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Juniors have fun mentoring
Published Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Photo by Tom Hintgen
Junior Tyler Meyer assists second-grader Isaiah Klug for the fable, “Fox and Bear.”
Deb Darchuk’s Comprehensive Language Arts class for juniors at Underwood High School never knew that mentoring second graders could be so much fun.
This came about when each 11th-grade student selected a story while studying the art of storytelling, beginning with Aesop's Fables.
“Each 11th-grade student picked one of the stories and performed it for our class as well as Virginia Larsen's second-graders,” Darchuk said. “Then, we paired a second grader up with an 11th-grader.”
Next came two weeks in the Comprehensive Language Arts class during seventh hour — creating, writing and performing the original fables. The juniors connected well with the second graders.
“These fables needed to include two animals, and a moral or lesson to be learned from the story,” Darchuk said.
Photo by Tom Hintgen
Second-grader Hailey Thompson is assisted by junior Monika Pachel with a fable titled, “Cat and Puppy.”
Early last week the two classes invited both first-grade classes and the other section of second-graders down to the language arts room where the fables were performed for a new audience.
“This was such a valuable endeavor. The younger kids learned how to write a complete story, and also how to act out a specific role,” Darchuk said. “The older students actually improved their knowledge of fables by teaching the genre to others.”
Most of all, however, were the lasting friendships that were formed through this experience.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by justme (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Programs such as these mentoring projects are one of the key reasons Underwood School stands out among its peers in education. These things occur on a daily basis and are a positive experience for both the mentor and the mentee. There is a whole lot more than academics going on here.
I think it is one example of how important it is to keep our small schools independent. It allows older and younger students to interact in a positive way, develop relationships, and have a sense of community pride.
I am proud of my choice to open-enroll and am glad I chose Underwood as my childrens' educational "home".
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