The first time a book really affected me was when I was in my youth. My mom and I were travelling home from her sister's house. She used to let me read to her on road trips. Reading aloud to others, by the way, completely improved my literacy. Anyways, I read Cynthia Voigt's novel entitled, Homecoming. I remember that the book involves four main characters; in addition, they are siblings. Left by their mother, the siblings must travel to find their only living relative. They venture out and must learn to take care of one another and must come to terms with being their own parents. This book made a difference in my life because it helped change my perspective. My perspective changed from taking my family for granted to being grateful that I have a mother and family that loves me. I became baffled by the ways in which the children creatively tended to each other. Homecoming helped me to be humble about my family and spending time with them.
Books were prevalent in my childhood home. My mother stressed the importance of reading and playing outside. Rarely, were my sister and I able to watch television, for long periods of time. My mother, as a teacher had a significant amount of access to many pieces of literature. Having said that, she would bring home all sorts of books for me to read. My family has always spoken about literature at the dining room table. Furthermore, we all exchange our latest reads.
The most recent book that I read, with most appeal is Anne Lamott's book, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. I enjoyed reading this book because it explains a significant amount of life's lessons, which are learned. One of my favorite quotes from this book is, "...loving your enemies is non-negotiable. It meant trying to respect them, it meant identifying with their humanity and weaknesses. It didn't mean unconditional acceptance of their crazy behavior. They were still accountable for the atrocities they'd perpetrated, as you were accountable for yours But you worked at doing better, at loving them, for their profoundest spiritual reason: You were trying not to make things worse"(Lamott, 225). Lamott enables her reader to get a grip of their life; indeed, she relates to issues her reader may be encountering. For a long while, I had this expectation that people were always going to be there; in addition, that people would fulfill all my expectations. Fact is, we are all human and we make mistakes. I finally grasped this concept after I looked at the expectations and commitments I had made to people and sought out if I fulfilled those expectations. Lamott enables her reader to let go of resentments and regrets; to enable one to really start living one's life.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Influence of Media on Children's Literacy (Precis)
Coach Bombay’s Kids Learn to Write: Children’s Appropriation of Media Material for School Literacy by Anne Haas Dyson
In this article Dyson elaborates on the media’s influence on the development of literacy among children. Here Dyson explains literacy and its media-saturated nature among children in both official and unofficial writing circumstances and how they are combined. The “official” field is guided by the literacy curriculum (in school) and the “unofficial” by the popular media, in this case sports. She also talks about how language usage reflects our social role and status. Furthermore how speaking and writing are subject to issues of identity and belonging mainly between children. Dyson’s article generally focuses on a study she conducted on a group of six first-grade African American students in which she explained how learning to write involves work of the imagination on the part of both children and teachers, and the major role which the media plays in doing so. The main subject of her study was Marcel, a student whose school work usually displayed the influence of media through his love and knowledge of football.
We often hear warnings about the effects of television on young people’s abilities to read and write. What is important, when it comes to considering how our writing pedagogies can respond to students’ experiences with television is to recognize the complexity of the articulations between the media and print literacy. In her writing, Dyson described the five major types of media appropriations, all of which were illustrated in Marcel’s case, that manipulate the student’s writing composition. These appropriations go against what is commonly believed about the media being a negative influence on children. Instead these appropriations display the positive influence the media can have on the development of literacy. The first of the five was content in which children utilize things such as the name of teams or even the knowledge of a sport itself in to incorporate in “school- modeled writing practices” (Dyson pg.337), as was the case when Rita (the teacher) gave the class a writing task where children were to make a list. For example: Marcel’s first list was a name of teams followed by a list of states, all of which had affiliations with football teams. Second, children could appropriate communicative forms such as the use of location adjectives before team names, “Dallas Cowboys”, or the use of dramatic action verbs, “The 49ers got whipped on Sunday”. Third was the appropriation of graphic conventions, for example: the use of graphic arrangement of game results. The fourth appropriation was the use of voiced utterances where children are able to recall and use specific lines spoken by characters or in this case athletes or reporters. The last was the appropriated ideologies of gender and power, where children learn gender roles like when Marcel tells Wenona that she can’t play hockey because girls don’t play hockey.
