For the last week or so I have been PodCasting my students preparing to present “The North Star Musical.” If you would like to listen to the work in progress, type North Tama into iTunes music store and choose an elementary section. Each class (and the piano player) will be perfecting the songs as the weeks continue. One thing I have noticed is that listening to the sound of children singing can brighten the mood…..even if they are the kids I see all week long, there is something about kids singing songs of hope and inspiration that makes even the crabbiest music teacher, happier.

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/11/12/make_way_for_rose/

Here’s a fun article that appeared in the Boston Globe today - the online version doesn’t have all the wonderful pictures and art, but is a good read.  It appears on the front page of the Living/Arts Section - Nov 12.

Thanks to Bella English for “getting it” - and helping us spread the word about our mission to tell “stories that matter, stories that move!”

– Paul Reynolds

I love asking kids that. Grown up kids too. It gets a different kind of response than “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

In a comment to an earlier post it was mentioned that many second grade teachers are noticing that their students aren’t able to identify their “Dream”… or their “Big Dream”.  I’ve noticed the same thing.

I’ve  have asked second grade students (and even first graders) to write their “Dream” on a star, after I’ve read The North Star, and we’ve discussed the story.  After reading the dedication, I ask students what the author meant by a “dream”.  Some kids are confused by the kind of dreams we have at night when sleeping, but others realize the author is talking about something that you want to do some day, or something you want to be some day. 

All in all, how to identify our dream for the future is something that is learned - it’s not an innate ability, and it’s something children can only wrap their brains around when they’re developmentally ready.  Second graders are still very much in the “here and now”.   In other cases, I’ve worked with fifth graders who greatly limited their “Big Dreams” because of their families’ socio-economic status. One boy wouldn’t even let himself consider the possibility of going to college some day because his parents never went to college.  I still encouraged him – saying that for his Dream Star, I wanted him to dream big…  if anything was possible, what would his “Big Dream” be?  It was amazing to see his face light up.

Eventually it occurred to me that it might be helpful to have students identify some of their interests, strengths and talents before trying to identify  their “Big Dream”.  I now start the activity by having students identify the interests of the boy in The North Star, and then, based on his interests (i.e. leaves, nature, animals, floating things, building things, helping others), I ask students to speculate what the boy’s “Big Dream” might be. Students often come up with being a veterinarian, an architect, a park ranger, an animal shelter owner, etc.  Students then each fill out an “Interest, Strengths and Talents” survey, and use their completed survey to help them come up with their “Big Dream”.  This approach has really opened up the “Dream Star” activity in a whole new way – and has become very enlightening to students, to not only realize how many interests, strengths and talents they have, but to then think of a dream they’d never considered before… based on interests they have right here in the “here and now”.

I’m uploading the lesson plan for this “Dream Star” activity that includes the modified “Interests, Strengths and Talents” survey, and the “Star” template (the Star template is also found in the North Star Classroom Resource Guide).  Click here to download the lesson plan PDF.

Here’s to cheering on all our young dreamers!

For months Bostonians, New Englanders, folks from all over the US and the world have been glued to the various media outlets watching the Red Sox become the 2007 World Series Champions.

What draws and motivates millions of fans to partake in this 8 month love affair from spring training to the World Series? Is it the players, the game, a sense of pride, the smell of popcorn and peanuts, Fenway Franks, getting free furniture if you bought before a certain date, ice cold beer in plastic cups, and a great manager like Terry Francona who believed in all his players, even when some of them were challenged?

What makes people want to be part of Red Sox Nation? I think its many things, but perhaps most important is the sense of belonging to a community ~ a community of believers and dreamers. Simply put…The Red Sox love their fans, the fans love their Red Sox. For the Red Sox and its faithful…its all about hard work, creating, dreaming, navigating, encouraging, providing opportunities, taking risks, and celebrating as a team.

