English Language Arts in My Imaginary Classroom

 

At this point in my development as a teacher I see English language arts in all elementary school subjects. I picture students practicing speaking when they are showing a piece of art to the class or viewing when they are looking at a graph in a science text. As a teacher I hope to integrate language arts into all areas of learning. When I imagine language arts in my classroom these are some of the pictures that come to my mind- learners using paint to create visual representations of poems or songs, students acting out parts of stories they have read in groups, children listening to rhymes that explain math concepts, learners writing letters to imaginary characters, students contributing to online discussions on books that they have heard the teacher read in class, and students describing games played in P.E.

Being able to understand information in its various forms and communicate in those same forms is a crucial skill and one that can be taught it countless ways. I feel that it is my job as teacher to make the learning process as accessible, inclusive, and enjoyable as possible. Ultimately I hope that when students leave school that they have the tools to be able to understand the world around them and be able to express themselves.

Introduction

Welcome to my literacy corner! In approximately sixteen months I will be taking my first steps in the world as a qualified teacher. At this moment I am both excited and nervous about those first steps as many challenges lie before me including how to teach English language arts to a group of elementary school students-yikes! Although I haven’t had any experience teaching students how to read or write I enjoyed reading novels and writing poetry throughout elementary and high school. One of my most memorable experiences in language arts was making a large model of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, after reading the novel in grade seven. I remember being super excited to transform the images in my head into reality. Very soon I had a shiny red dragon and several little clay elves, dwarves, and hobbits positioned on a mossy green field in front of a grey paper bag mountain. Another cherished memory I hold from elementary school is playing “Poetry to the Death” in grade three. Every Friday, I would look forward to the end of the day when our poetry knowledge was put to the test by standing in a line and reciting poems as a group one word at a time. If it came to my turn and I didn’t know the next word it was, “Off with my head!” As an elementary school teacher I hope to share my passion for language arts and give students the same positive experiences of reading and writing that I had when I was young.