Twenty great letters with colorful envelopes
from Mrs. Ark's fourth grade class!
Last week I received a big envelope from Mrs. Ark and her fourth grade class in Centereach, New York. Inside were twenty letters from the students in the class, and each letter was enclosed in an envelope illustrated with a colorful scene from The Things With Wings.
Mrs. Ark read The Things With Wings to her class a chapter at a time, and came up with some creative ways to use the book
in her classroom.
The students drew sketches in their notebooks as they visualized what Vanessa looked like as a caterpillar. They discussed what a movie version of the book might look like. They talked about how kids can change and grow by reading books. They made predictions about what would happen next and changed them along the way. They discussed whether Newton would ever take a bite of the fruit and become a butterfly, or would he stay the way he was.
I handwrote a thank you note to each student who wrote to me, and mailed them all on Thursday evening, June 19, 2014. They should arrive before the end of school.
Thank you to Mrs. Ark, and thank you to each of her wonderful students.