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Thursday, March 28, 2013

What a Show!

Our Lit Circles Show-Off was a hit. Attendance was strong--beginning with the entire kindergarten class--and the projects were well-presented and thoughtfully articulated. In an open house format, guests noshed on oranges and chocolate while visiting the six exhibits representing the half-dozen books read in lit circles.

Blue Dolphins and Part-Time Indians drew lengthy and poignant graphic treatments of key chapters and scenes in their novels. The Fahrenheit 451 crew displayed a photo essay featuring the actual image of a burning (phone) book.

Life As We Knew It explained the science and pseudo-science of Susan Pfeffer's dystopian novel. The quartet examining My Brother Sam Is Dead produced two projects: an alternate diary from a Loyalist soldier's perspective and an animated tour of colonial-era housing.

Particular praise goes to the Red Scarf Girl gang of four, who produced a sophisticated board game exploring the key themes and events of China's Cultural Revolution. The game is interesting, instructive, playable, and winnable--no small feat.

Visitors commented on the quality of the project displays, which also included a dozen short writing and artistic assignments per book and the Google doc assembled over the past weeks by each group. Beyond the work laid out on the tables, several guests praised the students' ability to articulate the elements of the books and the process by which they chose and executed the major projects described above.

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