Entry #6 Emergent Literacy

"Literacy is a process that begins in infancy and continues into adulthood, if not throughout life."  (Tompkins, 2017, p.110) This statement clarifies a misperception held by educators who previously believed that children weren't ready to read and write until first grade. Both Tompkins and Beauchat explore the many ways that children begin their literacy journey long before they reach school. 

As I explored Beauchat (2009) and Tompkins' (2017) writings on early literacy, I was drawn to the concept of emergent literacy, referring to the development of literacy prior to traditional schooling. This led me to question how I, as a future ESOL teacher, can tap into the varied reading and writing experiences a child brings with them to school to use as a foundation for their continued literacy development. I was interested in what emergent literacy means for students from different cultures.  

After reading Cline and Nicochea's (2003) article "My mother never read to me," I began to see early literacy development as much more than the obvious influence of parents reading to their young children and having books in the home. "As we work to honor and respect what other cultures have to offer, it behooves us to add not only storytelling but also music and singing to the list of activities that promote literacy within the families and communities that we serve." (Cline and Nechochea, 2003, p.123-4) From their experiences, these other influences along with their family's hopes and dreams for them led them to be readers and writers just as much as the books in my home and trips to the library as a young child did for me. 

Tompkins also explores early influences on writing. "Children's understanding about the purposes of reading and writing reflects how written language is used in their community."  (Tompkins, 2017, p.115) This chapter goes on to explore how both a child seeing writing used as a tool in a household, as well as a child seeing their parents read the newspaper and literature for enjoyment, can have an impact on their writing development. Knowing that not all families have bedtime stories and magnetic letters on their refrigerators but yet are still exposing their children to influential literacy practices inspires me to find ways to access that background literacy knowledge. 

As a starting place, Tompkins (2017) discusses how classroom teachers can use writing in different ways. Giving children opportunities to try out different ways of writing such as journaling, labeling items in the room, and writing messages to friends (p.115), young students from a variety of backgrounds will be able to connect with what is familiar and learn from what they haven't yet been exposed to. Incorporating different types of reading, storytelling, and songs would have the same benefit. This only scratches the surface of the types of emergent literacy activities that students have experienced and that I as a teacher could use in my classroom. I continue to wonder how best to make use of student's background experiences to strengthen their literacy development and that of their classmates as well as my understanding of literacy.