Ricky Sticky Fingers...Dealing with Stealing in the Classroom

Happy Monday!
I'm linking up with Laura Candler over at Corkboard Connections to showcase a book by the amazing author Julia Cook.

Julia has written over 40 children's books that can serve as a spring board for various classroom discussions, such as tattling, cliques, and yes, even dealing with boogers. Click HERE for a list of Julia's books and the topics that each book deals with.

The book I chose to read and discuss with my class was Ricky Sticky Fingers. Click the image below to go straight to Julia's website for ordering information.

Do you know what's really cool about ordering the book straight from her website? She autographs it for you! This is no stamped autograph either..you can actually specify the personalization that you would like for her to write in your book. AWESOME!

Back to the book...I haven't had as big of a problem with my 3rd graders and stealing this year, but I have had issues with it in the past. This story is about a boy named Ricky who just can't seem to keep his hands off of other people's things! When Ricky sees something that he wants, like a friend's bubblegum, he just takes it. This goes on until one day when Ricky's bike gets stolen. When this happens, it makes him realize how others feel when he takes their things. Ricky uses the "good" inside himself to overcome his sticky fingers, and he decides to return all of the things he has taken from others.

I read the first half of this book with  my students, and led a discussion on how the students would react if we had someone like Ricky in our classroom. My students discussed this with their partner, and then I called on a few students to share their thoughts with the class. Most students said that they wouldn't like it if Ricky was in our class, because they would always be afraid that he would steal their things. Then, we did a few role-playing scenarios on how students would react if they discovered that something of theirs came up missing: what they would do and how they would solve the problem.

Then, I read the rest of the book. The students loved how the story ended, and how Ricky was able to understand how it felt when something was stolen from him. With their partners, the students discussed how the story ended, and how it made them feel. On a piece of notebook paper, the students wrote these feelings down and shared them with someone in their group. It was pretty unanimous that the students felt empathy towards Ricky, and they changed their minds about not wanting "Ricky Sticky Fingers" in our classroom.

Even though I don't have a problem with stealing this year (so far), this book was an excellent way to lead a discussion on stealing, why it's wrong, and how it makes others feel.

Check out Julia's website HERE to see a full list of her books, along with resources for her stories. I am so happy that I was introduced to this amazing author, and can't wait to continue building my Julia Cook library!