Today we finally had a really pretty and warm Spring day here in Central Ohio. It was a perfect day for dragon slaying.... and a huge and fearsome dragon just happened to show up in our backyard!
How ironic that we were hosting a book club meeting today focusing on the book Saint George and the Dragon!
The boys all loved this book! It is a Caldecott Medal winner with gorgeous illustrations. But it was the blood and guts and bravery and action that impressed the boys. And they all totally understood that this story is really about the triumph of good over evil.
We played a few fun games at today's meeting. One was a reading comprehension game. I went around the room asking questions about the story. For each correct answer they gave, the boys received a "dragon egg' (aka jelly bean).
For homework this time the boys had to come up with a challenging vocabulary word (and write the definition, illustrate, use it in a sentence, etc). We played a game with those words. I posted each word with the correct definition and two fake definitions. They earned dragon eggs by guessing the correct meaning of each word. Here's "A" with his award-winning word ---
Do you know the meaning? Here are the choices I gave:
1. The name of a town in France AND a board game.
2. A bone located in your neck AND a six-wheeled vehicle.
3. A dead, decaying body AND a container for storing leftovers.
Answer: A (I had to look that one up!)
The other words were: jovial, bewildered, oviparous, and regurgitate.
We also read a packet about how to become a knight, including the Code of Chivalry that knights must follow. The boys had a few objections to some of its points.... especially the honoring and protecting of girls and women. We had quite a lengthy discussion about that one. ;)
We learned about the real Saint George, whose feast day is on April 23rd.
And then.... it was time to slay the dragon!
I made them take turns galloping on our "horse" and striking the beast with their swords.
Once they severed the body from the head, they all attacked at once ----
It was a gruesome battle! Check out the girls just watching in the background as the boys pillaged the dragon.
It was fun to see them so excited.... but wow did this quest bring out the caveman in all of them. They were off the wall for the rest of the day! It was worth it though!
After the battle, we were treated to a delicious pizza lunch made by the girls book club. And for dessert.......
WOW! "C" and his family made this awesome dragon cake!
We are just loving the reading and learning adventures of our book club!
I'll wrap up with this adorable shot of the girls from the last meeting.....
They read The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch) and made paper bag princess puppets. So cute! Some of the girls were sick today.... and we missed them! We can't wait until our next book club gathering!
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