Stella by Starlight By Sharon M Draper-pdfread.net

8
Go Where I Send Thee
“Well, we have wasted quite enough time with frogs and foolishness,”
Mrs. Grayson said, buttoning up her smiles. “So let’s get started. Most of
you probably have heard this song, but we need to make sure we have the
words and rhythms right. This is for a performance.” She raised an
eyebrow at Claudia. “I trust no other animals shall land in my lap while
we proceed?” Then she sat down at the old piano, and her fingers seemed
to glide over the keys.
Stella grinned as she recognized the tune. She’d learned it when she
was only two or three, sitting on her granny’s lap at church. She suddenly
remembered sliding the thin band of silver—her grandmother’s wedding
ring—up and down her granny’s thin fingers.
Now Mrs. Grayson, pulling the children into the heart of the song,
began to sing. “First verse!” she called out.
“Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
I’m gonna send thee one by one
One was the little bitty baby
Born in Bethlehem.”
“I know this one,” Jojo cried. “It gets longer and longer.”
“And faster and faster!” Henrietta added.
“You should be singing, not talking,” Mrs. Grayson told them, keeping
to the song’s melody as she did so.
“Verse two,” Mrs. Grayson now called out. “As you can see, we are
doing our arithmetic lessons while we sing!”
“Children, go where I send thee