A Literacy Memory

One of the most notable memories I have about literacy happened in the 6th grade.  I began to read at the age of 4, but remained mostly a word caller up through at least the 4th grade.  We used to read out of these large literacy books in school.  We would get called on one at a time to read a paragraph out loud to the class.  I was full of anxiety and only focused on practicing the paragraphs ahead of the reader in case I was called on.  I would miss what the reader actually read, and when it came to my turn I was solely focused on reading each word.  I had no idea what it meant to read for meaning.  In the 4th grade I can remember reading chapter books as a class and not knowing how the students around me were able to draw a story from what we had read.  In 6th grade it started to turn around.  I can remember we still read out of the dreaded 400 page literacy texts full of stories.  One day we read a historical fiction story about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii, Italy.  I was enthralled by this text. I couldn't stop wondering beyond the text and wishing to go see this alleged place transformed into stone.  If I close my eyes I can still picture the illustrations that went along with this story.  Randomly, some years later I was on a vacation and was beyond surprised when it included a stop to Pompeii.  What a lucky way to bring an old text back to life!