Sunday, December 8, 2013

Just a Little Nutty: The Nutcracker for Young Learners

The couple of weeks leading up to Christmas break, is there anything better???  We are down to about a week and a half in counting.  The are so many fun learning opportunities during this time of the year. With Thanksgiving falling so late, it will be a real challenge to fit them all in.
Some of the work we did this week focused on the story The Nutcracker.  We read Mary Engelbreit's version of this classic story.  There are certainly other versions of this story, but I've always enjoyed her illustrations.


After reading the story we discussed the basic story elements and then a couple of days later we went to see a performance of The Nutcracker.  

After seeing the ballet, we compared and contrasted the book with the performance.  I was really impressed with the ideas and observations my kiddos came up with.  Reading and discussing the story before seeing the performance really helped them understand what they saw.
If you would like a free copy of the Venn diagram that we used in class, click on the picture below.  The clip art is from My Clip Art Store (etsy).

Students also made a little art project to spruce up the room.  Their nutcrackers turned out pretty cute.


Our family is going to the public performance next week.  Last year was the first year we took  A.   She loved it.  After it was over she asked if she could touch one of the ballerinas.  I told her no, they were just for watching.  But as we exited, there they were.  It was so sweet.

Thanks so much for reading.  I hope you have a great week.

1 comment:

  1. Wow! What a great experience for your students,.. and for your daughter- a lifetime memory!

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