A Story with Rory!

Rory came to school last week as a reward to both my class and Kim's.  The students who were able to behave got to read a story to him.  They loved it more than candy!  In fact they loved it more than a movie and popcorn!  They could barely contain themselves from laughing and giggling and making faces at him. 

Grammy D was a trooper and made the five minute trek to school and braved the loud classrooms and giddy kiddies!  I gave her a medal of honor!  She deserved it!  Not everyone can handle the noise level in a classroom.  Personally, I like to have the kids constructively chatting about whatever we are learning about.  I think experiencing something and then teaching someone else is the best way to learn.  Who wants to sit there and listen to me all day?  Not that they physically are capable of doing that anyway.  Especially in 1st grade! 

(Sidenote:  I'm proud of how far they have come!  Some of them came from not being able to read a word and now they are blending humongous multi-syllabic words.)

 "Rory is going to be coming soon!  Oh look here he is!" I say as Grammy D walks through the classroom door.
  "That's not Rory!" a kid exclaims, completely perplexed.
  "Yes it is!" I say, "He has grown a lot, since you last saw him on Johnny Appleseed Day!"
 "Oh," the kid says.
 "Now, everyone gather on the floor in a semi-circle and we will pass the book around!  Everyone gets to read one page to Rory!" 
  "Yay!" the kids cheer.
 "Wow, umm, okay!" I say, pushing kids back.  "You guys are a little bit too close!   Back up a little!  I don't need all of you on my lap.  One baby is enough!"

  The drove of kids scooted closer every time Rory smiled, giggled, laughed, or made mouth noises!  He sure was putting on a show for them!  My son, a ham!  Can you believe it?  After every kid got a chance to read a page, I opened the floor for questions.

"Yes?" 
 "I have a baby brother and he...." a boy begins.
  "That's not a question.  That's a statement," a girl informs him.
  "Yes, good call, sweetie.  Any real questions?"
 
There were tons:
 "Why is he chewing on the cat in the hat?"
 "What does he eat?"
 "Can he walk yet?" 
 "Why is he snorting?"

  "Can he stand up?"
  "He has been working on it.  Maybe if we all say 'yay' and clap our hands he will do it!"
  The room erupts in a shouting "YAY"!  It's enough to blast my ears apart.  However, Rory made me a truth teller because he stood in front of the class and clapped his hands together for a good ten seconds.
   "He has baby ears," I say.  "We have to be quieter when we cheer."
  "How come he looks like you?" another kid asks. 
  "Yeah!  He has the same eyes as you!"
"And he has your ears!"
  "Well do you remember what we talked about earlier this year about animals and their young?  Sometimes...." I begin.
  "They have the same traits!" a girl shouts the answer.
  "Exactly right!  Just like a mommy deer can pass down her big black nose to her fawn, a human baby can have the same kind of eyes as his daddy or mommy."

After a while Rory had to leave and the kids were sad to see him go, but they totally enjoyed every minute of it!  As did I.

Comic by Bitstrips