As Dyson explains in this article, media plays a major role in the development of children’s literacy as well as their introduction to society as individuals. Students not only write about mass media, but write through mass media. If we believe that the mass media can have an effect on students as viewers, consumers, and citizens, then we must also realize that the mass popular culture students have so much experience with and can read so well is an important influence on their perceptions and responses to print literacy. In a world where the most dominant and pervasive form of mass popular culture is television it is vital teachers consider the influence of television on students as writers. The media’s influence on the development of children does not necessarily have to be harmful. The media serves as a starting point from which to withdraw information and as a place to gain knowledge.
In this article Dyson elaborates on the media’s influence on the development of literacy among children. Here Dyson explains literacy and its media-saturated nature among children in both official and unofficial writing circumstances and how they are combined. The “official” field is guided by the literacy curriculum (in school) and the “unofficial” by the popular media, in this case sports. She also talks about how language usage reflects our social role and status. Furthermore how speaking and writing are subject to issues of identity and belonging mainly between children. Dyson’s article generally focuses on a study she conducted on a group of six first-grade African American students in which she explained how learning to write involves work of the imagination on the part of both children and teachers, and the major role which the media plays in doing so. The main subject of her study was Marcel, a student whose school work usually displayed the influence of media through his love and knowledge of football.
We often hear warnings about the effects of television on young people’s abilities to read and write. What is important, when it comes to considering how our writing pedagogies can respond to students’ experiences with television is to recognize the complexity of the articulations between the media and print literacy. In her writing, Dyson described the five major types of media appropriations, all of which were illustrated in Marcel’s case, that manipulate the student’s writing composition. These appropriations go against what is commonly believed about the media being a negative influence on children. Instead these appropriations display the positive influence the media can have on the development of literacy. The first of the five was content in which children utilize things such as the name of teams or even the knowledge of a sport itself in to incorporate in “school- modeled writing practices” (Dyson pg.337), as was the case when Rita (the teacher) gave the class a writing task where children were to make a list. For example: Marcel’s first list was a name of teams followed by a list of states, all of which had affiliations with football teams. Second, children could appropriate communicative forms such as the use of location adjectives before team names, “Dallas Cowboys”, or the use of dramatic action verbs, “The 49ers got whipped on Sunday”. Third was the appropriation of graphic conventions, for example: the use of graphic arrangement of game results. The fourth appropriation was the use of voiced utterances where children are able to recall and use specific lines spoken by characters or in this case athletes or reporters. The last was the appropriated ideologies of gender and power, where children learn gender roles like when Marcel tells Wenona that she can’t play hockey because girls don’t play hockey.
As Dyson explains in this article, media plays a major role in the development of children’s literacy as well as their introduction to society as individuals. Students not only write about mass media, but write through mass media. If we believe that the mass media can have an effect on students as viewers, consumers, and citizens, then we must also realize that the mass popular culture students have so much experience with and can read so well is an important influence on their perceptions and responses to print literacy. In a world where the most dominant and pervasive form of mass popular culture is television it is vital teachers consider the influence of television on students as writers. The media’s influence on the development of children does not necessarily have to be harmful. The media serves as a starting point from which to withdraw information and as a place to gain knowledge.
Anne's Precis-Yetta Goodman's "The Development of Initial Literacy"
In her article entitled, “The Development of Initial Literacy,” Yetta Goodman argues that children acquire the tools necessary for reading and writing early in life. Prior to entering the classroom, children become familiar with books and their native language. Children are first exposed to literacy at home. Exposure on behalf of a literate society enables children to soak up literacy, even before the realm of education. Young people acquire literacy through comprehending how to relay information. A person’s acquisition of literacy is said to have three integral aspects. When one interacts with other members of a society, one’s interactions influence how one will read and write. Encouragement regarding young people’s reading, writing and talking about texts enables children’s progression. Awareness of the content of particular texts; indeed, meaning and pronunciation must occur. Parents are credited with primarily assisting children with literacy acquisition.
