It's In The Bag, Baby!

Well, I finally did what a lot of people told me to do and got a Teachers Pay Teachers store up and running (socket). I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to start with because as any teacher out there knows, WE MAKE A LOT, and then it hit me - Brown Bags. After like, three weeks of thinking about huge units,  integrating subject plans correlated to blah, blah, blah...I was staring at the brown bags on my counter from Publix and thought, "I sure do wish these would go to the compost already" and BOOM. Brown Bag Book Project. Perfect. 

Why is the Brown Bag Book Project perfect? Well, first it is alliterative and that's outstanding in itself.  Also, brown bags are not at all intimidating to young fourth graders who may have heard I am a bit off, so score deuce there. Thirdly, and most importantly they are deceptively simple. Every kid who has ever done this project, loved it. There is some magic in the mixture of that crinkly bag, chalk dust (it's the best medium), talking about their books, hunting down little stuffed rabbits, and pieces of red string that is like downright treasure hunting for the kids. The conversations that I hear them have with each other every single year I do this are always higher order, especially on books that were perhaps a bit above their instructional level to begin with. They think about them critically and pick up on those little author nuances they may have missed on the first reading. This project sends them back to the text over and over again. They stand up and justify it confidently in front of real, live, people. It works. 

Fun side note: Brown Bags also lend themselves to a certain about of secrecy that the kids dig because you can't see into the bag.  There could be anything in their bag, and they loooove that other people don't know what's in them.  It could be a scientifically generated cloud, it could be a lollipop  it could be a flame thrower - who knows? They get a kick out of pulling the items out and then wait for it....sequencing them and explaining their symbolism and how they relate to the theme of the book. That's right, uh huh.  

Well, after about an hour of reformatting the thing so that it was easy on the eyes and updating some information on it. I got it uploaded! All by myself, ya'll! My super technologically advanced husband was not even in the house. He was taking out the aforementioned brown bags, which I then went and got back and put it in my summer teacher bag: A.K.A. The Void Everything That Might Get Used Somehow Ever In The Classroom Bag while I chastised myself for not saving them all summer long. 

All in all, I'm excited the first thing is out there because...it's done. I've done it once and it was easy peesie lemon squeezie. Truth be told it is actually better than it was before I first sat down with it, and updated for Common Core (dun, dun, dun).  It's ready for my new kiddos, too and that is a plus.  Also, now I know the system and can work on some other TPT projects. I like challenges, and I like sharing. 

As I see it I've got one "in the bag" for 2013-2014. 

Whoop. Crinkle, Whoop.

.http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Amanda-Walker-2541

It's all I got, but it's free!