Myself as a 4th Grade Reader

I can honestly say I don’t really remember myself as a 4th grade reader up until the very end of the year. I do remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Aiken, who helped me find my just right book- Prophecy of the Stones. I remember growing up always having my mom read stories to me every night. We would read Harry Potter, Magic Tree House, and endless amounts of Judy Blume books. I was never really a motivated reader. One day our teacher brought us to the book fair at the library. Sitting out on display was this bright orange book with pictures of three different stones. My teacher looked at me and said, “this would be right up your reading alley!”. My teacher knew I had difficulties  finding a book in the past and she told me that this book was about three girls who each had different powers and had to work together to overcome evil. I was instantly hooked. This was the first book I was actually excited to read. I would spend all of my free time reading this book and truly living in the character’s shoes, feeling like I was part of the story. Once I finished this story I felt more confident in my reading abilities. 4th grade and beyond were productive years for me in regards to reading. I finally found different types of stories I enjoyed reading (mostly mysteries, realistic fiction, and some documentaries). I think I just needed the push to find my just right book and the stamina to stick with a book for a long time. At age 9 it is hard to stay focused on a specific task for a long amount of time. I feel like putting myself into the mind of my students has helped me because I can truly tell which students are engaged in their books, and which students are not interested in reading at all based on my prior reading experiences. My goal this year is to help my 4th graders become the motivated 4th grade reader I became over my years of elementary school!