Several years ago, I decided I was going to plant a one-seed garden in a one-quarter acre backyard. I wanted to keep my garden simple. I dug a small hole and filled it with good, fertilized soil. The sunflower plant began to poke through the soil based on the estimated time at the back of the packaging. The sunflower eventually grew to approximately five feet. It was beautiful. My garden was successful by all measures. There was evidence of growth. The goal was met. However, the rest of the yard felt underused and incomplete because of my conceptual limitation of wanting to “only” plant one seed.
From One to Hundreds
The following summer I shifted my focus to create a botanical garden with hundreds of plants, thirteen trees of mixed sizes and flowering, fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, bushes, and ground cover. I added fragrant lilac plants and two bird feeders. There is sweet mint and spearmint for my tea. The garden now has in-ground plants, potted plants, two small corn patches, and several raised beds for tomatoes, watermelons, and broccoli. I have two cross-pollinating plum trees and two peach trees that will not yield fruit for several years. Each complements the sunflowers that are still a part of my mix of annuals and perennials. My simple garden has become more advanced using the same planting techniques, similar soil, the same sun, and the same water sources.
Growing Literacy
Advanced literacy is akin to nurturing the full richness of the soil without placing unnatural or artificial limitations. It requires building foundational skills – like planting seeds in healthy soil – that will allow for mature, sophisticated language use, reading, writing, and thinking across multiple texts and topics to enrich learning and lived experiences. Advanced literacy honors the full region of the mind that remains untapped or neglected because of deprivation of literary or language experiences, self-imposition to limit reading and writing, or authorizations to keep things simple when complexity is needed or desired.
I recently read an article about “peripatetic” philosophy. The Greeks believed there was a link between walking, well-being, and the brain. They started a peripatetic school where teaching took place walking around campus. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, believed in this philosophy so he had meetings with his colleagues while walking. Peripatetic, a five-syllable word, is one that I had to introduce to third, fourth-, and fifth-grade students because walking and thinking may also benefit their brains. I also believe that knowledge about philosophy should be accessible to elementary students.
A recent newspaper account highlighted how Chinese scientists have discovered a way to tattoo microscopic animals call tardigrades that will help create biorobots. Imagine that – tattooing animals that cannot be seen with the naked eye. This is a fascinating scientific account that students can read, write, and think about its potential benefits or detriments. Students can also be oriented to think about the relationships between philosophy, science, literature, and current events only if they have language, reading, and writing experiences that are not limited. This type of orientation is the hallmark of advanced literacy.
Going from Basic to Advanced Literacy
I offer five recommendations for moving students from basic literacy to advanced literacy:
- Avoid unnatural or artificial ceilings on children’s literacy development.
- Give children rich and meaningful experiences with texts that will nurture their social and scientific consciousness
- Expose children to rich vocabulary and language experiences.
- Develop a vision of mature, sophisticated readers and writers and work toward that vision. This is different from “just” focusing on growth.
- Teach to shatter literacy hierarchies that cause students who struggle with reading and writing to remain at the bottom of the literacy well.
These recommendations align with my experiences with my one-seed garden versus botanical garden orientation. The one-seed garden was successful but limiting. The botanical garden has taken on a life of its own, and it will continue to nourish for years to come. So, too, will advanced literacy.
I look forward to eating from my fruit trees because the right seed were planted.