My Memory of Language Arts: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening in my Youth

Language arts were always a main focus throughout elementary school and middle school, understandably so. Something that vividly stands out to me was going through different “stations” in first grade. We students would be put into small groups and would then travel through the classroom hitting a reading station, listening station, and finally, speaking station. In the reading station, we would read a short book, appropriate for our level, which was often very colorful and had cute pictures in it. Then we would move to the listening station, where we would put on headphones and listen to the book on tape. This helped us to learn the correct pronunciation of words we may not have known. Finally, in the speaking station we would sit down with the teacher, Mrs. Bouchard, and discuss what we read. Not only did we discuss words we did not understand but we also practiced reading comprehension, discussing the characters and plot of the story. Even when we were not doing the stations, reading was a huge part of our day. I remember my classmates and I sitting on the rug in the back of the classroom surrounding the teacher, listening and watching as she read one of those oversized books. That was definitely my favorite.

Speech class for select students was also an important aspect of elementary school. I had to go to speech class, which was twice a week I believe, because I had a lisp. A few others from my class had to go as well. There, we had to pay special attention to our speaking and listening. We would listen to the teacher and then repeat what we heard, often repeating the same thing several times. We were also given worksheets to take home, so the practice could continue beyond the classroom.
Additionally, I remember Hooked on Phonics as being one of my favorite subjects all throughout the early grades of elementary school, where reading skills were practiced. I'll never forget the excitement I felt every time we were told to pull out that thin, blue book from our desks. Something else that stands out in my mind is the numerous book reports and presentations of those reports we were required to do in the early years of middle school. These were helpful for enriching all aspects of our language arts skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The creating of the reports themselves required close reading and understanding of the books' material. We then had to organize our ideas into well-written, concise summaries and descriptions of the stories that would be both informative and interesting. This certainly enriched our skills as writers. Furthermore, the presentation itself helped to improve our speaking and listening skills, as we had to figure out how to convey our messages to the class and had to practice close listening in order to receive the messages from other presenters.

I have very fond memories of language arts in my youth, and without the constant practice and guidance I received throughout elementary and middle school, I know I would not be the reader, writer, speaker, and listener that I am today.