Initially, children ask that their parents read to them. Children inquire for their parents to engage in reading with them by using the word “say.” Parents aid in child literacy through simplistic means such as, playing games where children must identify letters on billboard signs. There are three criterions for documented words. Encompassing relational or semiotic principals, functional principals and linguistic principals, one identifies this criterion for documented words. Relational principals deal with the meaning conveyed in regards to a verbal or documented discourse. Linguistic criterion deals with organization; for instance, using shapes, sizes of letters, and numbers. By using this linguistic criterion, children are able to relay information and conceptualize the alphabet. Regardless of instruction on how to incorporate spelling, children attempt to spell. Punctuation is another aspect of written discourse that children utilize. Children restrain and or adjust their sentence structure when they read orally. Yetta Goodman feels that since children come from different backgrounds, they should be grouped with children that are on similar competency levels. Goodman contends that more time should be allotted to each aspect of obtaining concepts, in regards to a child’s ability to read and write.
Coming to terms with Yetta Goodman’s written discourse, one will conceive that child language acquisition depends on parents. Parents seemingly determine how one will do concerning instructional learning. A parent that does not actively play a role in a child’s reading and writing, prior to a child’s entrance into the gates of pre-kindergarten, inhibits child literacy acquisition. Furthermore, a reader identifies the parent in Goodman’s writing to not solely be a biological figure but, it could be a guardian, or simply someone who has fulfilled higher education requirements than the one they are trying to teach. Growing up, my mother obtained her Bachelor’s Degree. While spending ample amounts of time reading, my mother also wrote papers. Not only did my mom devote all this time to college, she encouraged me. Furthermore, she implemented tools for me to utilize so that I could be a good student. Literacy is significant among children at an early age, because it determines how they will do later in life.
Initially, children ask that their parents read to them. Children inquire for their parents to engage in reading with them by using the word “say.” Parents aid in child literacy through simplistic means such as, playing games where children must identify letters on billboard signs. There are three criterions for documented words. Encompassing relational or semiotic principals, functional principals and linguistic principals, one identifies this criterion for documented words. Relational principals deal with the meaning conveyed in regards to a verbal or documented discourse. Linguistic criterion deals with organization; for instance, using shapes, sizes of letters, and numbers. By using this linguistic criterion, children are able to relay information and conceptualize the alphabet. Regardless of instruction on how to incorporate spelling, children attempt to spell. Punctuation is another aspect of written discourse that children utilize. Children restrain and or adjust their sentence structure when they read orally. Yetta Goodman feels that since children come from different backgrounds, they should be grouped with children that are on similar competency levels. Goodman contends that more time should be allotted to each aspect of obtaining concepts, in regards to a child’s ability to read and write.
