Before reading Smile, I had no experience reading graphic novels. I just thought comic books were the only things that had frame by frame pictures, and I wasn’t about to sit down and read a comic book. I was pleasantly surprised by how the book read. I found myself looking at the pictures first and then reading the story, it was such a fun and easy read. Even though it gave you the pictures there were still parts where you could use your imagination and add in your own ideas. I feel like graphic novels are a great way for students who don’t particularly enjoy reading to see how fun it can be, because reading with pictures is still reading! I will definitely be using them in my classroom.

I am reading The Crossover for my verse book. This book is so interesting, I have never read a verse book before. It was a much easier read because it reads so quickly. The short lines and quick sentences are fun to read. Surprisingly you can get a lot of thought and emotion through writing like this, this was the most interesting part about the book to me. The way this book is written, not just in verse but also the style the author used was great. There were so many basketball terms, or just slang that I had never heard before. To help the readers understand, the author would put the word at the top of the page and define it as well as give examples of what it means. I would use this book in my class for older students. It is a great example of how its not boring to write poetry.

Cento:

Each evening we want for the first light of the last fireflies, catch them in jars.

I am so scared. My heart is beating like crazy and I am having trouble breathing.

I knew one day I’d need my own wings to fly.

The Miller text had many insightful ideas, one that really resonated with me was the idea that wild readers are those who incorporate reading into their personal identities. Those people who don’t have to think about reading, they just sit down and do it because its a normal part of their day or routine. Miller also spoke about how in her classroom all her students were readers because she made that environment but once they left the class some of them didn’t stay that way. As a future teacher I want all my students to want to read and look forward to it because I know it took me a long time to love to read. I know it is not easy to want to read if you are being forced, so I want to teach my students that reading is wonderful. I hope I can inspire my students to be readers and they can continue on in life as wild readers.