Elementary years seem to go on forever, especially if you stay in the same school. Six years from kindergarten through fifth grade--more time on one campus than any other to come. This is the first group of students that I've shared that forever with as a librarian. They were five years old, and I was their first introduction to the wonder that is the school library. Thousands of books waited to be chosen and taken home; all they needed was a shelf marker and their library card.
"I can take any book I want?"
"Help me find a book about dinosaurs."
"Can I get one off the top?"
"I have this one at home!"
"Yes, you can have any book you enjoy."
"Sure, the dinosaur section is over here."
"You can always get a book from the top. We want you to do that!"
"Are you sure you want to take the same book you have at home?"
Oh, but before looking and checking out, we had read-aloud time in the Book Nook. Learning to sit for a bit, keep our hands to ourselves, and listen to a story. What did we learn? How did it make us feel? Did you like it, or not?--and it's always okay if you don't like it, not every book is for every reader.
"Ms Margocs, please play the color game to leave the Book Nook today!"
"Okay...if you have words on your shirt, you may get a shelf marker. If you have stripes on your pants, get a shelf marker. If you are wearing black anywhere..."
At their request, the fifth graders returned to the Book Nook a couple of weeks past, their growing bodies barely squeezing into the space, feet flat on the floor where legs once dangled. We read silly books, and they laughed at jokes they wouldn't have gotten six years ago. I reminded those that have been here the longest that we grew together, they as students, myself as a librarian. My experience with them in every grade has informed and shaped my teaching, my librarianship, for all of our students.
They began the year by helping our kindergarteners learn how to use shelf markers, and they'll end their year with kindergarteners, and one misty-eyed, appreciative librarian, applauding them as they walk the halls, on their way to middle school and beyond.
Thank you, my fifth grade students, for being the best teachers a fledgling librarian could ask for.
What a bittersweet time! This class will forever hold a special place in your heart.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking just this week how big our fifth-graders are - barely fitting into spaces, as you say. The time goes too fast. But I love the sense of your Book Nook as well as its name; the kids will remember it. And you. I am sure of it!
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