Each day I give my students 10 minutes of time to read the novels they have selected from the library. Today the timer went off, and I looked up to find that not one student had moved. No books closed, no one was looking up, no one even flinched. Do you know what it feels like to be met with the silence of kids reading when the timer lets them know they can stop reading? It gives me actual chills and a sense of awe. I could sit and watch them read all day. They just kept reading...like they liked it or something. However, I also had a lesson they had to master for their writing piece, so I quietly announced that reading time was over, and that's when the whining started.
"Do we have to stop?"
"That was not 10 minutes."
"Miss, look how far I am to the end of the chapter. Can't I finish it?"
"Five more minutes, miss. Please. "
I even warned them they would probably have homework if we did this, but they didn't care. So what could I do? I set the timer for five more minutes and let them keep reading. Then I fought back the tears. In my entire career, this has never happened...ever. Thank you, Readers/Writers Workshop.
The truly amazing thing was when the same situation repeated itself three hours later. Awesome day, indeed. I love my job!
BLISS!!!!! It works!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, how I wish I could be part of this...