Reminds me of FableVision Nation…

One of the things I love about teaching music is the way you can do creative things! I currently have third graders writing their own group song. The lyrics are done, now they have to learn enough about notes and rhythm to write the rest!

One thing I do every year with second grade is to divide a song into short sections, type them on a paper for each kid, and then have them color what they think his or her part of the song would look like. They are always great to look at. Then I scan the pictures, put them in PowerPoint, record the class signing the song, and voila, they have a music video! I think this could be used for parts of a story as well as songs. Kids love it and they are SO proud of the creation.

Finally, using Stationery Studio, I print out animal templates. I have the kids write everything they can think about the animal on the back of the paper, and then make two or four lines that rhyme on the front of the paper and we put them together as an Animal Rap! Last year, I put them in a podcast! Great fun.

Maybe everyone can share their creative activities and we can follow our wonderful leader’s advice….’Let a beam of the North Star light into our classrooms!’

A sign of a great classroom is how much creativity you can sneak in. During this test-centric age of public education, so much seems to revolve around memorization, rather than engaged thinking. Reflection. Connecting the dots. Imagination. Visioning. Great teachers know how to pull these things through the cracks. Schools of Education should teach future teachers a course called “Drop Ceiling Tile Removal: How to Let a Beam of North Star Light into your Classroom.”

For the past year I have been working on a new edition of The North Star to be published by Candlewick Press. A few folks who have heard wonder why I would do a completely new edition  — fearing perhaps that I will change the story. The story will be the almost identical. For me, redoing the art is like visiting an old friend. I am living in the world of the North Star boy again. I am wading through the swamp with him once more and am sharing his rediscovery of the stars gently guiding him… and me. The book will be ready for the printer by March, but will be released in early 2009. Until then, enjoy the current edition - the book and the online versions.

Hello, North Star friends!

I’ve heard that some of you are planning to produce a North Star Musical Journey performance at your school this year, so I want to make sure you’re aware of FableVision’s little “North Star Musical Journey” website, which you can find at http://www.fablevision.com/northstar/musical .

If you go to that website, click on the “Performances” button, and you’ll find an interactive map of many North Star Musical Performances that have taken place across the country, and even around the world.  There’s a little write-up about each performance (including two performances that took place at my school in Falmouth, Maine!).  I find it helpful to read about other peformances because it illustrates how simple, or how elaborate, a North Star Musical production can be, not to mention you might find some helpful ideas.  However, you’ll also see that each performance, from school to school, and from state to state, is very different and unique too - which is, of course, very “North Star!”

One final note: the map and list of performances you find on the “Performances” page doesn’t include ALL the North Star Musical Journey performances that have taken place to date.  If your school or community has performed a production of The North Star Musical Journey performance and it’s not listed on the NSMJ website, please post about it here in the “comments”, and FableVision will add it to the map!  I think the more we share, the more we inspire others… and it really is a wonderfully inspiring musical, regardless of how big or small your production.

Maribeth

Fellow Voyagers,

This is my first blog entry as a “writer” and an invitation to visit and post comments on my students’ wiki at http://navigation.pbwiki.com/ .

For several years, my students and I created and regularly updated a North Star themed website using Netscape Navigator that was effective…Yet certainly dated and time consuming. Each year, I spent a great deal of time teaching students how to understand HTML and where to save information on the computer used to publish the page.
Last year, a colleague shared the website Peanut Butter Wiki with me and helped set up my classroom site. Ever since, it has become integral aspect of my home-school communication and a great way to share my students’ work with the entire world.

Wiki is a Pacific Islander term meaning “quick” and setting up a classroom wiki can be as quick as making a peanut butter sandwich. Hence the name Peanut Butter Wiki (PB Wiki). What’s great about PB Wiki is that updates to the site can be made at any computer by anyone who has password privileges. My students and I now update the page at school and at home nearly every day, and parents see and read about our classroom’s journey whenever they wish.

Check out navigation.pbwiki.com or go to the site http://pbwiki.com and start your classroom site today.
Cheers,
Kevin