Narnia

Each week this term, I have been reading "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to my grade 11 and 12 classes. This has been a hugely challenging task for them as they try to listen to me read aloud in my American English accent and try to understand a story written by C.S. Lewis in British English. Despite it all, they've done a decent job understanding the basic gist of the story and the main characters. In fact, when many of them see me walking around the school grounds, I can hear them whispering "Narnia!" or calling out "Lucy!," mimicking the way I pronounce these important words in the story. It's endearing and hilarious.

Today was our last reading day and instead of trying to cram one last chapter into their heads in the midst of being bogged down by impending exams, I decided to show them the first part of the Disney movie.

They were elated. To watch a movie during class is certainly a luxury! They all scrambled to the front of the classroom with chairs and desks to sit and stand as close to my little MacBook as possible. Despite the small screen and soft audio, they were rapt. When each character appeared on the screen for the first time, they fondly whispered their name out loud. It was like they were meeting long-lost friends for the very first time. They laughed heartily when they saw the goofy-looking Mr. Tumnus, gasped when the White Witch appeared, and ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the sight of snow.

It was a really special experience to watch their faces as they watched the movie. As I read these chapters three times each week (I feel like I could almost recite it these days), I constantly envision the characters and scenes from the movie. I hope the viewing today brings the story to life in their imaginations and helps them continue to understand it better.

And props to Disney for following the book so closely, at least during the first six chapters. The movie really is so magical and was quite the second-to-last-day-of-classes treat!