Reading Is A Basic Skill

As a child, I read non-stop. I used to spend entire nights reading, so much so that by the age of 9, I had developed grey circles under my eyes, which I wore like a badge. In school, I would use every free second I had to get just a little closer to finishing whatever book I had on hand. Ms. Carpenter, who always seemed as though she didn’t like teaching very much, frequently yelled at me for keeping my books on my desk so I could get to them quicker whenever I finished my classwork. She insisted that they were a distraction. But I always had a book to read, because every Friday each class walked in a neat line

We all know many kids who do not like to read from elementary to college. In the early school years, there was always an instructor or, a parent to always guiding us. Or they would say it’s time for silent reading or even force us to read. This always worked for the best because kids to today love to tell stories to friends and families. Malcolm X went to the Norfolk colony’s prison, library everyday where he would stay for at an hour. He felt like he was in heaven just from seeing all the different books. He would be concentrating so hard on the books, which he would stay up past the normal time to go to sleep. Sometimes when it would be lights out he would try to read in the dark just because the book was just starting to get interesting.

I spent my childhood consumed by books. I kept one in my bag and took every spare moment that I could to read, even if it was only a page. My parents made my teacher’s promise that I wouldn’t read during recess. In the mornings when they woke me up for school, they found me sleeping, still clutching my book from the night before, unable to put it down in spite of the tug of sleep.

Francine Prose’s commentaries on the issues of high school students who have are apathetic toward reading hold weight for several reasons. Her love of literature stems from the fact that Prose is an avid reader herself who enjoys the art and has “preserved a lively and still evolving passion for good books.” Prose’s basis for vocalizing her concerns and frustrations about the topic of mindless readers comes from her desire for her own children to have an appreciation for the therapeutic values of a good book, in addition to the lessons that they teach. Francine’s status as an avid reader, a writer and a mother all lend themselves to establish her credibility in her essay. The reader can easily comprehend the struggle of the bookworm mother who is unamused that her sons have to dredge through the same tiered literature that has been taught for ages.

“If you don’t turn in your reading logs on time,” cackled my 2nd grade teacher, who will be addressed as Mrs. N, “You’ll have to turn your sticks, and you will have to stay in from recess and read The Boxcar Children.” This was blasphemy. Was there no safe haven from the evils of reading? This was the third recess of the week destroyed by those vile compositions. My love of reading had been torn to proverbial shreds, until 7th grade, when it was reborn with the help of a creative, inspiring teacher named Mrs. Caudill.

Ripp points out in this article is the importance of keeping the students interested and engaged in books. For any number of reasons, such as trying to fit in or juggling priorities in general, students often completely give up on reading for enjoyment, and, as Mrs. Ripp mentions, “There is no year that we cannot lose a reader.” In essence, the point she is trying to get across is that students of any age are prone to developing a negative attitude or outlook towards reading. For some students, this might come as a result of being a struggling reader, while for others it may be as simple as not knowing how or what to read for pleasure. Where these issues are concerned, Mrs. Ripp has taken it upon herself to instill a new – or renewed – love and passion for diving into a good

Children’s learning and development is influenced by their interaction with adults and other children, the physical environment and the philosophy and resources in the service, (McLachlan, Nicholson, Fielding-Barnsley, Mercer, & Ohi, 2013). Literacy-rich environments, need to create optimal conditions for children’s personal expressions of meaning: “What do I know? What am I thinking? What am I curious about?”. Children should walk into their learning environment and be enticed to explore the elements of reading, writing, listening and speaking, (McLachlan, Nicholson, Fielding-Barnsley, Mercer, & Ohi, 2013). Children need access to interesting books and materials – both in print and online. When students are provided with well-designed classroom libraries, they interact more with books, spend more time reading (or trying to read), exhibit more positive attitudes toward reading, and exhibit higher levels of reading achievement, (McLachlan, Nicholson, Fielding-Barnsley, Mercer, & Ohi, 2013). If children are not provided with access to interesting books that they want to read and can read with success, they will never reach their full literacy potential (Gambrell, Malloy, & Mazzoni,

I would like to preface this essay by stating that I am not fond of reading books. Starting in elementary school, with the way literature was handled, I began perceiving reading books as an obligation, nothing more. Few of the books we were made to read over the years interested me, so I tend not to read them out of my own volition. There were exceptions, of course – I enjoyed reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, for example.

