I Was A Slow Reader

As a child, I was a slow reader. Why? Because I didn't read much, although I wanted to. Reading was torture, until I gained fluency. How did I gain fluency? By reading and reading and reading. I was caught in a cycle of not being a good reader because I didn't enjoy what I was reading. 

Finally, I read my first chapter book in second grade and I loved every minute of it. Though tattered and worn, I still have that very copy of the book published in 1977, which symbolizes the pride I felt from this huge accomplishment. It was called The Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla, and it chronicles the summer of a girl spending what she thought would be a boring summer. Her lack of money causes her to seek work, and that job leads her to help an older man save his shoe store. Her summer is adventurous afterall, and she learns to look beyond her own needs in order to assist someone else.

While the needs of slow readers vary, there are two commonalities. They must have a desire to improve their fluency, and they must have books that meet their interests.