~

                  Strawberry                 Reading strongly impacted my life from a young age. I began learning to read at around age  four, not to declare that I u nderstood and analyzed what I read , but it began  sparked  my journey and hunger for literature in almost every form. This journey began with my grandfather, or Gramps as I called him. He encouraged me to continue reading even after I felt discouraged for reading a word wrong or not being able to pronounce a word .  I thank Gramps for many  precious gifts , such as the house I live in, the food I enjoy, and  most significant of all, my ability to comprehend and understand words on paper.                                           A mural from the Barrio Gramps grew up.                  A hat, just like the one Gramps wore everywhere One of my best memories with Gramps is trying to read a book. I got stuck on a word and instead of allowing me to give up, Gramps made us stay there until I understood what the word was: Straw

  My relationship with literacy is bittersweet, I don’t like writing essays for a class, yet I love reading and writing messages from my loved ones. There are a few factors that contributed to my literacy journey but the main factor is my mom. My favorite picture of me and my mom From a very young age my mom has always been involved in my life. She encouraged me to constantly read, and for a long period of time I was an avid reader. Little Women, Black Beauty, and even Gone with the Wind, are just some of the classics I have read as a child. I’ve been told that even as a young girl I would regularly write little notes for my parents, it was always a way to express what I was feeling when I could not speak the words. She was the most positive impact on my journey, but as I made my way through each school grade the relationship between me and literacy turned sour. All of a sudden reading and writing became a chore, and an unpleasant one at that, I no longer enjoyed writing. As a resul

By Leah  Throughout my literacy narrative, I discussed my journey of literacy in the Mexican culture and the Spanish language, learning to recognize it as my own, and see just how big of a role it plays in who I am. In my essay, I discussed the various ways I found my place in the Mexican culture, the locations which allowed me to embrace who I am the most. Oddly enough, these places turned out to be, for the most part at school. One of these places was Folklorico club. This is a traditional Mexican form of dance in which women and girls wear large, colorful skirts, waving them around to showcase the vibrant colors. I danced my heart out in this club, and waved that skirt with pride. Above is an image of a Folklorico dancer in her vibrant colorful skirt. I also told the story of me and my family's arrival to our new home where we would live with my grandmother. I recall being greeted by my family members, each with a huge smile on their face. Their smiles provided me with a certain