Book Treasures

Book treasures help stories come alive and increase the excitement of sharing literature with others. Book treasures are concrete memories or reminders of stories we have read in class. The item might be a button, a bell, a feather, or some other kind of trinket that would relate to the story.  Children can use them to re-tell and talk about stories they have heard.  The ability to re-tell a story is an important reading skill and helps children develop stronger comprehension and memory skills. 

Each week students bring home a book treasure in their book treasure box.  I use film canisters for the book treasure boxes.  This means that the "treasure" item must be small enough to fit inside the film canister.  For homework, the student spends five to ten minutes telling a family member a little bit about the story.  Parents are asked to record a few of the child’s thoughts about the book treasure on the Book Treasure Response Form.  The child is encouraged to keep all of his book treasures in a special place at home.  The response forms are returned to school where I keep them in a file.  At the end of the year, I return the response forms to the children to keep.

Book treasures are a fun way to motivate children to think and analyze stories and ultimately develop stronger reading comprehension skills.