Book Bag Endings

On Hand: Approximately twenty books from your classroom library that you and the students have already read, sticky notes, five or six cloth book bags, duct tape, and a permanent marker.

Mini-Lesson: Remind students that they have examined books with reflective endings and encourage them to look for other techniques authors use-techniques that might help them with their own endings. Read some of the endings from the books you gathered and look for similarities. It's essential that you explore books that have been previously read, or neither the power of the ending nor the technique used will be fully recognized. Allow students to come up with their own names for the technique. They might include techniques like the following:

·         "Repetition," in which language, not just the beginning, is repeated (Library Lion by Michelle Knudson [2006], Chicken Joy on Redbean Road by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, [2007])

·          "Joke Endings," in which the last page provides a giggle (The House Takes a Vacation by Jacqueline Davies [2007], Dream Hop by Julia Durango [2005] Ping Pong Pig by Caroline Jayne Church [2008])

·         "Happy Endings," in which we trust that life will be fine (Granite Baby by Lynne Bertrand [2005] and Those Shoes by Maribeth Bolts [2007])

·         "Surprise Endings" (Terrific by Jon Agee [2005] and King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood [1993])

            Once you've determined categories (sticky notes can help you keep track), use a strip of duct tape and a permanent marker to label the bags with the categories. Encourage students to add to the bags when they find books that fit.

Extension: Suggest that students examine their own work and list the types of endings they've used.