Penguins, God, Spectacles, the Atlas, and Reading Aloud.

What a lovely re-blog today…

My big takeaway was:
“Reality and survival are not easy topics to teach children. Thank goodness there have been a host of writers who have put into words life and goodness and struggle.”

I’m sure you’ll have a takeaway of your own :-)

A Teacher's Reflections

The classroom was dark except for a few strings of twinkling lights.  It was time for chapter reading before rest time.  We started a new chapter reading book, Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  Day one is always thrilling, and I show children the cover before reading.

We read the first chapter with great interest and discussion.  Then, we began to read chapter two.  As soon as I read the title, The Voice in the Air, Allie said, “Is that God?  He’s in the air, you know.”

I stopped.  Everybody stopped.  I smiled the biggest smile in the whole wide world at Allie.  Words can fill a vessel.  Allie’s words filled mine.

I said, “Let’s read and find out.”

Spontaneously, Noah said, “Jennie, I love you.”  When children say that on their own, they have felt a great moment of being covered in a warm blanket.  I knew Noah felt so…

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