After our first class of the semester at Good Samaritan Family Resource Center I met Christina in the hallway. She is one of the new teachers in the preschool program upstairs and she was taking her lunchbreak within earshot of our babies' class. She asked about the song I sing to the children as we transition into story time. In English (I sing it bilingually at the Tenderloin Children's Playground) it goes: "Now we're going to read a book, read a book, read a book. Now we're going to read a book, read a book, read a book." It is the same tune used as we transition from free exploration time into circle time singing "Now we're going to sing a song, sing a song..." (etc.) In my four years with The Reading Tree I have learned that having a familiar tune as a signal to transitions is highly effective. The last line of our song, after "...use our eyes..." is "...use our ears..." (or
"vamos a escuchar" in Spanish) - and it is sung in a whisper. It is amazing how well this can quiet a group of toddlers - it is a well known (though often forgotten) secret among teachers - lowering rather than raising our voices to capture the attention of the young ones we teach. It is also great fun and sets the tone for something so special you have whisper about it:
reading a book together! It can be like the smallest treasure held in the palm of your hand - a sunflower seed that will eventually grow into a beautifully tall and strong flower or an apple seed that will eventually grow into a tree to bear fruit of it's own. This is the magic of The Reading Tree. Each book read together can be a magical experience in the form of a seed settling into the fertile soil of memory and giving birth to a love of reading that will open uncounted pathways to future growth.
-Dawn Noelle
