A Word of Welsh: read-along
A Word of Welsh as a read-along for the projector: 16 pages, 1931 words, level 12, grade 7.
Page 1 of 16
In this house Welsh was what people spoke when they were being themselves, and English was a coat that Gwen handed over at the door, and the coat was for Joan. The first thing Gwen Pritchard said to Joan Parker was in English: "You are in the back bedroom, and you are not to touch my books." The second thing she said was in Welsh, to her mother, in a bright, rapid stream like water running over stones, and her mother laughed and replied, "Gwen, be kind." From that moment Joan understood the rules of Tŷ Uchaf. It was October of 1940, and she was eleven and two hundred miles from London, with a gas mask in a cardboard box and a label tied to her coat.
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page, three questions come up to talk about.
About this book
- Level 12, Grade 7
- 16 pages, 1931 words, about 14 minutes aloud
- A story, gentle
Related
About A Word of Welsh
In 1940 Joan Parker is sent from London to a Welsh hill farm, where her host's daughter speaks Welsh to everyone but her. When a storm cuts the telephone line and an old neighbor falls ill, the two girls must carry a message across the hill in the dark.
Words to preview
- wireless (WYR-less)
- radio set
- blackout (BLAK-owt)
- no lights allowed
- chapel (CHAP-ul)
- small church
- stile (STYLE)
- steps over wall
- frantic (FRAN-tik)
- wildly upset
- paraffin (PAIR-uh-fin)
- lamp oil
Questions that fit any book
- What happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end?
- Which page was your favorite? Why?
- How did the main character feel at the end? What tells you?
Questions
How long does A Word of Welsh take to read aloud?
It has 16 pages and 1931 words, so about 14 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is A Word of Welsh?
Level 12, Grade 7. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; level 12 sits at grade 7. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Where does this book come from?
It was written for Peabody's library. It is not copied from a published book.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.