Can you believe that we are already halfway through October? The children started their week by walking through the castle doors and into the enchanted forest. There were branches dangling from the ceiling, frogs croaking, and birds singing in the background. A couple of small trees had appeared, along with a hooting owl and a hiding gnome. There was also a beanstalk, and Jack had almost reached the top.
We spent our time together this week in ELA, with partners and as a class, learning about the identifying elements of a fairy tale, and how to tell a fairy tale from a nursery rhyme. We also asked these questions:
- Why do cultures have similar fairy tales?
- How can I examine fairy tales from different cultures?
- How does the setting of a fairy tale affect the message, characters, or events?
and we began to find answers after comparing Perrault's version of Cinderella to a fairy tale set in Zimbabwe called Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. As the unit progresses, we will continue to reflect on these questions and search for answers in a variety of literature. We will also be exploring "fractured" fairy tales as a means to better understand point of view and character development in writing.
Book orders arrived this week, and were sent home Friday afternoon. I am still watching the mail for the CLICK order to arrive from Scholastic. For those of you who ordered items from the CLICK brochure, I will send them out as soon as I receive them. I will be sending home October's order forms next week.
The students made little lamps in celebration of Diwali with Mrs. Wessner in Art today. They also watched this lovely video about a little girl who is celebrating her first Diwali in Canada.
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