Alice in Wonderland and Fantasy Fiction

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Today began week 2 of literacy camp at the library.  This week, we are working with kids ranging in age from 8- 12. I worked with the librarian to develop the plan for the week, and we are focusing on a different kind of literature each day. For our first day, we looked at fantasy fiction. 

We had 5 kids on our first day. They were mostly 7 and 8 years old. I had 3 students from UMSL assisting. Our icebreaker for the day was telling our names and what superpower we would have if we could choose one. 

Then, I read a children's version of Alice in Wonderland. It was new book that the library just received, and the librarian was really excited about introducing it to the kids. They loved the Story, and wanted to top an talk about the pictures as we went long. After the story, I explained that we were going to watch  a short, 12 minute video of Alice in Wonderland. I told them that were going to be differences between the book and movie and for be them to be the lookout for the difference in characters and plot. They were really excited about watching the short movie, and they laughed a lot while watching it. After the movie, we had a lively discussion about the differences between the book and movie. They pointed out differences in the character's clothes, plot points, and character actions. I was really impressed with their critical thinking in this activity. 

Next, we worked as group to complete a character map of Alice. In each category, we defined the category name (e.g. What does behavior mean, what are examples of behaviors) and then we filled in each category in relation to Alice. The kids wowed me with their ideas about Alice. At the end, I explained that it was important to always think about the characters in the stories they read, to try to better understand the characters and the story.  

After the character map, it was time for a craft! We made a Alice in Wondeland style hat, and the kids seemed to enjoy this craft, although it was pretty tricky to assemble. Pinterest made this craft look a lot easier than it really was, but we were successful in the end.

After a short break, we spent the rest of the day reading individually. Because of the ratio of students to children, we are able to work with them one-on-one. The stronger readers read a chapter book aloud, to their student partner, and the weaker readers were read to, and asked to read words on pages that had been read to them.  Each afternoon this week, we will spend 30 minutes reading one-on-one, and I hope this will allow them slight gains in their reading abilities by the end of the week.