Outside of School Activities that May Foster Emergent Literacy Abilities of First Graders

Abstract

As I have shown through the finding of my research, reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing begin at an early age and involves parents and other family members as well as the children themselves. I have learned through my study that each child partakes in literacy in his or her own way. Aspects of gender, race, and socio-economic status did not play a large role in the students' involvement in literacy activities outside of the classroom. The literacy experiences do often vary, depending on these factors, but each child in my classroom participated in literacy in one way or another. I did notice, however, that oftentimes it was the parent who helped promote or demote literacy outside of school. In addition, students often participated in events outside of the classroom that directly connected to experiences that occurred inside of the classroom. The findings of this study show that it is never too early to start instilling the love of literacy outside of school. A child's attitude toward literacy is affected by the way reading, writing, listening, viewing, writing, and visually representing are presented to him/her. In order for a child to succeed in school, literacy needs to be a meaningful, rich experience in which he or she can participate daily.