Latest / Children's Hour / 8.23.25 - Part 1

Transcript

8.23.25 - Part 1 · Children's Hour

0:01
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Raiway's Charn's Story Hour. As a
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reminder of RAI is a reading service intended for people
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who are blind or have other disabilities that make it
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difficult to reprint material. Today we will be reading from
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various books on school. Your reader today is Diane. We
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will begin with the book Back to School, Mallory. It
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was published by Darby Creek, a division of Learner Publishing Group,
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has a copyright year of two thousand and four, and
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it was written by Laurie Friedman. A word from Mallory.
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My name is Malory McDonald, like the restaurant, but no relation.
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Age eight and almost three fourths. Until two months ago,
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my life was perfect. Nothing awful had ever happened to
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me until my parents made me move to new Town.
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I had to get used to a new house, a
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new room, and worst of all, a new best friend.
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Was really, really, really hard. Now my parents want me
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to start third grade at a new school, and guess
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what they want me to bring with me? My mom.
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When I found out she was hired to be the
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new music teacher at Fernfalls Elementary, I had what Dad
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calls a Mallory meltdown. It sounds like ice cream Sunday,
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but trust me, it's not. Mom can't go to school
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with me, I screamed. Kids take notebooks and pencils and
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rulers an erasers to school, but they don't take their moms.
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Mom looked at me calmly. Some kids do, but I
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don't want to be one of them. I stamped my
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feet and shook my head. It's hard enough being the
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new kid. I don't want to be the new kid
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who brings her mom with her. Mom just looked at
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me and shook her head. Please, I baked. Can't we
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at least talk about it, Mallory. Mom said, there's nothing
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to talk about. Come Monday morning, you and I are
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going to fern Falls Elementary together. And that's when I
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got a feeling. A take my mom to school with
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me doesn't seem like a good way to start third
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grade feeling. I'm sunk, I'm doomed, I'm dead meat, and
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I haven't even started school yet. A bad start. Someone
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sits down on my bed and rubs my back. Guess
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who says a voice? Even though I'm covered with covers.
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I don't have to guess. I know it's Mom. She
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tickles my back rise and shine, sleepyhead. Summer vacations officially over.
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Then she whispers in my ear, I have a back
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to school surprise for you. I'm making chocolate chip pancakes.
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Your favorite. Mom always has surprise for me on the
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first day of school. I think she thinks that's what
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it takes to get me excited about going back to school.
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I usually am excited, but today is different. I have
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a surprise for you too, I tell Mom, I just
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took my hand out of the covers. In hand her
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a sheet of paper read, I say. Is quiet for
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a minute, and then she clears her throat and starts reading.
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Ten reasons why I, Mallory McDonald cannot go to school today.
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Reason number one there are lots of germs at school.
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I could get sick. Reason number two. The water fountain
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might explode and I could get wet. Reason number three,
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a big, fat, mean, ugly fifth grader might step on
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my toe and crush it. Reason number four, I could
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get food poisoning if I eat lunch in the cafeteria.
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Reason number five it might snow and school would be
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canceled anyway. Reason number six, MIX would like it better
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if I stayed home, and so would cheeseburger. Who will
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be one very very very lonely cat without me. Reason
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number seven. Someone should be home in case we get
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a delivery. Reason number eight. If I stay home, I
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will break the front yard, I promise. Reason number nine.
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I'm pretty smart and probably don't need to go to
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third grade. Reason number ten. Even if I do, I
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want to be homeschooled. Mom sighs Mallory. Going to a
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new school is scary, and I know you're not happy
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I'm going with you. But if you'll give it a chance,
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I'm sure everything will work out fine. She rubs my
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bike through the covers. You'll get used to the new school,
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and before you know it, you'll forget all about your
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old school. Drink, I make a sound like a buzzer
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going off in a game show when the person on
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stage gets the answer wrong. I'll never forget about my
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old school or my old best friend, Mary Anne. She
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has Missus Thompson this year. Missus Thompson is the nicest
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third grade teacher on the planet. She keeps a candy
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jar on her desk with a note tape to it.
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Take one if you're having a bad day. Marian Anne
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and I have been waiting since kindergarten to have her,
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and now Marianne has her without me. It's not fair.
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I pull my blanket in a around me. Mom tries
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to pull the covers off of me. Come on, Mallory,
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we both have to go to school. What do you
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say we start the year off right by being on
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time the first day. There's only one thing I have
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to say. I'm not going to school today. Mom stops
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pulling sweet potato. I'm sure with missus Daily as your teacher,
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today will be a good day. Mom chuckles. In fact,
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I think with missus daily good things will happen on
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a daily basis. Get the joke, missus daily daily basis.
