~ReAdInG iN tHe WiLd~ Building a Personal Canon~

Have you ever been asked the question..."What's your favorite book?"  If you are anything like me, you look at the crazy person asking you this question as if they have two heads! How on earth could I ever truthfully answer such a question?  Do these people expect that you just answer that question right then and there?  I do not have ONE favorite book!  How on earth could I? Thank you Donalyn Miller for writing these four short pages that allow me not to be ashamed of my sickness!  

The sickness I referred to above!

The vignette on Building a Personal Canon discusses the importance of guiding students to great literature.  Helping them to build their own bookshelves filled with works that speak to them in ways we can't! Miller contends "when we lead students to great works, we offer them a transformative experience, but only the readers themselves can define how reading affects them.'  We have all recommended books to students that we thought..."Oh this is it!  This is going to be the one!" Occasionally, I have nailed it!  But many times, I have have been let down.  Just because a book holds personal value to me, doesn't mean it will for my kiddos.  Our students need to learn to read for enjoyment!  
                            

We need our students to connect with their characters on a personal level if we want them to build their personal canon.  If we want them to build their own bookshelves filled with books that mean oh so much to them, then we need to know our students.  We cannot force this upon them but we can try to introduce them to books we think might hold some meaning in their hearts.  But they are the true judge.  This goes back to my #1 rule in the classroom... GET TO KNOW YOUR KIDS! Nothing and I mean nothing will help you like getting to really know your kids.  I am not talking about handing out reading surveys to see what they like to read (I think this should absolutely be done), I mean talking to them, hearing about their experiences, friends, family, and fears even. Creating those relationships in the beginning of the year can go a long way in helping students become real readers.  

Miller also writes that, "While the Common Core text exemplars collect a list of worthy literature that all students should read, I question the premise that any reading list meets the needs of all readers. Creating a list, anchored in a time or viewpoint driven by one group's opinion of what literature is meaningful, marginalizes the personal aspect that we bring to what we read. "  AMEN, SING IT SISTER!! 



Speaking of sisters, I felt I needed to share at least one book from my personal canon.  The book to the left is a LIFER in my personal canon.  I know what a profound impact it had on my relationship with my older sister and it will always have a spot on my bookshelf. Funny thing about this book is I lent it to my friend Beth who overheard me raving about it, so of course, I insisted she take it home that night and read it!  I followed up with her about three times hoping it would grab her heart like I did every time someone even mentioned Maddie or Olivia Hunt, but no.  I was met with a shoulder shrug and a "Ehh, I'm trying to get into it."  I'm sorry, what????  This book changed my life, changed my perception on what it means to be a sister and all I got was, "Ehh." It stung a little, okay a lot.  I wish I would have read Reading in the Wild before this harsh reality, it would have made sense to me...Beth, raised with four brothers, "Gee, I wonder why she didn't love it like I did!" Ha! Don't worry, I returned the favor when she made me read The Little Prince.

The fact of the matter is, our personal canons grow and change throughout our lives. In these pages Donalyn really tries to drive home the fact that we should want our students to give and take from their personal canon. They should understand that their personal canon should ALWAYS be added to!  During different times in our lives we need different things, from the people we love, the jobs we do, the books we read.  After reading my assigned vignette, my son and I went through his bookshelf to see if we could weed out any of his books and found that at 3 years old my handsome boy has already begun building his personal canon.  We were not able to get rid of very many, but that's ok bc this Mommy feels pretty great about it! 

This book is an EVERY-NIGHTER! ;o)

Thanks for joining us for #D100BloggerPD Book Study of Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller.  To catch up on anything you may have missed visit Kristin Richey's Blog  Hope you enjoyed my post. Make sure to keep up the our #D100Blogger book study by checking out the next post by READING IS THINKING coming Wednesday, Dec. 9th.