Introduction: English Literature, Literacy, and FUN

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was play. I would grab my sister and the neighbor kids and we would go outside and run, jump, swing, and scream. We'd play Obstacle Course or make up our own games. (My personal favorite was Dinosaur Cowboy. We were all dinosaurs...who were also cowboys.)

I think it is this foundation in fun is what drove me to become a teacher. Regardless of the game we were playing, I was always happy because I was always learning. I learned that people like it when you share your Pokemon miniatures with them, and that they like it even more when you let them have the spot light every once in a while. I learned that sometimes we all need help getting down from that highest point of the jungle gym because heights can be very, very scary. I learned that it really hurts to fall from them, but it feels really good to get back up again when you realize you're okay. I learned that it's best to slow down and take your time since rushing will only result in you face planting into concrete anyway. I learned all of my most treasured lessons from having fun, and I want more than anything to share that with my students in my classroom.

I got my love for English from playing, too. One of the games I would play with my brother was Reading Club. We would collect all of the books we could find and carry them to our back yard. We would spend hours reading. I remember feeling so cool hanging out with my older brother in the warm Indiana sun and reading books like The Phantom Tollbooth and The Trumpet of the Swan. Reading with him was so much fun. He showed me how to read it and make it television in my mind. We would reenact our favorite parts in the backyard to each other, laughing at the acting skills we clearly did not have.

Literature has a way of connecting us as people in a way that other studies cannot replicate. It is humanity in action, philosophy in art form. It encompasses who we are. Literature is our history, our guide for growth. By learning how to read and write, by becoming literate, we are interjecting ourselves into the social discussion of creating knowledge. We are giving ourselves the opportunity to be challenged with the ideas and concepts that people before us have learned, discovered, or stumbled upon. We get to hear their stories, to build bridges that lead to new social relationships we would not have been able to make before. Reading is a pathway to the human condition. It teaches us who, what, and why we are.

What could be more fun than that?