Now that you have taken the time to go through all of your closets, and attics and basements and anywhere else you could find items for your Bio Book Bags, what does this collection say about you as a reader? As a writer?Choose one of the items from your bag and do a quick write on it...right here on the computer...right NOW!
This is not something you have to draft and revise, just let your thoughts flow as you explore the corners of your mind to discover how this item influenced you and who you are today in terms of attitude, your teaching, your likes and dislikes. Have some fun with this. Here is mine as a model.
My Winnie the Pooh cookbook makes me think of my Nana. Nana was the one person in my life who really saw me as her "favorite". How do I know this? I know this because of the way I felt when I was with her. She listened to me and really heard what I was saying about what I liked and what I didn't like. Her gifts, which include this cookbook and my Raggedy Ann and Andy chalk board, were gifts that "showed" how she knew me in a way nobody else seemed to. Somehow she knew that I loved to bake and that this cookbook would be something I would always treasure. The chalkboard was something that validated my desire to one day be a teacher, but it was even more than that because at that time in my life I was an avid collector of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Anything with Raggedies on them...I HAD to have!It was not just the gifts, but the fact that she really listened to me and would take the time to hear what I had to say. This meant the world to me and now that I think about it, that is one of the things that I carry with me as an educator...a teacher...a mom. To listen, to really listen when someone is talking shows that they matter. It shows that their thinking, their thoughts, and their ideas count. Yes, that is what my Nana showed me. She showed me the power of someone hearing you out and truly listening to what is in your heart.
That is my quick write. Notice how I get "off track" a little bit. THAT is what a quick write is! Just start writing and see where it takes you. I had NO idea that was where I was going. Quick writes ask us to follow our stream of consciousness...to make connections where there might have been none. It is a way for us to discover what it is that we did not know before.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am listening to Bruce Springsteen at the Superbowl as I think about this blog. He looks pretty good! Anyhow, I have my bag somewhat ready. It's very full, so I think I'll have to weed out some of the books. One book that I've kept all these years is a book from my very proper, librarian Aunt Chrissy. She brought the book home for me because it's a book about cat name Gigi! The book is called Three to Get Ready. As you can imagine, as a first or second grader, I was pretty thrilled about that story. There were seven kids in my family and it wasn't often that we got gifts, other than birthday or the holidays. That book began a relationship between my aunt and me that was special. She realized that I loved to read and encouraged my doing so by supplying books. She was a tough cookie; very proper and hard to please, so reading became a way to connect with her. Chrissy was one of my mother's six sisters. All of those sisters loved to read and as I grew up they supplied me with other books, too. But Chrissy was the one who started me off as a reader.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite items in my bio book bag is a copy of an Ameilia Bedelia book. It's one of the first books I remember being able to read. I remember sitting on the floor of my parent's bedroom and reading to my mom. I thought Ameilia was the funniest woman and I always felt so bad for her when she got things wrong. I always wished that I could jump into the book and make things right for her before she got in trouble.
ReplyDeleteThose books were probably the first series of books that I was interested in. I always knew that if I couldn't find anything else at the library that I wanted to read, I would always like Ameilia books.
I also always enjoyed the time I spent reading with my mom. She seemed to genuinely enjoy reading with me and seeing how humorous I found the books to be. Looking back now, I know my parents were trying to show me the importance they felt that education played in our lives. I knew that reading was important and I cherished that special time.
The book also gave me a huge sense of accomplishment because my brother and sister were older than me and could already read well. I liked showing my entire family that I had finally learned how to do something that was so important.
My mom couldn't find alot of my childhood things, so my bag is a little skimpy. One book I did put in their was a copy of one of the many Babysitter's Club Series books. I loved these books as a young girl. My mom tried to get me into the Nancy Drew books, but Claudia and Cynthia in these books just hooked me. I liked them for so many reasons, but I think most of all because I could relate to them. They were about young girls, and deep down I always longed for a group of close girl friends like the girls in the babysitter's club. I wished I could start a club and just have a support system of friends like these girls had. They also talked about issues I could relate too: school, boys, summer fun. I was hooked to them. Looking back, I know that I chose those books because they were more of an easy read. Reading never came easy to me. I was slow, I often had to reread pages, and I never had a lot of confidence in myself as a reader. These books gave me confidence and reassured me that I could read.
