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Bonding with my Big Brother
For as long as I can remember, my big brother, Anthony, would sit and read me books for hours on end. He would even let me flip the pages, because that is what young children love to do. He taught me most of my sight words with the help of my parents reading to me before bed. I believe this is what was the foundation of my brother and I's relationship. We have always been very close. -
Rigor Redefined
I remember that my brother used to stop during the stories and ask me questions to make sure that I was understanding what was happening in the book. This relates to Number one of Rigor Redefined. Number one is Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, which goes on to say that critical thinking and problem solving is the ability to ask the right questions. When my brother asked me questions, it taught me to be able to ask myself questions when I was reading, even at such a young age. -
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Timespan of my Literacy History
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Becoming a Big Sister
The day that my little sister, Addison, was born, it was one of the best days of my life. I knew that I wanted to teach her as much as I could. I tried to be her mom, and I still do, and that is something that doesn't always make her so happy. When she was born, even though I couldn't read fluently, I still "pretended" to read books to her to try and put her to sleep. I would ramble on about the picture on the book pretending to actually read the words. -
Creating Readers for Life
I helped make my sister into a "reader for life" by doing read aloud. Although I wasn't an adult, nor could I read fluently, the excitement I had about reading a book trickled down to her. It was a good thing for her to be excited to read books with not only me, but my parents too. Over the years, when my reading became excellent, I really helped her with her reading as she got older. Her fluency and comprehension skills were greatly impacted by our nightly read alouds. -
Miss Petite Kishwaukee Valley
I became best friends with my friend Becca when I was three years old and we are still best friends to this day. When we were in first grade, we competed in a Miss Petite pageant. Although neither of us won, I was the runner up and was very happy with that. We had to speak in front of an entire audience of people, and for a first grader, that is very intimmidating! -
Rigor Redefined - Number 5
When Becca and I were in the Little Miss pageant, there were a couple of steps we had to complete before making our stage debut. One of those steps was an interview with a panel made up of 8 adults who were well known in our community. For a first grader, this was quite intimidating. It forced me to improve my oral communication at a very young age. This relates to Rigor Redefined number 5: Effective Oral and Written Communication. We had to communicate orally in an effective way to impress. -
Dimensions of Literacy
When I would read the book "Little Mommy" with my Grandma, my brother had no interest in reading it with us. This relates to the Sociocultural Dimension of Literacy, that gender can impact how we understand a story. My brother knew that he was never going to be a mommy nor did he want to. However, this book is what made me want to have children so much. -
Reading with Grandma
My favorite thing to do in the summers was to go visit my Grandma on her beautiful farm about an hour away from my house. My mom, even though she knew exactly how to get to my Grandma's, would make me practice using a map and try and navigate our way there. A couple of times, when I was wrong, my mom would turn where I told her, just so that I could correct my own mistake. When I got to my grandma's, the first thing I would do, every single time, was go into her book room and grab little mommy. -
Young Authors
Young Authors was my favorite activity at school. It was an optional competition where we would write our own story and enter it to a panel of judges. About a month later, we would find out the winners. This year in particular was my favorite. I wrote a tall tale about the birth of my youngest sister, Andrea. I was shocked when I found out that I won first place! Not only did I love what I wrote, but I loved that other people loved what I wrote. I was extremely proud of my own work. -
Six T's -Task
For Young Authors in 2005, I wrote a tall tale about the birth of my youngest sister. Young authors was always optional, except for this year, when Mrs. Parson's required us to enter the contest. This relates to Allington's six T's of Effective Instruction- Task. The task that we had at had was a long assignment that required deeper thinking and more creativity than just a regular journal entry. We spent several weeks working on it, and we learned a lot through the process of writing a book. -
Confirmation
On May 31, 2009, I was confirmed in the Sycamore United Methodist Church. During my confirmation classes, we had to read the bible and make sense of it in order to complete our activities for the night. The Bible is not always an easy read, it took a lot of effort and explanation to understand some parts. Sometimes during "game time" in confirmation classes, we would have "Bible races" to see who could find a certain verse the quickest. -
Six T's - Teach
Our Confirmation teacher was our Pastor, who was wonderful. Her job wasn't to teach us the bible, it was to teach us HOW to read the bible. This relates to Allington's Six T's of Effective Instruction - Teach. She offered many different useful strategies to reach each confirmation student. We worked as a whole class, in small groups and in one-on-one instruction. After every required reading, we had questions to answer to help our understanding of the text. -
Baking
I have loved to bake since I can remember. This is actually a rare picture because I am not a fan of pictures when I am in the kitchen since I usually have flour and other ingredients smudged across my face. Baking is easy if you follow the recipe! -
Rigor Redefined
I believe that my baking relates to Rigor Redefined number 7, Curiosity and Imagination. Not only do I have to be able to read and comprehend the recipe and directions. But I also have to be creative and add my own ideas to the recipe. I ask the right questions: "What can make this more flavorful" for an example. This has really helped me advance as a baker because I know how to solve my own baking problems without having to look it up or call my Grandma. -
Softball
I have played softball my entire life. Softball has brought so many amazing friends into my life that have taught me many, many things. Not only about life but about softball as well. On the field, thre are many code words, signs, and other things that are used to convey certain plays and positions shifts. -
Rigor Redefined - Number 2
Softball has improved my communication skills and people skills in many ways. But it has also strenghened my leadership and my ability to work together with a group. This relates to Rigor Redefined Number 2 - Collaboration and Leadership. As a pitcher, becoming a leader was very natural. Having leadership qualities will help any student in the workforce. -
Literacy History Reflection
I noticed a lot of communication and joy reading in my literacy timeline. In almost all of my events in my timeline, I am somehow communicating with at least one other person, through reading, writing or talking. This has helped with my people skills, and my oral communication tremendously. All of these events absolutely have shaped my literacy life in a great way. They may not have all taught me about text, but they have prepared me to be an accepted member of society.
