Reading isn't for Me. It's for YOU.
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Here's the thing... you already read EVERY DAY.
Texts/Emails/Social Media
You should try to keep track of how many words you are reading and writing just in texts alone in one day. I bet it would shock you... ;)
Signs and Directions
Directions - If you took one ibuprofen, can you take Tylenol, too? If so, how many pills can you take? Do you take them with food? Morning or night? How often?
Ingredients and Menus
Want to bake/cook? Don't you have to read the instructions for how to do that? In fact, don't you read instructions ALL.THE.TIME. for figuring out how to do ANYTHING?
But did you know your brain is a muscle???
That's the same with reading. You can't just say - "SEE?! I read. I read texts and menus and all that!" You have to challenge yourself to read MORE and read more difficult things. You'll see why in a bit.
DID YOU KNOW??? - Studies show that reading will help you in EVERY other class. Even math word problems will be easier to understand.
But you have to EXERCISE your brain by reading.
You need reading/writing for literally EVERY. THING.
At each level -
High School: You need it to pass your classes, pass STAAR, get a good score on your SAT's, and get a higher GPA. (There's no math in history or English but there IS reading/writing in math, history, science, foreign language... EVERY class. Reading/writing is in EVERYTHING.)
College: You need it to apply for school, apply for financial aid or loans, understand your loan paperwork and repayment expectations, plus reading/writing in EVERY class...
Life: You need it to file your taxes, understand your car insurance and warranties, read your life and medical insurance benefits - how much will having that baby cost???
Curiousity - EVERY TIME you have a question to something, don't you google it? You have to read just to get the answer to questions you already have.
Reading is LIFE.
And look at the job clusters (chart above). Even retail/wholesale - that's just working as a cashier at a store - require a lexile of 1270.
Three things to make reading better for EVERYONE.
2. You should really try reading for as long as you can without getting distracted. I know this can be hard. Set a goal for yourself of reading time or pages to start. When you get distracted, stop and quietly think about what you read or write it down. Then, set a new goal to see if you can make it. Little steps are better than nothing.
3. Visualize what you're reading. Books are just movies in text. Imagine what you're reading and really give that book (and reading) a chance.