My+Literacy+Biography

=BACK to choice reading page=



Objectives =Establishing my identity as a reader and writer by reflecting on my own literacy biography= =Establishing a plan for my future writing options by listing my "Writing Territories"=

= 1) My Literacy Bio =

==MODEL TEXT: In her essay [|“I Was a Teenage Illiterate,”] the novelist Cathleen Schine discusses how she found herself “illiterate” at 26 and explores the reading experiences that shaped her:== ==At the age of 26, when I returned to New York after an inglorious stab at graduate work in medieval history on the frozen steps of Chicago, I had a horrifying realization: I was illiterate. At least, I was as close to illiterate as a person with over 20 years of education could possibly be. In my stunted career as a scholar, I’d read promissory notes, papal bulls and guidelines for Inquisitorial interrogation. Dante, too. Boccaccio. . . . But after 1400? Nihil. I felt very, very stupid among my new sophisticated New York friends. I seemed very, very stupid, too. Actually, let’s face it, I was stupid, and it was deeply mortifying, as so many things were in those days. But I have since come to realize that my abject ignorance was really a gift: to be a literarily inclined illiterate at age 26 is one of the most glorious fates that can befall mortal girl.==

=// Turn the lights down or off before reading the script, giving students a few moments to reflect after each prompt. //=

Try to settle on a single memory … and dwell in it.
==What book is being read? What does it look like? Feel like? Are the pages thick or thin? Are there pictures? What colors and images stand out? What does it smell like? Where did this book come from? How did you happen upon it? Did someone give it to you? Did you borrow it from the library? If you chose it, what attracted you to it?==

=// Turn on the lights and ask students to open their eyes. Then, ask them to open their journals and freewrite about the memory they just experienced, incorporating as much detail as they can recall. //=

==Directions: Create a READING TIMELINE. Along the line, you will note the books and people and events that helped shape you as a reader. This timeline is similar to the autobiography you just wrote, but it is not in narrative form...rather a timeline leading up to today. We will then plot a reading timeline for the entire class. Here is an example of what my reading timeline might look like:==

1971: I learned the alphabet and practiced writing the letters while my dad watched Gilligan's Island.
= (2) Writing Territories =

** A. The range of things I do as a writer **

 * ==Genres I write in or would like to try==
 * ==Subjects I have written about or would like to==
 * ==Real or potential audiences for my writing==
 * ==Glimpses of who I am as a writer like a profile==
 * ==A place to go when looking for something to write about==
 * ==Ideas bank==


 * B. Ideas and Thoughts: **

My students

 * ==reflections on their learning and growth.==
 * ==ideas and feedback about what is important to them and subjects I teach.==

My family

 * ==my husband whom I love and respect==
 * ==my parents whom I miss==
 * ==my son whom I cherish==

School

 * ==ideas for writing a book about reading and writing best practices==
 * ==curriculum and lesson planning work.==

Poetry

 * ==about my mom and all the things that remind me of her==
 * ==my son and some of the funny things he said or did growing up==

Songs

 * ==the ones that influenced me during different times in my life==

Serious Topics

 * ==Education==
 * ==Politics==
 * ==Children==
 * ==Marriage==
 * ==Divorce==