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Fund For Teachers Fellowship 2020/2022
Cinderella once said "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes". My educator heart had been dreaming for some time about re-igniting a passion for reading and storytelling in our title 1 assisted K through 5 library media center. Fund For Teachers provided the opportunity to make that dream a reality.
My name is Bonnie Howard. In 2020 I received a fun for Teacher Fellowship to travel to Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary to document and experience the art, landscape and architecture that inspired classic fairy tales and literature. Upon my return the plan was to share my Global Experience and develop a cross curricular writing unit designed to encourage all students to discover their own storytelling traditions inspired by real images of the people, places, foods and cultures of these imaginative places.
Unfortunately, the global pandemic derailed the original plans but finally in the summer of 2022 I took off on a professional development adventure that would take courage, challenge my Global competencies, and ultimately result in a month-long fairytale immersive experience that motivated my students as independent readers and creative storytellers.
My name is Bonnie Howard. In 2020 I received a fun for Teacher Fellowship to travel to Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary to document and experience the art, landscape and architecture that inspired classic fairy tales and literature. Upon my return the plan was to share my Global Experience and develop a cross curricular writing unit designed to encourage all students to discover their own storytelling traditions inspired by real images of the people, places, foods and cultures of these imaginative places.
Unfortunately, the global pandemic derailed the original plans but finally in the summer of 2022 I took off on a professional development adventure that would take courage, challenge my Global competencies, and ultimately result in a month-long fairytale immersive experience that motivated my students as independent readers and creative storytellers.
My plan was to follow in the footsteps of the famed fairy tale writers, the Brothers Grimm. I visited some amazing places like the city of Hameln, Germany where I was able to catch a live performance of the Pied Piper of Hameln that was being performed on The Town Square. I visited the musicians of Bremen statue in Bremen, Germany and after a lot of misdirection and mistakes --mostly due to my inability to navigate the Metro System-- I found the final resting place of The Brothers Grimm in Berlin, Germany. Hands down the most impactful experiences to me as a Storyteller and educator was touring the real castles of European cities and learning about the history and architecture of each one. I even spent the night in a castle that was inspired by Rapunzel's fairy tale and my students were completely awe struck when I shared the story and real pictures from the trip.
It took some planning and collaboration but in February 2023 we launched Fairy Tale February in our K-5 Library Media Center. I transformed the library with amazing decorations and I may have purchased a fairy tale costume or two just to build excitement for our students and my colleagues. All classes K-5 had the opportunity to sign up for three specific lessons.
The first lesson was called "What is a fairy tale?" students were immersed in read alouds and stories and pictures from my professional development adventure. This was meant to excite the students to seek out fairy tales for independent reading and to inspire them to write their own creative stories. To say it was a success would be an understatement. Our fairytale circulation increased exponentially and the creativity was palpable.
The next lesson helped students create their own fairy tales. Kindergarten students used a "roll a fairy tale" template to choose their good and evil characters and then illustrate and/or write their stories. 3rd through 5th grade students used a Canva template to create their stories.
Finally, we did fairy tale stem where K-2 students used materials provided to design and build a habitat for the little pig that could withstand the force of the big bad Wolf's breath. Much to their delight and surprise the big bad world happened to be my hair dryer.
Third through fifth grade students used Code.org Sprite lab to block code their own fairy tale stories. This also incorporated digital literacy and computer science standards.
Third through fifth grade students used Code.org Sprite lab to block code their own fairy tale stories. This also incorporated digital literacy and computer science standards.
What were the takeaways from this professional development?
First I was blown away by the whole school involvement. Teachers checked out Fairy Tale books to read to their students. They participated in dress like a fairy tale character day. Our art teacher incorporated fairy tales and castles in her art lessons. Students from the local high school and middle school share digital read allows with our students and our amazing district Library Media Specialist Team collaborated to make sure the fairy tale February lessons were shared with students across the district.
First I was blown away by the whole school involvement. Teachers checked out Fairy Tale books to read to their students. They participated in dress like a fairy tale character day. Our art teacher incorporated fairy tales and castles in her art lessons. Students from the local high school and middle school share digital read allows with our students and our amazing district Library Media Specialist Team collaborated to make sure the fairy tale February lessons were shared with students across the district.
Finally, I learned so much about myself professionally. I learned that to travel in the world that was just learning how to navigate visitors "after" a global pandemic it took a level of courage I was not sure I possessed. This great experience built my confidence as a risk taker and has provided the opportunity for me to encourage my colleagues to pursue their own professional learning opportunities. I'm so thankful for this grant and I would not have been able to pursue this educational dream without the generous help from Fund For Teachers. My excitement and enthusiasm for literature has been reignited and I'm confident that this will have a positive impact on our school and students for years to come.
If you would like more information about Fund For Teachers scan the QR code above or contact me directly at
[email protected].
If you would like more information about Fund For Teachers scan the QR code above or contact me directly at
[email protected].