The Love of Reading

By Brittany Vis, Guest Author

5th grade teacher, Alexandria Public Schools, Alexandria, MN

When I was a little girl, I absolutely loved reading. I remember sitting on my parents’ laps and letting them read or sing different books to my siblings and me. My mom was a daycare provider, so we learned all sorts of songs that were also stories, and this love grew into when I could read the books myself.

This love of reading continued as I entered elementary school. Starting off, I remember reading books like Biscuit, Arthur, Franklin, Dr. Suess books, and so many more. Then I got to second grade. I was considered a high reader so I was a student that started the Accelerated Reader program. I couldn't wait to read books and show my teacher how smart I was by taking a test for each one. When I did well on the tests, my teacher would send me back to the “Treasure Box” in the back of the classroom where I would then get to choose a prize. I was so motivated by this, especially because other kids in my class weren’t getting to do the same thing.

However, it didn’t take long for that excitement and motivation to wear off. The more books I read, the more tests I had to take. Although I still was sent to the “Treasure Box”, the selection of prizes was becoming a slim pick because I had been there so often. For this reason, I stopped reading so many books because I wasn’t excited about what external object I was going to receive next.

As I got older, I continued to be a part of the Accelerated Reader program. To be in this program, I had to take a pretest to see what would be my overall goal for a period of time. It also recommended a general academic level for books I should choose to read. With each book I read, I would then test on and earn points toward my goal. My love of reading that I had as a kid was starting to disappear.

When I entered middle school, I had figured out a way that I could “cheat” the system. If I didn’t try on the pretest that determined my goal, my goal would be lower, so I could accomplish my goal more quickly and then maybe I would get to read books that I was interested in, instead of the ones I had to read because they were in the range of books I was supposed to choose from.

Eventually though, I started to hate reading. I didn’t have a chance to read the books I needed to read to pass my AR goal in class, which meant I had to read the books I didn’t want to be reading at home. Reading became a battle with my parents because they told me I needed to read and keep my grades up, but I wasn’t interested in reading at all. What I really wanted to do was play outside with the neighborhood kids. Once in a while, I would find a series I enjoyed, like Little House on the Prairie or Harry Potter, and would sit down and read. The problem was, they were either considered too easy or too difficult for me to take the tests on, so then I felt like I was just wasting time when I was reading what I wanted to.

This continued throughout middle and high school. Then when I got to college, I was taking an Adolescent Literature class. To start each lecture, my professor would shut off the lights and read a book aloud. At first, I wasn’t intrigued that in college I had to sit and listen to a read aloud. But the more she read the book to us, the more I didn’t want her to put it down. It was so good, and all I had to do was listen to the story! Then she gave us our assignments for the semester for the class. One of the assignments was that we had to select 3 books, each of different genres, that we’d read and have book club conversations about with a small group. This was the biggest change for me as a reader, and ever since, my love of reading has returned.

This passion for reading continues in my classroom. I cannot wait to get new books for my classroom library and read different books in our book room so I can recommend them for kids to read and have conversations about. The most important lesson that I’ve learned in my reading life is that my love of reading comes from reading for enjoyment, not for any other reason. If I can give my students that same thing, reading because they love it, then that’s something I can be proud of.