Blue Room: Authors That Changed The World

Little is known about the man we call Aesop. It is believed that he lived and created his stories around 500 BC. No one knows exactly from where he came, just that he became famous during his lifetime for the stories he told. These fables, as they came to be known, always had some sort of meaning or lesson to be learned. Aesop’s Fables were orally passed on through the years and were finally written down around 300 BC. It was not until 1484 when his fables were finally published in the English language (Cech, 2009). Week 1 will begin with the history of Aesop and through a variety of lessons students will come to understand what a Fable is along with it's purpose. The week will end with students producing their own fables which always yields impressive results.

Week 1 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the life of the famous storyteller, Aesop, and know from when and where his stories are believed to be originated.
2. Be familiar with the definition of a fable.
3. Be familiar with at least 5 of Aesop’s fables through the use of the book, “Aesop’s Fables” retold John Cech and have explored the illustrations drawn by Martin Jarrie, understanding how the illustrations help to tell the story.
4. Have created or participated in the creation of a new fable including the drawing of illustrations.

Week 2 will be focused on learning about and experiencing the work of the beloved children’s book author, Beatrix Potter. Beatrix Potter was raised in Victorian England and taught at home by governesses. Beatrix loved learning about nature and kept a journal in which she wrote about things in her life as well as sketched things in nature that she observed. Beatrix Potter was a woman ahead of her time, especially since most published authors in the late 1800’s were men. But this did not stop Beatrix otter. In 1901, she self-published, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and after the 250 copies had quickly sold out, signed on with the publisher Frederick Warne and Co. Beatrix Potter went on to write 22 more books over the next 28 years, ensuring her literary legacy.

Week 2 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the life of the beloved author, Beatrix Potter.
2. Have explored, “Beatrix otter A Journal” to understand where Beatrix otter gained inspiration for her work.
3. Read “ The Tale of Peter Rabbit ” by Beatrix Potter paying close attention to the illustrations, understanding that Beatrix Potter was also the illustrator of the book.
4. Have created or participated in the creation of a short story using the information gathered from students’ journals/field notes throughout the week.

During week 3 students will be introduced to JRR Tolkien and the magical worlds and creatures he created through his writing. John Ronal Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in South Africa. At the age of 3 he returned with his family to England. Tolkien took an interest in languages at a very early age and even mused about inventing languages at the age of nine (www.tolkien-online.com). Tolkien’s love of language did not subside and in 1916 while recovering from trench fever, began to write. It was not until 1937 when Tolkien’s first fiction novel, “The Hobbit” was published.

Week 3 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the life of the author, JRR Tolkien and understand why his works have made him so famous.
2. Be familiar with the definition of a fiction novel.
3. Have been introduced to the world created by Tolkien in “ The Hobbit ” including the magical characters he created.
4. Have participated in a reenactment of “The Hobbit.”

The last week of the month will be focused on yet another of the world’s most famous authors, the comic book master, Stan Lee. Stan Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieber in New York on December 28, 1922. As a boy he always enjoyed writing and at the age of 16, after graduating from high school, started working for Timely Comics. At first, he just filled ink wells and brought lunch to the writers, until 1941 when he wrote his first comic book filler, “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge.” He soon moved from writing filler to writing comics in their entirety and went on to create Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man, the Hulk and many more superheroes that the world has come to love. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee) Stan Lee is now known as a comic genius and has forever changed the limits of our imaginations and our culture with his magnificent superhero creations.

Week 4 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the life of the comic book author, Stan Lee and understand why his works have made him so well-known.
2. Be familiar with the definition of a comic book.
3. Have read at least one comic strip from the book, “ he A azi g Spide - a ” including an exploration of the illustrations by Steve Ditko.
4. Have participated in the creation of a comic strip using characters from Stan ee’s “The Amazing Spider-man.”

Literary Response & Analysis (1st grade-level)

3.2 Describe the roles of authors and illustrators and their contributions to print materials

Written & Oral English Language Conventions (1st grade-level)

1.7 Capitalize the first word of a sentence, names of people, and the pronoun I.

Writing (level K)

1.1 Use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people, objects, or events.

Letters: Recognition, Sounds and Writing