Identity and Self Recognition

In the book Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, I’ve noticed that a lot of her entries are about her identity. The book opens with sentence starters such as:

• People say…..
• I’m trying to……
• Please do not ask me to…..

I loved this idea and toyed with it in my own writer’s notebook. I focused on the sentence starters:

• I tend to….
• People say…
• I’m trying to….
• No offense but I do not like…

That last sentence starter was my favorite because I got to explore feelings I had never thought of before. I like the thought of these sentence starters because I feel like everyone would have something to say about each one. They are also good conversation starters. Thus, I would invite my students to finish these sentence starters in their own writer’s notebook. I’m interested in what they might say.

Other entries in Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal include her assessment on when she transitioned from child to adult. For her, this meant that she threw away the empty granola box after she took out the last granola bar. I thought this was a comical and interesting assessment of adult responsibility.

Last week, I started reading Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I think that this book connected to Amy Krouse’s book because, so far, Brown Girl Dreaming has been about Jacqueline’s identity. Part one began with her recounts of her early childhood. Jacqueline specifically questions her identity and who she will become on page four. “I don’t know if I’ll be strong like Ruby/ I do not know what the world will look like/when I am finally able to walk, speak, write/…”

And even more so, I connect with these books. Who hasn’t questioned their identity? Who hasn’t wondered what they will grow up to do or how they will act? At twenty-two years old I still wonder some of these things. These thoughts inspired me to write a few entries into my writer’s notebook. One of them pictured below:

I think that this entry would be a good one to launch the writer’s notebook. Children love talking about themselves, and I believe that they would find it fun to try and identify 100 things they love. It’s also a positive way to start a writer’s notebook. And, it helps students see what makes up their identity. Do they love their curly hair? Or do they love how they act towards a new friend at school? Their maps would also be fun to share with others. The teacher could also participate and share some of his/her loves. In addition to helping students learn about one another, this entry would also foster a relationship between teacher and student – which is undeniably of upmost importance.

Rosenthal, A.K. (2016). Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Not exactly a memoir. New York, NY: Dutton.

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York, NY: Penguin Books.