Room To Grow (Frerard) (Completed)

3-Hayley Williams For President

Frank felt almost creepy from the intensity with which he was watching Ms. Way as she flashed her bright smile at the students, her hazel eyes crinkling slightly at the corners as she selected a book to read to them for story time. But every aspect of her was beautifully fluid, from her hand gestures as she explained the focus of the small story book to the varying pitch in her voice as she spoke and slowly began the story, which she said was a Scandinavian folktale.

"This is called 'The Fox As Shepherd,'" she said, and lightly cleared her throat before beginning the story. "Once upon a time there was an old woman who was going out to hire a shepherd," she began, her voice gentle and melodic. Frank relaxed in his chair, feeling himself being slowly lulled by the lilt of her voice with its slight Jersey accent.

The children watched Gee attentively, straining their necks to view the pictures she occasionally showed them. Some of the more restless children (such as Pete) would occasionally shift their weight and maybe fidget with their hands, but the rest of the class was absolutely spellbound by the story and Ms. Way's voice.

Frank found himself forgetting to listen to the actual words and simply focusing on the rhythm of the raven-haired woman's speech. He was coming to the horrifying realization that it had been only a few hours but he had already fallen head over heels for Gee Way. It would have been difficult for him not to.

She drew near the end of the story, a note of finality entering her voice as she concluded, "The old woman was furious at the fox for eating all of her sheep and all of the butter. She took the last bit of cream and flicked it at him, where it landed on the tip of his tail. And that is why foxes have white on the tip of their tails."

Ashley's hand shot up almost immediately after Ms. Way closed the book. "But Ms. Way, that's not true. That's not why foxes have white on their tails."

Ms. Way simply took her student's criticism as an opportunity to teach more. "Well, this story is a folktale. Does anyone know what a folktale is?" The kindergarteners stared at their teacher with blank expressions, and Ms. Way turned her attention to Frank. "Mr. Frank, can you tell us what a folktale is?" she asked, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Well..." Frank said in an attempt at stalling for time. "A folktale is an old story that people tell to each other."

"Yes," Ms. Way exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together. "A folktale is a story passed down orally and may try to explain an occurrence or teach a lesson."

Melanie raised her hand and began to speak when Gee nodded at her. "Why was that fox so mean? He ate all of the sheep, that's not very nice."

Patrick sniffled a little from where he was seated. "I wish the fox didn't do that. It was mean." Frank rolled his eyes and desperately hoped that Patrick didn't start crying again. Luckily, the tiny boy seemed to suppress his sadness at the 'meanness' of the completely fictional fox and instead hummed a content little tune to himself, his head bobbing up and down.

Ms. Way smiled brightly at her class. "It's stations time, guys! Remember, you can play with the crayons, the play-dough, the dolls, the dress-up, the blocks, or the play kitchen. And if any of you argue, you go straight to time out." With a wave of her hand, the children scurried off to their stations.

Gee beckoned Frank towards her. "During stations, you just have to walk around, make sure everyone is playing nicely, occasionally interact with the kids. Stations are more to help them develop social skills so if a minor argument is happening, you can just watch to see how it plays out. Intervene only if someone starts crying or tries to harm another student."

Frank nodded and turned to walk away only for a soft hand to grip his forearm. "I'm not done with you yet," Ms. Way teased with an adorable half smile. "After stations, we divide the class into two groups, the advanced and the normal group. The advanced group can be a little trickier, so you get stuck with the average students today. We're learning sight words today and the lesson plan is fairly simple; you should be able to follow along."