Folktale Festival - Day One

Today is the first of our three-day Folktale Festival, a celebration of this year's All-School Unit, "Folktales and Legends." Since the beginning of the year, students have been learning about this theme through special lessons and activities with their classroom teachers and in many of the special area subjects. These festival days provide an opportunity for students throughout the school to share what they have learned and accomplished with each other, and to celebrate the art of story telling.

At the conclusion of this morning's very first performance (kindergarten's puppet show for the fifth grade) I smiled at the realization that the festival was already meeting one of it's major goals. It was gratifying to hear our oldest students offer very specific and thoughtful words of affirmation and commendation to their younger buddies. Similar interactions happened throughout the day as children of various ages asked questions and appreciated each others' work.

Some of the events were designed specifically for a student audience, while others lent themselves to include parents. I have the great privilege of taking in all of the festival performances, displays, and activities. am glad to share the following images from the day . . . with more to come tomorrow!

Day One

Kindergarten's puppet show, "Tales of Kindergarten," explained various parts of their day (morning message, math, science, music, etc.) to their fifth grade meeting buddies.




First grade presented two shadow puppet shows: The Rumor, A Jataka Tale from India (taken from the book by Jan Thornhill) and The Rooster's Antlers, A Story of the Chines Zodiac, as retold by Eric A. Kimmel. Fifth graders recognized characteristics of the Indian story from their own study of Jataka tales.

Pre-kindergarten acted out the story of Kumak's Fish, A Tall Tale from the Far North, by Michael Bania, as narrated by T. Annmarie. Their performance was recorded in order to spare them the pressure of a live performance. Parents got to see the video today, and the rest of the school will view it on Thursday.


Second graders hosted visitors to their "Fairy Tale Gallery," where original fairy tales and illustrations were on display, as well as castles created through cooperative teamwork. Visitors enjoyed snacks of ogre eggs and troll stew!

In art class, second graders glazed their ceramic dragons.







Third graders, divided into small groups, shared The Story of Jumping Mouse, a Native American tale from the Plains region, with first grade audiences.






Fourth grade told The Groundhog Wars, a Pennsylvania folktale by Robin Moore, using expressive narration and handmade illustrations (including a homemade version of a "tunnel tickler").


Robin Moore will be our visiting artist tomorrow. Until then . . .