Friday, January 14, 2011

Fabulous Fables

I would like to begin by noting 2 birthdays this month - Matthew and Jacob!  Happy Birthday boys!

Next, I would like you to take note of some more resources for Diversity of Life added by Natalie Sing - thanks Natalie.  You will find them on the Lesson Plans and units page.

Finally, I would like to share that my children and I recently attended a Sigmund Brouwer workshop.  It was great to see the kids feel the freedom to just get sharing "stories" and to not worry as much about "writing".  He challenged us to forget about teaching grammar and avoid the use of adverbs ("ly" words) in order to be forced to use strong verbs instead.  I know all you "IEW" parents are gnashing your teeth right now, but I think Andrew also encourages banned words also which is a similar concept.  I think the key is to know your child's learning style and maintain a good balance.

With all that said, a fun way to begin writing stories is to use the model of the fable.  Fables are short, use animals as characters, and teach morals. 

Here is a unit on fables to try!  Fables Unit

Hope you all had a fabulous week and please remember to share your adventures with me!

1 comment:

  1. I've already started implementing the " avoid adverb" approach and already the thesaurus is being picked up more frequently! :)

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