Reardon1 Taylor Reardon Mrs. Raymond English 1103 9 September 2013 The World as I kno It E!

erybody has a story they "arry ith them. I kno it#s "li"h$ b%t it#s tr%e. It might be depressing or e&traordinary' either ay all o( %s has something %ni)%e to %s that has molded %s into the person e are today. * ma+or in(l%en"e on ho e are today %s%ally has to do ith the ay e ha!e been raised. ,o e ere raised not only molds %s as h%man beings b%t it also

molds ea"h o( o%r litera"y narrati!es. I ha!e dis"o!ered this by e!al%ating my o n %p bringing and (inding "onne"tions to the gro th o( my litera"y narrati!e. Some people gro %p ith pra"ti"ally nothing hile others gro %p ith e!erything yo% "o%ld e!er imagine. *t (irst' yo% might not think that ether yo% "ome (rom a ealthy (amily or a poor (amily in(l%en"es yo%r litera"y narrati!e b%t I think e!eryones (amily e"onomi" stat%s has an a((e"t. This doesn#t mean that poor people are st%pid and ri"h people are smart. It +%st establishes the idea that ha!ing money gi!es yo% greater "han"es to learn. Resear"hers ha!e e&plored this parti"%lar topi" and ha!e (o%nd thatResear"h indi"ates that "hildren (rom lo .SES ho%seholds and "omm%nities de!elop a"ademi" skills more slo ly "ompared to "hildren (rom higher SES gro%ps. Initial a"ademi" skills are "orrelated ith the home en!ironment' here lo litera"y en!ironments and "hroni" stress negati!ely a((e"t a "hild/s prea"ademi" skills 0*iken and 1arbarin2.

Reardon2 Where yo% li!e e((e"ts yo%r litera"y narrati!e. 3or instan"e' i( yo% li!e some here that doesn#t ha!e a lo"al library' yo% aren#t gi!en the "han"e to ha!e books at yo%r (inger tips. *nother a((e"t on yo%r litera"y is the s"hool area yo% li!e in. I as by no means ri"h gro ing %p b%t my (amily didn/t ha!e a problem ith money. Sin"e my parents di!or"ed hen I as only t o years old I ha!e made m%ltiple mo!es thro%gho%t my li(etime to di((erent "ities and e!en states. 4ne o( the reasons (or my last mo!e as be"a%se my mother anted me to ha!e the best opport%nities I "o%ld ha!e in s"hool. I didn/t %nderstand her at the time' b%t no that I am slightly older I "an see that she only anted the best (or me. *iken and 1arbarin state 5The s"hool systems in lo .SES "omm%nities are o(ten %nder reso%r"ed' negati!ely a((e"ting st%dents/ a"ademi" progress. Inade)%ate ed%"ation and in"reased dropo%t rates a((e"t "hildren/s a"ademi" a"hie!ement' perpet%ating the lo .SES stat%s o( the "omm%nity.6 I "an "onne"t this to my li(e be"a%se at one point my (amily li!ed in the So%th 7harlotte area. My sister as a (reshman at So%th Me"kelanb%rg ,igh S"hool and absol%tely hated it. The tea"hers ere horrible and she didn#t make hardly any (riends be"a%se o( the ra"e di((eren"es. 5S"hool 8igger6 gi!es %s these statisti"s (rom So%th Me"kelanb%rg ,igh S"hool- 5Total St%dents 02010 . 201121999' *(ri"an *meri"an- 9:1 022.;<2'*meri"an Indian- 9 00.2<2'*sian- 99 09.=<2' ,ispani"3;0 01><2' T o or more ra"es- 9= 02.9<2'White- 1093 0:2.2<26. 8i!ersity among st%dents isn#t bad b%t it +%st asn#t the right (it (or my sister. The s"hool also didn/t pro!ed a good ed%"ation there(ore her litera"y narrati!e as hindered (rom li!ing in an area ith a poorly (%nded s"hool. When I think ba"k o( hen I (irst learned to read I think o( my elementary s"hool "lass. My tea"her s%pplied my "lassmates and I ith "olor(%l paper ba"k books bo%nd together by staples. Inside the pages held short' simple senten"es that "ontained pi"t%res ithin them. The

Reardon3 pi"t%res aided yo% in attempting to read ea"h senten"e (or %nderstanding. I belie!e this as the best in!ention (or kids (irst learning to read. The books set yo% in the right dire"tion o( %nderstanding the "on"epts o( a senten"e b%t also helped the ords that yo%ng "hildren str%ggle ith by pro!iding entertaining pi"t%res. *nother in!ention that I admire is the ama?ing @eap3rog. I shared the @eap3rog ith my sister ho as only eighteen months older than me. We o%ld sometimes read the books in the @eap3rog together' pressing on ords e didn/t re"ogni?e and o%t o%ld "ome the !oi"e o( the @eap3rog. My sister and I also "ompeted ith ea"h other on the a"ti!ities in the @eap 3rog. 3or instan"e' there as a map o( the Anited States that "hallenged %s both on the memori?ation o( all the states. In my opinion' the @eap3rog as a great intera"ti!e tool (or learning. Im not the only one ho belie!es this. 8a!id Bat?ner' president o( the Cational Darenting 7enter e&plains@eap3rog#s prod%"ts on"e again impressed o%r parent and "hild testers (or pro!iding orld."lass ed%"ational entertainment that kids are e&"ited to play ith and parents kno are helping their "hild b%ild important s"hool skills. @eap3rog has al ays been an ind%stry inno!ator and these si& prod%"ts ere "ommended (or o((ering age.appropriate play e&perien"es (illed ith ed%"ational (%n and that are b%ilt into pop%lar designs 0)td. In Ereen and Ma2. The @eap3rog not only helped me de!elop my litera"y narrati!e itho%t me kno ing b%t also helped other "hildren by gi!ing them (%n a"ti!ities to play and books to read. It also aided parents in e&panding their "hild#s learning "apabilities and allo ing them to gro as readers and (%t%re st%dents. Ero ing %p as a "hild I "an remember ha!ing t o (a!orite books. The (irst one as The