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I get it and I love jokes. But lately I
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haven't been in the mood. I don't move. Come on,
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says mom. Joey's in your class. There's another good thing.
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I'm happy Joey's in my class. We've had a lot
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of fun since I moved in next door to him,
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But I wish he could be in my class in
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my old school, not in a news school. Mom pats
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my covered up head. Five minutes She says in her
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I mean business voice. I don't want your back to
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school surprise to get cold. Okay, okay, I mumble. When
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mom leaves, I tumble out of bed and head for
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my bathroom. Then when I look in the mirror, I
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get another surprise. This surprise is purple and glittery, and
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it's all over my face. I rub the sleepies out
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of my eyes and put my face up to the
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mirror for a closer look. Do I have chicken pox? No,
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I have purple glitter pocks. I feel my head to
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see if I have a fever, and that's when I
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see the problem. My fingernails. I polished them last night
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with purple glitter polish. Marianne gave me purple glitter polishes
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everywhere except on my nails. I must have fallen asleep
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on my hands, but for my nails were dry. I
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can't go to school like this. I race up the
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stairs to mom's bathroom to get the polish remover. I
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pull bottles and jars out of her cabinet. I find
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the bottle I'm looking for, but it's empty. What am
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I going to do? I try rubbing my purple glitter
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pox off. I try scubbing my purple glitter pox off.
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I even put my face in the bathroom sink and
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try soaking my purple glitter pox off. Now my face
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is red and blotchy and purple and glittery. I can
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just see my third grade scrap book. The first picture
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in it won't be pretty. Mallorie. Hurry up, Mom calls
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from the kitchen. You don't want to be late for
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your first day of school. Actually I do. I would
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love to be late a whole year late. I pull
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on capris and my best purple T shirt. What am
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I going to do? Then? I know, I know exactly
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what I'm going to do. I search through my closet
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until I find my ski mask. I pull it on
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and look in the mirror. Not bad. All you can
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see are my eyes, my nose, and mouth. I will
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be the mystery girl of third grade, Mallorie. I pull
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my ski mask down a little further in head to
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the kitchen. I sit down at the table and take
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in fite of pancakes. Mmmm. My brother Mix looks at
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me like someone told a joke and he's the only
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one who didn't get it. Why are you wearing a
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ski mask? It's a news style. I take another bite
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a lot of third graders are doing it. Mix grabs
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my mask none that I know. I try to keep
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my mask on, but Mix is too fast. He stares
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my face like he's just seeing two headed zebra. Mom.
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Dad look at Mallory. Mom drops her fork. Dad puts
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his newspaper down. Now I know how the monkey's at
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the zoo must fill. Everyone is staring at me. We
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have to go to the drug store before school starts
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and buy some polished remover. Mom shakes her head. We
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don't have time to go to the store before school.
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I pull my ski mask back on. I can't go
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to school with purple dots on my face. Mix yanks
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it off. She can't go to school with the ski
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mask on either. Mom inspects my face. It's not that bad.
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You're going to school in this gee mask is staying home.
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That's final. She picks up her notebook. School is waiting.
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Not so fast, says Dad. He pulls a camera out
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of a drawer. Time from McDonald's family Back to school picture.
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Mike's grown. Dad, not this year for once, I agree
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with Mike. Dad shakes his head. It's tradition. Mike's Mallory
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over by the piano Sherry, you two, After all, you're
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going back to school too. Mom puts her arms around
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Mix and me. Smile, says Dad. He snaps our picture.
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But as I follow Mom out the door, all I
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can think is that I don't have much to smile about.
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This day will go down as one of the worst ever.
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There will even be pictures to remind me of my
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horrible start to third grade. Next Door, Joey has his
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dog Murphy are waiting for us in his front yard.
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Joey's sister Winnie, and instead mister Winston and his grandpa
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are there too. What happened to you? When he looks
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at me like I'm contagious, you don't want to know.
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I'm mumble. Joey stays my face like he's trying to
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figure out a tricky problem in math. I have a
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ski mask if you want to borrow it. Mike's laughs
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and tells Joey I don't need a ski mask. Joey shrugs.
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At least your face matches your shirt and your backpack.
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Everyone will know what your favorite color is as soon
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as they meet you. Joey's dad smiles, an excellent way
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of looking at things. Mom starts down the sidewalk. We're
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off to school, she says. Winnie and Mix follow mom.
