I teach two sections of fourth grade language arts. This year my teaching partner and I decided to separate the boys and the girls. I had the boys and my teaching partner took the girls.
As a part of the party the kids celebrated International Book Giving Day by purchasing a book for a classmate. They had no idea who they’d be buying a book for they only knew that student’s: favorite books, favorite genre, and favorite authors. They spent the better part of two weeks trying to figure out who they were buying books for. Most of them figured it out (I take that as a sign that they really know each other as readers.), but that didn’t squash the excitement when I told them who to exchange books with.
I hope you enjoy the pictures of my book-giving-rock-star-readers. I will share pictures from the girl party next week.
mrtheriaultfvhs
February 15, 2013 at 12:24 am
This is an awesome post. I love the look on their faces. You know they are so going to read those books. What a great idea. Thanks for sharing this.
marjiep
February 15, 2013 at 6:53 am
This is an incredible way to share the love of reading.I love your photos. The boys will never forget this. Thanks!
Katherine Sokolowski (@katsok)
February 15, 2013 at 7:22 am
Aww, love this post, Colby! So amazing!
Eliza
February 16, 2013 at 11:47 am
I love the idea of a class book exchange. Just out of curiosity, why did you all decide to split the class into boys and girls?
Colby Sharp
February 21, 2013 at 7:46 am
We split the class because my teaching partner and I share kids. We thought it would help control some of the fourth grade Valentine’s Day drama.
Eliza
February 21, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Thank you for replying. Great point. The excitement of both a book exchange and Valentine’s Day could lead to lots of drama. I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures from the girls exchange. It’s been fun to see which books were given and to compare if there’s a big difference between the two groups.
I celebrated by giving 10 boxes of books (middle grade and YA, with a few picture books) to the Children’s Book Project, an organization in San Francisco that distributes books to kids that otherwise wouldn’t get them – directly to kids, to homeless shelters, schools, darecare and community centers. Plus, I randomly leave books with a note outside a school, on the bus, at playgrounds, hopsital waiting rooms. It spreads the book love around and keeps books off my floors.
Amy
February 21, 2013 at 7:32 am
Thanks so much for sharing these photos from your International Book Giving Day book swap! It’s awesome that your kids seem to know their books so well. They have selected a range of books here. (Be sure to add a link to this post to our blog hop!) -Amy
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February 24, 2013 at 1:30 am
Wow! The kids love it!
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