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My First Experience with Reading
My first experience with reading was being read to by my mother as a child. Reading was a huge part of our bonding time together and we read several series of books as I was learning to read such as Little House on the Prairie and Ramona Quimby. Because of my early experience with reading I always had a positive view of reading and enjoyed reading and being read to from a young age. -
Beginning to Read in School
I starter Kindergarten at the age of 4, and picked up on reading very quickly. My favorite part of school was getting to go to story time at the library once a week, where we would sit in a reading circle and listen to the librarian's book of the week. I also became interested in reading on my own at this time, and my mom supplied me with Kindergarten level, simple books to read at home. -
Becoming an Independent Reader
As I continued on into first grade I became more confident in my reading abilities. I was placed in an advanced reading group and began reading at about a fourth grade reading level. My favorite book at this time was Mr. Popper's Penguins. My mom and I began trading off on reading chapters at home which helped further my reading comprehension outside of the classroom as well. -
Reading New Types of Text
I begin finding my love for non-fiction text in third grade when I have to write my first book report on a biography of a famous American figure, of which I chose my favorite Ice Skater, Michelle Kwan. I loved reading about Michelle's life and her experiences, and found the assignment exciting and engaging. -
Summer Reading at the Library
As I began to grow interested in different genres of books, a public library membership became a must. Summer reading workshops were my favorite and I loved filling out my reading logs and earning prizes. The intensive to read and the ability to always find new, exciting books made reading a hobby and not a chore. -
Becoming a Big Sister
Once I became a big sister I was able to share my love for reading with my sister as well. My favorite way for us to spend time together was by reading her stories, and today she is also an avid reader. -
Reading Twilight
I became an even more avid reader during sixth and seventh grade when I was home schooled and my social life decreased pretty drastically as we moved around for my Dad's work. I found solace in reading and some of my fondest adolescent memories stemmed from me staying up all night to finish the latest twilight novel. -
My First Spoken Word Poem
My first encounter with poetry was a spoken word video from poet Sarah Kay, and I instantly fell in love. I started avidly reading her poetry and many other poets, which became a large part of my love for reading and changed my outlook on it, knowing that books could come in forms other than traditional novels. Reading creative writing also inspired me to write creatively myself. [Link text]https://youtu.be/qYAiYMlOCI4 -
Learning to Read Critically
During high school I obtained tons of new reading strategies in my AP English classes which helped me to read text more critically, looking for things such as rhetoric and fallacies and focusing on new things such as the authors purpose and audience. These methods helped me well into college. -
Reading in College
College level reading posed new challenges for me, despite being an avid and active reader my whole life. Having to skim through hundreds of pages of text for research papers and especially in my history classes has lead to me having to learn new skimming and scanning methods to successfully finish all of the reading assigned to me.