ReplyDeleteI'm holding my copy of The Phantom Tollbooth.It's signed "To Lisa" With Love! "Sharon".Sharon who rode bikes with me to the library on many a day or walked downtown with me and who also shared all my math classes and indeed helped me survive math. (especially calculus, yuck!) It was in a math class that our teacher Mr. Kent introduced us to this fantastic and also mathematical tale. We read it and dissected it and enjoyed it....and Sharon knew I would love my own copy. I've kept it carefully all these years. I've also found copies of school projects we did together...we were pretty much inseparable and worked so well together. When we were even younger we created pretend fairy worlds in the woods and made up stories about them. So Sharon has been there right along sharing my enthusiasm for reading and writing. And getting me to take chances. She was creative and full of schemes and adventures. In this book the characters travel through the sea of knowledge, the foothills of confusion,and the mountains of ignorance and I guess I've been there and back with Sharon as we grew. Sharon survived a brain tumor last year, and she lost at least 6 years of her memory...but I think she would remember this book and those fun middle school days we had. When I talk to her these days, her voice is full of fun and life.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite items in my Biobag is my Family Christmas Book. It isn't so much something that reminds me of a time that I learned to read and write but of enjoying the process while reading and writing about the years that have passed so quickly as a wife and mother. My book was purchased from one of the many catalogues that I receive each year, most that get tossed in the trash. But something struck me about the chance to preserve our family holidays and it has become a treasure that I will pass along to my children (whether they want it or not!) My recordings begin in 1985, the year my son was born, the year we moved into a new house and the year we had our first Christmas at home instead of travelling. I often take it off the shelf where it sits from January to November to read and reminisce. I have yearly pictures of the kids on the cards we sent, chronicled highlights (and lowlights)of each year, menus from each Christmas Eve, and the letters to Santa that the kids wrote and my Dad answered. It is like a snapshot of us as the years have passed. Each year I look forward to writing in it and I spend days thinking about it before I actually commit. I realized this year that there is only one year left in the book. It makes me sad. But I am also grateful each time I read it for the life we have had and the memories we have made. This book like no other defines me as a writer but also as the person I have been for the past 24 years.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things in my bio bag is a blue mask. It reminds me of a funny thing that happened to me when I was a kid. I was always a reader. I read a lot! One day my brothers and sisters were teasing me. I had been walking around the house talking with an English accent! I hadn't realized I was even doing that. It was because I was talking the way the character in my book was talking. I had so gotten into the character!
ReplyDeleteLike wearing a mask, a book allows you to be anyone, do anything, face anything.
I used to have students read the Newbery Award winners. I really felt like kids could use these books to handle things happening in their daily lives. I wanted them to know a book could help. Now, I stay away from the Newbery winners. The subjects are so heavy, and the character may "get through" what is going on around them, but they seemed scared. It isn't the happy endings of my youth. This I am sure reflects what kinds of things are happening in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in the world around us. But, I want students to read books that empower, excite and create a desire to know or do more. The book stills creates that mask for the reader, I want them to want to learn, see, travel and desire more!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fondest memories growing up was having my very own subsription to "Highlight for Children". I so looked forward to that magazine every month! I didn't know what was more of a thrill, the magazine or getting something in the mail! But I do remember laying on my bed and reading cover to cover. It was fun reading that kept my interest for hours. Some of my favorite readings were, Goofus and Gallant, The Timbertoes, hidden pictures, picture, puzzler, Your Own Pages (a collection of poems and artwork from kids), crafts, and riddles and jokes. I also enjoyed ,very much, the short stories. They were not only interesting but I learned from them as well. I trully believe this magazine started me to really enjoy reading and that reading can be fun!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books in my bag is Are You My Mother? It was my oldest daughter's favorite book when she was little. We would spend countless hours reading it over and over again. In fact that is the book she was first able to read when she was 4 years old. Every time I see that book I think of how wonderful those years were when she was first learning how to read and the excitement in her eyes whenever she would pick up a book. In fact she would choose reading a book over playing with toys!!! When her younger sister was born she carried on the tradition of reading Are You My Mother to her and it soon became my younger daughter's favorite book, too!
