Wild Readers in the Making~ say what?!

Donalyn Miller continues to open my eyes to different ways to make wild readers. Approaches I would have never thought of on my own. I love all her different approaches, because what may work for one kid may not work for another.

Looking back on my years in elementary school I did not read much and to this day I still don’t. The only series I have ever finished was Junie B Jones in third grade. I remember being so hooked to the books, I would try and rent the audiotape so I could finish the book faster. I was such a slow and terrible reader. To this day I really have not read much and rarely make it to page 50 in a book. It disappoints me that I woln’t allow myself to have the joy I once had reading Junie B Jones. I know it’s because I really don’t allow myself to read. I get so frustrated with myself that I don’t understand what I’m reading or that it takes me hours to finish one chapter that I avoid disappointment by avoiding reading at all cost.

I am excited that reading kids book is a requirement for the class. Sitting and reading “ The Land of Stories” is giving me the same exciting feeling I had when I would read Junie B. Jones books. I can’t wait to read again and figure out more about what happened. I can relate this to me watching The Bachelor. At the end of each episode I am disappointed I have to wait a whole week for the next episode and so excited comes Monday night at 8! Such a tease.

Going back to miller and her different approaches for different kids. Like I said I would avoid reading at all cost. I would get books and lie to my teachers about actually reading the book because I had to read. I would bull shit the AR test. I wish when I was a kid there would have been more opportunities and encouragement of reading. I personally LOVE being read to and to this day still ask my grandma to read to me. I love having the ability to listen and fallow along. Having someone read to me made the text more clear, because I wasn’t reading words wrong, and I could engage in conversation when I was confused or found something interesting. This is also why I enjoy audiobooks.

I love the idea of quit reading because being ADHD makes it hard to concentrate with noise. It was never quiet enough for me in class growing up to concentrate so I would fake read like chapter 1 said. It was also nice on Monday being able to quiet read because life gets so crazy sometimes it’s hard to fit in reading especially when you have readings in every class.

I am not sure if allowing children to choose their books would help much with children wanting to read, because growing up I had the option of the books I read and still avoided reading for the reasons I have already listed. However, I think it’s all about making kids excited to read. Like how the teacher did a book drawing, I could see myself getting more excited about reading if my name was drawn.

Overall I am loving this class, getting the opportunity to read Miller’s book, and find my inner excited third grade girl reading the “The Land of Stories.” I look forward to learning more about helping kids become “wild readers.”