In the New Year's vein, your extra credit option is a bit of self-reflection. Looking back over the course of the (school) year, assess yourself as a reader. What are your strengths? Weaknesses? In what ways, if any, have you grown as a reader? In what ways, if any, do you feel that you aren't growing? What strategies can you name? Which ones do you actually use? What concrete steps can you take to become a better reader?
As before, I will accept thoughtful answers as extra credit towards reading logs. Because this is a more difficult subject than the last, you may earn up to 8 points for well-articulated, honest reflections.
Happy posting!
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6 comments:
Happy New Years everybody!
Looking back over the past year was harder then I thought it would be. Usually when you look back you think about all the things that have happened and not about reading. It was a looong year and so much happened that reading has kind of taken a backseat.
When I started to think about it, I realized that I read alot more than I think or like to admit that I do. The main problem is with the level of the reading. When I read, I don't read to challenge myself or even make an effort to. If the book looks good then I read it; the level doesn't matter. I should probably focus on reading stuff that's harder and more challenging, but that's really hard to do when you're reading for enjoyment.
I think my biggest achievment this year was reading Gone with the Wind. That book was so long and I had to read it over a pretty short period of time. I am, however, proud to say that I read every page of that book and that I didn't cheat at all. Even though that book was very difficult and I sometimes felt behind, I was so excited when I finally finished reading that. It was all worth it.
Hopefully in 2008, i'll challenge myself to read books that are a little bit harder!
This past year I switched gears when it came to my reading. Usually I try to pick challenging books that are still interesting, but this past year I didn’t really do that. I usually only picked books that I thought would be interesting and fun to read. I didn't really read a challenging book in 07 (but then again I cant remember everything I read). I also didn’t read as much as I had in past years. It didn’t seem like I had as much time. I had football practice and then homework, and after that I dint really feel like reading to be honest. In 08 I should probably focus on reading harder and more challenging books. I agree it is hard to find a challenging but entertaining book but that if also one of my goals. My biggest achievement was reading all of these book club books in a certain period of time and then doing a project on them. That was probably my biggest achievement.
j.h.
Hey people!
OK so I think that my strengths as a reader is that I read a lot, and I read pretty fast. Of course, this can be a weakness also. I usually don't skip over anything but if you read really quickly you can end up forgeting about some important parts. I also think that a weakness I have is not reading that much of a selection (Harry Potter) and re-reading things that I have alreadly read a lot of times.
Some strategies that I use when I read are that when I come across a word I don't know,I use context clues to figure out what I think it might mean. I never really use the dictionary because it gets me out of the mood of the story. I think that to become a better reader I should branch out and read different kinds of books including different genres.
-bedello1L
Hey buddies!
So, as i look over the past year, i realize that i have changed A LOT as a reader. Some strengths that i have always had are reading quickly while still understanding the plot, and kind of putting myself in the character's situation as they go through the plot. Some of my weaknesses are skipping over paragraphs if i see another paragraph that catches my eye, or just skipping over elaboration pages because i want to hear more dialogue. Since i started reading more of Harry Potter books this year, i have grown A LOT as a reader. Now, i don't skip over elaboration paragraphs as much because they usually help you predict what is going to happen later in the book. Also, it has made me read faster, and pay more attention to small details as i read. It has also made my comprehension level go up because some parts in the last three books can get a little confusing, and now i can understand them easier. Like Bedell01l, the main strategy i use is context clues to help determine the meaning of a word. Some steps i could take to become a better reader are at least attempting to read books that are written in a different time period, that are often hard to start. Hopefully i'll have the willpower to finish it.
tata,
bedell22l
P.S. READ HARRY POTTER!!!
In the reality of things, i really dont think that i have grown that much as a reader. I havent been reading nearly as much as I have in pas years. As a matter of fact, one of my resolutions for 08 was to read more and to continue to grow as a reader.
What i used to do whenever i was looking for a books that aroused my intrests and looked a little difficult at the same time. Recently, I haven't really been doing this. One of my strengths as a reader used to be that i was able to adapt to different books as they got harder and more challenging. In this new year, i hope to continue this strength. One weakness that i had was that i read rather slow and I sometimes had to read things over and over agian due to the fact that i continued to lose focus on whatever i was reading. This is another thing that I hope to improve on this year.
My first step to achieving my goals as a reader and becoming a stronger reader would be to start reading more. I could even read more than one book at a time. One other thing that i could do would be to try reading in enviroments in which i could keep focus and not have to continuosly have to read over parts of books.
bedell04P
hey,
Well now that i think about it i think i preobably have changed as a reader this year. When i originally looked at this prompt i thought "nah" but then it got me thinking. Before this year ive always just got easy books that i focus most on the entertaining stuff but now i actually THINK about what I'm reading. Like in To Kill A Mockingbird you had to think about the characters to follow along with Harper Lee. Id say my strength about reading is probably understanding it well. I always read something i remember something that others might have not. That might sound a bit braggish but wait till my next sentence. My weakness is how fast i read. I read SLOW. Im not sure if you can actually practice reading fast but if so, please let me know.
Well I am definately going to get books that are deeper then just the surface. I am actually going to focus on the charcter as an individual and see how he or she changes. Well thanks for making me think.
~bedell17m~
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