rschwartz's blog

In class last week, I shared a story from my field experience, which I’d like to spend more time examining. I work with second graders. During guided reading, the teacher worked with a small group of students, while the others read a short book and answered comprehension questions, working quietly and independently. One student—I’ll call him Mike—asked me for help. I proposed that we read the story together. Mike agreed and began reading aloud, but he had a lot of trouble with one word—a name, “Marjory.” I didn’t want to give him the answer, so I tried to help him figure out the word. In fact, most of the students had struggled with the same word. Maybe I should have told Mike that the other students also struggled to read “Marjory,” but I didn’t. Mike got frustrated and put his head on his desk. For a while, he wouldn’t answer me, and he eventually communicated that he didn’t want to read anymore.

Journal week 3- excerpt

In my first journal entry, I wrote – very briefly – about reading with my parents: I know that my parents read to me, but I don’t actually remember sitting with my parents and reading books. When I look through my old picture books, I remember them. I remember the stories and the illustrations; I remember that some scared me; and I remembered which books and which pictures I really liked. When I posted my journal entry, another student commented that she “wonder[s] what the implications are of what parts of our early literacy we choose to remember.” I’ve been thinking about this question, especially with the literacy autobiography due soon. I’ve been trying to choose a literacy-in-the-home memory to use, but a lot of my memories of reading—memories of the act of reading, rather than memories of the books themselves—are really hazy. I remember a lot of stories, characters, book covers, that sort of thing. I just don’t remember learning to read, or sitting with my family and reading, or even reading on my own. But I think this weird memory gap reflects an important aspect of my literacy experience. For me, literacy was about stories, whether getting lost in a story (I do remember “sneaking” a flashlight into my room, so that I could read after lights-out) or telling stories of my own (I used to love creative writing, and my friends and I kept blogs through middle school)....