Whether we like it or not, reading is an essential part of daily life as an adult and a key building block for learning in school.
Knowing that and expecting her reading requirements to escalate when she enters middle school next year, 13-year-old Teagen Christensen, a sixth-grader at Edison Elementary School, set a goal in September to not only improve her reading skills, but to change her attitude about reading.
“I remember, Teagen, you said at the beginning of the year, you wanted to like reading,” said Sara Alvarado, Centralia School District’s K-6 elementary specialist.
When asked how she thought she’s done on that goal, Teagen said, “Phenomenal … I went from reading zero books a day to reading like six.”
Teagen’s newfound love for reading quickly developed into an interest in writing poetry, inspired by the work of her favorite poet, Nikki Grimes.
“I had some feelings that I couldn’t express, so I decided to write a poem trying to get that all in,” Teagen said of her poetry.
One of her poems, aptly titled “Feelings,” has been accepted for publication in the August/September issue of Stone Soup, a national children’s literary magazine that features work from writers and artists ages 14 and under.
The magazine typically receives 200 to 300 submissions per month and has an average response time of 10 weeks to three months, according to Alvarado.
Teagen’s acceptance notification arrived just seven days after Teagen submitted her work in April.
“She has been so confident with her writing ever since this entire process started,” Teagen’s teacher, Colleen Baine, said. “They’re really such moving poems and I think they are easily relatable for a lot of kids.”
Teagen’s literary growth is an example of how one-on-one work with students can have a huge impact on kids’ learning, Baine said.
“I have 25 kids in my classroom. I would not be able to work with Teagen as much as Ms. Alvarado has been able to, and you can see how much it’s helped Teagen,” she said.
Baine began collaborating with Alvarado, who works with students across all elementary schools in the Centralia School District, earlier this school year to form a book club for Teagen to help her achieve her reading goals.
Teagen and Alvarado started reading together in November, building phonics and other reading comprehension skills as they worked through progressively longer books.
“I so appreciate working with teachers like Colleen who really want to collaborate and make learning powerful for their kids,” Alvarado said, “And the opportunity to work closely with her and Teagen this year has been so fun.”
When asked what advice she would give to other kids who want to like reading but don’t know how, Teagen said, “Start with something not super big. I started by reading something like 140 pages (long) and now I’m reading something like 359.”
As for advice for kids who want to start writing, Teagen said, “I would just start by writing down feelings and how you feel.”
Teagen is currently planning to volunteer at a local library this summer before she starts seventh grade next year.
For more information on Stone Soup and to read Teagen’s poem once it’s published, visit https://stonesoup.com/.
