Egg-stra Special Third Graders!

So every year we have a tradition in my room; the week before Easter we start our fairy tale unit by reading The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci with amazing artwork by Jerry Pinkney.  My third graders, who sometimes feel they're getting too old for picture books, love this book for its slightly creepy nature and hidden images in the art work.  Even the boys, who are never thrilled when introduced to the fairy tale theme, are intrigued by this tale.

The Talking Eggs is a Creole Cinderella variation set in the bayous of Louisiana.  It centers around the good sister, Blanche, with a spirit of do-right in her soul, and the older sister, Rose, who is mean-hearted and only thinks of herself.  Their adventures with a wise, old Aunty they meet in the woods teaches the children that good is rewarded while evil is punished.  Classic fairy tale, right?  Maybe there are a couple of twists along the way, but I don't want to spoil it for readers!

So after enjoying the story, the kiddos in my class are then challenged to work with their family to create an egg for our annual egg contest.  Every year I am simply amazed by how much creativity these families have!  This year, I actually got to be part of the creative unit in our house since my son is in third grade.  And while, yes, I kind of dreaded having to do the project, once we actually started, we had a great time together and made memories I wouldn't trade for the world.  Cool thing was, I had a lot of families post on FaceBook and share similar stories about their families working together and having a great time!  It was heartwarming to hear and see all of the memories being made.

They kids worked so hard, I had to share the egg-cellent end results.  I also have a link to the letter we send home to parents in case anyone can use it.  It's free!  And here is a link to The Talking Eggs at Amazon.  It's not free!

Happy Easter everyone!