Wild Thing Ethics

I LOVE using the book Where the Wild Things Are. I think there are many ways you can make the activities you do in response rigorous.

One way is to bring in the concept of Ethics. I use the part of the story where Max leaves the Wild Things-they plead with him not to go but he says "no". My question is was it right for Max to leave the Wild Things?

Here are the responses I got this year:

Where the Wild Things Are-Change a Detail

Details is one of my favorite concepts of Kaplan's Depth and Complexity. I love to have the students change a detail and then discuss what other details in the story will change. We read Where the Wild Things Are and I asked the students to change "Wild" to another adjective-what details would change. 

 

Where the Fancy Things Are-love the eyelashes and lipstick. :) 

Fall Self-Portraits

Fall is hard to teach in Texas because the temps are still in the 90's and  the leaves are still green. So we look at lots of pictures from the east and read stories like Leaf Man. Then the students go on a nature walk and find leaves and sticks they can use to make a portrait of their face. I love how they are all different-their creativity is really coming through.