The Kingdoms Unite!

As the school year nears its end, both classrooms have been hard at work.  Students have finished state and district testing, and we finally have time for the two classrooms to work together.  On Monday, May 7, Ms. Bright's 5th hour class placed a Skype call to Ms. Blair's 3rd graders to invite them to the middle school to work on a project.  Of course, the 3rd grade Lords and Ladies were very excited to accept!  On Tuesday and Wednesday, Ms. Blair's class walked to the middle school to partner with Ms. Bright's 5th hour in a collaborative writing project.  After reading and studying the common traits of numerous fairy tales, the 3rd graders had composed their own original tales which they shared with their 8th grade buddy.  Their stories were incredibly imaginative!  Featured characters included Dogerella, Caterella, Cinderbird, an OSU Cowgirl and others along with classic favorites such as the evil sisters and fairy godmothers.  There were even ninjas!  The 8th graders were impressed with the originality of the stories.  After hearing the stories, the 8th graders were expected to coach their 3rd grade friends as they turned the original narratives into scripts for dramatic reading.  8th graders identified characters and settings and made sure that the plots had no holes.  As they wrote the scripts, they asked their 3rd grade buddies clarifying questions until they had everything just right.  After some practice read-throughs to check for accuracy, our time together was up, and the 3rd graders had to return to their school.  Both classes had a fantastic time working together and both groups applied many literary skills in the process!