Recalling Reading Memories
Each of us has memories of how we learned to read and when and how we began reading to learn.
Use the questions to guide your responses.
- What is your earliest recollection of learning to read?
- What was positive about the experience? Negative?
- What is your earliest recollection of reading to learn?
- What was positive about the experience? Negative?
- How do such reflections contribute to your self-knowledge of literacy?
Develop an original response, and comment on the posts of at least two classmates. APA citations are required only with the original response.
- Make one original post, which must include a citation from at least one source. Respond to a minimum of two classmates to move the discussion forward.
- Scholars are not required to provide a cited source in the responses to peers.
- APA citations are only required for the original post.
- Some discussions are open-ended and do not require APA citations
Peer Response 1 (Hope)
As I mentioned in my “Getting to Know You” response, my earliest recollection of learning to read was at home with my dad using the “Hooked on Phonics” program. I remember we had letter and sound cards on rings that we reviewed and after I learned how to read, there were passage cards with comprehension questions. Another memory I have is in first grade when my teacher read “Junie B. Jones” and it motivated me to read my first “chapter book” because I loved the content so much.
My memories of reading to learn came much later. In elementary school, it felt more like reading for entertainment. Sixth grade, when we had to start reading our Social Studies book, is probably the first vivid memory that I have of reading to learn. I’m not sure if it’s because the content in K-5 was heavy on fiction, or if the teachers just assisted more with reading the nonfiction content, but I have few memories. However, I vividly remember sixth grade because it was challenging for me. Social Studies was not my strong subject. I had very little background knowledge, so I really had to focus on reading the content to learn it. I would say that it was more of a neutral experience, not really positive or negative.
Reflecting back on these questions really made me wonder if I truly had ownership of my learning in elementary school. Who was doing the heavy lifting? It made me realize how important it is to plan lessons that are teacher facilitated and more student led. As Marveil et al. (2013) mentioned, “Student-led teaching and learning is an innovative form of active leaning that empowers students with direct ownership of the learning experience” (p. 547).
Marveil, A., Simm, D., Schaaf, R., & Harper, R. (2013). Students as scholars: evaluating student-led learning and teaching during fieldwork. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 37(4), 547–566. https://doi.org/10.
Peer Response 2 (Mike)
I actually do not have a memory of learning to read, but I have a number of memories of reading at various levels. I can remember the Richard Scary books with the critters and the different types of jobs or roles. I can remember reading the Berenstain Bears, Mandela effect be hanged. As I got older, I read more difficult novels, from the Little House series to Stephen King. Many of my favorite memories revolve around reading, lying in bed and reading when sick, or on the beach reading the latest Travis McGee. In my mind, I have always been able to read, and it has been one of the foundational parts of my life. I find it difficult to imagine that there was a time when I could not read and the idea that I would not be able to read at some point in the future is frightening. So, yes I would speculate that my learning to read was a positive experience. John Holden Writes in his paper, ‘Creative Reading’, “Research shows that life chances are improved by reading. We need to go beyond literacy so that young people enjoy reading and cultivate a range of reading abilities” (Holden, 2004, p.15) This is especially true in my life, the love of reading has opened doors to a varied and rich life outside of the small town I grew up in. As I began to explore the books and reading material outside of fiction, I found it opened the doors to a larger world. Holden again says, “reading is a vitally important gateway to economic, social and civic life” (Holden, 2004, p.18). My first recollection of reading to learn is finding Boy Scout manuals in my grandparents’ house and reading about camping, knots, and other items. Then watching an old movie with my dad, ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ and then finding the books that described the mountain men in detail and using that to broaden my knowledge about American History. Again the joy and immersion in reading took away the drudgery of obtaining knowledge and because I cared about the subject matter and could read quickly and voraciously, the chore of learning was minimal. This has always shaped my beliefs about literacy. The earlier we are able to introduce a child to reading, the better they will in their schooling. In the same vein, it is more important to capture a student’s interest than to be strict about the academic content. Because I was interested in mountain men and read some of the fiction around the stories, I was more willing to attack the drier histories of the Western United States. I have found that kids that care about the subject matter become more easily motivated to reach higher academic achievement.
Reference
Holden, J. (2004). Creative Reading. Demos. P.1-70
https://www.demos.co.uk/files/
Requirements: 2 pages
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