literacy narrative

“Enriching Lives with the Gift of Literacy”
A Literacy Narrative
Stephanie Hayes
April 18, 2017
EDU 576

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads
lives only one.” George R.R. Martin. Reading and writing have been a true gift to
me throughout my life. They are not just skills that I acquired in elementary
school in order to complete school assignments and make good grades. They are
a conduit for experiencing life and the world. I am always amazed when I hear
people say they don’t like to read, it is hard for me to imagine that as a truth.
Beginning the path to become a literacy teacher has shown me that possibly
those with a poor view of reading were never given the tools to unlock all of the
treasures a book can offer. Perhaps they were never given the opportunity to
learn literacy skills to deepen comprehension and strengthen their relationship
with reading and writing. These are important points to consider as I enter the
world of teaching literacy to ensure the success of each of my students so that
they too can reap the many rewards that a love for reading and writing can bring
and enrich their lives with literacy.

In my first semester as a graduate student, learning the techniques for
teaching literacy skills in elementary school has led me to think of my own path in
learning to read and write. I have always been an avid reader and also have
always enjoyed writing. Reading has enriched my life in many ways and at all
points in my life I have had a favorite book or poem that I related to very much

and read multiple times. As a writer, I have kept journals from a young age using
writing as a way to process thoughts and express myself. I write for personal
enjoyment and growth, as a way of communicating with family and friends, and
also in my professional development. A dear friend of mine from childhood and I
continue to write letters to each other as a way of connecting and sharing when
life is too busy to talk on the phone. I write cards and letters to my family
members for birthdays and holidays to bring a more personal touch to the
message. My joy of reading and writing has helped me throughout my school
career and has added depth and quality to my life experience.

In my earliest experiences with reading my mom played a pivotal role. She
is also an avid reader and was happy to share this habit with me and my siblings
from a very young age. Even now my mom is someone that I love to share and
discuss books with. I remember books and reading being prominent in my life
from an early age. Books were always around in our home and going to the library
was a family fun activity that we did on a regular basis. During my preschool
years my mom used reading my favorite book as a reward system rather than
cookies or sweet treats, every night there was story time before bed, and books
were given as gifts. I fondly remember my beloved Mother Goose storybook that
I carried around asking any interested adult to pick a story and read to me.

Because of these early positive engagements with reading I entered school ready
and excited to learn to read.

Thinking back on my school experiences with literacy, I know that I began
to learn about reading and writing in kindergarten but the actual acquisition stage
escapes me now. I was very happy to learn to read and took to it quickly, reading
at a higher level than my grade throughout elementary school. Some of my
favorite authors in elementary school were Beverly Cleary, EB White, Roald Dahl,
and Shel Silverstein. There was a book reading program in school called Book-It
and every month my book chart was filled with more stars than most other
students. Often times I would read two or three books at the same time just
because I was too excited to wait until I finished one to move on to the next. In
elementary school we were encouraged to read books that interested us and then
simply report back what the book was about. This type of instruction did not
necessarily teach me effective reading skills but I was encouraged to read and
found enjoyment in it. It is easy to see know how this did little to encourage
struggling readers to develop and maintain effective reading skills or strengthen
their relationship with reading.

In sixth grade I was in an advanced English class and the teacher wanted us
to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. My mom was impressed and excited
for me to take on this classic but other parents did not feel the same. Many
complained that they did not want their children reading such a controversial
book so the teacher changed the book selection. Annoyed that parents were
being closed minded and sheltering their kids, my mom encouraged me to read
the book anyway. She felt that it was good for me to begin reading challenging
books that dealt with complex material to expand my awareness of the world.
Plus, growing up in the south this book explores topics that are steeped in
regional history. This was the first experience I had with a book that was
controversial and it was a new and exciting concept to learn. This book brought
out real emotion. It made me feel sad, bothered, and concerned. It gave
perspective that I was unfamiliar with and explored complex issues. It made me
think about the world and my place in it. My reading interests changed after this,
I began to read books that dealt with difficult themes, examined the complexity of
human nature, and didn’t all have happy endings. This awakened awareness in
me and a desire to learn more from the books I read and develop a deeper
connection with the story and characters.

This was about the time that I began keeping a regular journal also. Not
just writing about what happened in my day but writing about my thoughts, some
of them stemming from the books I was reading. This is when the relationship
between reading and writing grew for me. They became a lense through which I
could view the world and develop a sense of myself and life. They became a way
of learning and processing the world around me. They helped me to explore
emotion, gain perspective, and expand my knowledge. They provided more than
entertainment and enjoyment; they gave a deeper look into myself and others.
This relationship with literacy has stayed with me throughout my life and is
something that I cherish. I am excited to share this with students and help them
develop a positive and enriching experience with literacy as well.

As a Literacy Education student I have begun to see another side of literacy
making my experience with it more comprehensive and multi-dimensional.
Developing strategies to enhance reading and writing skills in students has shown
me that literacy can be taught effectively in schools to promote a lifelong
connection. The focus on teaching literacy skills to students throughout their
school career is exciting and quite different than what I experienced in school.
From my school experience, once students knew how to decode text, little class
time was given to teaching reading skills such as comprehension. The instruction

method used while I was in school was very teacher focused with the teacher
basically telling you what the text was about and why it was important. As a
drastic difference, the Fountas and Pinnell strategy of guided reading encourages
students to think more deeply about what they are reading, to make connections,
and to discuss what they are taking from the reading. This creates a deeper
connection to reading and leads to students retaining effective skills that will
serve them for the rest of their lives. I was lucky to be naturally drawn to reading
but for students that are not the focus on guided reading instruction gives more
opportunity and tools for students to develop a positive and meaningful
relationship with reading. Teaching students to find value and meaning from
books is a much more effective way to instill literacy skills for life.

