Thanks to GRA for Teaching a Teacher an Important Lesson

My sixth graders and I were two weeks into the Global Read Aloud, reading Linda Mullaly Hunt's fabulous Fish in a Tree, and I had fallen behind the suggested read aloud schedule.  In my mind, today was to have been a catch up day.  My original "plan" was to power through several chapters to make up for lost time.    We had a Google Hangout scheduled with a class in Ohio and we needed to be caught up and ready for it.  

And then, lo and behold, my principal popped in for an unannounced observation.  I sat there in my rocking chair reading, my sixth graders huddled around me, some sitting crosslegged on the floor while others sat around the perimeter of the group in chairs.  As Mrs. R quietly and unobtrusively settled herself in a far corner of the room, a bit of panic set in.   "Uh oh",  I thought, "I'm just reading to them."  The "teacher as performer" in me immediately thought, "This needs to be something more than just a read aloud." I need to pull something impressive out of my bag of teacher tricks. 

"Oh well," I thought to myself.  "So much for powering through a bunch of chapters."  Inwardly thanking myself for the fact that they had their notebooks in hand,  I asked them to add a page to their table of contents titled "Questions", turn to the next fresh page and begin jotting down open-ended questions they would like to ask during our upcoming Google Hangout.  

As I continued to read aloud from Fish in a Tree, it occurred to me that the questioning was working, but I knew they needed talk to each other about the text.  Pausing at strategic points, I asked the kids to turn and talk, following up with  a whole class share.  What followed can only be described as a perfect, beautiful thing. Kids talking about characters and plot in deep, probing ways, asking questions and truly engaging with each other over a text they had come to love.   All without an elaborate lesson plan, without any bells and whistles. Just a teacher, a fantastic book and kids who were given a chance to simply listen and talk to each other.  

If anyone learned an important lesson that day,  I think it was me.  Sure, we do need to plan our lessons, incorporate technology and make sure the standards are met and skills taught. But, when all is said and done nothing beats giving kids time to huddle up on the floor and "just talk" about a great book.

P.S. In case you're wondering, my principal thought this "lesson" was one of the best she's seen in a long time.  Icing on the cake!

Please share what  your experience has been with the Global Read Aloud.