ReplyDeleteI have two books in my bag that I think of immediately when I was younger. One brings back good memories and the other brings up bad memories. The first book is Caps For Sale. I clearly remember this book being read to me. I’m not sure by who or when. All I know is that I loved how orderly he was with his hats. They sat so nicely on his head . I didn’t mind the part about the monkeys because once he yelled at them he put his hats back on in an orderly way. The other book is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Again, I don’t know who read it to me or when it was read to me, but I know I hated it. I thought it was so sad when he turned into a rock. It gave me the creeps. I always pictured that happening to me and how claustrophobic I would be if I had to be a rock and couldn’t change back. I guess I made a lot connections with the books I was read to when I was young. I felt very strongly about the books I read too. I either loved the story or hated it. There was really no in between. I don’t remember being read to, but I do have a love of reading, even though I was only in the Kick Up Your Heels reading group in second grade.
ReplyDeleteI have put the book, My Sister's Keeper in my bio bag. I read this book a few years ago and it struck a cord in me for so many reasons. It was one of the first books that "welcomed me back" to the world of reading as an adult. I went from 6 years of teaching right into 6+ years of parenting without picking up a book I would have categorized as pleasure reading. We've all been there...the endless hours of professional reading that while interesting and useful, is not always exactly pleasurable. With parenting, came more reading for the purpose of learning...how to nurse the baby, get the baby to sleep, survive the baby, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like just in the last few years that I have been able to read again just for pleasure, books of my choice or those recommended by friends. My Sister's Keeper came recommended by a friend and was one of the most recent books I have read that made me feel I NEEDED to talk it over with others. So well written and thought provoking with an amazing ending...this is the stuff that book clubs are made for. I connected to it for so many reasons, but mostly b/c it was a welcome home of sorts.
Little Women is a favorite in my book bag. Just holding it brings me a calm and peaceful, nostalgic feeling. I got my copy when I was 10 years old and it was a signal to me that I was becoming a "real reader", worthy of a big, classic book like this. I remember being a little in awe of the sheer weight of the book and that reading it took some effort, as I tried to understand the language and the setting in the story. When I finished it, I started over again, almost immediately. I read it several times through my teens - always reading every page and savoring every word. It was always on my bedside table and it became a comforter - I would pick it up and read a chapter when I was stressed or upset or couldn't sleep or just needed to escape to a familiar, comfortable place. This book taught me how powerful reading could be and that a book was so much more than printed pages. This was where my real love of reading truly began. To this day, I love everything about a good book and treasure the (rare) time I have for reading for pleasure.
ReplyDeleteIncluded amongst my literacy treasures are my letters from my father when he was in the Viet Nam War. Back then, I can recall being called to the kitchen with all of my brothers and sisters when the large envelope with Daddy's letters had arrived. This envelope was heavily taped shut and had lots of stamps on it. It was too large to fit in the mailbox outside, so the mailman would knock on the kitchen door and deliver it to my mother in person. My mother would have to take a large butcher knife to it in order to pry it open before the letters would come pouring out.
ReplyDeleteDaddy made sure to write something to each one of us. As I had five brothers and sisters, this must have been quite the undertaking for him as he sat in the middle of a jungle.
I was actually too young to read my letters, so my mother would have to read them to me. I recall how she would make sure to read them with great expression so as to impress upon me how much my father loved and missed me. He always tried to educate me a little bit about Viet Nam and by talking about the drawing on the stationery that depicted a Vietnamese person in his/her everyday life.
My father was gone of and on for the first four years of my life. I can recall picking him up from the airport that final time when the war was done.
