Upon returning from winter break, First Grade students took off across the Atlantic Ocean to start a journey through a different continent: Africa!
In honor of the upcoming announcement of Caldecott Award winners, we shared Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, a Caldecott Honor book by John Steptoe. This classic story is a variation on a Cinderella tale set in Zimbabwe, so this book was a great choice to start our travels beyond North America.
After we read stories from Canada last week, we realized that all of us were very curious about what life might be like so far north. As luck would have it, the PBS Kids’ show “Postcards from Buster” had an episode all about children who live in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada! It was so much fun to watch actual footage from a snow-covered place where igloo making and sledding are part of every day life.
Click on the picture of Buster below to watch the same episode online!
This week First Grade was in for a page-turning adventure in Canada!
Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews is an intriguing story about a young Inuit girl who has a challenging new responsibility: collecting mussels from the seabed under the ice. We were all on the edge of our seats to see if she would succeed.
Last week in First Grade we traveled to Mexico!
Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema is a fun Mexican folktale about how Borreguita, the little lamb, outsmarts a not-so-sly coyote. We couldn’t contain our laughter!
This week we kept our travels within the United States in honor of a very American holiday: Thanksgiving! Ever considered Turkey Day from a turkey‘s perspective? Eve Bunting does just that in her adorable story, A Turkey for Thanksgiving.
Our first stop on our book journey around the world is a local one: The Frog Prince Continued by Brooklyn-based author/illustrator Jon Scieszka. In his usual imaginative style, Scieszka explores what happens after the “happily ever after” for the famed Frog Prince.
What would happen if you sent a wooden man hitch-hiking across the country? Lots of unexpected adventures! The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman by Darcy Pattison tells a fun story in a unique way. Instead of being written in paragraph form, the entire book consists of letter correspondence.
The story was a great introduction to our plans for the rest of the year: traveling the world through books! Each week until the end of the year, we’ll read a story from a different part of the world. By Arch Day, our imaginary passports will be filled with adventures! Follow the blog to keep up with where in the world we are.
All throughout the start of the school year, every grade level has been sharing Patricia Reilly Giff books during our time together in order to prepare for her visit on Wednesday, November 3rd. We can’t wait to meet her!
Visit the “Ode to Books” section of the blog to see a video that 1st Grade students put together in her honor.
For the last few weeks of school, Grades K and 1 are having fairy tale fun! First we talked about why Mr. Dewey put fairy tales in the 300s section with books about culture: because there are many different versions of each fairy tale, and they vary slightly based on the culture where they’re being told.
We examined Cinderella and all the different versions that exist (Caribbean, Jewish, Persian, Egyptian, Irish, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Cajun, Native American, etc.) – it’s amazing how one story can be told in so many different ways!
Then all classes had the treat of watching different fairy tale videos: Peter and the Wolf, Hansel and Gretel, or Jack and the Beanstalk.
Hooray for fairy tale fun!
In honor of Grandparents and Special Friends Day this week, First Grade students heard a story about a somewhat unconventional family in the book The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox.
This book is a touching reminder that love is blind, and “family” can include whoever we hold dear in our hearts. It was a great way to start our discussion about all the books about holiday and culture that can be found in the 300s (Society and Culture) section. But the big question: why in the world did Mr. Dewey put fairy tales in the 300s with books about culture? The answer will be revealed next week!
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