My Literacy Timeline!

Literacy Timeline

·         At about 11 months, I was told that my first word was “dada”. Dada is referring to a Serbian term that means older sister. She use to always play with me as a baby and I think this is why I picked up on the word

·         As I approach to being 1 year old, I begin to form a larger lexicon. By now, I know the pronouns given to my family. I.E: Mama, Tato (meaning dad), Baba (meaning grandma), Dedo (meaning grandpa), Dada (older sister), Apo (older brother) etc.

·         Although, my first words learned were mainly Serbian words to describe family members, my first language was English.

·         At the age of only 2, I remember that everyone use to say that I was going to have my own talk show because of how much I was talking already

·         The age of 3, I learn the alphabet sing along

·         The age of 4, I am starting to write and read little by little

·         At about the age of 5, my grandfather was coming from Serbia (one who I had never met before) I could only speak the basics of Serbian so I was a little nervous about communicating with him. He had asked if I requested anything from Serbia and I asked for a Serbian alphabet book that would teach me how to read and write in the language

·         My grandfather is now here living with my family for a year. I am 6 years old and have learned to speak almost fluent Serbian. Not only am I speaking it, I have learned the alphabet and can now read and write in Serbian.

·         In school, I am learning the language German by Mr. Krenzor. The first thing I pick up on is the German alphabet. I think this is influenced by knowing the Serbian one so it made it easier.

·         In the 3^rd grade, reading was encouraged greatly. During silent reading I would always read “Marvin K. Moony Would You Please Go Home” by Dr. Sues. Also, at this time I am drawn to poetry and the poetry book “Where the Sidewalk Ends”. My favorite poem in there was titled “Sick”. I use to be able to recite the whole thing and still to this day I remember bits and pieces from it

·         In the fourth grade, I read my first and favorite chapter book. “Because of Winn Dixie” I read that book more than just a few times.

·         It is now the summer of 2005, and my parents are going on sending my sister, brother, and I to Serbia for a month to visit family. I had never been there before so this was exciting to me, but I was also very nervous. In Serbia, I was thankful my grandfather taught me Serbian because I was now a pro! I made friends with all the local kids so easily and they were impressed that I spoke the language well.

·         In 2007, I notice I have a love for creative writing. My English teacher Mrs. West would teach us many techniques and to this day I incorporate those techniques in writing

·         Junior high gave us a lot of basic writing assignments that really made me a better writer

·         I noticed that in 9^th grade (2009) I had a love for giving presentations and speaking upon the class. I always volunteered to give my presentation first. I feel like I never really had stage fright and that it just came more natural for me.

·         Entering high school in 2009-2010 was a breeze for me. I had already known many people that attended the school so I adjusted quickly

·         In 11^th grade (2010-2011), writing assignments got harder and harder each time. They were preparing us for the big test…the “ACT”

·         Taking the ACT was not very hard; however I wish I had more time to complete it. I feel like I could not stay focused on the writing portion because there was so little time and all my thoughts were running through my mind.

·         Senior year was a breeze for me. My favorite class was dance class and marketing because it was the classes I got to express my creative side

o   In dance class, the literacy part was important in the selection of music that I choose. Iy had to be the perfect song to go with the dances my partners and I made up

o   Marketing was a blast! I maintained an A in that class all year. I enjoyed making PowerPoints in that class and doing stuff like making advertisements and once we had to make a commercial…that was my favorite!

·         Leaving high school was very bittersweet.  I feel like it marked the end of my childhood, yet a beginning to my college career. I learned a lot in high school to get me to where I am today in my education like writing, speaking, and creative thinking.