Definition of Literacy

Before taking classes at MSU, I would say my definition of literacy would contain just reading and writing. After class and discussion, my definition of literacy is now reading, writing, speaking and listening; communicating to others by writing and speaking, and understanding others through reading and listening.  After our class discussion, I realize how important each of these components is, as they each complement one another. One must be able to convey thoughts and ideas through writing and speaking. To understand not only other people, but also the world around us, we must be able to read and listen to others’ words. Literacy is a connection to people and the rest of the world.  My ideal literacy-learning environment would encompass all of these components. It would be a classroom in which students would have the resources at their hands. They would have access to all kinds of books, since students are interested in different things. I have seen the bag of books in some classrooms where the students would have books in a bag, and they could read them when they’re finished with an assignment, or during read to self.  I like this idea, because some students need more than one book in case they get bored with one, or feel like reading a certain type of book that day. By having literacy resources at their hands also pertains to writing. Having the opportunity in class to write, such as a journal topic or creative writing, would be ideal to get students excited about writing. Students would also need to have the opportunity to speak their minds in class, to their peers and the teacher. The students also need to listen to their classmates in return.

In my fifth grade classroom, my MT has a reading section of the class, with a carpet and beanbags. She has huge bookshelves with different genres of books. The genres vary from war stories, to animal stories, urban books, science fiction, journal-type books, etc. She also has baskets containing multiples of popular books such as Diary of the Wimpy Kids and American Chillers. The students can check these books out to read. At the beginning of reading time, my MT gives the students 30-45 minutes for read to self. The students are allowed to bring in a small blanket or pillow and are allowed to go wherever they’d like throughout the classroom to read. Then, they go to their desks and write in their journals about a topic given by their teacher. Right now, the fifth graders are all reading Maniac McGee as a class. They write about it and discuss it as a class, which covers all the components of literacy. This definitely fits my definition of literacy. My MT gets the students excited about read to self, since they are allowed to choose their seating and aren’t forced to sit in their desks. They also get to read books that interest them; so writing in their journal is fun for them.  I’ve also noticed in my placement how excited the students are when it is time to read, write and discuss Maniac Mcgee. I think that since the students like the book, they are motivated to discuss and write about it.  When the students write about the book, the questions aren’t found straight from the book. The students really have to understand the text to answer. There are also questions that ask the students to go into the character’s shoes and write how they would feel. I think that my MT could incorporate more writing and discussion into subjects other than reading as well.