My literacy experience

Middle school is where my literacy experience began. I got registered at St. Jerome Catholic School and was going to attend there for 6^th through 8^th grade. Along with all the new school information came a 6^th grade summer reading list. “I have to read over the summer? “, I thought to myself. Yes, I would for the next 7 years of my life and would be tested on the first week of school. These weren’t multiple choice exams, they were all essay questions. Those three years were probably the most difficult three years of my academic life.

The only chapter books I remember reading in elementary school where Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. The books on the list did not look fun. They were thick with tiny letters. That summer I remember trying to read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and I could not for the life of me get into it nor understand that book. I honestly don’t think I finished it nor did too well on the test. Between summer reading and the books we read together in class, I read a whole lot of books in middle school. My reading teachers in middle school knew their literature and knew how to teach it. It was clear that my teacher loved these books herself and had a passion for reading. Discussing the books together in class and the questioning really made us think.  I enjoyed many of the books we read like The Diary of Ann Frank, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Where the Red Fern Grows. They were books that took you to a different time and made you feel like you where there. Some of my other favorites where The Outsiders and That was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton. These books where classics and great stories. I look back now and I’m grateful that I had these literacy experiences in middle school.

In 6^th and 7^th grade we had the same reading teacher but for 8^th grade we had a new teacher. I cannot remember what books we read in the 8^th grade except for one, Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I clearly remember reading this book in class and dissecting this book. We would make these extensive graphic organizers on writing paper and just cover them with writing. I wish I could remember exactly what was on there but what I do remember that was on there was foreshadowing. We had to take excerpts from the book that showed foreshadowing.  I look back now and think wow, he taught us so much with Moby Dick. This is where I learned about so many other elements of a story. It’s a learning experience I’ll never forget. He really prepared us for what was to come in high school. Was reading a 520-page book with tiny print normal for 8^th grade?

I went on to St. Pius X High School and the summer reading continued. In high school I remember reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. One book that really stands out to me that we read was The Scarlet Letter. I look through the book now and see all the highlighting and words like allusion and perception of character next to what I highlighted. I learned so much about literature in high school. These were not easy reads and where challenging. But we not only read literature in English class in high school, we also watched movies like the Star War Series, we did individual and group projects, reports, presentations. It was a variety of so many different things. It made class interesting and fun with so much variety.

Overall, I had very positive literacy experiences in middle school and high school. I honestly had no negative literacy experiences that I can remember. I had great knowledgeable teachers who loved what they taught. Middle school and high school were hard for me. It challenged me but I learned so much. It made me love reading and when I got to college, I thought college was so much easier than high school! That’s how much I was challenged for four years. My parents made sacrifices so that I could attend these schools and for that I am thankful.

I don’t know if I’ll ever return to the classroom, but aside from kindergarten I’ve taught 2^nd and 4^th grade departmentalized reading. When I did, I wanted my students to learn to love reading just like I did through my experiences. When I began reading chapter read alouds to my 2^nd graders everything changed. I taught them that I good book didn’t need to have pictures. They’d come in my class asking if we were going to continue with the book because they were so eager to know what would happen next. When we were learning about biographies and I’d read aloud to them biography chapter books like Who was Walt Disney?  or Who was Pablo Picasso? , they’d come back from the school library and show me that they checked out the same books or about other people. They were so into their library books that it got to the point where I had to ask them to put them away so they would listen to what I was saying. But I loved that they were loving to read. They were so excited about reading and I was one happy teacher. They deserved the same experiences I had in school.

A couple of my books from middle school and high school