Double Journal Entry #2-"As Soon as She Opened Her Mouth"

Questions:

Literacy knowledge simply refers to the concepts that children have obtained during their preschool years, during the years prior to formal literacy instruction, in kindergarten and first grade, in reading writing and printed language. An example of printed literacy knowledge is when a student understands that words on paper can be read. Throughout the years, the student with printed literacy knowledge will understand that you can read sentences and paragraphs from books and acquire meaning from them. Non-print literacy knowledge was evident on page two. The young girl had a knowledge base, that in order to read, a person must move their mouth up and down. It is amazing to spot these signs of literacy knowledge in young children.

Stereotypes strongly interfere with literacy instruction. “We claim to allow equal access to educational opportunities to all children in our schools (pp. 9).” In my opinion this claim is taken with a grain of salt. As humans we judge people, as teachers we may even be guilty of judging our students. In looking at a student’s home life, a teacher might assume that since this child’s parents are illiterate, the student will be placed in remedial reading. For instance, maybe Leah comes from a poor community. In some instances, people would pre-judge Leah, thinking she will not understand reading, and will need to be placed in remedial classes. Stereotyping “before someone opens their mouth” is a large interference in student’s education. We, as teachers, should try hard to not judge any student, and allow each child to come into our classroom with a clean slate.

It is sad to think that schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction, but it is true. As stated above, schools and teachers have pre-conceived thoughts about theirs students, based on their social status. Once these students attend the school, they are basically categorized into groups of social classes. Often, schools and teachers will work hard to teach middle and upper class students. The lower class students, who have been stereotyped as “slower learners” from the start, sometimes do not receive any one-on-one attention to help with the literacy instruction. Schools and teachers should not be doing this. It should be considered a goal to further educate each and every student in a classroom.

There is a strong relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunities. As one teacher states on page 13, “I knew she was ignorant from the second she opened her mouth.” This teacher recognized the accent that the mother had and automatically classified her as a low-class ignorant individual in one sentence. Most individuals are guilty of doing this. When we hear someone speak, we think that we can classify where and how they grew up, just by hearing their voices. Many schools and teachers will deny educational opportunities to students who may speak a little differently, and these teachers may not even realize they are doing this. He can’t speak right, what is the use of trying to teach him how to read? She is from the bad part of town, she has probably never seen a book! These preconceived thoughts, based on a student’s language and social class, are denying students of an equal opportunity to be educated. The misconception that spoken language will drive a student’s literacy is wrong. A student may not speak “standard English” but this child can still succeed in reading and writing.

The most important thing that schools and teachers can do to improve literacy instruction is to diminish all stereotypes. Schools must accept poverty stricken students as learners. When these students come to school, they need to be instructed just like middle and upper class students. Poverty stricken students can change the world with their education, it just takes a strong educator to understand that these students also have potential.

I am not totally against the term “Proper English,” nor am I totally for the term. To some extent, there should be a proper way to speak. Of course, it is important for people to be able to understand one’s language. All individuals should be educated to have some basis of grammatical background in order to be able to carry on a conversation. Depending on the culture or where individuals live, this “Proper English” may be different. Of course, different cultures and different locations speak differently. I do not think there should be one set of “Proper English.” All types of language should be embraced, but the basic grammatical structures for “Proper English” should be known by all individuals.

Quote:

A quote that I strongly agreed with was stated on page five: “Children who experience other people in their lives reading and writing for many different reasons in the years before they begin school, are better equipped to learn the beginning reading and writing instruction in their schools.” This quote is undeniably true, and I know this from my experience with my seven year old niece. Before Gracie started school, she wanted me to read to her. Sometimes she would even read to me, after she had the story memorized she would pretend to know the words. Now that Gracie is in First grade, she is at the top of her class. She was the first student to read a book and take a quiz on it in the First grade. Experiences prior to school years are very vital and play an important role in a child’s life. It is amazing to witness the actuality of this quote!

Related Hyperlink:

This video displays a teacher who is assessing the literacy knowledge of one of her students. I thought this was appropriate to go along with our reading. It is a very interesting assessment, and I think it is very successful. I would use this strategy in my own classroom.

TeacherTube Video

 

Reference for Video:

NA. Literacy Knowledge Part One. Retrieved 19 Jan. 2012.                   http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=164120&title=Literacy_Knowledge_Pt_1

Reference for Article:

Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power. (Print: Anthology)