Literacy is all around us. Speaking, listening, reading, and writing are important life skills, and we should always recognize one’s literacy abilities as a tool for learning and growing.

Literacy should be a skill we celebrate daily. Each day I am grateful for the joys of reading books on my own, with my children, and sharing new ideas and articles aloud with the educators I work with. I celebrate literacy by listening to podcasts and blogs from authors around the world, and I am grateful for the ability to write blogs that I am passionate about. As a passionate educator, I celebrate open and honest conversations with friends, colleagues, and loved ones daily. This holds dear to my heart because without the ability for an oral conversation, I would not be the wife, mom, friend, educator, and human that I am today.

International Literacy Day is recognized yearly, and this year it is celebrated September 8, 2021. Today, I say THANK YOU to everyone in my life who contributed to my literacy abilities.

As a parent of two young children, I am always looking for various ways to be creative with literacy content. One of my favorite things, and sometimes the most simple thing to do with my kids, is reading books aloud with them, discussing our favorite parts of the story, and finding the characters we like most in the story or text. Reading aloud teaches expression, the importance of WHY an author writes, and to develop a love of reading. 

We enjoy finding new books at our public library, Barnes and Noble, and various thrift stores. Thrift stores are our favorite place to go when we need to revamp our home library on a budget. One of our favorite places is Savers, Thrift & Secondhand Stores Near You in Commack, NY 11725 | Savers. They have an abundance of books at unbelievable prices ($2/book, and buy 4 books, get 1 book free). When we know we are headed over there, we always choose a few books and some old toys we have grown out of to donate. This makes everyone feel good inside, helps me to teach the importance of giving back, and all of us get new books to enjoy too!

Another way my kids and students can enjoy literacy in our world is by using different story making tools to create and publish their own writing pieces. In the past, I have always used homemade printed writing templates, but this year, we were introduced to Illustory -  Kids Publish With Illustory | Lulu Junior. This is a creative, fun, and engaging form of understanding the importance of being a writer or author, while having SO much fun! A second way we have created our own literary journey is by using Google Slides or My Storybook from MyStorybook.com | Make Kids' Books Online For Free to create our own book or text. Writing is one of the hardest parts of literacy for children. If we find more ways to motivate our children and students’ creative ideas and thinking, writing will become a more welcomed literacy tool for all kids.

I am a firm believer in finding ways to help our community, no matter how big or small. One project I introduced and implemented with my students was called, What’s the Problem? I asked my students to brainstorm three problems in their community they believed needed to change. Once the best topic was chosen, I would create teams based on each student’s topic so they could work as a team during research collection, and to bounce around new ideas.

Students were required to use Google Site to create a persuasive website with the pros and cons about specific problems in the community that needed change. This activity served as a way to communicate ideas using spoken language, and students were encouraged to listen respectfully to each student’s problem, ask questions, or develop new ideas to help solve the problem in the community.

Once all students shared their work, the class voted on the top three problems. Next, we developed more solutions to solving the problem, then planned a meeting with our school principal(s), administrators, and community leaders. During the meeting, our research was delivered to help make others aware of the problems or issues the community was facing and what we can do to make where we live the best place to live and grow. Each year, one of the projects was chosen, and a plan of action took place to see it come to fruition. This is a great way to incorporate speaking and listening skills in your classroom. 

No matter HOW you decide to incorporate literacy in your own life, your child’s life, or your student's life, just make it happen. International Literacy Day is a celebrated day; always remember to celebrate literacy in any form that makes it special to you! Share your literacy superpowers with everyone around you and enjoy International Literacy Day on September 8, 2021.