Coming to terms with Yetta Goodman’s written discourse, one will conceive that child language acquisition depends on parents. Parents seemingly determine how one will do concerning instructional learning. A parent that does not actively play a role in a child’s reading and writing, prior to a child’s entrance into the gates of pre-kindergarten, inhibits child literacy acquisition. Furthermore, a reader identifies the parent in Goodman’s writing to not solely be a biological figure but, it could be a guardian, or simply someone who has fulfilled higher education requirements than the one they are trying to teach. Growing up, my mother obtained her Bachelor’s Degree. While spending ample amounts of time reading, my mother also wrote papers. Not only did my mom devote all this time to college, she encouraged me. Furthermore, she implemented tools for me to utilize so that I could be a good student. Literacy is significant among children at an early age, because it determines how they will do later in life.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The Irony of an Inspirational Book (Week 3 essay)
Over the years I have read my inspiring books. Some books that inspired me through high school were, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Outsiders, and some of the Chicken Soup series. However, the most inspirational book that I have ever read was The Shack by William P. Young which I just recently read. The Shack is a theological fiction book which tells the story of a man, Mack, whose daughter was brutally murdered. Young covers a wide variety of theological topics in this book, each of which is relevant to the theme of Mack’s suffering and his inability to trust in a God who could let his daughter be treated in such a horrifying way. A friend of mine recommended the book and told me that I should read it. I was a little skeptical at first being that I’m not a big fan of theology and was afraid that it would change my beliefs not to mention the fact that I’m not very religious at all. Coincidently a few weeks after that, Young was a guest speaker at our church. He talked about what inspired him to write the book and how it was really a story about his childhood. I immediately became curious of the books context and asked my friend to borrow it. Since reading the book my whole perspective on life has changed especially my spirituality. Though The Shack is fiction, it allowed me to interact with my spiritual self. It is ironic that I would become such a big fan of a “Christian” book being that I rarely go to church, and that the day I did decide to go there’s this guest speaker who I immediately become a big fan of. I guess great things really do happen when you least expect them.
Growing up in a bilingual home, books played a very interesting role. Books to my parents weren’t necessarily important for their educational purpose but for the purpose of enriching my Spanish skills. My parents would make me read books in Spanish so that I wouldn’t forget my native language. They even requested that I be placed in the bilingual program at school. As I grew older and equally fluent in both languages my parents did encourage me to read anything I’d like as long as I was reading. For my 13th birthday my parents even bought me the World Book Encyclopedia collection, a little extreme some would think but I was really excited. For about a month after I would just pick up a random letter from the set and open it to any page and read whatever topic was on the page. Eventually it became boring so I was forced to move on to other forms of reading.
Finding time to read a book for leisure is extremely difficult particularly when you’re a college student taking 3 English courses each with about 80 pages worth of reading every night. However, this past summer I was able to squeeze a book I had hear about through the Oprah’s book club, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It is a fiction novel of Medieval England. When I first opened the 900 page book I wasn’t sure what to expect but the book was so rich in detail that I rarely wanted to close it. The protagonist of the book is Tom, a man who loves gothic cathedrals and how they are constructed. It takes place against the backdrop of actual historical events of the Middle Ages as Tom leads us through his domestic life and journey of finding a place to settle with his family. We follow Tom as he plans out the structure, and see how it's the kind of structure that a builder lives to create. This book is a wonderful way to absorb history and enjoy a multilayered story in the process. I became a big fan of the book because it was unlike any book I’ve read and the plot was very unique. Not only is Tom looking for employment he is also looking for love. This story was so vividly detailed that it almost felt as if I was living in Medieval England. Since then Ken Follett has become one of my favorite authors.
Growing up in a bilingual home, books played a very interesting role. Books to my parents weren’t necessarily important for their educational purpose but for the purpose of enriching my Spanish skills. My parents would make me read books in Spanish so that I wouldn’t forget my native language. They even requested that I be placed in the bilingual program at school. As I grew older and equally fluent in both languages my parents did encourage me to read anything I’d like as long as I was reading. For my 13th birthday my parents even bought me the World Book Encyclopedia collection, a little extreme some would think but I was really excited. For about a month after I would just pick up a random letter from the set and open it to any page and read whatever topic was on the page. Eventually it became boring so I was forced to move on to other forms of reading.
Finding time to read a book for leisure is extremely difficult particularly when you’re a college student taking 3 English courses each with about 80 pages worth of reading every night. However, this past summer I was able to squeeze a book I had hear about through the Oprah’s book club, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It is a fiction novel of Medieval England. When I first opened the 900 page book I wasn’t sure what to expect but the book was so rich in detail that I rarely wanted to close it. The protagonist of the book is Tom, a man who loves gothic cathedrals and how they are constructed. It takes place against the backdrop of actual historical events of the Middle Ages as Tom leads us through his domestic life and journey of finding a place to settle with his family. We follow Tom as he plans out the structure, and see how it's the kind of structure that a builder lives to create. This book is a wonderful way to absorb history and enjoy a multilayered story in the process. I became a big fan of the book because it was unlike any book I’ve read and the plot was very unique. Not only is Tom looking for employment he is also looking for love. This story was so vividly detailed that it almost felt as if I was living in Medieval England. Since then Ken Follett has become one of my favorite authors.
