12-9-11 Dianne de Las Casas takes a photo with her iPhone of Z is for Zebra in Ms. Naugle's 4th grade class
Friends:
Friday was Day 5 of my Bissonet Plaza Elementary A is for Alligator Draw and Tell Residency. Since most of the school was on a field trip to see The Wizard of Oz play, I spent the morning with fourth grade. My first class was with Ms. Vega, who was a teacher at Strehle Elementary, another school I’ve done residencies with, so we were old friends. The students were assigned “Q is for Quail.” I loved how excited they got when I told them my writer’s secret… That really spurred some creative stories! Want to know the secret? Sshhhh. I can’t tell you… or it wouldn’t be a secret! 
But the fact that the Bissonet Plaza students are talented is definitely no secret!
12-9-11 Ms. Vega's 4th grade class works on Q is for Quail
My second class was Ms. Morrow’s fourth grade class. They did “U is for Unicorn.” They had so much fun inventing stories about unicorns. “U is for is or Unicorn” is the only story in my A is for Alligator book that is a mythological beast and not a real animal. Only this unicorn is definitely not a beast… so cute!
12-9-11 U is for Unicorn in Ms. Morrow's 4th grade class
Then it was on to Ms. Naugle’s fourth graders. I just love Ms. Naugle and how technologically savvy she is. She creates videos, Skypes with schools around the country, blogs, and Tweets! In fact, we were tweeting each other in class. 
Ms. Naugle’s group was given “Z is for Zebra.” There are so many great artists in this class!
12-9-11 Z is for Zebra in Ms. Naugle's 4th grade class
After lunch, I went to see the itty bitties in Pre-K. Because of the field trip, Ms. Joy and Ms. Muller had to combine their classes into one. I thought it was going to be more challenging but the kids were AMAZING. They worked on “B is for Bear” and did such a fantastic job! I was astounded by these kids. It just goes to show you… never underestimate the power of imagination!
12-9-11 B is for Bear in Ms. Joy's and Ms. Muller's Pre-K classes
Next it was on to Mr. Boone’s third grade class. They worked on the final copies of “S is for Shark.” I had some really great stories like this one:
12-9-11 S is for Shark story in Mr. Boone's 3rd grade class
There was some equally stunning artwork as well in Mr. Boone’s third grade class.
12-9-11 A final drawing for S is for Shark in Mr. Boone's 3rd grade class
My last class of the day was Ms. McLeod’s 5th grade class. They worked on their final stories and art for “H is for Horse.” This class is definitely a class of writers! I was so impressed by their story writing.
12-9-11 Working on the final story book pages for H is for Horse in Ms. McLeod's 5th grade class
I look forward to my upcoming final week with Bissonet Plaza Elementary!
Until next time…
Warmly, Dianne
