Using the Dragons Love Tacos Books for Literacy Lessons

Welcome Friends!

Thanks for "hopping by" on this holiday as we salute those who serve so valiantly and keep our nation safe!  I am blessed to have my nephew, Army Captain Jason Mammoser (pictured on the right), home from his third and final tour of duty this month!

  

This weekend's free product and related post really don't have a red, white, and blue purpose, but it's theme of  making personal choices with bravery and conviction is appropriate, so here goes!

Keeping my second graders engaged and interested has been very

difficult these past few weeks.  The warm weather and our approaching summer vacation have been great foils to any of my attempts to maintain their attention and focus.

What, you ask, have I finally done to remedy the situation?  I took the advice of my beloved blogger buddy, Kimberly, and began a book study of The Dragonling by Jackie French Koller.   

This story about a young Darek's special relationship with an orphaned dragonling named Zantor has enchanted, energized, and inspired my students to draw, write, and wonder about these majestic, mythological creatures from medieval times.  Words like quest, valor, defiance, perseverance, and loyalty are displayed on our wall of "wonderful words" and their meaning is discussed daily as we make connections from our real lives to the arduous journey and difficult problems the main characters have to face and solve.  We can't wait for my book order to come next week so I can read more of the adventures in this series aloud before our last day of school!

Ohio author and illustrator Steve Harpster will visit my school tomorrow and debut his new book, Drawing Dragons.  Today we incorporated his technique of using numbers or letters as the basis of his characters, and created poster-size descriptions of our imagined "pet" dragonlings.  My class worked diligently and creatively for a full hour on their masterpieces, which are now hanging in the hall to welcome our guest artist!

 My dragonling's name is Fluffy.  

I found it in my backyard.  

It likes to eat apples.

My dragonling's name is MacKenzie.

I found it in a cave.

My dragonling likes belly rubs.

My dragonling's name is Adventure Time.

I found it in the sky.

It likes to make fires.

More about Steve Harpster and his wonderful method of teaching children to how to create pictures of animals, sea life, monsters, and dragons using numbers and letters can be found at Harptoons.  My group clamors to watch his "How To Draw" videos when they are stuck indoors for recess!

After my students did such a great job designing and describing their own dragonlings, I created this DRAGON DIARY so that they could continue to respond creatively to the story.  I hope your students will become dragon fans and enjoy this FREEBIE!

Some of my other favorite picture books and poetry books that I use to enrich my classroom
dragon study are pictured below....

And no celebration of dragons would be complete without a cute Folkmanis puppet leading a rousing rendition of Puff the Magic Dragon, as well a special viewing of
Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon!

The Puff book includes a CD with Peter, Paul, and Mary singing, and has a lovely surprise
and happier ending than the traditional tale.

You can also find this short VIDEO on You Tube!

As always, thanks for your patronage and feedback!  Both are much appreciated!  Know that I wish you the best as your school year draws to a close!  

Keep calm, carry on, hold a song in your heart, and continue to share you story!

Enjoy you next stop on our hop with Jessica over at 
Hangin' Out In First!