Jerome Mark Antil message to School Teachers – “Literacy is as simple as a,b,c.”

Two of the the 3Rs are for the written word, for Pete’s sake.  Isn’t it time we refocus our approach on literacy in America?

We’re doing it backwards – my opinion, of course.  We intimidate the young with grammar and spelling – and they freeze up by the time they are in the third grade.

Get a child excited about telling a story, and you’ll get them eager to learn to read well before the third grade.

It’s that time of year again – when Kindergartners turn in their, very often, fifty word compositions and nearly 100% of all grade levels take up their pens and write stories.  Why do they do it?  How do they do it?

The simple fact is – students in schools are encouraged to simply ‘tell a story’.  They don’t get judged on grammar.  They don’t get judged on spelling.  They get judged on the story.

That’s it.  They tell a story, whether it’s written out or just a picture they’ve drawn and have written a caption for – if they tell a story – and we promise to read them – twice.  We will then pick the winners and runner ups for best story by grade – and then the overall best story for the Elementary School.  We guarantee every child will feel good about coming up with a story – and for being recognized among their classmates for their efforts.

(Children who cannot read or write are allowed to dictate their stories to a teacher.)

 How should schools grade performance?  Consider two grades – one for story – one for grammar.  Grammar will catch up – and they will be so eager to learn to read.

Encourage others to sponsor Writing Contests in schools.  For information on how to set one up feel free to post a comment for Jerome Mark Antil.  He will respond.