Monday, April 13, 2009
AUTO 1
Week Two
Autobiographical Essay
Tell about your early language and literacy development. How did you come to reading and writing? What role did school play? Did family play? Other community affiliations?
I remember the first book I ever read. Actually, I didn’t really read the book I just memorized the story. Although, I don’t remember the title of the book, I still remember the illustrations and if I saw it somewhere I would recognize it. My sister, Julie, would read that story to me every night, and eventually I tied the sentences with the pictures on each of the pages. I use to show off to my parents and read the book to them, and I’d give credit to Julie and say that she taught me how to read. I think I was about three or four years old at that time.
My Aunt Celia took care of me when I was still too young to be in school, and she would always take me to the public library. I remember loving to go to the library. I thought it was so beautiful, and they had a section dedicated to little girls like me. I remember the little chairs and desk that looked almost identical to the grown-ups chairs and desks. I remember loving the pop-up books, and I would be so angry if any of them were torn or tattered in any way. I was also mad because the pop-up books weren’t available for check out, so I could never take them home with me. I spent a lot of time in that library growing up. Actually, I still love going to my public library, and sometimes it saves me so much money because some of the books for my current classes are available.
From grade school to middle school, I was a so-called outstanding student. I remember my Dad use to give me a dollar for every substantial book I read. I guess it’s sad to think that my Dad bribed me into reading, and I’ll admit that part of the reason why I read so much was to make more money, but it definitely motivated me to read more, which I guess is good. In middle school, I was definitely a book worm. I remember being into all kinds of books. I loved the Goosebumps collection, The Boxcar Children mystery stories by Gertrude Chandler Warner, all the books by Judy Blume, and even the Amelia Bedelia series. It’s kind of funny thinking about all those books I had read before. I remember that in my middle school if a student had read a certain amount of books they would then get the opportunity to dunk the Principal in a dunk tank at the end of the school year. I was one of those people who got that chance.
Reading for me was always easy because I enjoyed it, but writing was different story. I like to think that I have all these great ideas, but I found it difficult to put them on paper. In middle school, I was a part of the Academic Pentathlon team. I remember being so surprised when I won 5th place in the essay part of the competition. I always thought I was terrible at writing. I think I won because I inputted a bunch of perspectives on the novel we had to read for the English section of the competition. In High School, I remember struggling so much just to put together a paragraph that I felt worked. I think it was because I had never been that great with grammar. Actually, I don’t recall ever learning how to properly use grammar in grade school. Now, as an English major in college, grammar is still my weakness.
Darlene's Autobiographical Essay Week 2
Nothing in this world gives me greater satisfaction than hearing that “Muchas Gracias” followed by a smile at the end of every parent meeting that I have the great privilege of translating. You see, I’m a bilingual Instructional assistant at Colton Middle School and as part of my job requirements I must translate parent meetings for Spanish-only speaking parents. However, translating parent meetings didn’t always make me feel as great, especially when you’re only seven years old translating for your parents a language that you barely even know yourself, not only was it inconvenient it was also humiliating. I usually tried to make my parents forget that it was parent conference day or I tried to behave my very best in school so that there would be no need for a conference. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed of my parents; it was simply that fear of not knowing how to translate a certain word or its correct pronunciation. Today I look back and laugh as I think of its irony; I get paid to do something that I once so deeply feared.
