Emily Moog

Tch Lrn 321

Literacy History Part 2

PROMPT OPTIONS

Were you read to as a child? By whom? What do you remember about being read
to?
I was read to a lot as a child. I have four older siblings that range from six years older

than me to nineteen years older than me and I was the little sibling they loved to parent.

However, I was read to most by my parents and two family friends who raised me from the time

I was one until I was old enough for first grade. I remember distinctly my mother reading Guess

How Much I Love You to me over and over. The book is about a bunny and his dad lovingly

competing to express with words and actions how much they love each other, sure that each of

them loves the other the most. My mom had bought me two stuffed hares that came with the

book and I would act out the hares actions as she read the words. But, what I remember most is

how expressive my mom was with the characters. She gave life to their voices, and I can still

hear in my head the way she said, I love you THIS much!

Linda, another woman who took care of me, firmly believed in reading to children. I

spent upwards of ten hours with her each day for the first six years of my life and cannot

remember a day when she didnt read to me before and after naptime and at any point throughout

the day that I asked her to. I remember her reading The Berenstain Bears books to me and

stopping periodically to ask me questions about what was happening on each page. The children

bears were not usually respectful to their parents and the father bear was portrayed as a fairly

dense parent. Linda asked me questions about what the children did and what they should have

done to respect their parents and to love each other. Reading was always interactive with Linda
as well as expressive. Cecil (2015) writes, Parents can best help children develop reading

literacy by reading to and with them (p. 320). I would encourage this in my classroom by

reading to my students continually throughout the day. Not every parent can be home for their

student each day to read to them. Many parents have more than one job and are not able to do

so. Therefore, I would read a book to students in the morning while they get their things together

and are starting their day and would read a story to them before they leave the room for the day.

I would also try to read to them when I could throughout the day. I would also suggest to parents

that they try to carve out time for at least one book each day to be read to their students. I would

also suggest that they create a special place in their home to read to their student so that the

student sees that special reading corner, just like my classroom would have. Suggesting these

strategies to students could be exactly what parents need in order to have motivation to read

with their students and impact their learning that way.

Did you go to the library as a child? If so, describe your experience.

As a child, I was constantly in the library. My dad has always been an avid reader and

would read books in one or two days, and then frequent the library again to obtain new titles. His

love for literature was therefore instilled in me. I remember going to the library one spring day

and seeing a flyer for a summer reading program. The program was free and involved keeping

track of the books a child read throughout the summer as well as the number of pages within the

books. A parent would sign off on the form and turn it in at the end of the summer. The goal was

to read as many books and pages as possible to earn prizes according to the number of pages

completed. I loved the program. I loved the challenge and pushing myself to continue to read. If

enrolled in the program, students also had access to free classes and presentations inside the

library. I went to one presentation on metamorphosis and how a caterpillar became a butterfly.
We catalogued the process and learned about the science behind it. The program became more

about learning for the sake of learning, rather than for gaining a better prize.

Describe your earliest spelling experiences. Explain how you remember spelling
being taught or assessed. Was spelling easy or difficult to do? Why or why not?
Second grade was an important year for spelling at my school. I remember spelling tests

for the first time being administered in my classroom and listening to the teacher say and repeat

twice words that we would write down to the best of our ability. I dont remember ever having

studied a list of words, which means my teachers must have been assessing whether or not we

could apply rules in the english language to discover how to spell words. However, in third

grade, my teacher gave me a list of words each week that we would be tested on. I was able to

study and write the words over and over until taking the test on Friday. There wasnt a rhyme or

reason in my head to why words were spelled a certain way. I just knew how to memorize them

and write them back to the teacher.

One of my favorite times of the school year in elementary grades was the Spelling Bee.

