SCENE 1, INTERIOR. AFTERNOON, CLASSROOM. The class is practicing reading their picture books aloud for the visit to their second grade buddy class later that day. The teacher roves about the room, listening to each child’s reading expression. He offers up suggestions as how to make the reading better as he listens. He approaches a particular boy reading in a completely monotone voice.
TEACHER: Joey, read that page again, but this time put a little more into it. It sounds like you’re reading your mother’s grocery list.
[The boy looks at his teacher and then back again at the book].
JOEY: But Mr. Z, I can’t read it with expression.
TEACHER: Why not?
[The boy shrugs].
JOEY: Um…
[The boy lays the book down and rubs his stomach. His voice suddenly starts to quaver as he gives two little coughs into his hand and a pained expression flashes across his face].
JOEY: I feel sick.
TEACHER: Really?
JOEY: [nodding].Yeah, I feel like I might throw up any second.
[The teacher looks at the boy who flashes his Bambi eyes, and is trying very hard not to smile as he does so].
TEACHER: Yeah, nice try, Mr. Faker. Read. Expression.
[The boy raises his hand to his mouth again and says in a very high, effeminate voice:]
JOEY: Cough, cough.
TEACHER: Now that’s expression.
Fade to black.
9 comments:
Funny how when you become a teacher, you can spot a faker a mile away.
LOL Gawd, I love that kid....a young smart*ss in the making...lol...and I mean that in a loving way...
And moms are pretty good at spotting a faker as well!
I love reading these behind-the-scenes of a teacher's life here. They make me smile!
And that's how you add expression!
I wonder what goes on in the minds of those who speak/read monotone.......do they hear themselves? Is life that dull for them? I've always been curious....because listening to them makes life dull for others.
*Smiling* :)
He sure is a good Faker. The Cough always worked when I was a kid...:)
Why is it so important to read aloud with expression? Seriously, I know this paralyzed me as a child... and I am a voracious reader. Just wondering.
C - True enough!
C - I enjoyed having him in my class. I would consider transferring to 6th to keep him another year.
K - Thanks for coming back; I will post a few 'archived' moments over the summer. I only hope that I get another Joey next year as good as this one (or that he will come to visit from his big, bad, sixth grade classroom.
B - Amen! He did a great job at it, too.
R - No idea. I don't speak monotone. I bet they were deprived as children.
N - Yeah, you know him.
MS - The little cough noise is probably because I started that at the beginning of the year. If they didn't want to work I'd say, "Call your mom if you're sick" then I'd give two little coughs "And have her take you home."
The coughs were pretty popular when somebody was gone, too, and returned the next day saying they'd been sick. Somebody would always give two little coughs after they'd given their excuse.
MF - It makes reading more fun, it helps them to be a better speaker/presenter, they learn to love literature more when they can read it fluently with expression.
Those are just a few reasons. Come and listen to me read sometime...
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