VOICES

I walk around the room and hum. “We/are/ ga/ther/ing.” The children stop and listen. They march and follow the Pied Piper leading his young wards to the meeting area in a corner by the room.  I sing, “We are ga-ther-ing, we are ga-ther-ing, we are ga-ther-ing..…”  The children join the chant, from soft to slow then loud to fast we sing BINGO.   

I begin my mini-lesson.   “Last week, we learned the beginning sounds of our names.  Today, we play Beginning Sound Bingo!” My first graders clap and give each other  high-fives. Play!  I explain the game; they squirm on their seats.  “Questions?”  They run to their work tables and find the deck of cards Teacher Steph had arranged in neat rows of threes.  

I show my wonder pouch and pull out a plastic toy.  “C-c-c-car,” I say, exaggerating its first letter.  “Go and find the picture card with the same sound of c-c-car.”  Everyone grabbed a colored chip to hide the picture that matched the beginning sound.  

I take out another toy.  And another.  Again and again and again.  Livie had only one more picture to hide.  Gabby too. Then, someone yells, “BINGO!!!”  Everyone claps.  Laughter erupts.  A loud, long cheer follows.  The girls hug, the boys jump.  

Happens all the time in my class when we play games where everyone wins … and LEARNS.