“And so.”
“And so what?” said Abilene. “What happened then?”
No matter the personality of my class on a given year, the bittersweet story of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane always weaves itself tightly into the fabric of our literate community. The book has this absolutely magical ability to transform a group of children who begin with an “every child for himself” stance to one who is ever so slightly more thoughtful about the position of another. It's the one book all year that I never want to end (and neither do the kids!). We read and reread. One year, I lost count of how many times we reread Chapter 4. When the music of the words surrounds us, all arguments and off-task behaviors are suspended. (Can you blame me, then, for wanting it to never end?)
Wisely, even 2nd graders can see past the simple journey motif that works as a container for the deeper story, or inside story, as we refer to it. They realize that with each change Edward undergoes, he changes. And that with each new person who loves him, he adds an emotion to his heart—sadness, anger, despair, empathy. But the irony of it is this: with each change Edward undergoes, my children change. It’s really remarkable. At first I have to feed it to them by rereading the parts that point to Edward’s metamorphosis. But soon, they never fail to notice things I haven’t, and they make powerful text to world connections that I believe have the potential to alter the way they live. And so.
And so what?
The “so what” is that once again, it’s story—not my hours of planning, nor my carefully chosen words, nor our daily literacy routine—but pure, artfully sung story, that is wraps its arms around my class and beckons them to turn towards one another. Story is the one constant in my classroom that will always be the glue- no matter what curveballs I’m thrown.
Even if the world only had enough room for one story, it would still change with each new listener. And that would give me enough magical moments to marvel over every single time. And so.
“And so he listened. And in his listening, his heart opened wide and then wider still.”
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