Tuesday, November 1, 2011

We Create Literacy

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
   I heard recently someone say that literacy is all around us. I have heard this statement before and I have said it a few times. For some reason I started to think is it really. What if a person is in a box without pictures or colors? Is there literacy? What if a person is blind and can not use braille? Is there literacy? The answer is yes.
   We create literacy, sometimes out of nothing. Sometimes writers who have no prior ideas to stories, can look at a white piece of paper and have a story come alive. Some illustrators can look a barren walls and see a story come alive. People even create stories in their dreams. The visuals that sometimes do not seem to make any sense create vivid pictures that spark ideas and initiate starting points for stories. Individuals who were not born with sight can still dream. Their dreams contain audio representations  and these representations can convey emotion and intrigue just like any word can. (Dreams are an interesting and I encourage people to look more into dreams including this website.)  
   Literacy is all around us and I encourage everyone to take advantage in not only looking for it but creating it as well. Look a piece of paper and see a landscape. Close your eyes and see a monkey laughing hysterically. It is there.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\//\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

5 comments:

  1. What an interesting and reflective response. While reading this, I couldn't help but consistently refer back to my own experiences and ideas. It would be a fun activity to implement braille into one's curriculum. Too many people do not even know what it is. Being able to make literacy out of nothing is a simple grace and definitely deserves reiterating to the public.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like how you addressed this topic. I have never thought of literacy this way. Often I wonder how people can stare at a blank piece of paper and create a masterpiece. I am not this way. I need lots of time to think and explore before I put something on paper. I really enjoyed the point you brought up about dreams. No matter who you are, what race, religion, ethnicity, gender, ability etc. you are still able to dream and those dreams can be so vivid and real and convey so much meaning. Literacy is truly all around us!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess literacy is not usually connected in that way. It would be good to explore this nontraditional interaction with literacy in the classroom. It would also really work well in dramatic play and encouraging them to use their imagination.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Apart from all of the enjoyment that different types of literature can bring to us, the essential purpose of literacy is to have an understanding of the civilized world and be a functioning member of our communities. This point translates to literacy being a general understanding and therefore not only found in literature, but all around.

    ReplyDelete
  5. it is wonderful that you said that we create literacy out of things that are all around us. I really think that the children in our classrooms. I think that it will be very important to have children know that literacy is all around them and that they can use their creative minds to have it become whatever they want.

    ReplyDelete