How I Learned To Become Literate
As a six-month-old baby books had opened up a whole entire new world of experience for me. My inspiration to learn how to read and write was encouraged by my Mother and Grandmother. This is because they read out loud to me before bed occasionally and gave me the best time of my life by introducing me to a library. By two years of age I developed speech and other communication skills. This helped me understand and develop a favorite book, “PJ Funny Bunny,” and I would stare at the pages pretending I was reading them. I would continually pretend to read with other Dr. Seuss books, Smurf pop-up books (I imagined I was a part of these for hours), sniff & scratches, and sensory books. I had just begun encouragement to learn literacy.
I always had a fascination when I would watch my Mother or Grandmother write (with their neat handwriting) or read something. I too, as a toddler, wanted to write just as well as they did. Therefore, I began writing on my games, play tables, and toy boxes (this was a big No, No). My Mother would in addition write out bills and use a calculator. Of course, I had to imitate her. But, any of this just wasn’t enough for me. I desired something more . . .
I can remember I was extremely excited to begin school. It wasn’t fair to me that all the bigger kids that lived nearby got to go to school and I didn’t. Jealousy grew as I watched them out the front window of our house when they would return home with their happy school faces. This showed me school was fun and I was missing out on the greatest thing. It just wasn’t fair! I wanted to learn too!
When I began Kindergarten I was prepared by knowing how to spell my name, recite and write the letters of the alphabet, and spell a few small words like, “CAT” and “DOG.” Our teacher, Mrs. Lowler, encouraged us to continue learning literacy by: sounding out letter or words, giving us more words to practice spelling, reading aloud to us every day, allowing us to take turns on the typewriter, recite poems and songs, take turns reading to each other, and finally writing a few small sentences. We also had a heartening contest that whoever read the most books would get a free pizza at Pizza Hut.
There are two things I remember Mrs. Lowler did to encourage my literacy skills. One time she made us paint a picture and then we had to present...
... middle of paper ...
...e a real feel for what it was like to truly be that character. Mrs. Paris also had us keep journals in class. Here she would give us a topic and we took about fifteen minutes to write our thoughts out. The fact that she took the time to write back to us made me excited and eager to write in my journal. This helped give me the idea to maintain a pen pal relationship with one of my friends from church.
Throughout my years of learning literacy I have combined my knowledge into different experiences. I have written papers, articles for newspapers (16), read to younger to children, and much more. My own philosophy as a teacher is to be a “Reading Mentor” to my students. I want to show my students that literacy is fun to learn and expands your imagination. Without books we would not be able to have the ideas and thoughts we do today. There would be no creativity; as a result places like Disney World would not exist. I have learned so much from each of these teachers. The important lesson that I will pass on is to make learning an enjoyable and pleasant learning experience. Like Mrs. Paris, my Fifth Grade teacher, I want to show my students I love and enjoy what I am teaching them.
Obesity is one of the major health problems that America faces today. Trans fat contributes to an unhealthy lifestyle, and if it is gone in America’s diet, people can become a bit healthier than right now. It is in most things that people eat, even without their knowledge. It can indirectly raise people’s medical costs, and make them feel more sluggish. Another reason to remove trans fat is also because it raises the risk of health problems. Digesting two to three grams a day can increase the risks of heart disease, bad cholesterol, obesity, type II diabetes, and much more. Since “more than a third of the adult population is obese”, this indirecting is a bad influence to the younger growing generations . Seeing adults eat junk food, they will be encouraged to eat the same kind of food. Food that contains trans fat in it tastes better and since it makes people desire it, people will crave more of it. It is also cheap, and since most people do not have that much money, it is a win-win situation least on the short run. Over time, if they continue this, they will develop health problems. Most Americans can not change their diets overnight, but with more knowledge about trans fat, this can be a revelation to people to slowly eat healthier and be healthier. It is time for change in America.
The famous Battle of Gettysburg was a major part of the Civil War. Before the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate army had the advantage. Although the casualty tolls of both armies were relatively close in numbers, the North and the South’s attitudes towards the war completely differed after the Battle of Gettysburg. The events occurring in the months following the historic battle were what gave the Union Troops the greatest advantage leading to their victory at the end of the Civil War.
On January 30,1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born. Sara Delano Roosevelt , Roosevelt’s mother decided to give him her maiden name as his middle name. In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s younger years his mother picked all the clothes he had to wear. Which resulted in him wearing a dress until he was five.