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Joey pats Murphy's head and falls in line. We're off
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to school. I follow Joey. We're off, I mumble. But
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there's only one thing that I'm off to a bad start,
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hide and peak. There are lots of things I can't
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do with my head inside my backpack, like find the
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way to my classroom. Even though Joey is guiding me
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through the maze of feet and stray notebooks. I have
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to work hard not to trip. Joey stops. There's a
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sign on the door. He reads out loud, Missus Daily,
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Room three ten, Welcome to third grade. I can't believe
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I'm starting third grade in hiding, but I can just
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imagine what kids would say if they could see my face.
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Check out the new kid. What's with the purple dots?
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Where she's from? Jupiter? I don't want anybody to think
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I'm from another planet. My head's in sudden my backpack,
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and that's where it's staying. Good morning, class, says missus Daly.
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Please find the desk where they're name tag on it
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and take a seat. I move my backpack just a
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little so I can find the desk with Mallory McDonald's sticker.
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When I stick my name tag on my T shirt,
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it goes on mopsided. I sit down and peek at
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the girl in the chair next to me. She has
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on a rainbow T shirt, matching glasses and a perfectly
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straightening tag. I wish Joy was in the chair next
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to me, but his desk is across the room, next
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to another boy. I try to get his attention, but
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he doesn't see me. He's busy talking to the boy
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in the desk next to him. Missus Daily taps a
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little green plastic frog on her desk. It croaks and
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everyone stops talking. Missus Daily smiles and picks up the frog.
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Class this is Chester, and when he opens his mouth,
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you will know it's time to close yours. Great Marianne's
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teacher keeps king on her desk. Mine has a croaking frog.
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Missus Daily keeps smiling. The seat you're sitting in will
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be yours for the year. But so I'll take him
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in and introduce ourselves to our desk mates. The girl
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on the rainbow T shirt knocks on my backpack. Anybody home,
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Mallory McDonald like the restaurant, but no relation. My desk
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mate leans over and peeks inside my backpack. Pamela brooks,
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why are you wearing a backpack on your head on
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the first day of school? I pull my head out
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of my backpack, so pamlic and see my purple glitter pops.
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She studies my face like she's a doctor and I'm
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getting a checkup. You look better without the backpack, I
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hope Pamela's right. I slide my backpack under my desk.
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Oh clay, class, said Missus Daly. Now that we know
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our desk mates, let's get to know each other. When
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it's your turn, please say your name and share something
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about yourself with the class. Who would like to start?
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Pamela raises her hand. Missus Daly checks her seating chart.
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Thank you for volunteering, Pamela. Pamela stands up. Hi, everybody,
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my name is Pamela Brooks. I want to be a
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famous journalist when I grow up. You're in the right classroom,
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Missus Daly smiles. We'll be doing a lot of writing
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this year. Our class is in charge of the school newspaper.
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Missus Daily checks her seating chart. Mallory, you're next. I
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stand up. My name is Mallory McDonald. She likes purple,
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says the voice. There's giggling all around me. I feel
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like I need to save My face is purple. The
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problem is I don't want to say why it's really purple.
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Marianne would say this calls for some creative sharing. I
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cleared my throat this morning. I was polishing my cat's
14:14
toenails when she started jumping all over the place. I
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moved my arms around to show what a wild jumping
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cat looks like. When I tried to calm her down,
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I got polished all over my face. I turned around
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in the circle so everyone can see my purple dots.
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I didn't want to be late on the first day
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of school, so I had to leave it on. There's
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more giggling. Missus daily tabs Chester's head class. That's enough.
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Mallory moved here this summer and brought someone special to
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school with her. Mallori, why don't you tell the class
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who is in your family? Who in your family is
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part of Fern Falls Elementary? My mother is the new
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music teacher, I mumble. Missus McDonald has some wonderful plans
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for music this year, says miss Daily. You'll hear more
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when you meet Missus and Donald later this week. Everybody
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stares at me. I wonder if this is how it's
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going to be all year. Mallory McDonald, daughter of the
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music teacher. I try to pay attention while Missus Daly
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continues with the introductions. Zike likes tomato sandwiches. Anna went
15:19
to school in South Africa for a year. Sammy hates
15:22
being the oldest because he gets blamed for everything. Emma
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collects rubber bands, glow rocks and newspaper. Grace collects shoes.