School for me started in Tijuana, Mexico, at the age of four, where I just about learned to read and write in Spanish. Then at the age of seven my parents decided that it would probably be best if my sister and I would continue or education here in California since we were both U.S citizens. They figured that since the Mexican school system hadn’t done much for them it probably wouldn’t do much for us either. So we said goodbye to my friends and family and moved to a Los Angeles neighborhood that wasn’t much different from the one we had just left. Here everyone spoke Spanish and customs were just about the same. However, school was a different story. I didn’t understand my teachers and the books were in a language that I knew very little of. Like many other Spanish speaking children, I was placed in classes for low performers most of my elementary years for my low scores in State tests. I was fortunate to have an after school tutor who gladly helped me with my school work and homework. Since after school tutoring took place in the school library, the tutors would encourage us to check out and read books. Though I cannot recall the name of any book in particular, books were the bridge to my educational success, since they helped increase my vocabulary while practicing the language. At home I didn’t receive much help with schoolwork since neither of my parents spoke the language, so I was forced to teach myself. My parents did however encourage my sister and I to read both books in English and Spanish in order not to forget our native tongue. By the time high school came I was at grade level and felt much more comfortable in my shoes. My high school counselor, now that I think of it, wasn’t very supportive she told me that I’d be better off going to a community college instead of a university even though I had respectable grades. Nevertheless that choice turned out to be the best since it brought me to the place where I am today.
Through the course of my early second language and literacy development the school system wasn’t much help since most of my literacy development was gained through practice. However bilingual children today are very fortunate to have the No Child Left Behind Act on their side because aside from receiving state testing accommodations, they also receive individualized in-class assistance from instructional aides like myself, something children like myself could have benefited from. Because of my early education background, I have chosen a career path that would allow me to be of assistance of to children of similar backgrounds and circumstances as myself. Every day I try to convince my ESL students of how lucky they are to be learning a second language and of the value of education, because as long as I can convince one student to take advantage of the education they are receiving and to pursue a further education then I have fulfilled my purpose.
Anne's Autobiographical Literacy Incidents
Week Two
Autobiographical Essay
Tell about your early language and literacy development. How did you come to reading and writing? What role did school play? Did family play? Other community affiliations?
Coming from a family in which my parents have owned and currently own restaurant, literacy has always had a huge effect on me. When I was five, my parents got divorced at which time, my mother made the decision to go back to school. My mother worked diligently to attain her bachelor’s degree, with the dream of entering into the teaching program. I feel my mother has had the biggest impact on me when it comes to going to college and obtaining a diploma. Patricia, my mom has not only earned her degree but, she has also had experience with working at high risk schools.
Many students at high risk schools are pregnant or, those that have had a child while in high school. Indeed, many students at high risk schools have simply receieved their third strike. These students hope to be able to earn their high school diploma. Patricia has told me that often she will catch her students feeding their children Red-Bull and Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Autobiographical Essay
Tell about your early language and literacy development. How did you come to reading and writing? What role did school play? Did family play? Other community affiliations?
Coming from a family in which my parents have owned and currently own restaurant, literacy has always had a huge effect on me. When I was five, my parents got divorced at which time, my mother made the decision to go back to school. My mother worked diligently to attain her bachelor’s degree, with the dream of entering into the teaching program. I feel my mother has had the biggest impact on me when it comes to going to college and obtaining a diploma. Patricia, my mom has not only earned her degree but, she has also had experience with working at high risk schools.
Many students at high risk schools are pregnant or, those that have had a child while in high school. Indeed, many students at high risk schools have simply receieved their third strike. These students hope to be able to earn their high school diploma. Patricia has told me that often she will catch her students feeding their children Red-Bull and Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Now one will more than likely question what does anything have to do with literacy? Literacy stretches, not only from the ability to read and write simple sentences but, to actually incorporate these sentences in ones life. Literacy dips into the nitty-gritty of nutrition, not solely for oneself, but for the generations that are yet to come. In essence, by ones literacy-the ability to read nutrition labels, one is also making a choice. This choice has an impact on the next generation. Literacy involves reading and writing; in addition, it also dips into many integral aspects of ones life.
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