On occassion, my brothers, sisters, and I would try to reconcile in our little heads the idea that our loving, gentle father was an Army Ranger and a Green Beret fighting in a far off and dangerous land. We sometimes would muster up the courage to ask him if he killed anyone over there. His reponse would always be the same, "Sometimes I was faced with a man that wanted to hurt me. I didn't know if he had children at home to return to, but I knew that I did have children that I wanted to return home to very much." He would then try to leave it at that.
Reading books is an integral part of my life but I find it extremely difficult to write. While looking through boxes to fill my Bio Book Bag, I came across an illustrated story I wrote when I was 9 and in the third grade, the same grade ai teach now. It was called "The Elephant Who Layed an Egg". I remember enjoying making up stories[it was not an assignment]and started to think about why that has changed. Is it because I don't think that I do it well-that I don't measure up to the professionals? At 9, most children, my students included, love to write about things that interest them and don't really care about the opinions of others. It made me think of ways to encourage them (and myself) to continue to feel this way. I used to write for the pure pleasure of it and want to recapture that feeling and let my imagination run wild without concern for criticism (my own or others).
ReplyDeletePutting together my bio book bag provided me with a great time to reflect. I noticed that throughout my early life as a reader, I read a lot of books that were safe and that I could relate to. Reading has always been an escape for me, a chance to forget about my life and whatever obstacles that I am facing at that time, so I think that's why I always tend to choose books that will provide me with this sort of escape.
ReplyDeleteOne kind of funny thing that I noticed while sorting through the books that I wanted to include in my bio bag was my collection of Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine books. I was totally addicted to these scary stories while in elementary and middle school and my mom didn't approve. I was always the good daughter and did what I was told, but this was the one place were I noticeably rebelled. Looking back on this it just makes me laugh and I find myself identifying more with my students too. My students love R.L. Stine's Goosebumps Series and it drives me crazy that they gravitate towards them. I don't know why I feel this way, but being reminded about my own R.L. Stine addiction gives me a slight sense of peace. I know that when they are ready, my students will move away from this series and try out other books. If R.L. Stine books get my students to realize that reading is fun and something they enjoy, then what does it matter? We all had some book that hooked us into reading, that made us want to read more. My hope is that by the end of this year, my students will honestly see themselves as readers on their own. In the long run, does it really matter what book made them see themselves as a reader, or that they SEE THEMSELVES AS A READER???
This week I am choosing to write about the small chalkboard that is in my biobag. This chalkboard represents the countless hours that I spent playing school with my brother Kevin. He was 6 years younger than I and I thought that it was very important that he learn his ABC's. I felt great pride in the ability to teach him his alphabet and letter sounds. Kevin was a quick study. I loved to read. I would read the Sweet Pickles series to Kevin all of the time. I felt the need to share this wonderful gift of reading with him. I badly wanted him to read and to be able to get lost in all of those great adventures that the characters were in. I was sharing a "gift" with him. It was not only that gift that I was so glad to share, but also my time. Kevin was my best friend. We rarely had any of that sibling rivalry you hear about. My world changed the day he was born. We played together all of the time. There are so many wonderful memories that I have, but the days of playing school and reading together will always have a special place in my heart.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book is snow Treasure. I had many memories from my Uncle who fought in WWII. he told me of the nice people he met in Europe and the terrible thing that were happening to them. He was trying to make their lives better. The kind kids who would bring him and his buddies warm drinks and warm food. When I found snow Treasure it always reminds me of the stories he had told. Many of the students like it. Many of the students don't now much about WWII and the reasons we were fighting. The Germans would take everything from food to money. Even though my Uncle has past away reading the book makes it seems like he is telling me the stories again.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have the chance to create a bio book bag but if I had, I would have certainly had Are You My Mother. I have so many memories of reading this with my mom. I learned how to read off of this book! I also used to love reading The Babysitter's Club books. I would sit up in my room and shut the door to a peaceful and quiet haven! This brings back many memories of my pre teen years.
ReplyDelete