Day 23 SoL Story Challenge: Fairyland

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In kindergarten classrooms all across the country, many teachers are in the midst of teaching "All About Books." During this unit of study in writing workshop, we ask kiddos to talk and draw and write about topics that they are passion about, topics that they are mini-experts in. It's one of my favorite units because I always learn so much about kids. When kids are allowed to explore topics that they are genuinely interested in (rather than assigned) we find out who has an obsession with My Little Pony, and who loves scooters, and who is a Yankees fan, and who knows all about puppies because she has one at home.

I asked Little L. to list some of the things she's an expert on and she had no trouble naming off half a dozen topics.

1. Dinosaurs
2. Skiing
3. Baby Brothers
4. Bike Riding
5. School
6. Fairies

Little L. knows ALL ABOUT fairies, actually. Starting with last spring, we went to a fairy garden workshop, and when we got home, I set aside a little bit of space in my vegetable garden for L. to build this:

L. spent hours upon hours in this spot, creating elaborate narratives involving magic and mystery.

Then, when the weather got cold. we got this for L.'s birthday:

And this book:

And last week L. brought home this book from the library:

And then just the other day she made this (and many others like it); I added the labels:

And today, she worked on this treehouse for her fairies:

When it's time for Little L. to write an All About Book in kindergarten, she'll be ready!