maybe would have if I didn't have anything to do it for. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to read, and I love to read new books, but I've had one of the busiest years of my whole entire life, and with Dance, and Cheerleading, and Speech and Drama, and the Musical, and NJHS, and other Homework. Reading 40 books this year wasn't probably going to happen, which I knew from the beginning, but I tired my best to read as many books as I could, and I really feel good about what I did! I feel my reading has definitely progressed throughout the year as well! I've read so many new books, in genres I don't particularly like, and found that I liked them, and I've learned to not judge a book, not only by it's cover, but not by it's title, or genre either! I've also, I feel, begun branching out into more difficult books! Books with awkward dialect, and a high level of vocabulary. I've been able to understand these books, and feel more capable and comfortable with reading more advanced books, because I know that I'll be able to understand them, more than in the past!
Based on my 6th Grade year, I would say I made lots of progress! In 6th Grade, I only read a couple of books for book projects and through class, and this year, though most of the reading has been for school (not exactly pleasure reading) like for blogging and the 40 Book Challenge, I feel like I've pushed myself to read more, unlike in 6th Grade when I didn't have as much motivation to read as much as I could, and expand myself through reading. So, I definitely think I've come a long way from 6th Grade. I also feel that the caliber of the books I've read has gone up drastically this year! I've gone from reading 100-200 page books to reading ones as long as 600 pages! And these books aren't easy books! They have difficult vocabulary, and have story lines that can be tricky to follow. Though, length doesn't always matter! "Of Mice and Men" was probably one of the most difficult books I've ever read, and it's only 100 pages! The dialect the characters use can be hard to understand, and confusing. There are so many hidden symbols and meanings, and it was very hard, yet exciting to analyze. I've really found that through this challenge, I've had to analyze what I'm reading, and it's really improving the caliber of books that I can read at. The level that I'm reading at is only going to continue to grow, and the challenge to read these books from different genres, that I may never have read otherwise, has really helped me grow. From this, I feel confident going into 8th Grade Literature Studies, and hopefully, I can accomplish the 40 Book Challenge next year!
The first thing I have to say is that I'm surprised that the majority of the reflection blogs have the same picture on your blog. In my opinion I think that the picture truly represents the challenge in class. It seems that we had the same experience because I started reading more this year than last year. The most difficult book I read was Pale Fire and I do feel that you will accomplish the challenge next year. Great Blog Post.
ReplyDeleteHow much time do you think you will have to set aside in order to make the challenge next year if your just as busy? Do you think you will be able to manage your time better?
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Jul, this had been a busy year, and you are a busy person. I think one of the hardest things is the time management. Some weeks were obviously busier than others, I feel that by reading your blogs I can tell you have kept up with the work.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I have definitely read more books than last year! Finishing the 40 book challenge did seem impossible at first, but after writing a blog every week pushes you to read. It's a miracle you have time to read with how busy you are!
ReplyDeleteJulia,
ReplyDeleteI like how you told us what exactly the 40 book challenge helped you with, such as your reading in general. I can connect with how you said that you didn't read a lot during sixth grade, and when you did it was really just for school work. I was the same. Also, I liked how you told us your progress with how many pages in books you normally read compared to how many pages you read in books now. Overall, great blog and good job on the challenge!
I can have many relations with your blog with my opinion on the 40 book challenge for last year. The comparison with 6th grade and this year were very similar to mine as well. I really went into different genres that I didn't really like from the beginning and now my opinion has varied. I can also relate to the time in how there were many things that would take up time and I wouldn't have as much time to read. That was mostly the probably that I had for this Challenge. I feel that next year will be more smooth and there will have more of a probability to finish the challenge. Overall this blog was great!
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