More Classroom Anecdotes
I love my job. Here are some of the many and varied reasons for that:
2nd Grade
A visitor, and a good friend of mine, came to my classroom one morning before class started. Shortly after she walked in, one of my students (who hadn’t noticed our visitor) spontaneously burst into a recitation of a poem called ‘Travelers’ by Arthur St. John Adcock. Another student joined in to recite it with her.
With a delighted expression, my friend asked, “Are they spontaneously reciting poetry?”
“You know,” I replied, “Sometimes I really need an outsider’s perspective in the classroom to illuminate some of the best moments.”
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Also related to poetry in the 2nd grade, I wrote a poem on the whiteboard for the 2nd grade this week (see photo). I wanted to share it because I thought it fit with the weather we were having outside, and also because I just love William Wordsworth. I didn’t require any of my students to memorize it, but the next morning, one of my students told me that she did. Just because she wanted to. Then we recited it together.
3rd Grade
In my recent fervor of excitement over poetry (more on that to come later—exciting blog developments!), I have been trying to find ways to bring more poetry into the classroom. I came up with an idea to test out with my 3rd grade class, and today I shared it with them.
“Oh, I want to tell you all about something I’m excited about doing with your class,” I told them at the end of the day.
A little girl responded exuberantly, “Okay, if you’re excited, I’m already excited.” (I hope it’s not self-aggrandizing to share that part—it was just so cute.)
“I’m going to see what it’s like if I share a new poem with you once per week.”
And, every student literally cheered.
6th Grade
We are reading The Count of Monte Cristo together, and we are coming to the end.
As a class, we have been reading the unabridged version of the book, but I have been abridging it myself. I’ve gone through the book and selected chapters that are either very difficult or not totally essential to the plot, and instead of having the students read those chapters at home, I summarize those chapters for them in class, trying my best to do justice to the story and keep it exciting.
I told the class, however, that they are of course welcome to read those chapters that I summarize. Then, once we finish the book, they will be able to claim the honor of being able to say that, at eleven years old, they read all 1,300 pages of the unabridged The Count of Monte Cristo—one of the most famous books of all time.
I summarized the last of the “optional” chapters today (there were 50), and I am proud to say that five of my students this year will have claimed that honor once we finish reading the book on Wednesday.
I’m so proud of them. They’re so proud of themselves.
We have also been making progress on our bulletin board project that illustrates all the complicated relationships in the book. Can’t wait to share a photo of the final product!