Many of my classmates studied for hours and days before the Spelling Bee to try to increase their

knowledge of how to spell words and hopefully make it to a district and state level. I never

studied beforehand, but always waited anxiously for my turn to be a part of that special day. I

remember loving the rush of trying to remember how a word was spelled or apply the rules of

spelling I knew to the ones I was unsure of. I never made it to a district or state level in spelling,

but I always had fun seeing what I knew already and learning from the words children in my

class spelled. Wright (2015) cautions teachers, saying they should, avoid giving weekly

spelling bees (p. 124). I agree with this sentiment because not all students enjoyed the spelling

bee that was taken at my school. It made many students feel nervous or less than other students if

they were not able to spell as many words correctly. I would argue that it would not be a good
idea to make any spelling bee mandatory. I would encourage my students to participate and

show them examples of spelling bees and perhaps have a mock one within our classroom, but

would not force them to try one. Requiring a spelling bee could turn students off to the idea of

spelling words and memorization. Instead, encouraging Spelling Bingo in which students must

spell a word correctly to gain one spot or other fun games would boost self-confidence in

spelling ability and would not cause comparison.

Describe your experiences with reading comprehension. Was it easy or difficult to

remember and/or understand what you were reading? What strategies did your
teachers use to help you comprehend text?
My teachers read often to me during my years in elementary and middle school. I can

remember listening to my teacher read chapter books in middle school while I doodled things

that stuck out to me. Often times, I would write down little notes of details if I was going to be

tested over the material later or asked questions, but if I was listening for the purpose of listening

and enjoying the story, I would doodle words or phrases or pictures that came into my head. It

helped me focus on the words and the storyline. My teacher told me later on down the road to

take notes while I listen or read to help me know when to come back to a text for clarification or

to recap what the main sections of the book were. I would underline key phrases and put

numbers by ideas that corresponded to each other. These strategies helped me make sense of

some of the harder material I read. I do remember having more difficulty remembering

information if I didnt take notes or underline. If I sat and listened and was asked to answer

questions about what I heard, I often could not formulate answers.

Describe assessments you participated in that involved reading, writing, speaking or

listening. How did you do with test taking skills? What did you like or dislike about
the particular assessments and why?
 My parents enrolled me in a private school from pre-school until eighth grade. The

school was not bound to the state and didnt need to test the way that the state tested. However,

the administration still wanted to make sure that students within my school were getting a

thorough education and were testing at or above the Washington State Standards. So, I took the

SAT every year as an assessment of my knowledge and understanding of material. I remember

taking the SAT at my public high school and thinking it was one of the easiest tests I have ever

taken, because I was so used to taking this type of test. My classmates were so stressed about

getting the answers correct and wondering what the test would entail, while I was calm because I

already knew. I didnt like how fact-based the SAT was. Your scores were based on what bubble

you filled in and didnt give you a chance to explain your answer or show what you did or didnt

know about a subject. However, when it came to the writing portion, you were given time to

write down all that you wanted on a given topic. I liked being able to express myself. But, since I

took the test every year for so many years, I didnt know any different and I was not nervous or

upset by the tests. Wright (2015) agrees with the idea of differentiating assessment strategies

by saying teachers must, use different types of assessment tools for different purposes to

ensure that each childs holistic literacy progress is measured (p. 278). This shared

sentiment is so important when considering how to assess students. I had and have a more

creative mind when it comes to expressing what I know. Standardized tests are helpful in getting

a benchmark, but often miss out on explanations of what students do or do not know and could

be taken on a bad day for that particular student. Therefore, a teacher should give options and

assess in different ways throughout the day, week, month, and school year. I will incorporate

standardized tests in my classroom to gain that benchmark knowledge but then will also

incorporate other ways of assessing students literacy knowledge such as giving them the option
of writing a text into script form and performing it as a play, drawing a scene from a book that

they are reading, writing a paper form the perspective of one of the characters in the book, etc.

These ways of assessing incorporate writing and reading which would provide me information

about different content abilities as well as give students the ability to express themselves and

what they know in new and exciting ways.