The Anti-Read Aloud

I am learning to love my read aloud voice.

Lately I have been congested, so I'm a little nasal-ly, a little short of breath, and I think my lisp is coming back. But regardless, I try to take my time and use inflection at all the appropriate moments. I go from high to low, to silly, to serious... it's like I can enter a world of dissociative identity disorder just for the sake of my listeners.

This week the class started reading Ruby Lu, Brave and True. The first 2 chapters cover Ruby as a Magician, and how she loves her baby brother Oscar, then goes to hating him and then to loving him again. Oscar gives away Ruby's magician secrets. Which, really, at this point, serves Ruby well b/c now she is not only Ruby the Magician, but she has Oscar the side-kick. The students seem to be sort of into it, but not as much as their last book. I could just have a warped perception, thanks to the gigglers in the front row. It doesn't help that there are names in the book such as PohPoh and GungGung. Ah, the things that authors think of.

Day three. I sit in THE seat. I pick up the book. The students assume position.

N e a t
R o w s
J u s t
L i k e

every other day.

Enter the cutest baby in the whole world (outside of my family, of course). Mom had a could-not miss opportunity in the classroom, and being an incredible community of teachers at the school, there was no fear - and we welcomed her into the room. BabyLove was very quiet and reserved. Then I began reading.

It was at that moment that BabyLove made her vocal debut.
The students fell in love.

I continued reading in my best nasal-ly reading voice.
This was no competition for the baby in the corner.
She had them wrapped around her little fingers.

Slowly, as I read the chapter, the students rearranged.
Slowly, the students sat up.
Slowly, the students moved closer to eachother.
Slowy, the magnetic force was apparent.

There I was, reading in my chair....
to my audience of one.

All of the others formed a tight sunburst away from BabyLove.
None were looking at me.
None were listening.
Imagine a picture with a yellow crayon sun drawn in the corner. That is what the room looked like.

A bright light and her admiring rays.