Personal Literacy History & Reflection

Gale Marie Boucher

ECED 303:
Integrating Early Learning Standards:
Language and Literacy

Brandman University

Dr. Hawani Negussie

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1. Introduction

The Five Key Predictors of Early Childhood Literacy work together to enable

the young child to progress toward the goal of becoming a Literate Adult. The Five

Key Predictors are: Oral Language, the ability to communicate effectively with

others. Vocabulary, knowledge of a range of words for various situations.

Alphabetic Knowledge, the knowledge that letters carry meaning. Phonological

Awareness, an understanding that the letters represent sounds. Print Awareness

is the knowledge that the letters around us have meaning and are organized in a

consistent way.

Five Key Predictors work together supporting and building on each other.

The young child starts with hearing their parents and other caregivers using oral

language. Oral language is“using language to communicate effectively with others …

for a range of purposes ...” (CDE,2005, p49). Through these communications the

child gains the vocabulary needed to communicate with others. “Children with large

vocabularies can acquire new words more easily, are more effective readers, and

are more proficient in reading comprehension.” (CDE, 2010, p 50) When significant

adults share books and word games with the young child, they gain knowledge of

the alphabet and that those letters have meaning and represent sounds that can be

manipulated to make words. “When children use language for communication,

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conscious phonemic analysis is not required ---but when learning to read and write

conscious awareness of sound units is needed. (Schickedanz & Collins, 2013, p 101)

A child who is missing one or more of these Five Key Predictors is less likely

to succeed in school. The child needs to be fluent in the use of Alphabetic

Knowledge, Phonological and Print Awareness with a rich Oral Language and

Vocabulary by about the third grade because most reading instruction is then

concluded. The child is expected to use their fluent reading skills to help them

learn. Children whose early childhood is rich in in Oral Language, Vocabulary,

Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Knowledge and Print Awareness is more likely

to learn to read, achieve Reading Fluency and to achieve overall success in school.
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2. My Literacy Experiences in Chronological Order with key predictor

notations.

1. I was born in 1958 with three brothers born in 1959, 1960 and 1961. My
Dad was in the Navy and was gone for months at a time. So my Mom did not
have much time for anything but caring for us. My Mom sang with us and
chanted Nursery Rhymes. We always went to church. My Mom and I both
loved to sing. (Oral Language)
2. My Mom or Dad took us to the San Diego Zoo at least once a month. When
Dad was home, Dad took us to the beach, parks, camping, and museums. He
was gone in the Navy a lot but when he was home he was home for us. (Oral
Language and Vocabulary)
3. Mom always sat with us, if Dad was home or not, for dinner. We chatted
about anything and everything. We often had guests. Any sailor not on duty
was invited to our house for holidays or anytime. I had a rich cultural
experience between guests and moving all over the US and Hawaii. (Oral
Language and Vocabulary)
4. 1963 Kindergarten there was not learning letters. The teacher read the
class books that I could not see. We did fingerplays. (Oral Language,
missing Alphabet Knowledge and Concepts of Print)
5. 1964 First Grade I understood that the other kids in the class understood
this book-word-thing and I was lost. My Mom work with me with flash cards
of the words in the story. They were doing “See and Say” reading instruction,
no phonics. I did not take books home to read only the flash cards. There
was no sounding out words. (No Alphabet Knowledge/No Concepts of Print)
6. Getting my first glasses. The world looked amazing but I still could not see
the teacher working on board. 1965 2nd grade I moved to a Catholic School.
The new school did phonics. Nothing was done to help me catch up.
Everything was done with the whole class. There was no small group or
individual help. Reading was still mystifying to me. (Finally Phonological
Awareness but no support to catch me up so I did not understand)
7. I started Girl Scouts with my Mom. This gave me another way that I was
being supported in background knowledge and vocabulary. The people I met
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as I earned Girl Scout badges gave me a very diverse range of knowledge.

(Oral Language and Vocabulary.)
8. We get library cards. I check out mostly picture books which I enjoy …
looking at the pictures. When my Dad goes out to sea and my Mom tired
after a long day so, we go to bed early and “read” for about half an hour
before lights out. (Concepts of Print)
9. In the evening, everyday, my Mom wrote to my Dad when he is out to sea.
She also wrote to my Grandmothers who live far away and her friends from
growing up and all the past places we lived. My Mom continued to write often
to friends. She wrote 200 Christmas cards which were mostly people she
meet at my Dad’s work stations and friends she met with Girl Scouts from
Mexico, England and all over the US. (Writing)
10. 1967 4th grade, I learned to outline our history textbook to distill
information. (Concepts of Print) Reading was very slow and difficult to
understand. The outlining probably helped me understand what I was reading
and helping me learn to write informative essays. (Writing) I was tested for
ulcers (due to school stress) this year. I was also struggling to memorize the
multiplication table. I was spending hours trying to understand homework and
to memorize spelling. (Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge) My
younger brother LOVED to read. He was always reading. He did not spend
much time on homework and always got very good grades. I got Cs and Ds and
I was working for hours.
11. In reading Schickedanz and Collins they talked about the fourth grade
slump. In fourth grade, I was still struggling with decoding. I think that my
parents talking with my brothers and I; plus our visits to museums, zoo, and
camping gave me the content knowledge, vocabulary, and overall language
development plus the ability to draw inferences to support my learning.
Decoding was still a struggle. Fourth grade, I earned the only academic award
I ever received in school, The Most Improved.
12. Spelling was terrifying to me. As an adult teaching reading I figured out that
I could not hear the vowel sounds. It was and is difficult for me to test the
children's knowledge of the vowels in isolation so I always test them in a
word. My Dad was in and out of Vietnam. I was experiencing the war
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protestors as a child who is in the car as my Dad is dropped off at work

