“Bringing Books to Life”
One (of the many) highlights from last year was the privilege of guiding students through the Traveling Through Genres book projects. Sweeping through nine different literary genres and focusing on specific literary characteristics, elements, and Godly character traits proved to be such a wonderful exploration of classic children’s literature. I’ve never experienced such a fulfilling, rich post-phonics/story time reading program in my twelve years of teaching.
Each month I could not wait to kick-off the genre in an exciting, fun way. The students were truly excited to receive their new book. As the kids read their books over a fifteen day period, we would gather for discussions and activities. Surrounded by the hemlock trees in Cathedral State Park and sitting in front of the Drane House in Accident, Maryland, my students and I participated in Socratic discussions that helped us to delve deeper into the timeless, wonderful literature! The best part was connecting the characters and our conversations to God’s word.
The final projects for each genre remain my absolute favorite! What a blessing to watch my students synthesize the skills that they learned and the discussions that we had into a final project. They became the characters that they read about; I met Almanzo and Starlight from Farmer Boy, Matt from The Sign of the Beaver; Hannah from the novel Hannah, and Laura Ingalls Wilder from The Little House on the Prairie. I also got to know Florence Nightingale, Steve Irwin, Anne Frank, Amelia Earhart, George Washington, and Clarence Kummer (Man o’ War’s jockey). What fascinating people who led extraordinary lives! But it doesn’t stop there; forming a circle with my students and praying for God to bless them and direct their path toward living an extraordinary life like the lives of the people who they were portraying all for His glory made this approach to literature jump out of the past into the present and blaze a path for the future. How fulfilling! From dioramas to lapbooks to performances, my students breathed life into the wonderful literature that they read. I cannot wait to do the book projects again this year!
Sending out a BIG thank you and well done to my students for filling God’s world with such truth, goodness, and beauty! 
