Reading is a pleasurable activity yet an essential part of life, as it is important for survival in the modern world. As Rohal Dahl quoted ‘ Books ... if you are going to be anything, they are vital in life’ (www.stlwritersguild.org 13/11/10). Children should be encouraged to read from a very young age, as the ability to read allows them to access information, develop into fluent speakers and allows them to be creative writers. A study carried out by Eckhoff (1983) on second graders demonstrates this as he examined writing of two different groups: one who read a highly simplified textbook whilst the other read a text containing many literature forms, results showed children who were exposed to various literary forms, seemed better able in using different literary forms in their writing compared to those who were presented with simplified texts (www.vtaide.com 4/11/10). Reading has played an important role in my life, especially through the early stages of my intellectual development. One of the first books presented to me were the hardback picture word books. These books had names of everyday objects together with its picture allowing me to recognise the items around the house. Rhymes such as: Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jack and Jill together with many others were also a part of this reading journey. My mum particularly liked reciting them to me, whilst I began to be engrossed in the lovely pictures of my nursery rhymes book. I also enjoyed the musical atmosphere they used to create, which as time went by allowed me to easily grasp the words, allowing me to recite the rhymes for myself. As Carl Sagan quoted ‘One of the greatest gifts adults can give to their offspring and to their society is to read to children’... ... middle of paper ... ...y goes on Stephy and Callum begin to grow closer together and fall in love however the racial segregation between both of the races stands as a major problem together with the birth of their child Rose. As the story goes on Rose grew up and soon began to find out about her heritage which leads her in to more danger. Malorie Blackman is quite a creative writer, as she began to twist racial history. In this series she made the black more superior whilst making the whites inferior. In conclusion I begin to notice a drastic change in my reading pattern, as during my early years I began to read various fiction books however this pattern has changed and I now begin to engage in books which reflect the realities of life and the present world, in which we live in. I look forward into expanding this reading journey and enhancing my current knowledge through reading.
Pearson UK (n.d.) stated “Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.”
This detailed text provides an understanding of reading and writing through detailed case studies, reflective questioning and further reading; in addition to links with the Early Years Curriculum (EYFS)(DCSF, 2008) provide informative information accessible to both practitioner and parent. As pointed out by the authors, literacy relates to fifty % of the early learning goals, therefore highlights the importance by the practitioner to make the acquisition of literacy exciting and meaningful through a multitude of role play scenarios, stories, rhymes and oral language, thus providing opportunities for the child to put life experiences of literacy into context, while scaffolding existing knowledge.
Living in the Southern United States during eighteenth century was a difficult time for African-Americans. Majority of them were slaves who received manipulation, sexual abuse and brutally whips to the spin. They were treated this way in order to stop them from gaining hope, knowledge and understanding of the world. Some African Americans managed to obtain these qualities from books and use them to escape from slavery. Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who wrote an autobiography, from which the excerpt "Learning to Read and Write" explains how he developed literacy. In the excerpt, an African American slave banned from learning to read and write, breaks the law in an attempt to free his mind from the restricted beliefs of his master. One significant idea portrayed from Douglass's ordeal is that reading and writing is a vital skill that benefits humanity.
Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, Boston: Pearson 2011. 274-279
The teaching of reading has gone through numerous transformations and controversy continues over what is the best reading instruction. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the use of authentic literature and time for children to read, discuss what they have read and hear fluent readers, are critical to success.
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
In the essay titled “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading” written by John Holt and published in Reading for writers in 2013, Mr. Holt discusses why most children aren’t interested in reading. Mr. Holt spent fourteen years as an elementary school teacher. He believed classroom activities destroy a student’s learning ability. Mr. Holt never let his students say what they thought about a book. He wanted his students to look up every word they didn’t know. People can learn difficult words without looking them up in the dictionary.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Reading literature helps children learn new words and expand on their vocabulary. Those who read more, often times have a larger and more impressive bank of vocabulary. Children who read more literature are able to comprehend and formulate their ideas more coherently than those that do not. As children continuing expanding their vocabulary, they seem “smarter” than other children because of their strong control of language. Due to the fact that children are building a better structure for their language, they show their strengths when writing and taking standardized tests for comprehension.
Winch, G., Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (4th ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
For example, a child whose parents read her a chapter from a children's book such as Harry Potter before bed each night will likely foster an eagerness toward reading and writing, while a child who has an English teacher who is unapproachable and inaccessible in her teaching methods might develop anxiety around being asked to read or write. The child who enjoys reading and writing will read in her free time and may even create short stories for herself, while the child who has trouble with literacy in the classroom will avoid reading and writing outside of school. It is important to note that a person's literacy and disposition on reading and writing can shift drastically over time due to positive and negative impacts brought on by varying literacy sponsors, as is my
Reading has always been a core subject taught throughout any student’s educational life; in the earlier years, we learned the basics of writing. For some students, it’s an exciting time, figuring out what goes into the story books we read and finally learning how words work. However, the story was different for me. As a child, it was intimidating when I notice that I didn’t catch on as fast as the other kids. Sometimes learning involves compensating for the skills one lacks. It’s a journey; here’s mine.
The time that I recall when I first began to read was when I was two years old. My mom started teaching me a lot before I went into kindergarten and it was really useful that she was a kindergarten teacher herself. The main types of readings I do are magazines, research articles, and when I get assigned to read a novel for a class. I would describe myself as a reader that once I start reading a book, I find myself not being able to stop because I want to know what will happen next. A moment that encapsulates who I am as a reader is when I read a novel that I chose for a class to do a book report on and found myself reading it for over an hour because I was in such suspense. My favorite books are “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Dress Her in
Children also need to enhance their vocabulary. A practice that helps with this is for teachers to select different genres of readings mixed with questions asked before and after the text. Text not only should have different genres but also different types of wring styles formal and informal. Informal writing and informal writing helps build vocab and shows children the difference between writing that a author connects with . (informal) and writing the author does not connect with on a emotional level(formal ) . Different styles , and genres are introduced to preschoolers but it is important that that teachers realize that students at this age do not understand these concepts , however, children do understand that there is in fact differ...
There are many different types of events that shape who we are as writers and how we view literacy. Reading and writing is viewed as a chore among a number of people because of bad experiences they had when they were first starting to read and write. In my experience reading and writing has always been something to rejoice, not renounce, and that is because I have had positive memories about them.