before I am taken to school. (Phonological Awareness and Alphabet
Knowledge)
13. Our school had a library I checked out a chapter book that another girl had
read. I rechecked it out for weeks but could not finish it… I did not
understand it either but I wanted to be like the other girls. (lack of
Phonological Awareness and Fluency)
14. The teacher in the classroom had each student read a paragraph of the
History or Science book out loud. I would count how many students until me
then count the paragraphs then try to practice the paragraph I was going to
need to read. (lack of Phonological Awareness) As a teacher in 2nd and 3rd
grade we did choral reading, volunteers reading and I read to them. The only
time they had to read out loud was one-on-one with me. I pointed out and
celebrated their progress
15. 1968 5th grade, We went to two different schools because my Dad was
transferred to Hawaii. I was still struggling with reading but my background
knowledge is expanded by new places and cultures. We traveled all over the
island going to different beaches, exploring little known places and my
favorite the Polynesian Cultural Center. (Vocabulary)
16. 1969 6th grade. One day I say a big vocabulary word. My Dad asked me what
it meant. I struggled to explain the word. My Dad then told me that I used
the word correctly but he was surprised I knew the word. After that my Dad
noticed my vocabulary is advanced. I was still struggling to read. Homework
takes me hours. We were transferred to Mississippi. Desegregation was in
full swing with its rioting. I was still in Catholic schools which were ethnically
diverse with a diverse student and teacher population. (Vocabulary)
17. When I was in about 7th grade reading got easier. Homework and reading
for information was still a struggle but I remember enjoying science projects
and finding information in the school library for the projects. (Writing)
18. 1971 8th My Dad retired and we move to California. We transfer to public
school system. Public school was much easier than Catholic School. The
homework load was much less. I still do not read for pleasure. When I come
up against a word I do not know, I tried to sound it out but often I was still
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stuck so I look in a dictionary. The definition gave me clues to what the word
was but the pronunciation guide was gibberish to me. (Phonological Awareness
and Vocabulary)
19. We bought the “Funke and Wagnalls” Encyclopedia one volume a week from the
grocery store. Before the next week my Dad read the whole volume. He read
the whole Encyclopedia and remembered everything. I saw a coffee cup once
that said “before Google there was my Dad.” (Vocabulary)
20. When writing (before computers and spell check) I would try to spell the
word then try to find it in the dictionary. I often could not find the word in
the dictionary so I would go ask my Mom. My Dad retired and became a full
time college student. I remember my Dad asked Mom to spell words too.
(lack of Phonological Awareness) Now I still struggle with spelling and
sometimes spell the word so poorly spell checker does not work.
21. 1972 9th grade - I lived with my grandmother for a summer. My
grandmother was a retired school librarian. She had Multiple Sclerosis and
was home bound. The city librarian delivered books each week. My
grandmother helped find mystery novels that I would enjoy. I also
discovered the Little House on the Prairie Series. I started becoming more
fluent in reading. (Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge are
starting to make sense)
22. 1973 10th On of my English classes was Reading for pleasure. We did
alternative book reports. I did a writing project that I rewrote part of the
story from another character's point of view. This was the first writing
assignment that I enjoyed. I really do not remember much writing from my
younger years. (Writing)
23. 1974 I hurt my knee so I could not walk or participate in many activities so
my grandmothers book recommendations were put to good use. I read often
for pleasure. (Phonological Awareness is making more sense and Fluency is
being built)
24. High School was still difficult but manageable. I was a leader in Girl Scouts
and Marching Band. I had little free time for reading but I do read for
pleasure. My Dad graduated from college and I graduated from High School.
(Phonological Awareness and Fluency)
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25. After graduating from college my Dad started reading for pleasure. My Mom
still daily wrote to her Mom and friends. (Writing)
26. 1977 A college teacher asked me where I learned to outline an essay. I
laughed to think I learned it in 4th grade because it helped me understand
what I was reading. (Writing)
27. I remember struggling to pull apart words to help me understand the word.
Once I got the word apart I sometimes realized I knew the word.
(Phonological Awareness) A small spelling dictionary (no definitions) is my
friend. It is always in my backpack.
28. 1980 I took Speed Reading to try to help my informational reading struggles.
"Speed Reading" did not work for me but I learned how to skim and find
keywords. Then I could decide if I needed to read and understand this whole
page or could I skip it. (Concepts About Print)
29. 1984 My first son was born. I sang and talked to him often. As soon as he
could sit in my lap we read picture books. (Oral Language, Vocabulary,
Phonological Awareness)
30. He flipped pages back and forth. Slowly over time he started to keep the
book the correct way and to be interested in hearing the words. (Concepts
of Print)
31. 1986 Second son is born. We lived downtown so we walk about once a week to
the library. We brought home piles of books on any topic. (Concepts of
Print, Vocabulary, Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge)
32. With my own children. I read to them multiple times a day and everyday. We
read everything from Dr. Seuss to Civil War history books. I rarely read for
my own pleasure because I was always reading to my sons. (Vocabulary,
Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge)
33. I was struggling to reading the Knights of the Round Table in old English to
my oldest son. I asked my son, “do you understand this.” He said. “yes keep
reading …” I was struggling so hard to pronounce the words that I really was
not understanding it. (Phonological Awareness, Oral Language, Vocabulary)
34. Because reading and school was so difficult for me, I decided to homeschool
my sons. We read a variety of books. Some books for phonics instruction.
(Phonological Awareness, Alphabet Knowledge, Concepts About Print)
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Some books because the boys are interested in the topic. (Oral Language,
Vocabulary).
35. 1993 First retina surgery. Because it was months before I could read again
we got children's chapter books on tape to make up for my not being able to
read. (My sons are now 9, 7 and 3) After I recovered from surgery I
continued to read to my sons. By this time I was reading chapter books
including history books in the evening to my older two boys and picture books
to everyone anytime we wanted to stop for a break. I discovered Audible
Books and Books on Tape at the Library. I listen to books for pleasure.
36. I homeschooled my sons in part because how I suffered in school. I used a
book the Writing Road to Reading. We wrote things they were interested in.
We wrote captions to go with their pictures. We sounding out and learned
phonics in a holistic way (not letter by letter) as we wrote together. We read
and talked always. We loved science. A favorite game was what would happen
if .... And of course we had to try it. (Writing)
37. My oldest was the clearest in his reading explosion. Around his ninth
birthday he struggled to read "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" then
that summer he read the Chronicles of Narnia on his own. We had read it
years before. He took off reading everything on his own but he still loved to
sit with me in the evening to read chapter books to his brothers. When I had
the next retina surgery we got audio books again.
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3. Significant Event Map

