look through books to find new ones to learn. I quickly caught on and I was able to read simple books very well. I would practice whenever I could. When I was in the car I would read all the street signs and names of buildings that we passed by. Reading became my go to whenever I was bored, sad, angry, or just wanted to have a little

Rayen enjoys listening and participating in literacy activities. He often makes personal connections to shared experiences and takes risks by sharing them in the large group. Rayen writes in a small group that focuses on sounding out words and recording ideas in ways that make sense. He has demonstrated growth this term in being able spell some high frequency words and uses them in his writing. Rayen is able to communicate his ideas and experiences through illustrations and oral discussions. He uses sentence starters to organize his ideas and produces simple sentences with support. Also with support, he is able to create a story with a beginning, middle and end. Rayen continues to work on consistently using finger spaces in his writing for

Literacy is not only knowing how to read and write. I believe it is much more than that. Being literate is more or less being knowledgeable in a specific area. That being said, it is hard to understand anything without first knowing how to read and write and that is why it's so important. I do not believe anyone knows their purpose in life if they are not literate in some area of life.

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.

Creating a literacy-rich environment is one of the key elements of supporting children’s literacy development. Literacy-rich classrooms tend to look quite different than the traditional classroom, covered in pre-made posters and arranged with individual desks in rows, and instead, allow for teachers to design their classrooms with their students’ needs in mind. According to an article on the Sadlier School’s blog, all elements in a classroom must be meaningful, intentional, purposeful, and engaging when creating a literacy-rich classroom. This means that classroom design is created in a way that it provides frequent opportunities to be exposed to text via environmental print, instruction, and hands-on learning as well as encouraging communication and collaboration (Sadlier School, 2017).

Being literate in 2016 is a very complex concept because you can be literate in so many different topics ranging from reading and writing to computer software and games. Literacy comes when you are proficient in a specific topic and understand most of the small details that go along with it. Some people may want to be literate in computer games while others may think that this literacy is not important. Even though everyone has a certain basic level of literacies, each person will have a variety of unique literacies that not everyone else will have. Over the past couple of decades, what it meant to be literate has changed because of the expansion of technology.

Literacy pedagogies have a developing and complex history in education, intertwined with social and cultural change and evolution. Each change has paved a new path for more significant approaches and strategies, which cater to diverse learners allowing them to create meaning and communicate more effectively. These literacy pedagogies brought out by the changes in education have both strengths and weaknesses. As such, educators need to explore and understand the four knowledge processes portrayed by Kalantzis, Cope, Chan and Dalley-Trim; didactic, authentic, functional, and critical literacy approach (2016), to be able to consider how they can influence teaching and learning so they are able to make informed decisions with regards to their students’ literacy learning. Teaching is becoming increasingly complex; this is particularly evident in the area of literacy. This paper will explore the four literacy pedagogies, their limitations and their strengths, and how they have impacted literacy learning within the Australian educational context.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Mahatma Gandhi). Learning is essential to grow as an individual and expand your knowledge. Literacy is key for broadening our mentality and a person will only benefit from it. For me, especially, literacy has been essential for my growth and the challenges I have taken on. Everything in my life has depended on my knowledge and skills that I have acquired, and I am continuously developing new techniques.

Literacy has changed the way that people live since the beginning of time. From cavemen communicating with drawings and hand signals to the earliest form of Latin. At that time reading was a skill that very few had. It was believed to be that only the wealthy and the noble class were taught this skill. Peasants did not need it in their everyday life. Reading was considered a privilege and was also used to suppress the lower class. Knowledge is power. For me, this knowledge has molded the way that I live and communicate.

One of the basic understandings of literacy would be, a basic human knowledge or reading and writing. The use of literacy helps us make decisions in our everyday life, from the chores we do at home to the decisions we take while in the workplace. Most of the decisions that we make are based on what we have learned and understand. The majority of people are taught to read, but how many are taught to understand what they are reading?

Reading and writing are both important; you can’t have one without the other. They are skills that are increased constantly due to little things that most times are not noticed. Whether it is from a book to a poem, there will always be a way that it helps out your school performance. Reading and writing in general only helps absorb information, and enhance leisure or school related writing tasks. It has also made life itself so much easier because reading and writing are so beneficial for school and for life. How much you read and write today, will somehow affect your future job, family, position, or even your salary.