The Most Important Event in my Literacy Development

Answer

The Most Important Event in my Literacy Development

            Literacy development, which typically begins between ages 0-6, is the period where a child learns to read and write. Literacy development includes the ability to listen, watch, speak, understand and draw. We develop literacy through such things as communication and playing. Literacy development is typically aided by reading. Our literacy development plays a huge role in how we socialize and communicate with the people around us. This essay discusses the most important event in my literacy development and how that event was significant to my overall literacy development.

The most significant event in my literacy development has to be the day my teacher of English read my essay out to the whole class. I was in 6^th grade, I think. Writing has always been a passion of mine but I often felt a little inadequate. Even as a little girl, I loved to read and had read the works of writers like Enid Blyton. While I enjoyed the works of these authors, I felt like it is only they who could write and not me.

            One day in 6^th grade, we were required to write a fictional essay for an English exam. I took a few minutes to think about my characters and my plot then I wrote away. My story was about a brave teenage girl who rescued her little brother from a fire. For some reason, the teacher was intrigued by my story and felt that the entire class deserved to hear it. I remember being shocked at first when she started reading the story. By the time she got to the third paragraph, I was feeling quite uneasy.  

            How could she expose me like that? I was not very happy about the fact that the teacher was inviting scrutiny into my work. Everyone would notice my mistakes, would they not? I was quite sure that my tenses were not quite right and my flow was definitely poor. There was also the issue of the story and how crazy it must have sounded to my classmates. I started asking myself why I named my characters the way I did. “Oh what a poor writer I am”, I thought. “Well at least they cannot hear spelling mistakes”, I consoled myself.

            When Ms. Haggerty finished reading the story, there was a loud clap followed by several oohs and aahs. Everyone looked genuinely impressed and quite a number were actually smiling at me. Ms. Haggerty went ahead to say that mine was the best essay in the whole class and that she was actually impressed by my tenses, spelling and story-telling. That simple event helped me gain so much confidence in my writing abilities that I actually began to write more stories.

            Growing up, my parents were very supportive of my writing initiatives. They never insisted on reading my work but were always willing to read some of my essays on the few occasions that I requested them to. My mother, in particular, always bought me story books whenever she could. I always finished reading these in no time and soon I’d be hungry for me. I was a frequent at the school library where you could always find me poring over a book- any book.

            Literature became a personal favorite but I never shied away from other topics such as history and science. I was intrigued with the work of Langston Hughes and simply adored Maya Angelou. I read so much poetry and short stories that I did not understand but I kept reading and borrowing ideas. I was convinced that if I read the works of great writers then I would be able to impress Ms. Haggerty again and again. There were instances that my love for reading and writing got in the way of my performance in other subjects because I paid writing too much attention. However, I did try fervently to read other subjects too. In my free time, I read as many novels and as much poetry as I could.

            My literacy experiences were not always amazing but that moment in 6^th Grade did play a significant role in boosting my confidence in my writing abilities. That event made me feel like my writing was anything but horrible and motivated me to learn more and do better. The fact that Ms. Haggerty recognized and appreciated my work made me feel worthy. Before, I was very secretive with my work and could not bear the thought of letting anyone see anything I had written. However, after that event I slowly learnt to show my parents, classmates and friends my work. I still struggle with some things like who or what to write about but I am now more confident in my tenses and spellings. That experience taught me that a little support, encouragement and appreciation is crucial to our literacy development.