The Missouri Reader Vol. 36, Issue 1 | Page 52

THE VIEW FROM BELOW: A PRE-SERVICE TEACHER’S PLAN TO IGNITE LITERACY IN THE MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM Jordan Smith Introduction recently had my first eye-opening experience as a pre-service teacher. I assigned a group of high school seniors in a college preparatory English class an explication in response to Ernest Hemingway‘s ―The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.‖ An explication is a formal paper that examines one aspect of a piece of writing—whether that aspect be theme, language, a character, the setting— based merely on the writing itself (without the aid of outside commentary or critique). In other words, the students were to respond to Hemingway‘s short story without the use of SparkNotes or PinkMonkey. I wanted to see each interpretation and unique slant the students‘ produced. Their papers brought me to tears, not because of the literary insight they possessed, but rather, the sheer lack of writing ability the papers exhibited. The experience reaffirmed my passion for becoming a teacher, knowing I will have the opportunity to not only teach students to read and write, but to do them both well. Literacy is the core of every subject in America‘s schools. According to reading specialist Debra Goodman (2005), ―Literacy consists of a set of skills that can be measured and then assigned an ability or proficiency level‖ (p. 432). Is this the only way to define a ―good‖ reader/writer (i.e. literate)? Hardly. Goodman (2005) continues to suggest one should ―View reading and writing as meaning-construction processes‖ (p. 432). Therefore, a student can be a ―good‖ reader if he/she can make sense of a message—whether that Jordan Smith (June 25, 1989-October 8, 2011) Jordan was a senior English Education major at CulverStockton college in Canton, Missouri. She had been published in C-SC’s literary and art magazine Harmony. Post graduation plans included teaching middle/high school English and pursing her master and doctoral degree. message may be communicated in print, symbols, slogans, trademarks, speech, video, music, or any © The Missouri Reader, 36 (1) p.52