Brandy Barnett

Service Learning
9/21/07 8am-10am

On September 21, 2007 I completed my read aloud assignment at Emerald Shores Elementary School in Mrs. Beach’s first grade class. I chose to read Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek by Eileen Christelow. This is a very cute, lively, and funny story. It also happens to be a favorite of my four year old daughter. I had already previously completed four hours of service learning in Mrs. Beach’s class, so the students were familiar with my presence. I had anticipated that this would be a great time of sharing and learning. I love reading to my children at home. I did not anticipate feeling so nervous when it was time for the big event.
Mrs. Beach instructed the students by their assigned group color to go sit in a corner of the room where she normally does group class activities. I sat in a chair in front of them while they were all seated on the floor. As soon as I introduced myself formally and reminded them of story time etiquette, I was amazed at how a wave of nausea and nervousness swept over me. I remember thinking, “Brandy, you have got to get it together, these are first graders for crying out loud.” I asked them what they thought the book was going to be about based on the cover. Their answers seem to be a distant memory. My fingers fumbled as I opened the book and began to read. My voice quivered as I read the first two pages. During the third page, I invited the children to count along with me in the story. It was at that moment that these children became my four year old little daughter. A feeling of enjoyment and familiarity overflowed. I sailed through the rest of the story as I had done many nights before. The children laughed and participated. They actively searched for the monkeys on every page. I had made a mental note to make sure all the children got to see the pictures. This reminder came as a result of a comment from our read aloud with our peers in the classroom. My southern accent that I gave to the character of Lu Lu made the teacher smile. By the end of the story, I had become somebody the children could identify with, not just a stranger who helps the teacher in the classroom. It has to be one of most memorable experiences in the classroom thus far in my education career.
At the end of the story, I asked where the children like to hide when they play hide and seek at home. I got an overwhelming response of answers. I did notice that once one child said “the toilet”, the next couple of children tried to make a response more inappropriate than that one. After questioning the validity of their answers, the remaining responses were good hiding places. The teacher frowned upon the initiating of the inappropriate responses and made mention of that to the children when I was finished. Mrs. Beach said that I was more than welcome to read a story every Friday if I wanted to. I took a lot of pride in that compliment.