A couple weeks ago, while I was getting my things ready to teach my next class, I heard some students talking about some books they have been reading. They were giving each other some suggestions for the next book that they should try. I was impressed with these students. Thinking about all of the conversations that could be overheard coming from high school students, a conversation about reading and books was refreshing. Then, I heard one of them say, “My doctor told me that reading is bad for you. I can ruin your brain, make you dumb, and ruin your eyes.” Immediately another student said, “ I can’t believe you just said that.” That was my thought exactly. The students continued walking down the hallway and I didn’t hear any more of the conversation.
That conversation stuck in my head for a long time. The more and more I thought about it, the more I hoped that those negative words had no impact on the other kids and their love of books. So, I am going to share with you some good reasons that you should read every day.
1. Reading keeps your brain active. Just like exercise is good for your body and keeps it healthy, reading is good for your brain. Reading keeps your brain fit. There have been many studies that have shown that reading every day can reduce the chances of Dementia and Alzheimer’s. My father developed Dementia and Alzheimer’s later in life. Although he was a very smart man, with different degrees, and a job with a prominent aerospace company, that didn’t help him. He worked hard and didn’t usually take time to read very often. Of course there could have been other factors involved, however, reading could have helped.
2. Reading increases your vocabulary. The more you read, the more words you are exposed to on a regular basis. I can’t tell you how many times I have been reading a book and have come across a word that I wasn’t familiar with. That is such a great opportunity to write the word down and look it up in the dictionary. I good example of this, is when I was reading Anna Kendrick’s book, A Scrappy Little Nobody, she mentioned a word I have never heard before: Kerfuffle. Of course, I had to look it up, it sounds like such a fun word. Kerfuffle means a fuss or commotion. This has now become one of my favorite words. I shared it with my English classes and challenged them to see how many times they could use kerfuffle in a day, in the correct context.
3. Reading improves your memory. When you read, there are many things you will have to remember throughout the book. You have to remember character’s names, certain details, different events which take place, and many other things the writer throws your way. Increasing your memory while you are reading also helps you increase your memory with other everyday things.
