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Some activities that I do as a daily routine with my students in the mornings, the first 30 minutes of class we have silent reading. They read any book of their choice from our classroom library, their checked out book from the library, a book or magazine brought from home or any thing they might me interested in. I do not have an assignment or activity following their reading because I feel they should understand that it is reading for pleasure. I do have a "Jotting Your Thoughts" journal where they keep a diary of how their day goes but I also encourage them to use some space to write about their reading if they don't have anything else to write about. In the afternoons, the last 30 to 40 minutes of class, we gather at the class library where we read the novel of the 6 weeks. We can go from 4-6 novels through out the year. Those are followed by activities tied into lessons and comprehension skills from the district curriculum. Some of the novels include, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda, E.B. White Charlotte's Web, and Kate Dicamillo's Because of Winn Dixie. This coming year I plan to include El Deafo to my list since we just placed a class set order in our school library.

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I can't say I have many books under my sleeve. I have always tried to juggle between school and work since I was 16 years old. I tried to squeeze in some reading between my free time. The first series I proudly completed was the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. I must say that fantasy and romance is my reading interest, among other erotic romance trilogies.

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The Outsiders: A  few years after completing this book in English class my freshman year, I saw the movie with a couple of a friends at a sleepover. I remember being in shock, I could not believe we read such book in class. However, it is one of those that stuck with me throughout the years.

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What teen girl in the late 90s didn't want to be a character from the Babysitters Club? I remember my 7th grade year in Perkins Middle School, fighting with my cousin over who was going to be bossy Kristy Thomas. We couldn't wait to go to gym class or stay after school basketball practice and share our book selection of the Babysitters Club.
The books that really stick out in my mind for me occurred during my middle school years. I don't recall making many visits to the library, yet most of my readings came from the classroom. I read my first novel, The Secret Garden in my Reading class with Mrs. Villela. This book opened my mind into the world of imagination. Being an English Language Learner in my early years, this was one of the first English books I completed and actually enjoyed. I dreamed of my own garden and visualized the magical world that was out there for us. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was another one of my favorites. I remember buying this book from a teacher at the end of the year with points earned in class. It was the first book I read not being part of an assignment. Although it took me most of the the summer to complete, I still have vivid memories of it.

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I don't recall being read to very much as a child. Both of my parents were immigrants from Mexico and had little to no schooling when they migrated to the United States. Their main focus was to work and provide for the family.
I do remember my father would always sing to me a series of children's songs, which I still remember a few. When I was in college taking a children's literature course, I came across a book with all the songs my father used to sing to me as a child.