House Table Teams

This week the kids were sorted into their House Tables! This year, the  names of the Houses were taken from locations in the My Father's Dragon trilogy by Ruth Stiles Gannett. One House Table's name is Popsicornia for the land where our young explorer Elmer Elevator lives. Another House Table is called Wild Island after the island of wild animals from which Elmer rescues the baby dragon. The third House Table is called Feather Island for the island setting of the second book in the trilogy, Elmer and the Dragon. And the final House Table is Blueland, the home of the dragons and the setting of the final book, The Dragons of Blueland. Your child may want you to get a copy of the book series so that they can read ahead or have you read more to them, but we ask that you hold off so that our classes can experience the unfolding of this trilogy together. We also would ask you not to show the movie version on Netflix at this point and thank you for your cooperation in this.

These House Tables act as the kids' "home base" and, with the other members of their table, become a team that will collaborate over the course of the year. For this first project, we asked the kids to get together with their House Table Teams and brainstorm the qualities they wanted their House Table to live by to create a symbolic banner for their House. 

Great qualities and values were identified as you will see below. From kind, respectful and compassionate  to smart, creative and persistent. The kids also designed artwork to decorate their banners which are now proudly displayed over their House Tables. The students were then tasked with learning the names all of the kids at their House Tables. At this point, almost everyone could name the other kids at their table (some with a little prompting). 

Below are pictures of each Dragon House Table Team and their banner. Ask your child to point out their banner and tell you about the words and images they included. Also ask them to name the other kids at their table.