Literacy Vignette



     My first memories of reading began when I was about 3 years old.  I always watched my parents read the newspaper as we had breakfast together on Saturdays and Sundays.  I always made my mom read out loud because I wanted to know what she was reading.  It wasn’t long before I decided that being able to read made you an adult, so I begged my mom to teach me to read.  I pleaded for about 10 minutes and she finally gave in.  I already knew the alphabet so; she purchased phonics flashcards so that I could learn the sounds the letter made.  I found out that I would have a little brother soon and I wanted to be able to read to him, just as my mother had read to me.  I was determined that I would know how to read by the time he was born.  My mom practiced reading with me every weekend and she put me in the preschool program at the daycare I attended.  Just two months before my brother was born, I read my first book, I was so excited.
    Once in elementary school, I still loved reading, and spent a lot of time in the library.  We watched Reading Rainbow once a week in my school, and I would go to the library when the show was over so that I could check out the books mentioned in the show; Judy Blume was my favorite.  My school eventually adopted an accelerated reader program, and after reading a certain amount of books, a prize was given. 
    As a future teacher, I will instill the importance of reading to my students and teach them the lifetime advantage that reading has.  I will let them know about how they can identify with the characters in the books they read and how it opens their minds to adventures.