Hello all,
“Letter F is for Fables/Folklore/Fairy Tales Week” was by Far the most Fantastic week of the 2014-2015 school year yet! The students entered school each day with an incredible amount of Letter F shares; the share box was Full! Everything from Fancy Nancy, Fly swatters, Flashlights, Fairy wings, and Fans were sent in and shared! There were tons of Letter F books that came in as well! To help explore the letter F, the students also learned all about Fables, Folklore, and Fairy Tales! Well, “Letter F is for Fables/Folklore/Fairy Tales Week” has come and gone. Read on below to discover the learning that took place and fun that was had throughout the week!
On Monday morning, the students were visited by a PPA Mommy whose name begins with the letter F – Fotini! The Mommy photographed below explained that her name is a name that is popular in Greece. This proved to be the perfect segue into the students exploration of fables/folklore/fairy tales as later that day they would be discuss a very well-known fabulist from Greece – Aesop! A special PPA Thank You to this Mommy for reading to us!
The students headed over to the computers for a technology presentation and an introduction to fables! The teachers explained that fables are a type of story where animals and plants are personified (or “made to act like people”) to help teach a moral. The students were excited to hear their first fable but they needed to learn what a moral was first! The teachers explained that a moral is the special message in a story. In a fable, the moral is what the reader learns from hearing the story.
To explore the idea of fables and morals, the students viewed the following animated depiction of Aesop’s Fable – The Ant and the Grasshopper. Take a look below to view this fable for yourself. Can you figure out the “special message” or moral of the fable?
(Parents, the moral is revealed at the end of this slip. Be ready to pause the clip a few seconds before the end to discuss!)
For morning work, the students created their very own hardworking ant to help them remember the moral of the story – It is always best to work hard and be prepared.
After celebrating Veteran’s Day on Tuesday, the students returned to school and spent Wednesday and Thursday morning working one on one with the teachers to complete their Letter F identification/fine motor activity sheets. The teachers were so impressed with how easily the new students recognized the letter F and also how well the older students remembered all things “F” during their morning work! In the afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday, the students created the sixth letter list of the year! As a whole group, the students took turns brainstorming and contributing words that begin with the letter F and also hunted around the classroom for letter F items! Naturally, the letter F list was Full of Fabulous answers!
How many F shares do you see?
Answer: Frozen Book, French flash cards, letter F, Flashlight, Frogs, and Fish!
On Friday, the students began the exploration of the theme of the week as they enjoyed hearing the classic fable/fairy tale – The Three Little Pigs. After hearing the story, the students were asked, “What is the moral or “special message” of the story?” Miss Justine raised her hand and said, “The moral is that wolves are mean and pigs are funny!” The students giggled as they explained that was not the important message of the story. Miss Jocelyn then selected one of the older friends who explained the moral of the story was that you have to work hard to succeed! To help remember this moral message, the students created their own three little houses and of course, added some happy pigs to go with it! Watch below as two students use their morning work to retell the story and explain the moral.
Seeing that it was “Letter F Week” and Friday after all, it only seemed fitting to have a Fairy Tale/Frozen-themed dance party to wrap up the week! Be sure to watch the students as they “Let It Go”.
Well, that is all for “Letter F is for Fables/Fairy Tales/Folklore Week”. As always, thank you for reading and have a fun and safe weekend! See you next week!
-PPA
Reminders:
SCHOOL PHOTO ORDERS are due
on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week
12:00 p.m. Dismissal – Wednesday, November 26th
Thanksgiving Recess: Thursday and Friday, November 27th/28th
Theme for Next Week:
