Literacy Narrative Experiment

When I was young, I was essentially illiterate! In kindergarten, I was not picked to go to the advanced reading class, and my sister was. But the worst thing that I remember was not being invited to the Accelerated Reader Store in first grade.

In first grade, I was the only one in my class not to receive Accelerated Reading points. There was a program at my old school called Accelerated Reading. The program motivated children to read. After someone read a book, they would take a quiz on that book and, if their grade was good, received AR points. With AR points, one could go to the “AR store” and buy toys and gadgets using their allotted points. That year in first grade, I was the only one that was not allowed to go to the AR store in the first semester. This was because I had no points. So while my classmates were in the AR store and having tons of fun looking for toys, I sat gloomily in the classroom thinking about how little I had read. Then I thought, “I absolutely MUST get AR points next semester.” When my classmates came back with yo-yos, stuffed animals, mp3 players, and other toys, my want for AR points was even stronger. I was filled with envy and a powerful lust for AR points. The next semester, I was determined to read more than any of my classmates.

And read I did. In the second semester, I spent all of my free time, and a lot of my class time (my teacher got very angry when I read in class), reading. That was the beginning of my life as a reader. That semester, I red more than anyone else in my entire grade, and I earned thirty AR points, leading the second place reader by 12 points. From that point forward, I was the most avid reader in my grade. I consistently earned the most AR points every year until 5^th grade, when I left my old school and came to Episcopal. I still get in trouble for reading during class, or reading instead of doing my homework.