CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts What, Why, and How? Jessica Powers has been teaching at Skyline since 2007 NON-FICTION: “Learning to Read” by Jessica Powers 1 1

Jessica Powers has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (U. Texas-El Paso) and two master's degrees in African History from SUNY-Albany and Stanford University. She writes under the name J.L. Powers and is the author of several award-winning books, including The Confessional (2007), This Thing Called the Future (2011), and Amina (2013). She is the editor of Labor Pains and Birth Stories (2009) and That Mad Game: Growing Up in a Warzone (2012). She has published hundreds of articles, stories, poems, essays, and book reviews in a variety of print and online publications and is editor and founder of The Pirate Tree ( Mother Writer Mentor ( and The Fertile Source ( She served as a visiting scholar for Stanford's African Studies Center in and as a curriculum consultant for Stanford's Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education and African Studies Center in Jessica has taught at Skyline College since (1) Do you have any strong memories of learning to read or being a beginning reader in school? (2) Was there one particular book you remember reading that had a strong influence on you when you were in elementary school? Why?

(1) What is Jessica’s attitude about the fact that she lied in the contest? Why do you think she feels this way, and what does this reveal about her motivations? (2) Why do you think reading the book about Harriet Tubman changed Jessica’s life? (1) Comparing yourself to Jessica in the story, write about your experiences learning to read in and/or out of school. (2) Explore Jessica’s motivations for getting into the green reading group. Look at her feelings for her teacher, the way she compares herself to her classmates and the hints we get about her personality.

that concludes CRITICAL READING Faculty-Written Texts “Learning to Read” by Jessica Powers 1 1