Rainbow Reading Buddies

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My college here has an education department that was conducting this super fun activity. We were going to a primary school for a storytime session. (Does that sound familiar?) So, a bunch of girls and I, along with a professor, went to a nearby primary school, and we were assigned a small group of kids to read to. The previous day, we were asked to pick out a bunch of picture books that we could use to read to those children. I picked out about 8-9 books, as instructed, and put them in a special book bag. 

The kids were so tiny and absolutely adorable. I had three kids in my group: Jeremiah, Zavira, and Armani. They huddled around me, trying to sit close and were very excited about the book I was going to read with them. The first book I read was about animal sounds. I asked the kids to make animal sounds and they obliged. As I turned the page and each animal came up, they interacted with the book by making the sound that the animal did. They tried to imitate me as I made the sounds and they were enthralled by my reading. I noticed all three of them watching me intently, meeting my eyes in turn, watching my hand gestures, and watching my finger as I pointed at each word I read. 

After the first book was over, the kids scrambled to my bag to pick out the next book that they wanted to read. The second book was also about animal sounds. The children guessed what was going to come next before I read it, and I found myself skipping past pages because the kids already knew what was happening. I affirmed their guesses and moved on. 

The third book, which I did not have time to finish, was about stationery. One of the kids was like, "Why does a pen have eyes? It can't see." I had to get into Toy Story as an example and tell him how we were imagining what a pen would do. Before I could really get into the story, it was time to leave. 

Before I left, the kids wanted to give me a goodbye hug. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had and I could not stop smiling. It was just magical and the children loved it too. 

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