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Criswell - Puppets and Plays (Section Tues 1)

Instructor
Mrs. Meridith Criswell
Department
Language Arts
Terms
2019-2020 School Year


Assignment Calendar

Course Description

 

Class Title:

Puppets & Plays

Code:

E350

Text:

Various Resources

Rating:

1

Prerequisite:

None

Grade:

3-4

Fees:

None

Max:

15

Can be repeated? Yes

Description: Make literature come alive with this hands-on approach to reading designed to provide support and enrichment for emergent readers and writers. Students will listen to read-alouds and then explore aspects of stories through engaging projects. They will also work together to create their own interpretations of the stories in an activity-based, fun environment. Students will do projects to explore characters and setting, engage in Readers’ Theater to bring scenes to life, create puppets and scripts to learn about plot and theme, and present their final creations to parents and our K/1/2 students at the end of each unit throughout the year. All reading levels and writing abilities welcome.

Posts

Puppets and Plays will be performing our fractured fairy tale play next week: Reading, Writing, and Little Red Riding Hood.
 
Performance will be in room 143 on February 24, at 9:00. Families are welcome to attend!
 
Please let me know if you have any questions!

Puppets and Plays update

Welcome back this week! Many of you probably found the Goldilocks story your child wrote and their setting pop-up in their backpacks over break. These were the culmination of many weeks of work and are yours to keep and enjoy. Note that the stories were "lightly" edited; after writing, students selected words they wanted help editing. I wanted this to be student-driven, so that students could focus on their ideas and excitement about writing. So, if you noticed that this is not a "perfect" final draft, that is intentional! Feel free to use it for whatever spelling or grammar lessons you are doing in your homeschool program. 
 
Next up, students will work on rehearsing and performing a reader's theater fractured fairy tale script. More details on this to come. 
 
Later in the winter, we will also do a brief Dr. Seuss author study.

Elementary Language Arts

What a fun week and a great way to wrap up the semester! Thank you for all the gifts and kind notes this week. I feel so lucky that you let me be a part of your family's homeschool journey!
 
No homework in any elementary language arts classes over winter break. Have a wonderful, relaxing holiday, and I will see you in the new year!

Fable Plays this week

Just a reminder about our fable plays in Puppets and Plays this week! See below for details. In the case of inclement weather, please call the front desk after 10:30am to check if the performance will still go on as scheduled. We may need to reschedule if many students are absent due to the weather. 
 
Puppets and Plays classes will be performing our fable plays this week, and families are welcome to attend. Performances will be in our classroom (room 143) on your usual Apex day at the following times:
1st period classes - 9:00am
6th period classes - 1:45pm 
 
Most performances should last around 10 minutes.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions!

Fable Plays

Puppets and Plays classes will be performing our fable plays next week, the week of October 28th, and families are welcome to attend. Performances will be in our classroom (room 143) on your usual Apex day at the following times:
1st period classes - 9:00am
6th period classes - 1:45pm 
 
Most performances should last around 10 minutes.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions!

Aesop\'s Fables book cover
This week, we began our unit on fables. We learned characteristics of fables, then read and made puppets for some of Aesop's Fables, which we will perform for one another during class next week. Over the next few weeks, we will also read some Chinese fables and some newer twists on fables by Arnold Lobel.

First Day Reminders

It was a great first day at Apex! Students worked on an "All About Me" puppet today in class to learn about one another and decorate the room. 
 
Also, just a reminder for students to bring a 2-pocket folder for this class so we have somewhere to keep all of the fun stuff we make. See you after Labor Day!