The first time I saw the bumper sticker “If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher,” I grinned. Seemed so obvious. As time passed, and after seeing that bumper sticker a hundred times or so, I’m still struck by the simplicity of the message.
Whether you went to public school, private school, or home-school, you know literacy opened doors to learning like nothing else. The famous abolitionist, author, statesman, reformer, and former slave Frederick Douglass said, “Once you learn to read, you will forever be free.”
In honor of Teacher Appreciation week, I asked a few people to tell me about teachers who spurred their love of reading. Here are the reminiscings of a few:
Boxing News
“It must have been 1950, and there was a huge boxing event coming up: Joe Louis vs. Ezzard Charles. All the boys at school were talking about the match and choosing sides. Mrs. Herbert, my fifth-grade teacher, brought in the newspaper, and we scoured the sports section. There was a column called “Tale of the Tape” that gave all kinds of measurements: biceps, chest, height, neck, and so forth. It was exciting to get details on the boxers. Mrs. Herbert turned me on to reading the newspaper and to the possibilities of what can be learned through various media.”
Book Rewards
“At the end of the day on Fridays, if we had been good and done all our work, our fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Lyons would read a chapter of a fun book, like “Pippi Longstocking” or ‘The Saturdays.’”
Family Reading
“My school teacher was also my aunt. It was very confusing to me as a little girl. I knew I shouldn’t call her Aunt Millie in school, but I couldn’t make myself call her Mrs. Waite. She read to us in school, which I loved. But even better was going to her house after school, where she would read books like “Dr. Doolittle” to my cousins and me.”
In recognition of this important week, we at Learning A–Z are opening up one of our six websites each day of Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5–9, plus May 12. Be sure to tell your teacher friends to enjoy the free materials. The Open House is scheduled from midnight to midnight EDT as follows:
May 5: ReadingA-Z.com
May 6: Raz-Kids.com
May 7: WritingA-Z.com
May 8: VocabularyA-Z.com
May 9: Reading-Tutors.com
May 12: ScienceA-Z.com
I'm here to thank you, or to thank Bob. I've been teaching for thirty- one years and I'm the type of teacher that enjoys to try new things in Literacy. Thank goodness I am because, I have used the basal, the ten-books, "literacy basals", and guided reading groups to teach reading.And now, I have found Learning from A-Z. Your site was too good to be true! Thank you for sharing it with us during Teacher Appreciation Week. It was a real treat! I will be a new mwember soon!