Quote: "We are shaped by the way we use literacy. Out unofficial hidden literacy practices are as important as the public, institutional ones we participate in." (Pahl, 23)
Comment: I definitely agree that we are shaped by literacy. I also think it is very interesting to look at literacy as more than just mere reading and writing. I think by looking at each individual students prior experiences and the specific literacy areas in which they are already proficient we can better teach them and foster a love of the "traditional" literacy subjects such as reading and writing. For example, if a student has grown up reading the comics section of the newspaper every morning or even just looking at the pictures, we could draw from this as teachers and help them understand how comic strips are formed and teach grammar using a variety of models.
Question: If as the book says both unofficial and public/institutional literacy practices are equally important how can we, as teachers, find a way to tie together these practices? What is the benefit of teaching children reading and writing by drawing on these more personal literacy practices?
I love the idea of building off of what kids did before they even stepped into the classroom. I think it's so important to realize that kids have actually accomplished a lot in their life before they start school. I also think it's really important to encompass all types of reading in literacy. One way that you could incorporate both in the classroom is to have one day a week where kids bring in any type of reading. I think it's important for kids to sit down with a book and to learn how to read by our traditional standards, but we also want them to love reading, which means we have to give them options.
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