JACKSON LTED601 Literacy Blog

 It's so hard to believe we are already at the end of our semester - and thinking about the past few months learning about the various components of Literacy and Language, I can see a clearer path of understanding for myself in many of the topics we covered as a class. When we first began this semester, I had doubts and concerns about what exactly I would be learning. Would it really be helpful, or is this just a class we have to take in order to move on? I should know by now that every single class I've taken so far in this program is so essential for being an educator, and I always find myself learning way more than I ever expected. The same has already rung true with LTED601 - Foundations of Language and Literacy.  I loved diving into our own literacy development at the beginning of the semester - learning about where we all came from, and how that impacts our teaching moving forward. We were able to create "Genius Collages" of what our own influences were during e

 Reading through other blogs continues to be a pleasure for me as I really get the opportunity to gather different perspectives on topics we're all reading together. This week, I took a closer look at Cassidy Nelson's blog post on riddles , and her frame of mind when it comes to teaching through riddles and the outcomes presented by them.  I was so excited to learn about Cassidy's take on riddles, and how she even decided to include the children she nanny's in the assignment for that week. I absolutely love that she knew how excited a first and third grader would be to come up with riddles, and that she was so thoughtful in hearing what they had to say (which from experience, sometimes these riddles don't turn out to be that great or make sense at all really 😂). Cassidy was able to see first-hand how riddles enhance the development of metalinguistic awareness and vocabulary, and I think that is so special for her as a future educator, and also for someone who clear

 At this point in my Early Childhood Education career, I fully understand the importance of Vocabulary Development; It correlates directly to developing fluent readers/writers and stems from phonemic awareness for the most part. What I find myself still learning is the "How" side of this topic. How can I, as a teacher of young minds, help develop a growth of vocabulary, while also keeping students interested in what they're ultimately learning? That last part is especially something I'd like to focus on in my teachings.  In this week's article reading, Marcy Zipke touches on motivation being a key factor in how successful a lesson will be. Her theory revolves around using riddles to engage students, and how these lessons subsequently aide in the development of reading comprehension, in addition to vocabulary development.  "Kids everywhere delight in working language. They do this for two reasons: (1) It is fun, and (2) it is how they make discoveries about la