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In #Room407 today. . .as a last day activity, I pulled picture books specifically for each student and gave them a note card. They wrote the MLA citation of the book and then wrote why they thought I selected the book for them to read. This HAS to be a new tradition for the room.
While I had a sense of why i was choosing the book for the student, it was heart-warming to hear them share out why they thought I chose the book for them. In a way, it was like a self-assessment affirmed by the teacher at the end of the year.
I had them put the MLA citation because I want to give the card back to them a year from now so they will have the beginning of a picture book shopping list from the books that were in the room today. Each Orange 2 student got to hear their peers say something in response.
Among the more affirming were the students who said something like, "Well. . .in my THIS project, I wrote about ________, so you picked this book for me to read." But. . .the one that really got me was the student for whom I had selected @JackieWoodson's THE DAY YOU BEGIN. . .
This young woman said, "I know you picked this book for me because you know that I was adopted and that I sometimes feel different and not so comfortable in my skin." In her written reflection, she wrote, "This book is beautiful. I want to buy a copy for myself after graduation."
Every person in the room affirmed. We repeated the activity with the next group (with five more students). We have plenty of picture books to share in #Room407. If I ever needed a reminder of why we share them in a secondary classroom, it was and will be today.
To watch a student read the brand new book, TODAY I WILL BE FIERCE and recount how she was not "fierce" at the beginning of the year, but she feels she can be now makes me so happy that we added this "girl power" book to our #Room407 collection.
To watch another young woman read the brand new book, YOU ARE THE LIGHT (while holding the book up to the light) and then hear her say, "You picked this book for me because you see a light in me. . ." Yeah, this will bring me back for at least another year.
To watch a young man read I JUST LIKE YOU and reflect upon what he has done (and. . .not done) in the room this year in saying, "At the end of the year, it's not about what didn't happen. It's about the fact that you like me anyway." Yes. THAT is exactly why we picked that book.
@threadreaderapp: Unroll me please so I can share with my teacher friends.
