Nancy, I did have an off limits bookcase in the classroom. These were titles I needed at my fingertips so that I could use them for mini lessons and to teach from in writing workshop. You know how Ray describes reaching into her bag to show a writer a craft? Well, it was my bag and essential to my teaching.
I had paperback versions of nearly all of these in organized bins that were accessible to students (often in pairs for shared reading and doubled enjoyment) and for the rare (out-of-print) books that I could not make available, I used the easel rule. After read aloud or teaching through the text, I would place it on the easel for shared browsing. My only rule was hard and fast, this book had to be back on the easel at the end of workshop. When I was a child, I had parents who encouraged my reading and provided weekly library trips but my dad in particular did not understand my need to own a book. I remember telling him that someday I wanted to live in a house with a library. I saved and saved to buy hardcover books because I wanted them to last forever. When I fell in love with the classics, I bought those fat anthologies of Dickens, Twain, Swift and so on. Hardcover books mean forever to me. These days, as my husband tries to figure out where the next bookcase will go, I am still addicted to books. I want to own them, touch them, smell them and reading is my addiction. My living room has 4 floor to ceiling bookcases, a wall of half cases and another five-foot just given to me as my folks left their home for nursing care. There are bookshelves in the bedroom, and my younger boys both converted their closets to floor to ceiling shelving for mostly books. There are even hanging baskets in the bathroom with magazines and books. My youngest has adopted my habit of reading in the bathtub. Both of them hang on to earlier childhood favorites for their own children, as I did for them. My husband jokes that our house IS a library. Lori On 9/20/08 6:43 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > In a message dated 9/19/2008 8:47:42 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > They will last if it's just you. > My question is, why are the students not allowed to touch the books? I > teach kindergarten and we received a grant for KLP reading 5 years ago. My > classes have handled all the books, 5 copies of 20 titles, both paperback and > hardcover over those 5 years. I have lost 2 books, a title much loved by the > children, during that time. It is important to have copies of the book > readily > available to children after any kind of reading instruction. I guess if you > are that worried about children handling the books, I would suggest you buy a > paperback book for yourself and a hard covered copy for your students to > enjoy. > > Nancy > > > > **************Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financial > challenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tips and > calculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001) > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute July 17-20. 2008 Tucson, Arizona _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
