Welcome
"Tell me, and I forget,
teach me and I may remember,
involve me and I will learn"
--- Benjamin Franklin
Throughout the year, the Üsküdar SEV Elementary's fourth grade language arts classes have designed dioramas, wrote creative stories, learned about history, and applied their skills in an enthusiastic and creative way in order to further their English knowledge. The students enjoyed these activities from their novel units because they guided them to bring the stories they read to life. Personal connections are particularly important for learning, and through making connections students were able to better understand and relate to the characters and story message. It is one of my goals as an educator to design activities that allow students to make personal connections, because understanding is more complete when students can see parts of stories that they read happening in their daily lives. My students loved having the chance to take their imaginative ideas and make them real through physical, artistic creation. They became excited about reading and looked forward to exploring the next novel.