Reardon9 Eolden @o"ket. Sin"e I en+oyed playing pretend tea"her hen I as yo%nger' I o%ld al ays read this "hildrens book o%t lo%d' as i( I had a room (%ll o( st%dents. I o%ld hold the book so the st%dents "o%ld see the pi"t%res and hen (inishing the page I o%ld e&tend my arm and "ir"le it aro%nd the room so all the kids "o%ld see the ill%strations be(ore I t%rned to the ne&t page. My se"ond book that I (ell in lo!e ith as "alled The Ei!ing Tree. E!en tho%gh the pi"t%res ere simple and only in bla"k and hite I lo!ed the message that it presented. I %sed to think this book as e&tremely long b%t no that I am older I see that it asn#t at all. Things "hange as yo% get older' e!en the te"hnology thats all aro%nd yo%. 4( "o%rse' on"e %pon a time there asn/t all this te"hnology aro%nd b%t no that it#s here it doesn/t stop gro ing. The only ay yo% %sed to be able to read as thro%gh hard books and ne spapers. Co adays yo% "an read online on yo%r "omp%ter' or on yo%r kindle. The kindle is a pie"e o( te"hnology that I lo!e be"a%se o( its "on!enien"e. I don/t ha!e to go and sear"h aro%nd a bookstore to (ind a book' all I ha!e to do is type in the book#s title and boom' I ha!e it right there on my kindle. Fo% "an also sear"h books on the kindle by genres or a%thors. This little de!i"e has allo ed me to tr%ly de!elop a hobby o( reading. I kno it so%nds silly b%t going o%t to a book store to (ind an interesting book seems like s%"h a aste o( time' espe"ially hen I "an sit on my "o%"h and b%y one right (rom there. 7omp%ters are both a "%rse and a blessing (or my riting pro"ess. My laptop "ontains many distra"tions b%t it also "ontains !ital reso%r"es (or me hen I am riting. When I (irst attempt to rite a paper or essay I al ays start ith brain storming. Fes' brainstorming really does help me ith my riting. It enables me to get all o( my ideas o%t there on paper. I then start to arrange the topi"s I ish to dis"%ss in my riting in a ay the (lo s. *(ter this is "omplete I type %p my (irst dra(t. My (irst dra(t is %s%ally e&tremely ra ' and hat I mean by

Reardon: this is that I +%st start typing and getting all the ideas and tho%ghts o%t o( my brain. I don/t stop to "orre"t spelling' grammar' p%n"t%ation' or ording. I lea!e it all alone so I "an ha!e a (resh e&planation o( my ideas itho%t ha!ing to "onstantly stop and edit. *(ter my dra(t is (inished' I go ba"k to the beginning o( my paper and read o!er it. I "orre"t it in many ays. 4ne ad!antage I %tili?e on my "omp%ter is not only spell "he"k b%t also the internet here I "an re"ei!e so%r"es as ell as synonyms that aid me in ha!e a !ariation in my ord %sage. 4n"e I think I ha!e (inished' I read the paper or essay to mysel( o%t lo%d. The importan"e o( o%t lo%d is so that I "an "at"h my mistakes. It#s a te"hni)%e that I learned in middle s"hool that I on"e tho%ght as ridi"%lo%sly silly b%t ha!e (o%nd that it a"t%ally does make a di((eren"e. Reading yo%r paper o%t lo%d allo s yo% to "at"h simple mistakes that yo% o%ld ha!e skipped o!er by +%st reading it in yo%r head. With hat I belie!e to be the (inal dra(t is sent to my mother thro%gh email. She edits my paper and sends it ba"k to me ith "omments and s%ggestions. 1eing able to send my papers thro%gh email is yet another great ad!antage I obtain in my riting pro"ess. Co that I am enrolled in the Ani!ersity o( 7harlotte at 7harlotte I strongly agree ith the (a"t that my litera"y narrati!e ith "ontin%e to de!elop and "hange. 4ne thing that I kno ill in(l%en"e this is the books that I ill read thro%gh my "o%rses. In my high s"hool' reading the "o%rse book as not ne"essary. ,o e!erG no my "o%rse books are my best st%dy so%r"e. These books ill no do%bt ha!e an e((e"t on ho my reading abilities by "hallenging my litera"y le!el and in"reasing my !o"ab%lary.

Reardon; Works 7ited *iken' C. @.' H 1arbarin' 4. 0200>2. So"ioe"onomi" di((eren"es in reading tra+e"tories- The "ontrib%tion o( (amily' neighborhood' and s"hool "onte&ts. Journal of Educational Psychology' 23:.2:1. Web. > Sep 2013. Bathryn Ereen' and Moni"a Ma. ISi& @eap3rog @earning Drod%"ts * arded The Cational Darenting 7enter#s 3all Seal o( *ppro!al.I PR Newswire. 020132- n. page. Web. 12 Sep. 2013. Jhttp-KK .prne s ire."omKne s.releasesKsi&.leap(rog.learning.prod%"ts.

a arded.the.national.parenting."enters.(all.seal.o(.appro!al.221;23>91.htmlL. IThe Easiest and Most Ase(%l B.12 S"hool Sear"h and 7omparison Tool.I School Digger 200;. 2013. n.pag. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education. Web. 12 Sep 2013. Jhttp-KK .s"hooldigger."omKgoKC7Ks"hoolsK029=0012=9Ks"hool.asp&L.