Literacy Moves on Chapters 6-10

Chapter 6 talked all about Beanie Babies. When I started reading this chapter I felt that it made no sense. I did not understand why this one toy could take up a whole chapter. But as I read on I was interested by all the facts on how Beanie Babies became such a phenomenon. I remember as a child trying to collect as many Beanie Babies as I could and even trying to collect all the mini- McDonald's happy meal ones. I also never really thought about how these can relate to literacy but I do remember always reading the name of each Beanie Baby and the little description of each animal. Literacy can come from anywhere, even toys! It is sad however that Ty the company producing the Beanie Babies, manipulated the market to get rich but I think that is how most of our society works these days. It was cool though to read kids responses to this news. It was a great idea to have kids write their reflections on Beanie Babies before and after hearing that information because it got children to write and think about the world around them.
Chapter 7 was all about children writing about their experiences and neighborhoods and also reading about things that relate to their neighborhoods. This is the best thing for kids to write about because everyone loves to write about their past and their story and where they come from. I also think it is cool how teachers had the children think really deep into all the aspects of their neighborhoods, families and even their cultures. I still don't understand how children would use their own local, cultural texts it does not make much sense to me unless they are an ESL student. The alphabet book idea was really cute. I really enjoyed how it tied in children's personal experiences with the alphabet and it even allowed them to get extra creative and draw pictures.
Chapter 8 discussed linking reading and play which I think is a brilliant concept. Children, especially younger children, love nothing more than to play and if they can learn while they are doing that then that is great! I think kids would have a lot of fun creating stories with toys. That is how I used to play as a child with my Barbies and I never imagined that could be related to literacy but after reading this I understand how it can be part of a curiosity kit.
Chapter 9 talks about introducing different genres to students by having them write about certain character types. Having children write about heroes and villains does a lot more than just help develop students creativity. Usually when students begin writing about these characters they are developing stories from scratch. This is introducing the genre of fantasy. It is a big part of learning literacy to develop an understanding between the differences of reality and fiction. Children are taught about fictitious characters from the moment they can walk and talk, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy are two examples. At some point in time they have to learn what is actually reality and what is fiction and there are subtle ways to start that lesson.
Chapter 10 ties in a lot of these prior lessons about connecting culture, community, and school. As I said before this is a great way for students to learn because they relate to their own life experiences which is something we all have in common, a past. Journals or Govies are great ways to get students to open up with their writing and to even reflect on things they have read. Literacy comes in all shapes and forms and if we open our eyes to it we can find it anywhere!