Read to Me

Many individuals go through life with the same disposition on reading as they have had since they were freshly literate children. Not realizing it, we continue to associate some of the positive and negative feelings we have placed on reading, and learning to read, as small children with the way in which we view reading for the entirety of our lives. Reflecting on my past reading endeavors, I, too, realize that many, one in particular, of my childhood experiences with reading directly relates to how I perceive reading today.

This particular revelation on what was hindering my reading experience as a youngster came about when I was in the third grade. The new movie James and the Giant Peach was coming out on VHS and my teacher used the showing of it as motivation to get us to settle down for reading time. She was going to read us the book that coincided with the movie and upon our completion of the book we were going to have a fun-filled day in the classroom, which included watching the new flick. Initially, I dreaded the thought of listening to her read aloud from a long chapter book with no pictures. To my delight, however, as she began to read, I began to comprehend what she was reading and the words came alive in my mind. I was amazed to think that from listening to a story aloud I could understand and envision what was occurring throughout the book. I was hooked! I listened intently and anticipated reading time for the remainder of that book (and many to follow)! That’s when I realized that I loved being read to and reading aloud.

What can you remember about your first experiences with learning to read? Enjoyable or painful? Write to me.

Vocabulary

Disposition- outlook, habit

Associate- link, connect

Entirety-whole, complete

Endeavors- experiences, achievments

Perceive- view, comprehend

Motivation- motive, incentive

Flick- movie, film

Cloze Exercise: Fill in the blanks with the correct word above.

1: Since my bad experience with dated tuna, I will always _____ its scent with nausea.

2: My _____ for getting an A+ on my test was a trip to my favorite restaurant.

3: In my opinion, the greatest _____ ever is Gone With The Wind.

4: Anybody who lived through a war will have a different viewpoint of it for the ___ of their lives.

5: The trip across country will be my greatest _____ so far.

6: I ____ Dane Cook as a much better comic than most people.

7: My _____ on work is different from most people's.