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I try to remember who likes tomato sandwiches and who
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collects the used paper, but my mind keeps thinking about
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my face and my mom. Missus Daily calls on two
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girls who are desk mates. Danielle and Ariel are virgos
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and best friends. They're lucky, they're best friends and they
15:49
are desk mates. I wonder who mary An's mate is
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this year. I wonder if they'll become best friends. Missus
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Daily calls on Joey. I like skateboarding soccer, says Joey.
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His death mate is Pete. I like skateboarding and soccer too,
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says Pete. When Pete sits down, he and Joey high
16:08
five each other. Looks like Joey likes his desk mate. Nicholas, Brittany, Evan, April,
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Don and Jackson introduce themselves. There are lots of names
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to remember. Missus Daly spends the rest of the morning
16:21
telling us about some of the units we'll be studying.
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The year bears Pilgrims the United States of America. When
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the lunch bell rings, we line up and follow Missus
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Day to the cafeteria. Someone behind me groans, I think
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it's worth too old to have a line up behind
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the teacher and walk to the cafeteria groom. But I'm
16:41
glad we do. I have no idea where the cafeteria
16:45
is at this school. My old school, I knew where
16:47
everything was, I knew what to do. I even knew
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who to sit with at lunch at this school, I
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have no idea. When I get inside the cafeteria, I
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sit down next to Joey Boy's table. He shrugs his shoulder. Sorry,
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I can't believe Joey doesn't want to eat lunch with me.
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Friends are supposed to eat lunch with friends. I always
17:09
ate lunch with Mary Anne. I pick up my lunch
17:11
bag and go sit the table with the girls from
17:13
my class, but I feel like I should call it.
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I don't have anybody to talk to because everybody is
17:19
already talking to somebody else's table. I unrap my sandwich
17:23
and take a bite, but when I do, I taste
17:25
something awful, tuna fish. Mike's always get tuna fish and
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I always get peanut butter and marshmallow. Mom gave me
17:33
the wrong sandwich on the first day of school. Took
17:37
another bite of tuna fish and gag. I'm not sure
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if it's the tuna fish or every single thing about
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this day, but I'm starting to feel sick. After lunch.
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Missus Daily gives us our first spelling list elbow, groans, shadows, bulldozer, coasts, loan,
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cobra over. I wish a bulldozer would run over me.
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Two hours and forty nine minutes until I'll be through
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with this day class. Missus Daily says, we have a
18:08
lot to look forward to this week. Tuesdays will be
18:10
our days, so tomorrow you'll have your first hour class.
18:14
On Wednesdays, you'll have pe in on Thursday's music. This Thursday,
18:18
you'll meet Missus McDonald. Missus Daily says, this Thursday, you'll
18:23
meet Missus McDonald. Everyone turns around and looks at me.
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I groan. I wish I could run. I wish I
18:29
could hide. I wish I could be anywhere but here
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right now, even Jupiter singing the blues. I'm on a
18:38
mission a Thursday morning, make a wish before school mission.
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I live on a street called Wish Pond Road. There's
18:45
a real wish pond on my street. I can throw
18:47
stones into it and make all the wishes I want.
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When I moved to Wish Pond Road, Joey told me
18:54
that the shiny black stones are wish pebbles. He said,
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if you find one, your wish will come true. The
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only problem is that wish pebbles are hard to find.
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I pick up a plain white rock and throw it
19:06
into the water. I wish everybody would like my mom
19:10
when they need her today. I wish the pond water
19:13
ripple where I threw in the stone. I think back
19:16
to Tuesday when we had art with Missus Pearl. We're
19:19
going to have so much fun in art this year,
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she said. She told us that as third graders, we'll
19:25
be studying lots of different kinds of art. Then she
19:27
wrote the word expressionism on the board and explained what
19:31
it meant. Expressionism is a type of art where the
19:35
artist paints what he's really feeling inside, not necessarily what
19:40
things really look like in the outside world. Missus Pearl
19:44
held up a picture of some flowers. This is a
19:46
painting called some Flowers by a famous expressionist artist named
19:51
Vincent van Go. Missus Pearl passed out paper and showed
19:55
us how to sketch flowers. She said, we'd be talking
19:58
a lot about expressing ourselves through our artwork. Isn't missus
20:03
Pearl nice? Pamela said as we walked back to Room
20:06
three ten, I throw another rock into the water. Pamela
20:10
was right, Missus Pearl is nice. On Wednesday, we had
20:13
pee with Coach Kelly. When we got to the field,
20:16
Coach Kelly blew his whistle. No time like the present
20:19
to get in shape. We lined up and did stretches
20:22
and jumping jacks. You look like a bunch of professional athletes,
20:26
said Coach Kelly. Then he told us we were in
20:29
training to run the mile. We ran laps around the
20:32
track He high fived everybody as we passed him. Isn't
20:37
Coach Kelly cool? Joey whispered to me. I throw another
20:41
rock in the wishpond. Everybody likes missus Pearl and Coach Kelly.
