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One interesting thing about literacy is a privilege that most students and families take for granted. One important angle that must be considered as an educator is that some parents of student may be illiterate. In our state especially there are many families where one or more member is a dropout or didn't attend school at all.  This means that some students will be the only one in their home who can read and write.

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It is defined as simply the ability to read and write. However, it has evolved into much more. As our students move even further into the 21st century, they are needing to become more and more versed in digital literacy. Therefore, somewhere along the line there needs to be a merging of traditional forms of literacy and the digital which is so prominent in our society today.

-Erin Jacobs

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1. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, but it is much more than that.  It is the ability to communicate effectively and to be able to think about more complex ideas pertaining to the English language.  It is the ability to apply the English language to all aspects of ones life.  -Tabby

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1. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, but it is much more than that.  It is the ability to communicate effectively and to be able to think about more complex ideas pertaining to the English language.  It is the ability to apply the English language to all aspects of ones life.  -Tabby

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Yet Not Another Post Taking Cheap Shots at Webster

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Yet Not Another Post Taking Cheap Shots at Webster

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Literacy is the ability to use, interpret, and understand the memes of one's culture.

The term "literacy" is a misnomer, an artifact. Defined as "the ability to read and write," this completely alienates most forms of literature. I find it ironic that Shakespeare is the cultural juggernaut that he is in literature circles when he wrote stories meant to be viewed, not read as prose. And yet, here we are in 2016 saying things like “When I said you could choose the text for your paper, I didn’t mean you could do Cowboy Bebop.”

-Cruza;Shamblin

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1. Literacy is not only reading and writing, but also how you view and interpre the world around you. 

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1. Literacy is not only reading and writing, but also how you view and interpre the world around you. 

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2. I think that contemporary definitions are much more complex and deep than I ever imagined them. I always thought of literacy as simply reading and writing, but from my research I learned that it involves much more. I also didn't realize that the concept of literacy was such a highly debatable topic.

Rebecca Staley

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1. Literacy is the ability to read and to write. It is the ability to know and comprehend a subject well enough to speak to others and possibly write about.

2. One of the things that I found was that many people are making it more difficult than it needs to be.  For example, one of the definitions I found online read: "Literacy is the ability to use available symbol systems that are fundamental to learning and teaching—for the purposes of comprehending and composing—for the purposes of making and communicating meaning and knowledge," (Patricia Stock, Literacy In Learning Exchange). This definition is so complex when it doesn't really need to be.

Marci Palmer

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1. Literacy is more than being able to read and write. I see it as a necessity for communication. This makes it a vital part of living and survival.
2. My research actually led me to see I was on the right track for what I believed literacy was. My research defined literacy as being an "effective communicator." Literacy is so much more than just reading and writing.

By: Emily Butcher

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21st-century literacy demands the individuals at the adult stage of literacy be able to develop proficiency and fluency with tools of technology; manage, analyze, and synthesize information; and create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts.

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To me, literacy is completely tied up in using and responding to language. Whether it is speaking, listening, reading, writing, or thinking. And this literacy is primarily used in dominant, intimate spaces. That is why one dialect is not superior, because literacy is not tied up to a dialect. A second level or deeper, more powerful literacy is using and responding with and to language that is outside of our primary or dominant discourse. This includes linguistically, culturally, politically, socioeconomically, racially, etc. Powerful literacy is analyzing, critiquing, and reflecting on both our primary and secondary discourses by using both discourses. It is very meta. Literacy is acquired AND literacy is learned.

I found that contemporary definitions of literacy are concerned with placing nearly any subject in front of the word "literacy" and using it to mean understanding about a subject. It is primarily focused on using technology. I do not really agree with this approach in defining literacy.

Rachael Skeens

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1. Specifically, literacy is the capability to read and write.

2.  I always knew that literacy dealt with the ability to read and write, but I discovered that it also refers to how competent someone is in a specific area. Although this meaning of the word isn't as applicable to the ELA classroom, it was still an interesting discovery. I've always known what literacy was, but I never knew how to actually put its definition into words. I'm grateful for this assignment because now if someone asks me what literacy is, I can answer with confidence.
Tory Misiti

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1.     Literacy is not only the ability to read and write but also competence or knowledge in a specific area.

2.     I guess I viewed literacy as just the capability to read and write but I found from the National Writing Project that there are many forms of literacy (9 at least, according to them). It is about knowledge in a certain field of study like media, information, political, cultural, etc. I also learned that it isn’t just a topic for English, but for all subject matters.

