My Literacy Journey
Ashley Hill
The Begging
My mom loved to read to my sister and I! We both had two big book shelves in our rooms growing up filled with Dr. Seuss books. I remember that every night when we were little, our mom would let us pick one book and she would read to us before going to bed.
Early Memories
Every summer from second grade to sixth grade my mother would sign me up for the 100 hours summer reading club. I spent most of my summer days relaxing on the porch swing out front at my grandparents house, surrounded by towers of books I wanted to read that day. Making sure to log the title of the book, the page I started and stopped on, and how many hours I read for each time.
Junie B Jones
Junie B Jones was my absolute favorite series to read growing up!
Dear Dumb Diary
My older sister had the complete series to this book, but I wasn't allowed to read it until I got older. Finally when I hit 5th grade my mom started to let me read them. I was so excited!
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking was the hot book to read in Mrs. Simkin's 4th grade class.
Book Club
Sixth grade is the earliest I can remember being split into reading groups based on our test scores and having book club during class. The very first book I was assign to read was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. As a sixth grader this book definitely was a challenging for me, but I was introduced to a new type of literature I had not looked into before.
Middle School and High School
Seeking Adventure
During middle school I became consumed by magical
and adventurous stories like never before.
I felt as if I had escaped reality for a moment and
I was no longer sitting in a chair holding a book, but on a
wild adventure with my new friends.
Relateable Romance
In high school I wanted to read about any type of love that I could relate to. The struggle of liking a boy who was super popular, not knowing if he liked you back, and how the everyday high school drama could make things even worse. I felt a connection with these types of books and enjoyed spending time reading.
Early Writing
During my younger years writing was not something I looked forward to very much. I mostly remember spending so much time practicing cursive that my hand would cramp. This pushed me away from the enjoyment of writing completely.
The Older I Get the More I Write
Once I got into high school and was truly introduce to writing different types of papers and genres my love for writing started to grow again. I started to keep a journal just for fun. I enjoyed writing mini stories for my English classes, and even enjoyed doing some research essays. I found it easier to write when a choice of topics was given to me, rather than having to find my own.
Research Papers
I really enjoyed picking a topic from a list and doing a research paper on it. Especially when I was able to find a topic that really grabbed my interest.
Short Stories
I never was the best at writing short stories, but I did think it was really fun!
Journals
I loved keeping my own journal! Especially when I had a book to read that had activities for an active journal!
Ex: 31 Prayers for my Future Husband