Marybeth and R.J.s Class Notes

As we settle into lovely fall weather we continue to focus on storytelling, both with and without words. We have been considering what makes a story, a story, and discussing the many ways people have told stories throughout history. During a discussion about storytelling, a student asked: “What were the first stories?”. This prompted us to discuss the cave draw- ings of France, and the oral tradition. We read the book A Story, A Story: An African Tale, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley which is about the art of the oral tradition of storytelling, as well as Discovery In The Cave, by Mark Dubowski.

We recently met in the gathering space where we viewed some of the prehistoric cave drawings on the big screen, and had a discussion about the images. We noticed a lot of pictures of animals and we discussed why animals may have been im- portant to these early people. After taking inspiration from the cave drawings students had the opportunity to work in small groups and they created their own drawing using crinkled brown paper which was meant to resemble a stone wall. The goal was to visually communicate with people of the future about things that matter most to the people of today. Images included flora, fauna, family, and depictions of Minecraft characters.

Woven amongst our project work students have been working on their individual writing. Some students have taken inspi- ration from their "Heart Maps" where they have written and illustrated things about their lives that are important to them. The books they are authoring include a range of fiction and non-fiction topics.

Students are also working to finish self portraits which will soon be displayed on our classroom wall. Feel free to stop in to take a look!