Mastering the Skill of Theme: Guiding Students to Deeper Understanding
I don’t ever remember a time that I couldn’t read. I know that sounds like a stretch but I really don’t remember learning how to read – I could just read and I loved it. I was the shy girl that rode the bus to school for an hour and a half and I had my nose in a book all the way to school and all the way home. I am sure I had a book stuck in my desk at school that I would pull out when I finished my work to fill up my free time. My elementary school librarian would see me coming and say, “Another one already Beth?” So reading came easy to me to start with and I have always enjoyed it. I love reading mysteries, romance novels, suspenseful thrillers, biographies, autobiographies, and books on topics I am interested in at any given moment. As I reflect on my teaching career, I can think of SOME students who had a love for reading that matched my own. Unfortunately, I am sure you have found, as I have, that the majority of students struggle with reading in some way or they just do not find the joy in it. Reading is a chore for them and if given a choice they would not pick up a book. It breaks my book-loving heart!