Thursday, November 01, 2007

using what I learned

I used a variation of Liz's lesson a few weeks ago. A third grade teacher requested only three fairy tales from me and one fractured tale. So, I asked her if I could provide additional resources. With my fingers crossed and my toes and my eyes (okay, not really the eyes) I added that a friend of mine had used the fractured tales to compare and contrast with Venn Diagrams and offered her a stack of tales (Red Riding hood on a moped, a girl climbing the bean stalk, the three armadillos...35 books in all) and she loved it. I also found a website that has animated fractured tales (dinosaurs crossing a t-rex's bridge was a riot). She loved it and thanked me twice.

This week I am collaborating with 1-3rd grade teachers. I am reading a Alphabet book, WHAT PETE ATE FROM A-Z. Then students are browsing the 40 that I have in the library with the task of evaluating the books. We are making a chart of what makes a good alphabet book. Then we discussed theme (topics) and voted on a class theme. I provided teachers with an alphabet and gave them the student created charts to hang in their rooms and students are creating their own books in class. At the end of the project we will have them bound and available to the class. 6+1 traits of idea generation, organization, and publication are all involved...woohooo!!!

a long, long time ago

During the summer, Julie, or maybe someone else, mentioned some questions about challenged texts and intellectional and academic freedom to preserve a study of classics. Well, tonight, unable to sleep and resisting, for the time being, chocolate, I ran across an article that I thought might be of assistance. ttp://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/cens/107616.htm