THE BEST THING EVER HAPPENED TODAY!!!!
You know I love Roald Dahl. You know I do. You know I own every single children's book he's ever written, and have read at least half of them to my students. They know these books are my prized possessions and so they have become their prized possessions too, passed around the class and devoured like illicit porn.
About a month ago, a teacher partner suggested I read The BFG to my class. I can't say it was ever one of my favorites, but that might be because I don't like the picture on the cover. I'm super judgy. This teacher was halfway through the book with her own third grade class, and she claimed they loved it. So, I started it as our post-spring break book.
THEY LOVE IT.
Obviously. It is about giants eating children.
Usually I read aloud to my class for ten to fifteen minutes every day after lunch. I turn off all the lights, and the kids are allowed to put their heads down on their desks but they may not do anything other than listen. I stop and start and ask questions and we make predictions and such, but fifteen minutes is usually the limit for listening. That's when the pencil tapping begins and the notes start being written and I add to my collection of confiscated markers / lanyards / hot wheels / eraser carvings.
Two weeks ago, this partner teacher informed me that she had a class set of The BFG, which means each child could have his/her own copy of the book to follow along with. What a gift! What a difference it has made! Today, my students were engaged in the storytelling for THIRTY MINUTES. That's a long time for nine year-olds. Plus, they were way into the discussion of Will the Queen Believe Her Dream About Sophie and the Giants. AND, they totally complained when I decided it was time to quit.
THEN, (this is the best part), partner teacher and I were lamenting the fact that this is the only class set of books she has and neither of us wants to purchase more and what will I do when I finish it? Fucking Open Court?! On a whim, I call the program coordinator at our school, really the only person there who gets things done, and I inquire about class sets of chapter books, the stuff they used to teach English with before wretched NCLB.
APPARENTLY THERE IS A WHOLE CLOSET FULL OF SETS OF CHAPTER BOOKS THAT I CAN USE WITH MY CLASS!!!!!!!!! WE WILL BE LOOTING THE CLOSET TOMORROW AFTER STAFF MEETING!!!!!! CHAPTER BOOKS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR!!! I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER BEEN SO EXCITED ABOUT TEACHING READING!!!!! I DROVE HOME ELATED!
I don't even care what books they have; anything is better than "Home Place."
2 comments:
I teach third grade and just read The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar to my kiddos and they hung onto each and every word. That's exactly how I felt when I read it in third grade. Highly recommend reading them that one...
I read Henry Sugar to my students last year and was AMAZED that they followed the story and were interested until the end. That's a hard one.
Post a Comment