We've had waaaay more snow in Michigan this year than anyone has wanted! Children have been cooped up inside with probably an overload on screen time, so guess how that works out for school time! Needless to say, the students were a little "on the wild side" today, so by the time our first 2 1/2 hours of class time were coming to a close, I was a little leery of how our Writing Workshop would go. But today was a special day; I just didn't realize how special.
Today was our "Museo de libros" (Museum of books). This is part of the Lucy Calkins' curriculum. My first graders have been reading series fiction books, such as Curious George, Froggy, Fly Guy, & Clifford. Using these books as mentor books for how to write a series of fiction books, we set a date for the students to have at least the first book finished. While Lucy talks about students having several books to choose from for publishing, in my Immersion classroom I am pleased when they get 1 book completed in that same amount of time. I announced last Friday that our Museo de libros would be the following Wednesday. This was our second "museo" this year, so they all knew just what to expect.
As we closed out our Guided Reading groups, and independent activities, there was a buzz all over the room. I instructed them to clean off their table tops and get out their fiction book. They quickly got their tabletops in order & looked at me in anticipation of the next step. I handed out sticky notes in a variety of colors, and gave a quick reminder of how to use them. The students were to read their fellow students' books, then leave two sticky notes. The first sticky note they needed to tell the author something they liked about the book. The second sticky note was to leave a question they had for the author, something that would hopefully help the author to see what simple things they could do to make the book even better!
With all the preparations completed I gave the signal to start. The students immediately went to their best friends' seats & settled in to read their special book. As they finished reading, they quickly picked up their pencils & sticky notes to leave a special note to their friend. I loved the hush over the room as the students read & wrote. I was thrilled by the enthusiasm they each displayed as they moved on to the next book. And we spent the next 30 minutes repeating the process. Nobody had to tell them to stay focused; nobody had to tell them to keep their voices down. The cabin fever stress had been channeled into a meaningful activity that they had totally bought into!
Their books were good, great, and even just so-so. But their belief in the process and the affirmation from their peers was priceless! Thanks for the idea, Lucy.
~Sheryl René
