Ready to add some magic to your read-aloud? Reading plus gifts. What could be better? This post is a followup reveal to something that I teased in my last post! Who loves reading? Well, almost everyone. Who loves gifts? EVERYONE!!! By adding class gifts to your read-aloud, you can offer your students a magic portal to the world inside the book, as well as encouraging them to love reading just a little more than they already do.
It all started on Mother's Day several years ago. My daughter gifted me a subscription to a book box club that would send a new book to me each month, along with four gifts that are mentioned in the book. As I read the book, I would reach a page with a sticky note that said, "Open Your Gift!" The gift, wrapped with a label showing the corresponding page number, was always a perfect way to hold a piece of that book in my hands. Example, in that first book, a "flower child" of the seventies approached the main character. She was wearing huge hoop earrings with fringes and a scarf in her hair. Inside the gift for that page was THOSE earrings and THAT scarf! Love, love, love! Right? In another book, the main character stepped out of her usual personality and stepped up to try karaoke. My gift for reading to that page? A karaoke microphone! The microphone was also rose gold - definitely speaking to my very soul!
Sweetheart number six in my family has seen my book boxes in process and some of the gifts. She asked for a book box of her own for her recent seventh birthday, and I created two of them for her! She loved her gifts! Clementine by Sara Pennypacker is one of the books that I gave to our sweetheart. As I've also used this in the past as a read-aloud for third graders, it occurred to me that this open-your-gift magic could also be done as a read-aloud experience in the classroom.
Yes, of course there was glitter on each sticky. Have we met?
I'm sharing here ideas for two read-aloud books that you could try this with. The first is recommended for grades 2-4 and the second would work with grades 4-6. The second one is my all-time personal favorite for an upper elementary read-aloud. I'm listing individual gift ideas, and then classroom "moments" (gifts suitable for a group). This idea would also work in small book club groups in your classroom. A great followup would be to ask students to select four stopping pages and four corresponding gifts for the next book they read.
I hope you and your students will enjoy stepping through the portals into the story of your next read-aloud! I would love to hear from you in the comments below after you try this! Email me if you'd rather share your results that way!
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Page 18: "grabbed the box of markers from where my mom had hidden them"
individual gift: new permanent or paint markers
class moment: new markers added to community boxes, or an art break to paint a "flaming sunset".
Page 83: "The following students are excused from recess so they can catch up on their journal writing"
individual gift: new fun journal
class moment: extra time to add art, stickers, and other embellishments to journal entries, or time to share the reading of journal entries in small groups
Page 114-115: "Because I am so good at paying attention, I know all the things Margaret likes. So I ran around the apartment gathering them up."
individual gift: red Barbie shoes, a blue feather, or M&Ms
class moment: Stop and talk about collections that each student personally has. Could also plan a collection display as part of the celebration for completing the book.
Page 130-131:
individual gift: stuffed kitten
class moment: cupcake decorating party - adding frosting, sprinkles, etc. Alternative: design and draw cakes that celebrate events other than birthdays
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Page 20-21: "...he would hand me a velvet box, and in it would be a diamond tiara..."
individual gift: tiara
"And the second thing is that she likes ginger ale..."
class moment: ginger ale tasting (Compare Vernor's to Canada Dry, Schwepp's etc.)
Page 43: "And she gets socks."
individual gift: unusual socks
class moment: wear (or draw) your favorite socks to class. Have a "wear your socks" day in class.
Page 76 -77: "So what's it going to be?" asks Mabelline Person.
"'Forever in Blue Jeans', by Neil Diamond," I say.
individual gift: USB Flash drive with the five songs mentioned on page 76; doll-sized blue jeans
class moment: dance break with the five songs mentioned above, vote for class favorite
Page 116: "My cake is beautiful." "'It's perfect," I tell him." "'It's a crooked kind of perfect,' I say."
individual gift: cake mix, frosting mix, cake decorating accessories
class moment: design the perfect birthday cake for you (start with an art activity, but maybe choose one to actually create and bring in to share at a later time.
Page 184: "'Wouldn't that be funny if everybody wore shirts with true stuff on them?' Mona laughs."
individual gift: white t-shirt and fabric markers
class moment: design a t-shirt with "true stuff" about you
For a complete unit on A Crooked Kind of Perfect, click here:
This blog post was such fun to read. Your ideas are perfect for the classroom and for parents and grandparents. Thanks for the great ideas.
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