"Can We Read Another One?"

Madelyn working with a student
on letter sounds.

Blog post written by Madelyn Schoonover, Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps Member at Cornell Elementary.

The first student I take early in the morning, John*, has never been very excited to read. Although he is actually one of my best readers, he lacks a lot of confidence and reads quietly, slurring his words a little bit as if he doesn't care if they’re right or wrong. He never sounds enthused and often asks if he can stay in daycare instead of practicing his reading skills with me because he feels like he’s missing out on fun opportunities. Sometimes I feel like the bad guy for not letting him have time to run around or to watch a movie with other kids, but I know that what we’re doing will benefit him a lot more in the long run.

However, last week he started to get really excited about the passages we were reading. He really connected with them and was interested in what he was reading. Since his comprehension was kicking in, he even made fewer reading errors, sometimes making none at all for a whole section. The passage that interested him the most was one about garter snakes. He was excited because he had seen and caught one in real life and wanted to know more about them.

At the end of the twenty minutes, I was about to mark where we had left off on the garter snake story so we could pick up there the next day, but as soon as I reached for my pen he said, “Can we read another one?” It was so fantastic to know that he’s really starting to care about what we’re doing and enjoy reading as an activity. I let him read another section and he left smiling and feeling confident. I have high hopes that he’ll continue to grow and achieve now that he understands how much fun reading can be.

*Name has been changed to protect student confidentiality.