Thursday, January 5, 2012

Snow Bear.

Today we read the book Snow Bear. It's a fun touch and feel fuzzy book about a little bear who went out exploring after winter hibernation. Not listening to his mom by going too far he ended up losing his way. Naturally, the end of book discussion led to stories about getting lost.

Making the connection that getting lost is not really a big kid thing to do, one girl said, "When I was younger, and didn't know better, I got lost in Target. But my mom found me and I was only three then." It's interesting to think that for a five year old, two years ago counts as "younger." You and I? Not so much.

One inquisitive boy who always proclaims how well he uses his brain told us,"One time at the toy store my brothers left me even though I said stay right here."

Looking for more details I prodded, "Were you scared?"

"No, I was brave," he said proudly. "I followed their water footprints and found them!"

Quite impressed with this clever way of searching for his mom I exclaimed, "Wow, you certainly were being a detective!"

The last story was told by a girl who always seems to stretch to find a story applicable to share. "One time I was looking for my little brother and then I found him in my mom's room!" Relevant or not, she shared how she found meaning of the story by drawing from her own experiences; I was glad to hear whatever she had to offer.

For this very reason, end of book discussions quite easily turns into my favorite part of each day. It becomes very apparent that simply reading the book loses much more of what we have to discover. Not only do we get to discover more about the book itself, but we also get the opportunity to learn more about each other.
We see the book come alive with an even deeper meaning based on the context and application to each child. Their stories make reading time special and so much more meaningful.

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