Kids

Friends:

Today was Day 6 of my “Stories on Board Residency.” What a day! In the 8 years that I have been the artist-in-residence at this school, never once have I been late. Today changed that record. There was a big accident that clogged traffic for miles, causing me to arrive at 9:00 am (first class is at 8:45 am). I frantically called the librarian, Ellen (who books me every year), explaining the situation. She reassured me that everything would be just fine and she would adjust my schedule.

Fortunately, there was a puppet performance in the cafeteria by Calliope Puppet Theater. Ellen cancelled my first class and sent them to the puppet show. Then she moved my second class to my lunch period. That enabled me to have some free time in the morning so I was able to watch the show. It was a great show, showcasing multicultural stories about music from around the world. Karen Konnerth, the puppeteer, is a friend and I loved how much educational content was woven into her show. The kids really enjoyed it. Here is the story of the Legend of the Marimba from Guatemala.

I ate lunch at 10:00am! Then I had five back-to-back classes with no break in between. Needless to say, at the end of the day, I was exhausted!

Though the day started off on the wrong track, my classes were great. I did have to handle some discipline issues in kindergarten and second grade but the rest of the students were fantastic. Here is a picture of some of today’s second grade class playing “Pizza Party,” based on my story, “The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.” Hello, Ms. Leblanc’s class!

Again, I had a blast working with 3rd through 5th grade, creating the game boards. My third grade class’ story was “The Lion and the Mouse.” They came up with some creative titles and games including “Mouseopoly,” “Lion Limbo,” and “Lion and Mouse Land.” This is “Mouseopoly.”

This third grade group created “The Lion and The Mouse Game.” The third graders worked so well together – it was amazing. I really enjoyed their ideas and collaboration. They truly exemplified teamwork. Way to go, Ms. Ryan’s class! Woo hoo!

My fourth graders were assigned the story, “Jack Seeks His Fortune,” an Appalachian mountain tale. These students amazed me with their creativity. Some of their game board titles include “Jack and His Sack of Gold,” “Goldopoly” (notice how so many of the students love the “opoly” type of game?), “Go for the Gold!,” and “Not So Fortunate.” Ms. Morrow’s class, you did a fantastic job with your boards. I can’t wait to see them finished. Check out this board.

In fifth grade, they worked on the story, “Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby.” This group of fifth graders were planners and contemplaters, discussing their options in detail and consulting with each other on their game board designs. As a result, they worked a little slower and their board games did not progress as much as the other classes. Still, there were some impressive boards. This one is called, “The Carrot Trail.”

This 5th grade board game is titled, “Brer Rabbit’s Briar Patch.” I love the rabbit’s face! Fantastic work, Ms. McLeod’s class!

One of my fifth grade students from yesterday’s class, Samuel, really impressed me. He asked me if he could take a board home so that he could design his own board game. Today, he left the board in the library for me. It’s such an intricate design. I was so touched that he had the initiative to want to work on his own design. Samuel is such a sweet student. Every day, he carries my suitcase (filled with all my supplies – I call it my “Rolling Classroom”) down the stairs for me at the end of the day. Thank you so much, Samuel. You are awesome. This is Samuel’s board game design – he promised to fill it in and actually create the game too. Too cool!

So today, lemon turned into sweet lemonade. And there’s more to come! Until next time… best wishes!

Warmly, Dianne

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