The Crystal Palace I The Crystal Palace II The Crystal Palace III
http://www.outskirtspress.com/crystalpalace
www.outskirtspress.com/crystalpalace2
I just completed nine workshops for grades 3,4, and 5 at Brentwood School in DesPlaines, IL. The children were so attentive and earnest, it was a real joy. This time I used The Crystal Palace: Rescue of the Baby Fairy Prince for the third graders and The Crystal Palace II: Rebellion in Fairyland for the fourth graders. For the fifth graders, I began with Crystal Palace II, but I steered the workshop toward the children’s creating their own characters to illustrate and write about, rather than illustrating the fairy Angela from the books and writing about other characters Karina illustrated. The children seemed to enjoy creating their own characters, so I will develop that more for future workshops. My goal is to complete and publish The Crystal Palace III: The Fairy Wars by next summer, so I can use that book for fifth grade workshops. Each book is a bit longer than the last, with more complicated plot. I am hoping that teachers will use the books and the classroom activities provided on this website for literature circles in their classrooms. Any thoughts about all this?