As a classroom teacher, I used to read to my students everyday and, for 18 years, as a part of my daily read-aloud time, I read the entire seven-book Chronicles Of Narnia series out loud to my students... Yep. That's right. 18 times in 18 years. Needless to say, I love those books.
The fact of the matter is, as a principal, I've missed reading to students more than anything else.
I mentioned this to Holly as we were talking at dismissal time the other day and, a couple of days later, she invited me into her classroom to read to her kids. I read the first chapter of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe to her second graders. In all, I spent about 20 minutes with her class. It was fun visiting with them, answering a few of their friendly questions, and getting to know them all just a little bit better from a chair at the front of Holly's classroom... and not from behind the desk in my office, ya know?
We recorded a video as I read... and then, afterward, I discovered that the school camera will only record 10-minute videos... thus, the last bit of the chapter didn't get recorded. However, later on I edited-in the final few pages of the chapter, reading them to myself in my office. So now, the first chapter video's complete!
Anyway, I'm hopeful you might be able to find a time sometime soon to show the video below to your students. And then I'm hopeful that you'll invite me to your classroom to read-and-record Chapter Two... or Three... or Four... and that that way we'll work our way through this book as a school, reading-and-watching one chapter at a time, in one classroom at a time. As they get recorded, we'll post the next videos here on The Blue Note Blog, too, so your classes can stay up-to-date as we read each chapter.
Please let me know if you'd like me to visit with your students to read-and-record a chapter of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. I'll make myself as available to read per your daily schedule as I am able.
First come, first served... only 17 chapters in the book.
Form an orderly line :)
