Signs of Life

For their fiction project, the sixth graders in our school write and illustrate a children's book for an audience a few years younger than they are. It gives them a chance to apply the elements of fiction and all they know about creating characters and conflict and setting in a simple, but creative way. Throughout the unit we read and analyze published books as models and mentor texts, again, a simple and accessible way for students to solidify their knowledge of fiction and its structure. 

Today we read A Place for Pluto by Stef Wade, a book that checks all the boxes for the assignment. Once he is stripped of his planet status, Pluto wants to find a place to fit in, so he talks to comets, meteors, and asteroids before finally meeting the other dwarf planets. The resolution is a two-page spread with all the planets, plus the Sun and Halleys Comet answering the classic question Where are they now? with a little joke for each. For example, the Sun says, "You all make me dizzy!" 

I like to go through the page and ask students to explain why the lines are funny. "Because the planets spin around the sun," they'll say. 

But when we get to Mars, it's a little tougher when he says, "Let's celebrate with chocolate!" Not many kids make the connection between the planet and the candy company of the same name. 

Even so, I had to laugh when one of the students who was here in person this morning mused, "Did they find chocolate on Mars?"

But ever an exemplar of growth mindset, I recovered my composure quickly and answered, "Not yet!"