Tori Garrett

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I understood literacy as reading and writing, although I had some idea that literacy was more about how we understand the world around us, yet I didn't have a strong sense of what that meant. After some research, literacy is defined as the way in which we understand something in a specific area. This gives literacy a multifaceted approach, where you can have different types of literacy skills and competencies.

-Chase Dye

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Before reading more, the first thing I thought of, concerning "literacy", was learning to read and write in school. I remember hearing students struggle to read, and the other kids would call them "illiterate". After reading, I realize that younger people are now more literate in social media and technology.
Ally Lawhon

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Literacy is the ability to understand and respond to a text. The text can appear in many forms, including the media, written word, or a conversation.
Ally Lawhon

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Literacy is understanding , evaluating, and engaging with a written text to participate in society. It is a person possessing a wide range of abilities and competencies.

-Samantha Ross

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1. literacy is the ability to read and write, which is the simplest definition of a complicated term.
2. As I was doing my research, I discovered that literacy is a complex idea about reading and writing and communicating and it involves careful planning and useful strategies. Literacy can change and evolve depending on who you are teaching and you have to fit the plan to teach to those specific people.
By Olivia Ottaviano

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I think that literacy is indeed the ability to read and write. However, I don't think that definition sufficiently encompasses all of the things that attribute to literacy. To further this definition, I would add the ability to listen, analyze, and speak. I would also include the integration of technology and media alongside of these abilities.

Before completing my research, I thought that literacy was fairly easy to define. However, I found that the given definition for literacy is very vague and it is actually much more complex, making it difficult to more elaborately define because there are so many different kinds of literacy.

By: Ashley Young

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Literacy is defined as simply being able to read, write, and comprehend. What I have learned is that there are different strategies to teaching and understanding comprehension in the classroom and that incorporating techniques into the classroom as a daily routine isn't as complicated as I had originally thought. By doing something as basic as a prompt discussion a teacher can help with comprehension in the classroom.

Stephanie Albright

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To some degree, literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. Beyond that, literacy involves the depth of knowledge and competence of a particular concept one may have. There are multiple types of literacy including, but not limited to, digital, emotional, information, scientific, cultural, multicultural, and new media literacy.

Now, because I took a course on literacy last semester with a professor who academically focuses on literacy, my ideas of the concept have not changed much. I am just as aware, if not more, of the importance of literacy skills and the role we as teachers may have in fostering those skills.

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In its most basic sense, literacy means the ability to read and write in order to function within society.

However, according to my research, it seems that there is a much more complex understanding of literacy today. Literacy today typically involves more than just reading and writing. Students need to be able to engage with, analyze, and reflect on what they are reading/writing as well. There are also many different types of literacy such as digital literacy, visual literacy, and media literacy.

By: Ashley White

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1. Literacy is an exploration for students to maximize their skills of reading and writing.
2. I found that "successful literacy learning" involves the responsibility from teacher to student and that it is important for students to express themselves by informal writing.
By: Sarah Adkins

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1. Literacy is the competence in a specific area that allows you to communicate about it effectively.
2. I wouldn't really say that my knowledge of literacy changed before this assignment because I did a literacy related topic for my Capstone project. However, it did make me realize how important it is for me to reach teach literacy skills to my students in a variety of ways and not only focusing on the reading and writing aspect of being a literate member of society.

-Cassie Goodwin

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What I found interesting about literacy...

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What I found interesting about literacy...

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Not only does literacy skills help students gain knowledge through reading but as well as using media and technology. These skills also help students create knowledge through writing as well as developing media and technology.
Literacy also is the ability to read and write, but also includes skills like critical thinking, listening, speaking, viewing and presenting.
By: Brittany Stephens

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I knew that there was different types of literacy but I didn't know there was so many for ELA Classrooms! Balanced literacy, disciplinary literacy, and more!

I found that literacy in ELA classrooms includes being able to read, write, and analyze while being able to critically think on prior knowledge, skills, and experiences based on the situation you are presented with. Sounds like we are asking everything of our students including the kitchen sink!
By: Jessica Bailey

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When I started I thought of literacy as being the ability to read and write but after research my new definition has many more steps and includes things that deal with media literacy where 21st century technology is at the center of it all.

By: Kaleb Frye

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Being able to make sense of and engage in advanced reading, writing, listening, viewing, and speaking.
Media Literacy in the 21st Century include skills such as: Judgement, Negotiation, Appropriation,  Play, and multitasking.

By: Kaleb Frye

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Literacy can be thought of as ability for students to understand what they read fully, and the ability to write in such a way to be understood completly.  -Justin Peterson