One Heartprint Book

The beginning of the school year is all about learning about my students and I especially want to learn about them as readers and writers. One thing I have learned over the years is that as much as I love books, it doesn't mean my students love books as much as I do.  I've learned to be okay with that. I accept them and celebrate them as they are. I even share that my own two sons like to read but it's not the first thing they would pick to do in their free time. 

This year, I wanted to start with a really simple activity to get to know them as readers. It's so so simple but what they shared gives me a lot of insight!

I asked them to think of one heartprint book. I explained a heartprint is like a footprint left on your heart. A heartprint book is a book that has left an imprint on your heart. Good or bad, this is a book that has stuck with you for some reason. 

Here are my two examples! The first is a book that I loathed when I was in high school and the other is a book I loved that shaped my life in many ways. 

What I love most about asking to hear about just one heartprint book is that it's a quick and easy success activity but allows me to share a little about myself as a reader and hear about them as readers. I have a whole year for me to get to know soooooo much about them that it's okay to start by asking them to share just one book.