Read-Aloud: Fablehaven

What we're reading together...Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven is a terrific fantasy series that appeals to a broad age range. There are five books total, with the first book being the shortest. The author lives here in Utah so we had the opportunity to meet him in person and get a signed copy of each book in the series.

Our Extension Activities

• It's been fun to collect images off the internet of vocabulary words from the book: aurora borealis, boathouse, bivouac, breastplate, mesa, butte, centuar, corkscrew, crossbow, fleur-de-lis, gazebo, geodesic dome, golem, griffin, hacienda, harpy, kachina, karkadann, limberjack, lammasu, lycanthrope, mannequin, manor, manticor, matryoshka doll, minotaur, paddle boat, peryton, phonograph, plateau, pueblo, quarrel, raft, roc, satyr, sirrush, sphinx, Stonehenge, toga, totem pole, unicorn, yahtzee, ziggurat.

Mississippi River

• Brandon Mull LOVES serial commas so it's an easy way to point out their use in print. These lists also provide multiple opportunities to discuss adjectives.

• We also checked out the map for the various geographic locations mentioned in the book (Mississippi River, Ethiopia, Australia, Turkey).

• I searched YouTube for videos demonstrating a limberjack to help the kids see one in action.

• We also played several games of Yahtzee, just like they did in the book.

Five Minute Museum: Olek

Olek (whose real name is Agata Oleksiak) is a contemporary artist who has moved crochet from a handicraft into a fine art.

This is another Five Minute Museum mini lesson that is taught during the first five minutes of the lesson period. Olek's unique art form is a fabulous way to help students see that art is more than just drawing and painting. Our curriculum sets this lesson as one of the artists studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

A quick follow up to this lesson is a simple crocheting lesson (again just five minutes long). Most children over the age of 7 or 8 easily pick up the chain stitch.

Because she is a contemporary artist, few copies of her works are in the public domain (although some outdoor public displays have been documented by various photographers.) However, she has a nice website that is easily used inside the classroom via a projector and a quick internet search for images of Olek Crochet (her professional title) gives plenty of resources.

[As a fun side note, we are currently reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and there is a character called Olloch in one of the books. Olloch has this long, multi-tentacled, froglike tongue. M. commented that it would be easy to remember Olek's name because he could imagine Olloch's long tongue reaching out of his mouth and quickly crocheting around his prey like Olek does when she crochets around living people. I have to give him points for creativity and good use of the visualization memory technique.]

Five Minute Museum: Blue Boy

Thomas Gainsborough, self portrait

My visual art lessons are taught in 5 minute chunks at the beginning of the lesson period. Those lessons that focus on an artist or a particular masterwork are labeled "Five Minute Museum." (This is a term used in the TAB program to remind teachers that the bulk of the art period is reserved for student led art creation.) Five Minute Museums give students exposure to the elements of art as used by great artists but the lessons take only a few minutes. The art remains available for student reference after the lesson as part of the classroom art library.

The curriculum sets this lesson as one of the masterworks studied in third grade but the plan is useable at any grade level.

LINK TO THE LESSON PLAN

All of the paintings in the lesson plan are in the public domain and can be downloaded in various sizes from Wikimedia Commons.

The Blue Boy, 1770

Pinkie, 1794 (Thomas Lawrence)