“Any book you pick up, if it’s good, is a printed circuit for your life to flow through – so when you read a book, you are engaged in the events of the mind of the writer. You are bringing your own creative faculties into sync. You’re imagining the words, the sounds of the words, and you are thinking of the various characters in terms of people you’ve known – not in terms of the writers experience, but your own.” ( E.L Doctorow in Plimpton 1988 as quoted on Harvey p.13).

With my fifth graders at William D'Abate I designed a take home a project for Rhode Island author Chris Van Alsberg's book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Students took home the text as part of a dual language family book bag project. This magical text displays fourteen luminous illustrations that have no stories, only the titles of stories. I asked my students to create their own stories for the illustrations at home with their families. The next day, when they brought the book bag back, students shared their invented tales in front of the class. After all members of the class had shared their imagined stories (this took about a month) we began the rotation again with Book Commercials. In a book commercial, each student shares his or her favorite book with the class. Then they pass it around. This alows for students to get to know eachother better while also fostering a deep appreciation for literacy. Beginning each day with a student share is an integral part of my classroom practice. Asking for the class to begin by giving respect to fellow students sets the tone for the whole day. Prioritizing student shares also sends the implicit message that we can all learn from each other. Each member of the group is invited to lead and share ideas on a rotating basis.

Harvey, S. and Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies That Work, 2nd Ed. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.Intro & Chapters 1-2