December in Stowe, Vermont
To lovers of the wild, these mountains are not a hundred miles away. Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends. ... John Muir
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A good day; we move into this glorious month with optimisn, humor, and a sense of promise. As I said yesterday, December provides a plethora of opportunities for creative pursuits. With lots of little actvities thrown in to keep everyone active and engaged, we'll begin writing with greater depth and purpose.
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The first challenge will be to create a children's picture book, which isn't as easy at it might appear. I requires a vivid imagination, creativity, and perspective. Just because the book (like the child for which it is intended) is short, it doesn't mean the story will be easy to write--quite the contrary. Unlike novels that have lots of time to develop characters and plot, a children's book only gives the writer a few pages (about 28 actual pages, and half of them are pictures) to do so. A writer's goal is to inform, to entertain, to enchant, and to encourage a love of reading. It involves choosing both the right words for the right places, and the right characters doing the right things at just the right times.
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Assignments:
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Tonight's assignment is to come up with an idea--a story line. Something that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Students will then work to find that delicate balance beween words and pictures. They'll need to explore literary devices like rhyme, rhythm and repetition, which small children enjoy. They'll be challenged to "show" not "tell" their story. Whew!
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On another note, we've begun our next unit in Social Studies--The Age of Exploration. The fifth grade spent classtime interviewing each other and reporting out on a list of perceptions/misperceptions about early explorers. It was lots of fun-and very educational (which was, of course, my intent). There was no assignment. The sixth grade will do this tomorrow.
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For grade six: Spelling, Grammar, and Vocabulary lessons for Day 2 were also assigned.
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Thanks to those of you who are checking your child's work and going over Spelling words for Friday's tests. I'm noticing marked improvement with many. There are others, however, who continue to not turn work in. Just so you know, Mrs. DaBica and I are implementing a tougher policy for completing work in a timely fashion. It serves no purpose to continually allow extentions (which, incidently, creates a grading nightmare!). I could really use your support on this push toward greater accountability and independence...
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It's late.... Time to put another log on the fire and call it a night. Thanks for stopping by, everybody. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
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Teri
