Daniella Fusaro's First, Last and Best Reading Memory

My name is Daniella Fusaro and I am senior at Montclair State University. I am a Family and Child Studies major with a concentration in K-5 and will graduate this May. I cannot believe how fast college went but I am excited to get out into the real world and have my own classroom!

I have to say I do not really remember my first reading memory because I was so young. I do know that I always had tons of books in my room and would have my parents read to me before bed all the time. My first experience probably had something to do with Minnie Mouse because she was my favorite Disney character and my room was even themed around her. I do remember I had a book called Minnie and Me that my parents made especially for me about my third birthday and it had my name in it and everything. I loved that book and made sure everyone read it to me every chance they could. I eventually started to memorize it after a while.

My last reading memory was the Twilight series. As you can tell I do not have much free time to read. I have to confess that I would never be one of those fans who were obsessed and I wanted to prove everyone's obsession with vampires wrong. After reading the first few chapters I started to really like it and became quite addicted. My theory obviously failed but at least I found a new genre that I enjoyed. I am not going to lie I am very upset that the series is over and I do wait for the movies to come out but they are just not the same.

My best reading memory would have to be the Harry Potter series. When the first book came out I was only seven and I remember I went to the library and got it on tape. I did not know if I would be interested in wizards or that type of genre but it was highly talked about so I gave it a try. As the rest of the series came out and the books became bigger and bigger, I began to feel a lot more accomplished with myself because I was not only able to read them but read them so quickly. It was an interesting series that I really liked and could finish fairly quickly.

Jaimie Ekiert's First, Last and Best Reading Memory

Hi my name is Jaimie Ekiert and I am a senior at Montclair State University and I will be graduating this spring semester. My major is Family and Child Studies Concentration Family and Children in School Settings (K-5). I am also pursuing certification in Middle School Science and English. I truly enjoy working with children and I cannot wait to have a classroom of my own one day.

I do not remember my first reading memory because I was too young to know what reading meant, but my parents read to my sisters and I all the time from infants to young school students. We would always ask my dad to read us The Three Little Pigs at bedtime and an assortment of other books. My parents and family would read the books that had the buttons for sound affect s that you pressed as you went through the story. I had many books about Disney stories, which I constantly wanted to read because of the movies. Many of these books I still have today that are waiting to get passed on to my children some day.

My last reading experience was last year (not a big reader!) My Family Sociology class required us to pick out a self-help book, or advice book, and do a project on it. My group picked the book Love, Lust and Faking It: The Naked Truth about Sex, Lies, and True Romance by Jenny McCarthy. Even though I normally do not read for pleasure, this book was extremely entertaining. This assignment became fun because I was so caught up in this book. The majority of book was based on experiences so it was not your typical self-help book. Overall the experience was very amusing and we got an A on our assignment!

My best reading memory is reading the Twilight series. I accidentally stumbled upon this book. One of my friends was assigned the book in her class and I was bored while she was doing homework one day and I picked it up to read the first page just to pass some time. After the first few pages I realized I was hooked and loved the book. I continued to join her while she did her homework just so I could continue to read the book. I had to of course go out and buy the other books so I could finish the series. I read the final book Breaking Dawn so slowly because I was upset that it was all coming to an end. I hope to find another series like Twilight to get interested in.

Jenna Galatro's First, Last, and Writing Memory

Hello, my name is Jenna Galatro. I am a senior at Montclair State University. My major is Family and Child Studies with a concentration in K-5 Elementary Education. Additionally, I am receiving a certification in English as a Second Language (K-12) and an English Middle school certification. I am excited to be graduating in May, and cannot wait to be a future educator!

As for my first literacy memory, I would have to say I constantly remember the bedtime stories my parents used to read me. As a child, it is so easy at that age to get lost in the magic of a good picture book. Additionally, I remember my high school neighbor used to come over and read books to me and work with me on my reading skills. I believe having that older role model helped reinforce the importance of literacy and fluency in reading.

My last reading memory was when I recently finished the book called "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews. It was a quick and enjoyable read about changing your perspective on life, and realizing that all the small, sometimes frustrating things in life lead us to a future most of us can not imagine awaits us. It definitely gets you excited about life, and all of the great things that lie ahead.

Probably my best literacy experience was in Mrs. Beam's 2nd grade class. We had this 'event' called 'Young Authors' where a selected few students where chosen to create, illustrate, and then publish their books. Sometime throughout the school year we were able to present our books to our families and read aloud to the audience our 'published' books. I remember being extremely proud of myself and excited to share my book to the audience and my parents. It was awesome to see how proud my parents were of me, and it gave me a boost of confidence that all beginner readers could use!

Laura Granger's First, Last, and Best Reading Memories

Hi my name is Laura Granger. I am currently a "super senior" and I plan on graduating in May. My first reading memory would have to be when my mother would take my siblings and I outside and we would read books under the big Pine tree on the front lawn. The library was right across the street from my house so we would go there after lunch and pick out the books we wanted to read that day. I usually picked the book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs because of all the beautiful illustrations and I thought that if I read the book enough it might actually happen (over active imagination as a child). My mother was also a Pre-School teacher and was very dramatic when she read to us making it more enjoyable.

My last reading memory would be reading the series of books The Chronicles of Faerie by O.R. Melling. There are four books in this series and each one tells a different story that all somehow wind up tying together in the end. The books take place in Ireland and show the reader that "things aren't always as they appear". These books also blend Irish mythology with geography and that way the reader can learn a lot about Ireland while being engaged in a story.

My best reading memory would have to be reading the American Girl book series about Molly. Molly grew up during World War II and the books take you on a journey of her life and how she handled certain situations based on that time frame. I really enjoyed this book series a lot. After I had finished the book series I asked my parents if I could get the Molly American Girl Doll for Christmas but instead I wound up getting something even better a Border Collie puppy who of course I named Molly. Molly has been right by my side now for 13 years and she is definitely better than a doll.