Mystery Readers

February 22, 2016

Once a week there will be a special visitor in first grade called a mystery reader! The mystery reader chooses a book of their liking and a snack and spends some time with the students. The students are told the morning of that there is a mystery reader coming but they have no idea who it is. They may or may not even know the reader prior to their visit. Some of the readers include, but are not limited to, other teachers, older students, parents, friends and family members of their teacher, etc. On Friday we had our first reader! My co-op asked me a few weeks ago if I had anyone that may be interested in coming in to participate. I was excited to bring people from my own life in to the classroom to get a sense of what I do everyday and to meet my wonderful class.

Without hesitation my wonderful boyfriend volunteered. He read a great interactive book to the class called Count the Monkeys. I loved watching someone read to kids that has little to no experience in this. (There's a lot more that goes into it, contrary to popular belief). The night before the reading I practiced reading with prosody and how to hold the book so that the entire class would be able to see. I felt as though I was receiving a little more appreciation for my career choice after the "lesson".

The day of the reading went great! The students were engaged and on their best behavior. During the snack portion we allowed the students to ask him questions or tell him something they like about school. Each and every one of the students opened up and participated. Next week my best friend and also my adviser from Bloomsburg  will be visiting to participate in the mystery reader program. So far I love this activity and depending on the grade level I'll be teaching, I would definitely consider using this in my own classroom.