Tuesday, November 26, 2013

2nd Grade Lesson on Fables: Comparing two versions of The Fox and The Grapes

First we read a traditional version of the fable and talked about how old the story is (3000 years) and what happens to old stories as they are retold.

Then we read a newer version of the same fable and talked about what was the same in both stories and what was different:

Activity:

Students drew something they wanted as much as fox wanted those grapes. I then photographed their drawing and added it to a VoiceThread where students could record their thoughts about what it was they wanted and how they worked to get it.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Graphic Novels... that aren't necessarily novels.

Jane Malmberg from the Newton Free Library visited our 5th Grade book club yesterday to share some unusual graphic novels with us. Unusual because none of them were exactly fiction...

Shakespeare in Graphic Novel format:
The Tempest by John McDonalds or Romeo and Juliet by Gareth Hinds (2013)

Why read Shakespear in graphic format? Well, if you already like Shakespeare's plays you may enjoy reading them in this visual style since it is almost like seeing a dramatic interpretation of the play. Here's the interesting thing... if you really don't like reading Shakespeare - maybe because the language is difficult and so different from the English that we normally speak and read - then these graphic versions of the plays might be just the thing since the illustrations and images help make sense of the language.

Biography:
Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes
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Lily Renee, Escape Artist by Trina Robbins
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Alia's Mission: Saving the books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty
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and finally, last but not least a book that is not truly a graphic novel, but has some GN elements:

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, & Other Female Villains

by Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple

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This book is not a typical graphic novel, but between each chapter about a different historical woman who was labeled (and often really was) a "bad girl" there are graphic pages showing the two authors discussing the individuals they wrote about.