On Tuesday, we went for a walk on the path beside the school (and luckily missed a bear encounter!). Students were instructed to choose two items from the natural environment (no garbage, bugs, animals or cigarette butts) to bring back to class with them. For homework, students were to choose one item from home that was small enough to fit in their pocket.
On Wednesday, students worked in their table groups. They put all their items together on a large piece of paper. They were instructed to create a story using the items as characters or parts of the setting. This was a way for students to practice using the terms introduced last week: conflict, setting, protagonist, antagonist and plot. Students were also encouraged to think of the symbolic meaning behind some of the items their group had.
Students continued working on their story plan on Thursday.
On Friday I sat with each group and we wrote their stories down together. After they finished writing their stories they told their story to one other group. I have included the pictures I took of their story image and a brief summary of their story. They turned out so good!
This story was about a young boy whose grandfather gives him a drumstick. Another young man steals the drumstick and doesn't want to give it back. We come to find out that he also wants to learn about drumming but has nobody to teach him. The grandfather makes the child a drumstick of his own and teaches both boys how to play. The students decided that the drumstick in the story was a symbol for culture.
This story was about Mr. Acorn who lived in the forest and was annoyed with all the garbage he had to clean up. Mr. Pencilmen, who lived in the city, wanted to destroy the forest to build a goldfish cracker factory. Mr. Acorn and the other forest dwellers protested the factory and it didn't end up being built. The forest represented nature and the factory represented pollution.
This story was about a group of people who were traveling to their fall camp. They had to pass a known bear habitat on the way. There was a bear attack and the people won. When the bear died he became part of the mountain.
This story was about a young girl who is gathering food for the winter for her village. The village is stored in a tipi. A creature is trying to steal the food from the village. The village tries to protect the food but, after realizing that the creature is hungry, agrees to share the food in return for protection. In this story, the food represented life and friendship.
This story was about a special statue in the woods. The people in the forest protected the statue because if it was destroyed the world would end. An octopus with a split personality tries to come and destroy the rocks. When he does destroy the rocks nothing happens! Everyone is shocked. Then they realize it's actually a tree that needs protection. They protect the tree and the octopus is defeated. In this story the rocks represent death and the tree represents life.
