The door swings open “DAWN! Vowel Town!” I look up and there’s Lynn leaning on the door. She’s breathless. “You have to come see it!” I make the move to get up and head down to her first grade classroom and she stops me “They’re in music now!” I sit back down. “They’ll be back at it at 10:00.”
I write 10:00 on a post it so I don’t forget.
At 9:58, I make my way to Vowel Town. As I am approaching the room, I can hear the buzz. I stop at the door and take in the scene. Kids are scattered around the room, construction paper is everywhere, and the volume is just right. With only minutes to spend in Vowel Town, (there’s a Virtual World I need to be in), I quickly make my rounds to chat with a few first graders who, at the moment, are living in Vowel Town. One by one, they share their creations that are rooted in vowel teams.
Their energy, knowledge and creativity is priceless. I’m glad I stopped by!
PS – If you ever find yourself passing through vowel town, I recommend a little visit.
Bringing the curriculum to life — assessing as we go.
let's observe 
I should have called you to my office today too… we were creating our own vowel town. The joy and creativity was high. I’ll send you a link… you don’t even need to get up to visit our town. I’m glad you got to experience this creating process. It is very fun… and informative!
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This made me smile! First off, Vowel Town is an amazing idea, but when I saw the photos of the students and their creations, it made me so happy to see how they get to be creative while learning. This aligns with my philosophy and it was nice to see because lately I’ve been feeling like I’m alone in how I think about how kids learn. Thanks for this!
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Your title made me think we would hear about a trip to see Hannah. This sounds so fun- just what we need more of! I laughed at your plans in the virtual world!
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This is great and affirms my philosophy of project creation to solidify learning. I may not be making a vowel town in third grade, but students are creating posters, cards, and all kinds of projects.
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I didn’t see Vowel Town coming when I read your title. I love the excitement from you and Lynn in this slice.
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