Blog Post #1 (Childhood Reading)

 Books. To lose track of time from getting lost in the pages and becoming part of the story is just a feeling like no other. I absolutely loved reading in elementary school. I was a good reader and was grateful that reading clicked for me in early elementary. The school that I went to was all about the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, and my little, competitive self was all over earning those AR points. I remember there was a big chart posted in the hallway and every kid had a little bus with his or her name on it that would be moved up according to the amount of points he or she had, and I took pride having my bus in one of the top 2 spots. I read a variety of things and always looked forward to going to the school library to check out new books. Some of my favorites I remember reading in elementary school were the Junie B. Jones series, Magic Tree House, A to Z Mysteries, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I wouldn't describe myself as "the girl who was always reading" because in my free time I really enjoyed being outside playing sports, but I would take the time to read to gain points, especially after I finished an assignment at school, or especially when I got hooked in a book. One book that I remember specifically impacting me, that I remember so clearly to this day, was the book The BFG that my 5th grade teacher read aloud to the class at the end of each day. I always looked forward to getting to hear more of the BFG each day and remember the feeling of disappointment every time Mrs. Farmer would stop and say, "that's all we have time for today, but we'll pick up right here tomorrow." It was something I always looked forward to in her class and The BFG is a book I just came to love. Since I made the decision my junior year of high school that I wanted to become a teacher I knew I wanted my future students to be able to come to love a book like The BFG in the same way I did. My hope is to teach kindergarten, and one thing I will definitely implement in my classroom is read aloud, but in the 2nd semester I would love to start reading a little bit of a small chapter book at the end of each day. I want my students to enjoy being read to and also have that feeling of looking forward to what will happen next in the story. 

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