Two fun school visits last week, at the Mater Christi School in Burlington, and Elm Hill Elementary in Springfield. I always use the hush-test to discover if fiction is working. If the room gets quiet, I've got them!
My best chapter ever for silencing a room is the first chapter of Fire!, which ends with the line, "Don't be afraid. The house is afire." That almost always produces dead silence, in the most wiggly classroom.
I was happy to discover, reading Saige to kids for the first time, that the line, "We don't have art this year" is also an excellent hush-line, even for first graders. Good to know!
My best chapter ever for silencing a room is the first chapter of Fire!, which ends with the line, "Don't be afraid. The house is afire." That almost always produces dead silence, in the most wiggly classroom.
I was happy to discover, reading Saige to kids for the first time, that the line, "We don't have art this year" is also an excellent hush-line, even for first graders. Good to know!