Carol's Reflection on Graves, Chapters 6 & 7

Sitting near a lamp with my needle and floss, I looked at the clock. It was 2 am and I knew that all over our town of Antioch, moms were up helping their kids bind their books just like I was doing because entries had to be in by noon. Every year, our county held a Young Author's Writing Project where kids from kindergarten to grade 12 wrote and submitted fiction and non-fiction works for judging by members of the community. Winners were awarded ribbons and gift certificates for Borders at a district-wide ceremony. But the biggest award for the authors was having their books displayed at various locations in the community. My kids each won twice and still remember how validated they felt as authors when they'd see strangers picking up their books to read.

Chapter 6 reminded me that publishing is tangible evidence of a child's creativity and hard work. As a parent I agonized about which errors to correct and which to leave as is, so I appreciated the guidelines for teachers in dealing with errors. As a teacher I understand the value of publishing and want to help my students feel the pride that comes with creating books.

When I read Chapter 7 while lying on the beach with my older daughter, I started reciting Mrs. Andersen's chosen poem out loud and -- just like her class -- my daughter had it memorized by the third time. (Then she got mad at me because she couldn't get "a-rum-a-tee-tum" out of her head for an hour.) I especially like that poems are learned without a printed sheet. I'm always impressed when I hear long Hawaiian chants because I know they were learned by hearing them repeated and so the chant is always with the person, the same way that Mrs. Andersen's class carried their poems with them for use anytime. My mentor teacher successfully uses rhythm and poetry to help her students remember facts, and poetry will have a place in my classroom too.