What I miss most about teaching my own class is reading aloud. I remember the excitement on my students faces as I opened the read aloud book. I remember my students staring intently in space as they visualized the world I read aloud to them in their minds. I remember the laughing, crying, and shouting out in dismay as the story evolved. I remember students asking for "...just one more chapter, one more page, please." I remember the sadness expressed when the journey was complete and we were no longer in the magical new world we discovered together. I remember the cycle starting anew as we began another read aloud. My two favorite read alouds were The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis and The Lightning Thief (first in the Percy Jackson series) by Rick Riordan.
This post was inspired by Carol's Corner: A Few Random Thoughts on Read Aloud and A Year of Reading: Why Read Aloud. Both are great blogs and today's post were inspirational!
Great post! This is why I will always remember year 5, Mrs Green and "The Turbulent Term of Tike Tyler".
ReplyDeleteIt was a sweltering summer in Sydney. At the end of the day, Mrs Green would open her book and mesmerise me and another thirty 10 year olds with this book. I think that's where my love of reading started.
I love both these books. Other titles I enjoyed reading aloud include Z for Zachariah by O'Brien and Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikealsen. Right now I'm reading aloud Bullyville by Francine Prose to students.
ReplyDeleteJana, this is the first time I've made it to your blog. I too did the teacher challenge, and I love meeting so many new people through their blogs. I teach 7th and 8th grades now, so I must admit I don't read aloud as often as I did when I taught 2nd grade. However, I believe they still like it as much as the little ones do. Thanks for the reminder! Denise
ReplyDeleteMy blog: Dare to Care
Denise - The Teacher Challenge has widen my world. I agree that middle/junior high students love the read aloud as much as the little ones.
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