Saturday, October 13, 2012

Read-a-Thon Update #3


Read-a-thon Update: 12 PM to 6 PM

(click here for info!)

Title of book(s) read:
  • Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (only read the last 16 pages, so it doesn't count)
  • Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (finished)
  •  Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (finished!)

Thoughts on current read:
Just finished Dash and Lily and loved it! Although it was kind of funny how Lily was talking about Fiji and how she didn't want to live there, and I lived in Fiji for 4 and a half months and would happily go back!

Number of books read since you started: 2

Pages read since last update: 235

Running total of pages read since you started: 554
  
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 2.5 hours
 
Running total of time spent reading since you started:
  6.5 hours

Mini-challenges completed:
Oldies but Goodies
Snacks
Turn to Page
Marking Books
Day Break
Read-a-Thon Acrostic 
and am about to complete this one:
Celebrating the Reading Child

The Reading Child
I first discovered my love of reading as a first grader. I honestly don't know exactly how it came about, but all of my memories lead me to believe it was because of a teacher: Mrs. Lonegra.

Somehow, I connected with her. I remember being put into a special group that specialized in writing and (I think) reading. I remember admiring her in all the ways a young child can admire her. I also remember, upon hearing that I was moving to Wisconsin and would never see her in the hallways again, I was upset. But the best part of our relationship was yet to come: she gave all of her students her address, so we could write her over the summer if we wanted.

I wrote to her, and this led to more than ten years of correspondence. It was usually only one or two letters a year, but it was something that I treasured. We talked of life, books, and family. And she came to my high school graduation, four hours away, even though she hadn't seen me in twelve years.

This woman was not only a teacher; she was a friend. And it is because of her that my love of reading blossomed. So every time someone asks me, "Why do you like to read so much?" I always pinpoint it back to my first grade year, where I met one of my good friends who inspired me to open myself to new worlds, and to make the most of the world I live in.

2 comments:

  1. hold on a sec...i think i had something in my eye.
    I had a teacher I felt that way about. 4rth grade Mrs Lambert. She was only there two years and I never saw her again. She was so young I imagine my class was her first. She was the only elementary school teacher who never tried to stop me from sneaking books out onto the playground under my coat

    thanx for participating in The Literacy Challenge

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing how teachers can make such a huge impact on young people. Some of my college professors, I can't even remember their names, but there are elementary school teachers that I will always remember.

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