An example of guided reading in the Annenberg Learner video, Responding
to Literature, that we viewed for our Teacher Analysis was a great model for
reading instruction. Mr. Thompson’s approach to reading and reading discussion
was inspiring. He created a safe and comfortable environment for students to
explore their thoughts on the book they were reading in a small group through
use of personal journals and group discussion. He positioned himself as part of
the discussion using guided questions but also modeling his own thought process
for taking meaning from the reading as well. By doing this he showed students

how to think as a reader and guided them to making connections and deeper
meaning on their own. You could see genuine enjoyment and authentic
expression in all of the students rather than them just responding to teacher
directed questions and answers.

Literacy instruction has certainly improved since I was in school.
Throughout my school experience writing papers was reserved for English class
and the reading that was done in other content areas was strictly of the
textbooks. Vocabulary lessons involved writing down the new term and definition
with little focus on retention and application other than for the purpose of the
test. Both of these out of date practices have been advanced upon by the work of
Janet Allen who calls on teachers to teach literacy across all content areas and to
strengthen the ways in which they teach vocabulary. This leads to students having
a better command of the terms they are learning and leads to better application
and retention. By teaching literacy in all content areas of school students are
encouraged to apply the literacy skills they are learning in more ways than just for
English Language Arts. This enhances their skills and shows that effective reading
and writing strategies are used in all areas of life.

Writing assignments during my school experience involved writing about
what you have been reading but often times lacked delving deeper into the text
and encouraging students to make connections from the text. Strategies
developed by Jennifer Serravallo in The Writing Strategies Book show ways for
teachers to go beyond mundane writing assignments and encourage students to
get involved and excited about what they are writing. Also, writing to learn
activities in which students use writing to process and organize their thoughts in a
very casual format is an effective way to help students practice writing without
pressure. These activities can be applied across all content areas to support
writing skill development in any subject. Encouraging students to become
comfortable with expressing themselves in writing is key in developing the skills
to be effective writers throughout their lives. This will go on to serve them greatly
in college and in their professional or personal development as well.

Along with being aware of new teaching practices through class material I
have also diversified my literacy experience through fieldwork this semester. I
worked with a kindergarten and second grade class at Queensbury Elementary
School. It was a very rewarding and eye opening experience to have. To begin, I
was quite surprised and impressed to see kindergartners reading independently
and writing in complete sentences. Each day the students would practice sight

words, have a book read aloud to them to discuss literature themes, and then
would work in groups either in a literacy center, independent reading, shared
reading, or guided reading. There were definitely students at different levels of
reading but all of them could read independently. The activity they worked on
supported their level of reading. This helps students develop their skills as they
can at their own pace and removes the pressure of having to perform at the same
level of everyone else. I really loved seeing the practices we learn about in class
being put into use. The teacher I worked with in kindergarten encouraged
students to make inferences about the books they read, make text connections,
and draw conclusions. Also, she gave instruction on how to be active readers by
modeling effective reading strategies and modeled reading fluency through
numerous animated read alouds.

During independent reading time, I worked with one of the more advanced
readers and used a running record style of evaluation as he was moving to the
next level in advancing his reading. This evaluation was used to determine if he
was able to follow the text, read the words correctly, and also comprehend the
story with the advanced content. Knowing the process of running record really
impressed the teacher I was working with and gave me an effective resource for
evaluating student reading. I also sat in with other readers that struggled with

focus and was able to apply the methods of covering the rest of the text so they
could focus on each word they were reading and encouraging them to use
context clues or picture clues to figure out the words they did not know. These
are methods we discussed in class and were also in The Reading Strategies book
by Jennifer Serravallo.

I was equally amazed with the literacy skills of the second grade students
that I worked with. They practiced reading and writing in a variety of ways such
as book club discussions with small groups where the teacher “stopped in” to
listen in on discussion and only worked with a group if they seemed to be having
trouble. Also, the students worked on a class science experiment and developed
a science report using the science method as a whole class. In this instruction the
teacher modeled the thinking and writing process for the students to follow and
then gave them independent time to work in groups and apply the process
themselves. There was even support of literacy skills in math instruction as well
as students were asked to write how and why they came up with the answers
they did in using measurements as the teacher walked the class through the steps
of the math process. It was great to see students working on increasingly
challenging projects that utilized literacy skills while the teacher used scaffolding
methods in her instruction. I could see through the reading and writing skills of

the students that they really benefitted from literacy instruction being a part of all
content areas.

Having a deep connection with literacy is something I hope to inspire in all
my students. Because reading and writing have been such a rewarding
experience for me I find value in supporting the development of literacy and
empowerment through literacy skills in my students. I envision encouraging self-
selection of texts in my classroom so that students can find books that interest
them and build their personal relationship with reading. I will incorporate reading
journals for students to practice writing about what they are reading, to think
deeply, and also make text connections. I will practice guided reading instruction
to ensure that students of all reading levels are able to take meaning and develop
their vocabulary through texts. Also, I will give a variety of low stakes casual
writing activities for students to participate in to increase their confidence and
ability in processing their thoughts into written words. These are ways that I will
promote students finding their comfort level and personal connection to literacy
in order to share with them the gift that I have found so enriching through life.