Two years after the start of the Civil War, the Union and the Confederate armies came to meet in one of the most famous battles of the Civil War; the Battle of Gettysburg. A battle that played a critical factor in determining how both sides would continue to fight future battles. The Battle of Gettysburg took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the first three days of July in 1863. Though not victorious, it is in the Battle of Gettysburg in which General Robert E. Lee can be proclaimed as a master of the organization of war. It was in the summer of 1863 that would mark a turning point during the Civil War. It is estimated that tens of thousands had already perished as a result of the war from both the Union and the Confederacy. With no definite side to be declared victorious, there were still thousands more to die by the time the Civil War would come to an end. The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive triumph for the Union despite the fact that the South continued to fight for two more years.
Franklin was born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He was the only child of James and Sara Roosevelt. Born into a very wealthy family, he grew up on his father's estate called Springwood. Being an only child, his parents adored him, but brought him up with a loving firmness. His father taught him that "being wealthy also brought with it the responsibility of helping people who were not so lucky" (Johnson 1967, p. 38).
The Battle of Gettysburg is a famous battle in the American Civil War (1861-1865) that took place in southern Pennsylvania from July 1 to July 3, 1863. The main issue of the Civil War is the expansion of slavery into federal territories. The Northern states fought to abolish slavery and free the slaves from the Southern plantations. The Southern states built their economy on the plantation crops of cotton and tobacco. Plantations thrived in the South with the free labor of slaves, and the Southern economy would collapse if slavery were abolished (Benson). The people of the Southern states considered slaves to be part of their property, and they were adamant to retain slavery.
The Battle of Gettysburg lasted three days in the summer of 1863. On July 1st, the confederates drove the Union defenders back to Cemetery Hill. The following day Lee attacked the flanks of the Union line which resulted in brutal fighting at Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, Culp’s Hill and East Cemetery Hill. Although the confederates gained ground on July 2nd, they failed to budge the Union army from many of their positions. On the third day of the battle,...
Throughout my childhood I was never very good at reading. It was something I always struggled with and I grew to not like reading because of this. As a child my mom and dad would read books to me before I went to bed and I always enjoyed looking at the pictures and listening. Then, as I got older my mom would have me begin to read with her out loud. I did not like this because I was not a good reader and I would get so frustrated. During this time I would struggle greatly with reading the pages fluently, I also would mix up some of the letters at times. I also struggled with comprehension, as I got older. My mom would make me read the Junie B. Jones books by myself and then I would have to tell her what happened. Most
My literacy journey began long before I had actually learned how to read or write. While recently going through baby pictures with my mother, we came across a photo of my father and I book shopping on the Logos boat, a boat that would come to my island every year that was filled with books for our purchasing. Upon looking at this picture, my mother was quite nostalgic and explained how they began my journey to literacy through experiences like this. My earliest memory of experiencing literature was as a small child. My parents would read bedtime stories to me each night before I went to bed. I vividly remember us sitting on the bed together with this big book of “365 bedtime stories for 365 days” and we read one story each day until we had
As a child, I have always been fond of reading books. My mother would read to me every single night before I went to bed and sometimes throughout the day. It was the most exciting time of the day when she would open the cabinet, with what seemed to be hundreds of feet tall, of endless books to choose from. When she read to me, I wanted nothing more than to read just like her. Together, we worked on reading every chance we had. Eventually I got better at reading alone and could not put a book down. Instead of playing outside with my brothers during the Summer, I would stay inside in complete silence and just read. I remember going to the library with my mom on Saturdays, and staying the entire day. I looked forward to it each and every week.
Ron Padgett, the author of Creative Reading, recalls how he learned to read and write as though these things happened yesterday. Like Padgett, I tried recalling my reading and writing history.
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.
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
Literacy is an on-going skill that teachers and students alike should commonly study and practice in all grades. Problems faced by teachers, especially teachers in higher grades, are not having the skills to be effective teachers of literacy. To effectively teach literacy across content areas, a teacher would need skills such as knowledge of the reading process and the ability to cultivate the knowledge gained in order to make informed decisions within their classrooms (Clary, Oglan, Styslinger,
Reading was never something I fussed about growing up. As a child, I loved genres of realistic fiction. I was hooked on The New Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley, Goosebumps, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, Judy Moody, and especially, Zoobooks and Highlights magazines. My mother was always ready to help build my reading and writing skills. She took me to the library constantly to feed my passion for books and knowledge. I loved exploring the shelfs, organizing the books, and filling up my library cart. I tried keeping a diary in elementary school to keep track of my outings with my parents and grandparents to museums, zoos, movies, and libraries. This flash of writing enthusiasm was spun from books I read in the 4th and 5th grade that were