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Mystery Reader!
Yesterday I was the Mystery Reader for Sebastian's class. I read them the first chapter of The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald, about the installation of the first water closet (i.e. indoor toilet) in a town in Utah in 1896. The kids laughed a lot.
Part of the Mystery Reader program is that the kids get five clues before the reader appears, to give them a chance to guess who it is. I tried to make my clues literary ones.
It may sound arrogant of me (because it is), but I don't think there are too many people who are better at reading aloud than I am. And I did better than usual yesterday, using voices for each character and making occasional brief explanations of historical points. I don't know why the majority of people read so woodenly! It takes so much of the fun of reading away.
At one point the father of the family announced to the watching townspeople that they would be allowed to see the new water closet in groups of six, and that each group would get a demonstration. Several of the students giggled, so I looked up at them, shook my finger, and said "I know what you're thinking!". The class dissolved into hilarity. And when we came to the section where the young narrator was acting as a barker, shouting "See the magic water closet that doesn't stink!" the kids kept joyfully chanting that line over and over.
The chapter was 23 pages long, with an additional full-page illustration. The timing was, luckily, just about perfect. When the closing bell rang, I had only two short paragraphs left to read. After I finished, several of the kids came up and chatted with me about the books that they're reading. Oh, and then Sebastian, Teri and I gave the class a copy of The Great Brain to keep.
I'm going to be a Mystery Reader at least one more time, and even more often than that if I'm allowed!
Part of the Mystery Reader program is that the kids get five clues before the reader appears, to give them a chance to guess who it is. I tried to make my clues literary ones.
Today's Mystery Reader...
- Wears the same kind of item on their face that a famous boy with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead wears.
- Has the same first name as one of Lucy's brothers from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
- Is going to a birthday party tomorrow. [All of Sebastian's classmates had been invited to the party, so I thought this was a good clue for them.]
- Doesn't need a comb.
- Loves to read, recite poetry and review books.
It may sound arrogant of me (because it is), but I don't think there are too many people who are better at reading aloud than I am. And I did better than usual yesterday, using voices for each character and making occasional brief explanations of historical points. I don't know why the majority of people read so woodenly! It takes so much of the fun of reading away.
At one point the father of the family announced to the watching townspeople that they would be allowed to see the new water closet in groups of six, and that each group would get a demonstration. Several of the students giggled, so I looked up at them, shook my finger, and said "I know what you're thinking!". The class dissolved into hilarity. And when we came to the section where the young narrator was acting as a barker, shouting "See the magic water closet that doesn't stink!" the kids kept joyfully chanting that line over and over.
The chapter was 23 pages long, with an additional full-page illustration. The timing was, luckily, just about perfect. When the closing bell rang, I had only two short paragraphs left to read. After I finished, several of the kids came up and chatted with me about the books that they're reading. Oh, and then Sebastian, Teri and I gave the class a copy of The Great Brain to keep.
I'm going to be a Mystery Reader at least one more time, and even more often than that if I'm allowed!