About the Author

My name is Theresa Rohlfing. I have been teaching for thirty-one years. Right now, I teach language arts in a middle school in central Missouri. I have taught art, English, reading, social studies, and language arts in elementary, middle school, junior high, and high school. I have even taught classes for a college and for a prison!

I also teach horseback riding. I have loved horses since I was a young girl. I grew up in big cities, but today I live on a farm, so we can have horses right in our backyard. I also enjoy riding dirt bikes, going scuba diving, and sewing costumes for theater productions. In my spare time, I love watching movies and being part of our community theater. Although I have had roles on stage, I’m most happy being a “tech” person behind the stage and doing set design and costumes. I was even hired to help out on a movie set a few times, which was lots of fun.

Even though I have taught many different subjects and many different ages, I like grades 5–7 the very best. I think that fifth graders are the most fun, because you young students see excitement in challenges and are up for trying new things. You are beginning to realize that you have your own special interests and talents. You are learning to look ahead to your own future and think about where you see yourself as an adult. That is what this class is all about—learning strategies that will help you become a reader and writer confident in your abilities to find meaning in text so that you can communicate your ideas effectively to others.