The Story of Illiteracy:

Preventing it in Modern
America
Kenneth Donovan II
A.  SUMMARY

Illiteracy is the general term for when a person is unable to read or write. Though every

case isn’t the same, with everyone having different levels of competency in lexile skills, and

there being many different distinctions of illiteracy, for our purposes we only need to know about

functional illiteracy. When someone is functionally illiterate, even though they might have

learned to write and read to some extent, they aren’t competent enough to do simple everyday

tasks such as writing their own name on an official form, or reading a warning label on a

medication bottle. This can be a real challenge for a person, especially when that person is an

adult and expected to know how to do these things.

To research my project, the driving questions I used to guide me are:

❖ What can lead to illiteracy?

❖ How are those that are functionally illiterate affected in adulthood?

❖ What is already being done to try and prevent illiteracy?

The topic issue for my paper is illiteracy, which includes the widespread causes and

stigma, an important factor to consider when dealing with children. The challenge is reaching

them through a creative medium that is fun for them, without it feeling forced upon them. This

preemptive strike is meant to get elementary students involved in the language arts, when they’re

at such a prime developmental stage. We’ll meet on Zoom, where we’ll start slow, not rushing it.

We’ll talk about books they’ve read, and the importance of having reading skills. After that, they
 will get the chance to write their own stories, as well as illustrations if they wish. They’re young,

so they shouldn’t need any explicit restrictions, though if they provide something troubling, it

will be dealt with accordingly. They’ll be able to reach me on Zoom, or their parents can contact

me through phone or email. Any questions or concerns that I have, I have a great mentor to turn

to, FC’s very own Barbara Duncan.

B.   NEW SKILLS, ENHANCED SKILLS, AREAS OF GROWTH

New skills I will acquire:
Teaching Skills

Current skills I will enhance:

Child Management and Editing

Areas of personal growth:

Patience

C. PROJECT STEPS – Should be presented in sequential order.

Preliminary Meeting with the kids to discuss reading, genres, and what they like to read.
Steps

Midway Steps Giving them their task, asking further questions about what they like, and giving
suggestions and such.
Later Steps Meeting with the kids, in zoom, school, or email, to discuss their writing or
reading, giving bits of constructive criticism as well as asking them if they’re done,
and submitting it to me.
Follow up The sharing/group reading of our book.
Total Hours 20+

D. PROJECT DOCUMENTATION – This is a bulleted list

★ Pictures
★ Agenda
★ Flyers
★ Writing drafts
★ Accompanying sketches
★ The final output, the book
 E.    PROJECT JUSTIFICATION – In a short paragraph, explain why this is a quality project.
 How is it a challenge/stretch for you? What will the impact be? Why is this worth your
time and effort?
Ensuring that the next generation is capable of at least basic language art skills is an

essential skill for them to have in the future. This project is a one time thing, and will only reach

a small group of people, but even so, the end goal of pointing them towards the language arts and

away from illiteracy could be reached, and bring down the illiteracy rate, even if it’s only by 1.

As for me, in recent times the idea of becoming a teacher, most likely an English teacher, has

become ever more appealing to me. With that profession in mind, this project would help serve

as a trial run, either confirming or setting straight my thoughts on whether or not I would be cut

out to teach kids full time.

F. ACADEMIC HONESTY
The Senior Project demands a high level of integrity on your part in every phase of the project.  All work
you present for your project and paper will be assumed to be your own. When you are presenting work
that is not original, you must acknowledge the use of such work by properly documenting the paper, the
project/portfolio, and presentation.

You have permission to copy the sample text for this piece of the proposal.

I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project/paper will result in failure of the
Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.