Hello readers, welcome to the manifesto of my future Language-Arts-immersed-classrooms. I intend to explore the many roles Language Arts can take in elementary classrooms and eventually create an image of what I hope my own future classrooms will look like.
When I reflect upon my own childhood experiences in Language Arts I am astounded to realize that virtually all of my fond memories come from the same year: 1997 Ms.Harris's grade four class at Kelly Creek Community School, in Powell River BC. We explored creative writing; letting our minds run wild and our grasp of the English language guide us through poetry. I was so proud of one of the poems I wrote in Ms.Harris' creative writing class that I actually memorized it and can still recite it for you today.
I always looked forward to hearing Ms.Harris read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Charlotte Doyle's story still seems fresh in my mind every time I set sail or find myself with a seemingly intimidating "crew" of people.
Ms.Harris read us letters that her great-uncle wrote to his family before he died while fighting in World War II.
She taught us to write letters to the ministry of environment because the class was concerned by the endangerment of many species that we learned about in our Science class.
Ms.Harris helped us to create a Theatrical production out of an aboriginal legend, recorded by the Kla ah mon people of the Sliammon traditional lands, North of Powell River. Through this activity we learned about the original people who lived in the area. This project also gave me my start in theatre which I came to enjoy very much.
Ms.Harris had opened me up to a world of learning and exploration. Furthermore she empowered me to express my opinions to my government even though I was only ten years old. She helped me to understand some of Canadian and world history, and to empathize with others by showing their different perspectives.
I went on to grade five where my teacher focused more on mathematics and spelling. We were tested on the spelling of 20 new words on Mondays, and re-tested on Friday (after presumably having studied) in order to gauge our improvement. Prior to this I had already come to believe that my spelling was not strong, and by grade five I was feeling discouraged. When tested on Monday I would typically earn two out of twenty on my spelling tests. Embarrassed I would hide and attempt to ignore the Spelling sheet until Friday when I was re-tested. Not-surprisingly I showed no improvement on my Friday Spelling tests in comparison with my Monday tests. I don't recall my lack of improvement ever being addressed by my teacher. I grew to feel very uncomfortable with spelling, and rather than working on it, I typically avoided writing and felt insecure without the aid of spell-check.
I completed my Undergrad is in History and Latin American Studies last March. As a History student I was forced to learn to write comprehensive essays; and as a part of my Latin American studies minor I studied Spanish language in Mexico for 9 months. I still consider writing to be one of my weaker points but I have come to love and respect the power of communication on a new level.
I hope that my classroom can be a place where spelling and grammar are valued and appreciated as tools of communication and expression. I will strive to incorporate these elements of Language arts into the classroom in a way which will be encouraging and empowering to my students. My Language Arts classroom will be a place in which children will be transported to different time-periods, countries, mind-sets, lifestyles, cultures, and fantasies.
They will read, hear, write, and even become a world of limitless creativity.
