June 12-18, 2016
Read This Alive!
Biblical Text: 2 Chronicles 30:13-27
Guidelines for Individual Playdates
Value of This Activity:
Helps us imagine our way into the scripture by picturing the text as we read it. Improves our overall reading skills. Provides practice for reading the text publicly.
Items Needed:
Bible. A private space where you can read aloud. A recorder or a recording app on your phone could be a nice aid for this activity.
To Begin . . .
Spend a moment in quiet prayer. If you wish, begin by freewriting for 3-5 minutes. Just let the pen empty out your concerns and thanksgiving for the day. Breathe.
How to Play . . .
- Quickly read through 2 Chronicles 30:13-27 silently.
- After reading the text, see if you can imagine the narrative of the text in your mind. Imagine that you were hired to write a children’s picture-book for this narrative. What scenes would you want to draw?
- Now, practice reading 2 Chronicles 30:13-27 out loud, as though you were reading the narrative to a child. Use your voice to make the narrative vivid and interesting. Really imagine that there’s someone (a child?) there with you and she or he is depending our hearing the story through your voice.
- Since the narrative in this text is fairly long, practice reading the first paragraph out loud.
- Read that paragraph out loud two or three times, improving yourself each time you read through it. Practice any place where you tend to stumble. Why do you think you stumble in your reading at that point? Figure out a way to help yourself read it more naturally.
E. B. White tells the story in one of his essays that his college professor, Dr. Strunk (Yes, of Strunk and White), used to tell his students, “If you don’t know how to pronounce a word …”; then he’d lean over the lectern and complete the sentence, “Say it very loudly!” I love that advice.
If there’s a word you don’t know how to say in the text, decide how you’re going to say it—whether it’s right or wrong, it doesn’t matter—and when you come to that word in your reading, say it very loudly. Be Loud and Proud!
- When you’re ready, record yourself reading that paragraph. Now, listen to yourself. Can you improve? Keep reading it until you’re comfortable with your own voice and breath, reading this story to someone who is eager to hear it.
- Practice the next paragraph(s) on other days of this week.
In Closing . . .
Take a moment to breathe and let the playtime settle around you. Carry your curiosity and insights and questions into the day.
Playdate Reference Material:
Things the Body Knows
Guidelines for Individual Playdates
Playdates with Scripture Email ARCHIVES
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