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4. Personal Reflection

My history as a struggling reader has had a huge effect on my life and is a

major reason for my becoming a teacher. I want to do for other children what was

not done for me. I was the quiet, child in the corner hoping I would not be called

on to read aloud. Missing from my language development was Phonemic Awareness

and to a small extent Print Awareness. I did not see that letters had consistent

meaning or sounds. I had very good oral language and vocabulary skills thanks to

my parents who always sat down to eat with us. My parents also invited interesting

people to informally and formally dine with us. Holidays always included any sailor

who was not on duty and had no place to go. I could talk about many subjects

thanks to my families many contributions to my background knowledge, oral

language and vocabulary development. But I lacked clear understanding of the

phonemes of English Language and how to use them to support my reading. I

actually did not learn all the phonemes and gain Phonetic Awareness until I was

teaching my sons. My sons have all become much better readers and spellers than

I am.

I am also a product of that time in education. My first reading experiences

did not include Phonological Awareness. The public schools at that time were

teaching reading through the “See and Say” method and by whole class instruction.
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Many people became great under those teaching methods (my brother for one) but

I was lost. Grades were solely based on written tests and there were very few

lines on the report card. I was given no individualized support to help me catch up

in school. As much as the Common Core Report Cards are overwhelming to report,

they do give myself and the parents a more accurate assessment of the child’s

educational development.

Home-school communication was not part of the education system of the

time either. I think that if my parents would have been given more information

about my lack of reading skills, they would have helped me more. My Mom did work

with me with the flashcards in first grade because that was the only thing she was

asked to do to help me learn. Also no one in the education system at that time did

any individual assessment to check how were my reading skills developing. No one

really knew how poor my reading skills were.

My strength as a teacher is that I empathise with the struggling learner.

My experience has given me a wealth of patience and persistence to support the

struggling students. I also make sure to communicate with the families fun ways

that they can help their child at home and that I am there for anything they need.

Together we will help their child progress.

Going back to school as an adult was

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5. References

Machado, J. M. (2013). Integrating standards in early childhood settings: Language

and literacy. Belmont, CA:Cengage.

Schickedanz, J.A. & Collins, M.F. (2013). So much more than the ABCs: The early
phases of reading and writing. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

California Department of Education. (2010). California Preschool Curriculum

Framework, Volume 1. Retrieved on January 12, 2019 from
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/psframeworkkvol1.pdf

California Department of Education (2005). Preschool Learning Foundations

(Volume 1). Retrieved on January 12, 2019 from
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/fd/documents/preschoollf.pdf.

WETA Public Broadcasting.Reading Rockets:Reading 101 Retreived 2/9/2019 from

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/print-
awareness-introduction