One of the simplest things I do is Mystery Reader. Parents, grandparents, and very special people sign up on signupgenius.com to come in on Wednesdays and share twenty minutes of books with my students. I stole this idea from a lady I team taught with many years ago. Her son is in my room this year and she has come in to read and experience the joy from the other end of the spectrum.
Some of the parents are nervous about coming in to read, others dive in and become creative. The students do not care--they love Mystery Reader. I have had parents dress in gorilla costumes, bring a treat to match the story, and change voices to share their favorites with the children. I learned that you MUST wear a boa when you read a Fancy Nancy book. The children don't care about the special trappings, they love the books!
Some years, it has become very competitive to get on the schedule--I should have sold the spots those years. Other years, I have to beg for people to sign up. This year I put up a plea on Facebook for readers and got volunteers whose children have experienced Mystery Reader and want to share that joy with my current class.
As the day arrives, the students speculate who the reader will be. I used to have a sign-up sheet on the door, but the children soon learned to read the names, so the mystery was gone. When the reader arrives, I call the child they are related to to come introduce the reader. What power that child has! The first time nervous reader quickly warms up and begins to enjoy the time with the children. I have learned about new books this way and rediscovered some old treasures.
What a wonderful way to share the love of reading. I wish I had known about it when you had my granddaughters in your class. Such memories for these kids!
ReplyDeleteYou could still sign up to do it for this class!
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