Malika Romine

The Fundamental Importance of Literacy

This article can be found online at Teaching as Leadership website.
They believe in setting goals, investing in the child and parent,
effective planning, and working endlessly to meet their goals for each
child to make meaningful academic progress throughout the course of
a year.
1/29/15
The article places a high importance on literacy, especially early
literacy. Many factors will arise as to why a student or an adult might
have gaps, large or small, in their literacy development. Researchbased statistics were provided to show why there is a need for literacy
instruction throughout the years and what it looks like today.
The key points in this article help understand why literacy is
important and how to implement highly effective reading instruction.
The following were highlight points of the article. The statistics and
research provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development stated, 74% of children who enter first grade at risk for
reading failure will continue to struggle to read into adulthood.1 The
illiteracy rates are high among unemployed adults. The next point in
the article discusses the factors that come into play as researchers and
educators look at the achievement gap. Again the statistics are
staggering and incredibly high. Students who come from a high socioeconomic background will know and have been exposed to more words
than that of a student who came from a low-income socio-economic
background. The difference in the number of words the students have
encountered based on their background is on average 32 million
words. It is crucial that instructors are aware of the data and do what
they have to in order to close that gap. From there understanding the
steps or concepts of balanced literacy will help students become
successful readers. If students can read, they will have success in
other areas of school as well.
Ive studied, presented, and discussed balanced literacy with my
professors, peers, and colleagues, and understand its significance in
education. What I found interesting were the statistics between high
and low socio-economic students. I currently teach in a very low socioeconomic district and the poverty I see everyday is astounding. The
1 (n.d.).RetrievedJanuary29,2015,fromhttp://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related
Readings/EL_Intro_2011.pdf

data collected from our local and state assessments are low, the
students background plays a part in this. The students who struggle
to read at our school often, but not always, have parents who also
struggled with reading. The stark reality of literacy today and the high
numbers illiterate adults interested me. Parents and educators need to
understand the high importance of early literacy and exposing the
child to as many words as possible. I believe that there are strategies
that teachers can use to teach children how to read such as decoding
and memorizing words on sight; even though, many arguments a have
been provided over the year as to what is the perfect method to teach
reading.
Another key point that I appreciated was the basketball analogy.
I understand completely practicing a skill individually, but also have
putting that skill together to create a bigger picture. That is what
makes balanced literacy and learning the five pillars of reading a
successful framework.
At first I wondered why couldnt it be possible to have both a
phonics based and whole language approach taught in the classroom.
Some say its the best of both worlds, while other say you cant have a
bottoms up and a top down approach. As I continued to read further it
explained in the 1998 report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young
Children, that in order for children to master the skills and become
successful readers that both approaches are necessary. This multifaceted approach came to be known as balanced literacy instruction
(pg. 5). I was then able to relax and let out a sigh of relief, as I nodded
in agreement.
The poem Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners was eye
opening. Its amazing how complex the English language is. Students
are coming to school to with minimal exposure to words and books
being read to them. Some students are learning English as a second
language. Many factors come into play, but it is up to the educator to
take what she knows about her students and to plan instruction
accordingly.
How will I be able to use this information and to improve my
teaching? I will keep mind that I should never take my own literacy for
granted! I will continue to use frameworks that have proven to be
successful for studentsincorporating systematic, explicit, and direct
instruction. My students are still practicing phonic based skills and
whole word recognition skills. These are just the building blocks of
literacy according to the article. The students read short sight word
books similar to Dick and Jane stories. Phonemic awareness,
vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and writing all incorporated in my
lesson plans.
In conclusion, understanding each child is going to have a
different background when it comes to reading is so important. As a
future Reading Specialist or Literacy Coach knowing what methods are

successful is important to implement in lesson plans for students and

teachers.

Work Cited
(n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2015, from
http://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/EL_Intro_2011.pdf
Teaching As Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2015, from
http://teachingasleadership.org/