Hello,
I will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday for a teacher's conference on differentiated assessment. I'm hoping to come back with some new ideas that I can use. Mrs. Anderson, from Longfellow fame, will take my place. I'll come back to school tomorrow night to check how things went on our first sub day and write plans for Wednesday. The kids know what I expect. I'm confident that they will do well. They are in good hands.
We started a fiction unit today focusing on legends, myths, fairy tales, folk tales and fables. I brought in some of my Classics Illustrated Junior set. Many old favorites from Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm will be read over these next three weeks. I made a little decorated doorway to get them motivated. They jumped right into reading the classic comics. It was a good start. Ask them about some of the differences between legends, myths and fables. I think they picked up a lot in the first day.
We are also going to put a focus on these genres in our writing. I asked them to write a myth for homework on how the Grand Canyon was created. They cannon copy the Paul Bunyan story. He was weary and dragged his axe for a few paces.
Students chose WWF animals for our annual adoption. I saw that some of my favorites were picked. Maybe this will be the year for the Arctic fox or the cheetah. Last year's winner, the Amur leopard was nominated again. As one student put it, "They're still practically extinct." Maybe it will be the year of the first two-time champion.
I enjoyed talking to everyone at conference time. Please don't ever hesitate to call or drop by with a question or concern. We don't need to wait for an official conference time.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. These next three weeks will fly by.
Good night,
Mr. Shea
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