Chis' Demo

I.
I liked that Chris' demo gave students the opportunity to "shake things up a bit." (By "things," I mean those Western-type narratives we all learn at this age: rescued princesses, boy-meets-girl, etc.) When we worked in our group, we were looking for alternative ways to tell stories with alternative identities (hence the surfer, Latino, turtle). In fact, I loved the group who looked at Chinese pandas--social studies shouldn't be the only place we think of other peoples. Even Dreamworks' _Shrek_ works to shake up those norms (my WS100 even uses Shrek as a breaking point from Disney's fairytale hegemony). So, yes, I can see lots of places to take this idea!

II.
Collaborating in the 3rd grade, or even lower, is a marvelous endeavor--bravo to those who do this (I can't imagine)! Wow. If only more citizens learned those valuable, collaborative skills at such young ages so they could practice more . . . say, superintendents, parents, admins, and more teachers . . .

III.
Finally, I am swept away by all the publication opportunities you folks are giving your kids. How very meaningful this must be to them! Then you have all of these great examples to keep and use as well. I hope to do more publication in my own classrooms--so thanks for your ideas!