20:45
I hope whenever everybody meets my mom today, they'll feel
20:48
the same way about her. Mallory, Mom calls my name
20:52
from down the street. As I walk home, I think
20:54
about what Mom said last night. She promised me she
20:57
would do her best to be my mom at home
21:00
and my music teacher at school. But Mike's told me
21:03
I shouldn't count on that promise. Mallori, Mom is the
21:06
music teacher. You're going to have to face the music.
21:09
He laughed like crazy. Keep the joke. I got it.
21:13
Even though Mike said he doesn't see what the big
21:15
deal is about Mom teaching Earth school, to me is
21:19
a very big deal till today. I'm doing everything I
21:22
can to make sure there's nothing to laugh about when
21:25
the fern falls elementary third graders meet my mom, I
21:29
may wishes at the pond. I'm wearing my four leaf
21:31
clover clover charm bracelet. I have on my lucky leopard socks,
21:36
even though they're making the walk to school a hot
21:39
and itchy one. Earth to Mallory, says Joey. As we
21:42
follow my mom to school. Huh, I've been down to
21:46
scratch my ankle. We're halfway to school, says Joey, and
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you haven't said a word. I slowed down, so mom
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came here when I'm about to say, I'm a little
21:55
worried about everyone meeting my mom. How bad can it be,
21:58
asked Joey. That's just it. I don't know how bad
22:01
it can be. I tried to talk to mom last
22:04
night about being nice like Missus Pearl or cool like
22:07
Coach Kelly, but I don't think she was listening. I
22:11
think about Van Go. I wonder if he ever tried
22:14
to express himself and nobody listened. I wonder if his
22:17
mother was a teacher at his school. As we walk
22:20
into our classroom, Missus Daly tells everyone to take a seat.
22:24
We have a busy day, she says. First we save
22:27
the Pledge of Allegiance. Then Missus Daly passes out our
22:31
vocabulary worksheets. If you don't know what any of the
22:34
words mean, you can look them up in the dictionary
22:36
in the back of the room. One of our words
22:39
is nervous. I don't need a dictionary to know what
22:42
nervous means. Class says Missus Daly. When we're done with
22:46
our worksheets, I'm going to walk you down to the
22:48
music room. Now you're going to meet missus McDonald. Please
22:52
show her how well behaved for and falls elementary third
22:55
graders are. Does anybody have any questions before we go?
22:59
I do? Can we learn long division instead? I can't
23:02
wait to meet your mom, Pamela whispers in my ear.
23:06
We walk into the music room, Mom tells everyone to
23:08
take a seat. Good morning, class, Mom smiles, Welcome to music.
23:13
I'm missus McDonald. But when Mom says missus McDonald, everyone
23:17
turns around and looks at me. I wish I could
23:19
hie my head inside of a Psalm book. We're going
23:21
to have a lot of fun of music this year,
23:23
Mom says. We'll be putting on a special show at
23:26
the end of October called Fall Festival. Mom pauses. I
23:30
think she's waiting for everyone to clap or cheer. They
23:33
might have clapped if she said We're going to have
23:36
a lot of fun of music this year. We're going
23:38
to a special concert for kids. It will be an
23:41
all day fild trip with pizza and ice cream. But
23:44
that's not what she said. I think about how things
23:46
used to be before we moved to Fern Falls. Mom
23:49
gave piano lessons at home, even though I had to
23:52
walk around with cotton balls in my ears. I wish
23:55
things were the way they used to be. We're going
23:58
to start the year off singing America, says Mom. I
24:01
want you to really think about what you're singing. Then
24:04
she says the words really slowly, like she's talking to
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a room full of two year olds. My country tis
24:12
of the sweet, land of liberty, of thee. I sing
24:18
land where my father's died, Land of the pilgrim's pride,
24:23
from every mountain side, let free, dumb ring. She asks
24:29
everybody to focus on the song and repeat the words
24:32
with her. I try to focus on My country tis
24:35
of thee, But the words my mom embarrasses me. Just
24:39
keep popping into my head. We will come back to
24:44
this book next time. So this concludes our children's story.
24:47
I are for today. Please join us next time as
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we will read more stories, fables and fairy tales. Thank
24:54
you for listening, and please stay tuned for the lexting
24:57
Herald Leader on Radio I