Spring SAVY 2019, Day 4 – Autobiographies and the Story of You (3rd/4th)
Thank you all for another great Saturday of SAVY! This past Saturday, we designed our ideal houses, and then read The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. We then connected the story to four generalizations about change: change can be natural or constructed; change is a necessary part of growth; change can be positive and/or negative; and change leads to more change. For Mr. Plumbean, his perfect house was changed by a big orange splot (change can be natural or constructed). Mr. Plumbean then made more changes to his house (change leads to more change), but his neighbors didn’t like it (change can be both positive and negative). Finally, Mr. Plumbean’s neighbors all re-decorated their own homes. Whenever someone visited their street and talked about its lack of neatness, the neighbors all replied, “Our street is us and we are it. Our street is where we like to be, and it looks like all our dreams,” which we connected to change as a necessary part of growth, because everyone needs to be able to feel comfortable in their own homes.
During our break, we watched an episode of Pokémon XYZ, and connected Ash’s relationship with Greninja to generalizations about change. From there, we examined Ash’s qualities that allow him to persevere, even when he fails and makes mistakes. When we learn from our mistakes—whether it’s interpersonal relationships, messing up a test, or even making a mistake in a piano recital—we change so that we become better for the next time, just like when Ash loses a Pokémon battle.
We finished the day by working on our culminating projects. Some students are writing stories, some students are creating comic books, and some students are creating self-portraits. No matter what the students choose to complete, they will all write a one-paragraph summary connecting their memoir to a generalization about change, which we are hoping to share at our Parent Open House on our final day together.
Have a great week!
Ms. Patti
Our Autobiographers Designing Their Dream Homes
