back to books

Posted February 27th, 2005 by Michelle

This past week, I was asked to participate in a Read-a-Thon for a local elementary school. I was there with other “community leaders”, and I was the only one who hadn’t been a part of that program before- I was the only one who didn’t show up in a funny hat or overalls. I had to rely on my actual reading skills alone. It was an absolute joy to be in a grade-school library; as I’ve mentioned before, the library was always my place of solace as a kid and there are SO many cool new kids books to read.

I got there at 8:30 AM, but didn’t start my readings until 9, so I chatted with all the other readers. There were local writers, politicians, librarians, teachers, and business folk, everyone yawning and looking very serious in their funny hats. I was given my assignment, and allowed to choose a book. I was to read to two third-grade classes, and then a mixed-grade learning disabled class. I was told that I could read the same book to everyone. So I chose a mystery about some missing vegetables:

I went into my first classroom at 9 AM, book in hand, and was instantly enveloped with third-graders who were screaming “FRONT ROW SEATS! FRONT ROW SEATS!”, meaning they were vying for the spot on the ground directly in front of my chair. So I cleared my throat and started to read, doing all sorts of voices and generally really enjoying myself. I reached the end, closed the book, smiled up at the kids, and realized something was off. I had CLEARLY done something wrong, forgotten something deep and meaningful. The kids were staring blankly up at me, the teacher looking down her nose, and so I announced, “Well, thanks for having-” “Would you mind,” the teacher interrupted, “showing us the PICTURES?” Duh. I had basically read myself a story and not shown all the little chickens at my feet the pictures, which really is far more important than the story. So I went through it again, this time turning the book around as I read each page. One of the kids asked dismissively, “Why didn’t we do this the FIRST time?” I said, “That is a great question. Anyway…” I escaped out into the hall with a couple of minutes to kill, and was confronted with the latest third-grade art projects.

This was an art project for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The kids made cut-outs of his face, and then wrote a little essay on him:

Sadly, you can’t read the best part of this essay. Where it reads “As a young boy he liked to” the kid answered “read big words”. That’s awesome. Of all the things MLK Jr did, he’s being remembered as someone who liked to read big words when he was a kid.

There were two other art projects as I walked down the hallway, one surrounding a famous work, another made of cutouts:

I managed to get through the next two readings with much more success. The mixed class was challenging- there were teenaged kids in there who just stared at me, not responding, as I unraveled the mystery of the missing lettuce. It was my last class, and as I made my way back to the library to drop off my book, I saw a big drawing all on its own at the end of the hall:

I know just how that kid feels.

I don’t know if I’ll be here a year from now, but if I am, I hope they invite me back.