KTD will begin with a unit on wordless picture books. We will be learning about story elements, and how to create a story with a beginning, middle, and end that is full of details using only the illustrations. The kids will tell their version of the story to the group after carefully investigating each page. We will begin with David Wiesner's Mr. Wuffles and Sector 7. This group will also be working on some math skills later in the quarter.


1TD is going to begin with a conversation about the elements in all fairy tales. The kids and I will chart what we know these stories have in common, and then begin reading one of my favorites, Rumplestiltskin. As we read, we will add new elements to our chart and provide examples we find of the elements in the text. The kids will all have their hands on the text and are going to highlight key passages. We might have time to begin The Three Billy Goats Gruff by the end of the week.


2TD will also begin our adventure with fairy tales. The kids will review the story elements in fairy tales and read two versions of The Princess and the Pea. We will read the original version by Hans Christian Anderson written in 1846 and The Very Smart Pea and the Princess to Be by Mini Grey. We will be working on comparing the two versions of the stories and identifying the elements that make the stories fit into the fairy tale genre.
3PA has done an impressive job with The Green Book. The conversations we have had and the depth and details they have written in their journals has made me quite proud of them. The book needs to be completed by Monday when they come to class, and the journals will be due on Thursday. The class will need to work on polishing up their journals for spelling, grammar, and to make sure they are complete. This will be homework for Monday-Wednesday night so the kids will need some extra screen time to complete this assignment. We will be working on a final project in class showing how characters responded to change during the novel. On Friday, we will begin a new novel, The Girl Who Owned a City. More information about this book to come next week!

4PA is peeling the onion in the best possible way! We are unearthing the many examples of symbolism and metaphors in The Secret Garden and will continue to do so next week. I love that three kids asked on Wednesday if they could leave their books in my room because otherwise they would not be able to stop from reading ahead! I love it when a book hooks into a kid!
5PA remains in the amazing world of Ray Bradbury this week. We will be reading the short story "The Veldt" this week. The kids will be given three comprehensive essay questions about the book. Each student will need to select two of them to respond to. This is one of my favorites!!! Big shout out to Sean for his idea that we are doing in class today. After the three teams linked all of their hexagons on Thursday, he came over to me and said, "It would be really challenging to have us combine all of them as a whole class." Ask and you shall receive. That's exactly what we are going to do today. Students can be teachers and teachers should always be students.
