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The Beginning
I began reading when I was a year and a half. I read simple picture books with my parents at night. -
Life in Kindergarten
I wrote my first picture book when I was in kindergarten. I don't remember what it was about (sadly), but I recall understanding how to illustrate pictures and punctation. -
The Elementary Ages (1)
Throughout my years during elementary school, I began to become more familiar with writing. There were activities that required me to become more creative. Writing stories and poems exposed me to proper composition techniques as well as the writing process. Throughout elementary school, students were tested on their comprehension skills and their reading skills by reading a passage. -
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The Elementary Ages (2)
In my classrooms throughout the years, my teachers often held a time during the day called "Reading Time" where students would partner up and read books with one another. If peers were not reading together, the teacher themselves would read a short novel to the class throughout the week. This encouraged reading and listening skills to take place among students. -
The Middle School Era (1)
During 6th grade, I was often challenged to read longer literature and literature that was unfamiliar to me as far as words, syntax, etc. This was the beginning of me starting to reading more advanced books. -
The Middle School Era (2)
In school, students were tested on their reading once more. I believe the assessment was called the Lexile Test, where basically students were to read information on the computer and answer comprehension questions. At the end of the examination, the students were given a score and that score determined their reading level. From what I can recall, my Lexile Score was in an appropriate level based on my grade. -
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The Middle School Era (3)
The school provided different opportunities for students to advance their reading and comprehension skills (book fairs, workshops, etc). Also, different classes throughout middle school (especially 7th grade) challenged me once more to read more complex text and information. I was also placed in advanced courses, so the bar was raised higher. -
My High School Journey (1)
Freshman year, I was in English 9 Honors, and was definitely thrown a couple of curveballs throughout the year. I was comfortable with most literature but sometimes there were some passages that were more complicated that I did not understand. From what I can remember, one challenging unit I had to experience was reading and dissecting "the Odyssey" by Homer. -
My High School Journey (2)
I was enrolled in English 10 Honors and my reading skills were put to the test. Luckily, I passed that "test" because all of the content that I learned during this time was very easy for me to understand. I guess the hardest content I've ever read during this year was "Macbeth". Given that this was older English writing, I had trouble understanding. -
My High School Journey (3)
When I was a junior in high school, I took my first AP class: AP Language and Composition. First of all, I did not have a good relationship with the teacher, so I had trouble with basic communication skills and socialization. However, as the semester progressed, I became more adept with the material. The hardest piece of literature I have read in this class was "Othello" by Shakespeare himself. -
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My High School Journey (4)
I had taken the AP exam from junior year. This test required 'expert' level of writing and reading. I was challenged to produce quality essays (I was timed to compose an essay by responding to a prompt) and respond to different questions regarding comprehension, grammar, conventions, etc. Senior year, I was challenged in two particular classes with my reading skills-- AP Government and my English 12 Honors classes. Both classes required thorough annotating and close reading strategies. -
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Current Times...
Right now, college has given several opportunities to assess my understanding of different content and literature. I had to write proposals, narratives, conduct research, and so much more. By doing these activities, I was able to actively engage in different modes and mediums of producing quality work. From a reading perspective, I've had to read different types of literature and thoroughly analyze them.