Felipe 1

Maria Felipe
Mrs. Ingram
UWRT 1101 074
November 11, 2014
My Reading Journey
Maria sat there staring blankly at her desk. You could tell she was tense and feeling
uncomfortable in her chair. She was biting her nails and attempting to make herself not present
in the class by slumping down in her chair. Uncomfortable because she was too embarrassed that
she couldnt answer a simple question in a complete sentence. She couldnt stop replaying the
mean laughter and giggling she heard when she had said I cant. What were they saying about
me? Did they think I couldnt read? Should I give the book another try? She thought to herself.
She heard nothing but the laughter and dozens of thoughts that kept flowing around in her head.
She couldnt stop questioning herself.
It had been a full thirty minutes since her class had finished talking about and
summarizing the book they had to read and all she was able to do was stare at the book. The
book she didnt finish reading. The one that was difficult for her to read because she couldnt
focus on the words. The boy on the front of the cover had his hand up, brown hair slicked back,
and a smirk on his face. Is he also making fun of me? The book sat on top of her desk, looking at
her as if it was saying Open me. Maria wanted to but she was nervous that she wouldnt even
be able to read the first paragraph. That her mind would start fabricating its own story characters, setting, plot everything, and the sentences in the book would disappear and be

Felipe 2

replaced with her own words. Concerned about the book she jumped out of her desk at the loud
ringing of the bell. It was time for recess.
Chairs screeched, pencils fell to the floor with a clink, and desks were banged on as
students ran with their squeaky shoes to line up in front of the chestnut colored door. As Maria
got up she looked around the room. It felt small, packed, and tight. She noticed some students
whispering to each other with smug looks on their faces. Her face turned hot and she looked
down at her mucky, untied sneakers. Trying to avoid eye-contact she slowly walked to the back
of the line, where she knew her best friend was waiting for her. Maria glanced up and saw her
best friends hand waving back and forth trying to get her attention. She was almost in the back
of the line when her foot landed on a stubby wooden pencil and she slipped. Before landing close
to the dusty wooden floor Maria quickly grasped onto the rough edge of one of the desks. Her
heart was rapidly pounding and she could feel the blood rushing in her ears making it seem like it
was the only sound. She wondered if anyone else could hear it. Great, I gave the students
something else to make fun of me for. She tried to block out the roaring of the laughter that was
caused by her foolish move, by squeezing her eyes shut tight and counting to ten but failed. Her
teacher, Mrs. Kidd, put her worn out agenda on her messy, disorganized desk. Mrs. Kidd had a
huge coffee stain on her light blue shirt and her silver hair was in a ponytail with hair poking out
from the sides. She let out a big sigh as she rose one of her slender fingers to her lips to silence
the class down. Silence, everyone, she shouted. Were not going to the playground until you
all stop talking and laughing. The students stopped and formed an even straighter line without
being asked. Finally Mrs. Kidd gave the assistant teacher a firm head nod, the door creaked
opened, and they were ready to go to the playground.

Felipe 3

As Maria was walking out she felt a kind and familiar touch on her shoulder. Quickly she
turned around and saw Mrs. Kidd staring back at her. Maria, do you mind if we talk for a
moment, she said. She replied no. Her best friend stood there looking concerned and Maria
told her, You can go ahead, Ill be there in a moment. She quickly left, running fast trying to
catch up to the class. She was anxious being in the same room with Mrs. Kidd. Should I tell her I
cant read chapter books? Is she going to make fun of me for it? Maria, is there something you
want to tell me? You look worried, she said. Marias mouth gaped open, but she couldnt form
the sentence she wanted too. Instead she replied with I cant. You cant what? Mrs. Kidd
said. Her eyebrows formed a harsh line across her face, but the straight edge of her mouth turned
to a friendly smile. It made Maria calm down a little and she knew instantly that she could trust
her teacher. I cant read chapter books. I start getting distracted and make up my own story
instead of reading the book and thats why I didnt even read the book you gave to us. I really
tried, but I couldnt. Without realizing that she hadnt breathed once she finished her sentence
with a big gulp. Its okay, you know. Its not an easy transition looking at picture books to
reading chapter books in one month. It takes times to learn and that was my fault. It wasnt fair
to everyone, but you could learn to read them. You should check some books out, start out with
simple picture books and keep on going, Mrs. Kidd replied in a sympathetic voice. Also,
theres nothing wrong with having a big imagination. Just remember that books have their own
stories and its even fun if you read a story from someones point of view. Marias mind was
racing as she let all the information sink in. She was fathoming the idea of learning to read a
chapter book by herself. Would I be able to by myself? Is that what she meant? I could learn if I
really attempted too. Speechless, her eyes slowly widened realizing that what Mrs. Kidd said
was all true. After a brief moment Maria said Im going to do that. Good, it wouldnt hurt to

Felipe 4

try and if you cant we can enroll you into a reading program here... But Maria had stopped
listening and was planning out the books she wanted to check out tomorrow when her class
would go to the library. She was going check out as many books as she could at once and read
every single one of them. Filled with determination, she promised to herself that she wasnt
going to stop until she finished reading the chapter book she had to have read in class.
Finally Mrs. Kidd, gave her a soft pat on the back and told her that she could go to the
playground. She stood up and without even thinking about it hugged Mrs. Kidd and said thank
you. Maria pushed open the door and was soon prancing to the playground with her dirty untied
shoes creating a thump sound on the bumpy cement as the bright sunlight followed her.
Tomorrow was going to be a new day and she was ready to begin her reading journey.