Five days late, but why can’t every day be read aloud day?
I happened to have a session with my Writers’ Club on World Read Aloud Day, so each of the girls chose something to read. It was delightful! Above all, I was struck by how well most of them read, without burying their faces in their books and without too much stuttering and stumbling. That is privilege, isn’t it? That level of fluency?
Also, this time, I loved that nearly all of them chose their pieces well.
While last year, I had children struggling to read an abridged version of King Lear aloud, fumbling with names like Cordelia and Goneril, this time, I found that their choices were, on the whole, quite good! Some read easy poetry; I had a couple of stories about Akbar and Birbal, and we had excerpts from Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton. I have written earlier about why children choose texts that are too difficult for them; I’m glad that did not happen this time!
And this year, I read an excerpt from The Prophecy of Rasphora to celebrate World Read Aloud Day. And unlike last year, I didn’t foolishly call it World Reading Day. In case you haven’t seen it yet, take a look.
I also used the occasion as an excuse to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. I enjoy working with the book in class, exploring language and having fun with words. So, I decided to put a free printable handout online. Here it is. And if you’d like to read reviews of The Prophecy of Rasphora and find out a little more about the book before you decide to use it in class, here you go.
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