Fractured Fairytales

Today the fourth graders are taking home their first major writing project of the year.  After reading folktales and fairytales from different cultures around the world, the girls began writing their own "fractured" fairytales in which they could change one major aspect of a well-known tale. Even just a change to the setting or main character of a story often altered the entire tale's trajectory. The fourth graders loved getting creative with this project, and their published books infuse wit and, often, humor into familiar stories.

Last week, we celebrated the girls' accomplishments with a Publishing Party with the first grade. Each fourth grader read her story aloud to a group of students, and we finished the party off with a "Sparkling Lemonade Toast" to the authors.  Be sure to read your daughter's tale tonight!

French: L'Afrique Francophone

Last week, we concluded our unit on French-speaking Africa. The girls created fantastiques posters on countries such as Madagascar, le Congo, Djibouti, le Mali, and more. They described la géographie, le climat, and le drapeau, among other things. In the pictures below, they are viewing and taking notes on their classmates' projects.

From the Library

Fourth graders started off the year with a few great books:
Charlotte Moundlic's The Bathing Costume
Kate Coombs' The Secret Keeper
Michael Catchpool's The Cloud Spinner
Odile Weulersee's Nasreddine
Lenore Look's Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding

They've also just finished the Partner Book project. In pairs, they chose a book to read together as a mini book group and then presented their book to the class. They included:

Title, Author, Date of Publication
A brief description of the plot (no spoilers!)
Something about the story upon which they enthusiastically agree
Something about the book about which they politely disagree
Their thoughts on who might love this book

The girls enjoyed their five minutes in the limelight.