What Literacy Means To Me

  The art of reading requires  the reader to use the  skill of  visualizing for true understanding.  In Hot Dog, the 2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal selected book written and illustrated by Doug Salati, the reader is allowed that freedom to develop the story for themselves.   The book uses very few words to take you on a day trip with a dog and his owner.  The author instead uses detailed imagery to draw us into the story.  Through pictures, we are immersed in the hustle and bustle that many experience in a hot overcrowded city that is then calmed by a seaside detour used to decompress from amidst the chaos.  The story then ends with both the owner and dog having a good night’s rest that was filled with pleasant dreams from their much-needed seaside get away.  Through pictures, Salati was able to construct details that added depth to the reading.   We became a part ...

  As a child, my parents always stressed the importance of reading.   Reading is a way to experience new things and explore the world.   I can remember my mother sitting by lamp light in the living room, reading her beloved mystery novels.   She would sit for what seemed to be hours entranced in the pages.   I was always so intimidated by the book’s thickness, thinking it was going to take her forever to read it.   My mom picked up on my fascination with watching her read and would sometimes allow me to hear the happenings that had such a hold of her attention.   By sharing these stories with me, she planted seeds in me that developed into my love for reading.   At first, I wanted to read mystery novels, just like my mother.   I loved trying to figure out the cases before the end of the book.   As I got older, my interest changed to adventures and humor.   Adventure books allowed be to travel to different places.   I read abo...

       Developing student writing is something that I will be focusing on in my ELA classroom.   Notebooks will be one way that I plan on introducing ways for the students to work through writing styles.   Two types of entries that I am really interested in introducing to my class are:  Reaching into a memory and  Writing with only your ears.   These two types of entries are particularly interesting to me because I feel they will allow the students to reach into themselves.   By reaching back into a memory, they will be recalling situations that they have experienced.   They will learn how to develop those thoughts and feelings into words.   I will explain that it does not need to be anything grand, just something that they remember (that relates to the prompt) and want to write about.   This will take away the pressure that students sometimes feel when trying to write a paper.   Writing with your eyes just see...

The phone rings.    “May I please speak to Lynette”?    “This is she”.    The change in tone of her voice causes my body to stiffen.    “I regret to inform you that your mother has passed”.    “Passed what”?    “We tried to revive her, but she just didn’t make it”.    Silence……. I ask, “what are you talking about”?    “I’m sorry ma’am, but your mom has passed away.   Who do you want us to call to collect the body?     Again, I ask, “what are you talking about”?    As my limp body collapses on the bed, I hear her ask,  “Ma’am, are you okay? Are you alone?   Is there someone else that we can call”?    Her voice turns to a murmur until the sound of the dial tone brings me back into reality.

  The Book, Head, and Heart Strategy for reading is a wonderful approach to aid in comprehension.   In book club # 1, these connections resonated with personal experiences that I shared with the characters in the book.   The book , New Kid was about someone that was introduced into a different situation that made them feel isolated, alone, and misunderstood.   The author tells the story of being the “new kid” in a school that is not only different from anything that you have previously known, but also the struggle that some face when trying to fit in.   When I was in elementary school, my brother and I were the only African American students on a particular campus.   To top it off, English was not their primary language.   We attended school in this district because my parents decided to move and lived next to border of Mexico.   A district where a majority of the students were Hispanic and were learning English as a second language.   Learn...

  How I Experience Reading   When I read a book, my mind transforms into a blank movie reel that is waiting to be developed by the author.   It is very important that the author uses words with intention and purpose.   As I read the words, my mind creates the atmosphere that develops my setting for the story. These words also permit me to develop a makeshift appearance of what each character should look like.   Enough information has to be given to ignite my imagination with the ability to project these images.   If I cannot picture what the book is trying to say, I tend to lose interest in reading it.   As my mind becomes engaged in the story, I begin to pull from prior knowledge and give life to the scenes.   I’m able to envision sights and assign sounds as the author continues to outline the vision for the movie that has begun to play in my mind.   As I become more and more engaged in the book, the roles of an antagonist and a protag...

  How Do Readers Read?   How does your current book travel around with you?   What exact part of your backpack, pocket, purse, or whatever is involved?   I wish that I could say that my book traveled in a special place that would protect it or keep it in tact.   No such luck for me!   My current book travels with me via the passenger seat of my car.   During the daytime hours, a majority of my time is spent driving to meetings and appointments.   The evening hours are spent trying to either prepare a meal, attend afterschool functions, or assist my daughters with their homework assignments.   On other occasions, I’m tied up in other organizational meetings for the church and community.   There are hardly any downtime hours in my day so having it in the car allows me to have access whenever time permits.     The alternative to my car is the nightstand next to my bed.   One might think that this would be the ideal pl...