Peter H Reynold’s book, Be You!, found me! Call it fate, or call it divine interventions. You may even call it sheer luck!
No matter what you call it, it was out of the norm.
One glorious Saturday morning, my husband actually came to me with the idea of making a Target trip.
Wait. What? Unlike myself, the hubs never ask to make a Target trip. Of course, the simple word, target, had me jumping up and running toward the car.
While taking in the magnificent glory of a Teacher’s Wonderland, I knew in the back of my mind that this trip would end just as quickly as it began.
So I went to check out the lady’s clothing, shoes, and finally, the home decor section. On my way, a powdery blue object caught my eye.
Without a doubt, I instantly took a double-take. It was a children’s read-aloud book.
Awwww, do you hear the sweet sound of heaven? I certainly did.
The book was written by Peter H Reynolds Be You! and it drew me in instantly.
Synopsis of Peter H Reynolds, Be You! Book
Most importantly, the Be You! is centered around building student self-esteem. Each page has suggestions on how students can embrace their unique characteristics while making each of us uniquely ourselves.
A few of the encouraging words center around being:
- curious
- adventurous
- connected
- persistent
- different
- kind and understanding
- brave
- your thinker
- ok, to be alone
- patient
- ok, to ask for help
Build Student Confidence with Be You!
And, as you may have already guessed, I knew this book had powerful words behind it. It was a no-brainer. Kind of like a must, do.
Like right now!
Before sharing the book with my class, I had decided to create a lesson based on Personal Attributes or Characteristics. The reason for this is to use the study as a gateway into character analysis in texts to support reading comprehension.
Although many of my read-aloud units focus on character analysis, this book has the perfect introduction to the Common Core Standard.
We then needed to identify character traits and development throughout a story. I want to give the students a chance to make it a bit more personal. (As we know, young students relate to their selves easily.)
The Book Companion Activities
One of the first book activities is for students to identify their traits. Just as modeled in Peter H Reynolds, Be You! book, the students draw a picture of themselves in the center of the page.
When students are using a digital format, they can insert a picture in the page’s center.
As a side note, I create all of my read-aloud units in Google Slides to assign the writing digitally for virtual teaching or print each slide for in-person instruction.
Also, to aid the students, they used a brainstormed list of personal traits to add the text around the picture using various colors and fonts.
The following pages in the book, Be You! lend themselves perfectly for writing prompts. Each day, the class and I did a quick write using one of the following writing prompts:
- What is one thing you are curious about?
- If you could go anywhere, would you go? Why?
- List the activities you enjoy doing with others.
- Tell about a time you were persistent. What motivated you not to give up?
- What makes you special?
- Explain a time you had to be brave. How did you feel?
- Write a list of activities you can do alone.
While you’re at it, you may want to check out my FREE Structured Paragraph Handbook, which will guide you and your students through the steps needed to create the perfect paragraph.
Finally, I took the remaining pages and turned them into inspirational quotes to hang around the classroom. The classroom posters are simple but powerful reminders, and I love them!
Student Reactions to Be You! Book and Activities
The students not only soaked up the lessons, but they then applied their learning in day-to-day life.
All it took was that first student to say, “Wow, Micha is being persistent!”
Then, the entire class immediately glanced in Micha’s direction as he continued to jump over the rope as it continued to tangle around his feet.
Next, Micha replied with laughter and said he was going to master jump roping today!
From that point on, the class has been on this unspoken mission to identify traits as they arise. (You’ve got to love that!)
Then, I created a fun coloring bookmark for the students to keep the message alive. Of course, each time the students take out their reading book, they see the message, Be You!
Since I want this message spread to students everywhere, you can get the bookmakers for free with this link.
If you’d like to enjoy the same benefits of the ready-made Be You! Book Companion Activities, you can take another look at them on my TPT Shop.
Are your students struggling and making very little progress in writing? Or maybe they’re unmotivated or a reluctant writer? If so, I’ve got your back.
Yes…I…Do!
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It’s the Sentences, Paragraphs, and Essays: OH, MY! E-book.
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Until next time, “always take it to the writing stage.”
Melissa
