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Cody Strickland
Suzanne Ingram
UWRT 1101
9/22/2014
My Literacy throughout School
Being literate in its simplest form is being able to read,
write, and talk properly. Past this you must be able to
understand and reflect on what you hear with your voice and pen.
Ever since I was a few years old, Ive been taught to be
literate in many different ways. My parents and my school were
two the biggest literacy sponsors in my life. Literacy sponsors
are those who helped the most on the path of learning. My
parents would help by practicing reading and writing with me
outside of the classroom and by making sure I got to school for
all of my childhood and teenage years. I was encouraged to read
through praise and the purchase of new books that I was
interested in. My school definitely played the largest role in
my literacy development. We were all put in a class of around
twenty-five kids to sit and learn for six hours every day. We
gained literacy experience from not only the teachings of our
instructor, but the interactions between us and other people.

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Elementary school was important because its the first time

everyone is introduced to a setting meant purely for learning.
During this phase of our lives, our brains are developing fast
and its very necessary to lay down some ground knowledge in
various subjects so we arent oblivious to the world around us.
This ground knowledge includes how to read and write. A good
influence on me to read was a point system called AR Points.
This is hands down where I got most of my reading done in my
life. This point system was a way to test if you understand what
you read and reward you when you had a good knowledge of the
book. I was reading Harry Potter in fourth grade for a chance to
get school branded water bags and water bottles. This is a great
way to promote literacy in my opinion. Kids can choose whatever
theyre interested in, instead of being forced to read the same
book as the whole class. Writing was a whole different story in
elementary school. The only practice in writing I got was long
answer questions on daily work.
High school was probably the most crucial phase in literacy
development for me. Throughout grades nine to twelve I was
prepared for college with many classes which would all in their
own way aid to my literacy. Reading and writing is a focal point
in high school, shown by an English course every year revolving
around reading and writing. To study these we would usually read

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novels and write essays or research papers. The work that went
into essays and papers was preceded by a lot of research. This
research helped me learn to read and study topics at a college
level. By then I could tell how the scale of reading difficulty
was inclining. The gradual raising of reading levels gave me a
very decent vocabulary and understanding of the English
language. High school teachers have also had a big impact on me
and the way I now know to read and write. I didnt have any
teachers that were bad at their jobs and would never be afraid
to ask questions if I was struggling. Knowing I could go to a
teacher with my problems made the work less of a burden and
opened my mind to harder challenges, which Im thankful for now
as a college student. Through the past few weeks of college,
Ive had to adapt my writing style to be more abstract and I
wouldnt be able to do it if it werent the skills I learned in
high school.
Overall, many factors affected the way my literacy was
shaped. From my teachers in school, my parents at home, and my
social interactions throughout life, Ive learned new ways to
interpret readings and new ways to write.