Since I was a little girl, I have expressed a great interest in and love for reading. I know my love for reading is one of the reasons I became a teacher. I was excited to pursue a career where I could share my love of reading and books with my students. As I began student teaching, however, I realized not all children have had the same experiences as I have had with reading. Although I am not sure I want to be a literacy specialist, I chose the literacy Master’s Degree program because I wanted to help all children, especially struggling readers, develop a love for reading and become successful readers and writers. If I had not seen children struggle with reading, I am not sure if I would have ever chosen literacy for my Master’s program.

As a student, I remember when I was really little and how much I loved to read. I’d have either myself or my mother read me a book every night before bed. I loved picturing the story within my head, but now as a freshman college student I do not enjoy reading. I only decide to read when its assigned, and even then it's still hard for me to focus, especially if the books not interesting. After reading this article called “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading”, these are the three major points I related to; having children read out loud, making them stop reading to look up a word they don't know, and quizzing them on things they read. I realized that I related to all of them and remember going through that in school.

The information shared this week was very interesting in the early acquisition of reading. I connected to the early acquisition of reading articles, but I give my elementary teachers all of the credit, especially my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Tipton. She was an excellent teacher and made time to sit with each student to practice letters and words. Arlene Barry’s “Reading the Past: Historical Antecedents to Contemporary Reading Methods and Materials” stated “it is the teacher, and not the material, that is the key to quality instruction (47).” One excellent teacher and the environment he or she establishes is all it takes to spark an interest in learning for a young child. Mrs. Tipton was that type of teacher and truly dedicated to her job.

Being in elementary, reading junie b jones made me like to read. Then when middle school came I fell in love with books being able to read the bluford series, and the magic tree house books. Elementary had you like you it’s funny, it makes you think this is how books is really written all your life. Middle school i thought i was able to relate to the books that I read and that the message stood out to me. It made me read the books over and over again, which normally I don't do at all. As soon as highschool hits, they have you reading the most boring stuff ever for example fahrenheit 451, Dracula and many more. Then on top of that they have you reading passages in your test. Like we have all the time in the world to read them long unbelievable passages when class ends in like 40 minutes. The passages be like a whole book and the teacher be giving you little amount of time to do

Reading never came naturally to me. As a child, I would always find myself struggling to read the assignments I was given for my classes and to make matters worse, I had never read books that challenged me. I never found a book that called to me, so I found myself hating to read. This notion never left me until my mom had to drag me from my house to the library. She had to yell and threaten to ground me until I agreed to leave with her. Surprisingly, the library felt inviting as I entered and was greeted by an old woman. On her desk was a thick book with a large bird featured prominently on the cover with the words To Kill A Mockingbird wrote across its back and her thick reading glasses resting on top of it. My mother proceeded to ask the question I dreaded to hear the most, “Do you think you could help my son find a book series to read? He has never been big into reading.”

When I was younger, I hated reading, because I was too slow and never good at it. As I would look at some of my classmates, I noticed how fast they were at the reading and how easily they understood the reading. I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to be a good reader like them one day. At the time, of my fifth grade self I was not an avid reader; it wasn’t until the book Marley and Me that changed my perspective.

When I reflect about my reading experiences, I always think back to my different attitudes between reading at home and reading for school. When I read for myself, I love it; however, I have never finished reading a single book for any of my classes. For example, I cannot remember how many books or articles I’ve read in the last year. As for school, even when I choose the book I don’t finish it. I believe it to have something to do with my book preference. I prefer mysteries similar to John Grisham’s Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, or fantasies such