In the book Growing Readers, there is a section of "Readers Build Good Habits." where you teach students how to care for books. You make such a big deal out of books that are left on the floor or placed upside down or if they are abused in any manner. You want kids to care for your books the way you care for your books. This ensures that they will last a long time so others will get to continue to enjoy them. It also instills a lifetime skill of caring for books and other treasured property.
Well, I started calling the kids' books "precious babies." If they are precious and fragile, they should be taken care of so we can enjoy them and have them around for a long time.
This "precious babies principle" is also applied to our small moment stories from Writing Workshop. I want students to put their heart and souls into those stories so we can learn all about them and what they care about. In addition, I want them to care about their stories enough to protect them in their folders and not leave them laying on the floor or a desk and proud enough to write their names and the dates on their stories. (Babies have important meanings in our lives.) Yesterday when one of our students dropped her stories on the ground, one of my students announced that he would "rescue" them for her. We re-enacted what it looked like. There was great laughter all around...but they are beginning to realize how important these works are. Yay!
At first the kids were startled by me calling their books and stories babies....but as they gain a sense of preciousness about their work, they get the why, and I smile.
Have a grand week!
Mrs. Wallace
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