On Thursday we went on a field trip to Sunset School to see Vancouver Opera in School’s production of Hansel and Gretel.
Normally we take the ferry when we want to leave the island, but for this trip we got to travel on the NAIAD Explorer. It is a very fast boat. The trip to Port McNeill usually takes about 30 minutes, but on the NIAD you are there in less than 10!
We were asked not to take any photos or videos of the performance and so we decided to make our own retellings of the opera using Little Bird Tales. With our groups we planned out which scenes to include, drew our illustrations, wrote the narration, and then added text. Here is a short peek at the wonderful collaborations that were happening in our classroom:
We had all heard the story of Hansel and Gretel before, but the story the opera told was quite different. Can you spot all the differences?
(This group isn’t quite finished yet. They still need to add their text)
Hi Mrs. Watson and class! It looks like you had an awesome time at the opera. When we go on field trips we take the bus because we don’t live on an island like you. I really like the stories you made on “little birdtales”. I can tell that you worked really well together! Mrs. Watson, do you have to pay for the subscription to this or is it free? Thanks for sharing!
Mrs Morgan
Sycamore Elementary School
Fort Worth, Texas
Dear Mrs. Morgan,
Thank you so much for visiting our blog and for leaving us a comment! What kind of field trips do you go on with your class? We don’t get to go on very many and so this trip seemed extra special!
Little Bird Tales is fairly new to us. When we looked at it earlier this year you were not able to embed your final project and so we decided to use a different web 2.0 tool. The only problem may be the limited storage space.
Your friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Hi Mrs Watson
I love the look of the Little Birdtales – we will definitely be checking those out, what a great way to retell a story. I loved your pictures and voiceovers, you did a fabulous job there or retelling your stories. I particularly liked the way you used expression in your voices – especially when the ogre was kicked into the oven! Now in the version of Hansel and Gretel which I was told as a child, I seem to remember a witch rather than an ogre, as well as a wicked stepmother and a trail of breadcrumbs… but I love your version. How exciting it must have been to go on the fast boat across from the island, AND to go and see an opera – what a fantastic day out!
Mrs M
Dear Mrs.Monaghan
Yes, I agree with you, in the classic story of Hansel and Gretel there is a witch not an ogre, but I geuss that they told the story a little bit different which is okay to do.
from Mia
P.S. What is your favourite candy?
Hi Mia
Favourite candy… now your asking! I love jelly babies, fruit pastilles and tootie frooties… do you have any of those? We call them sweets, not candy – another UK/US difference!
You’re quite right, changing the story is OK – often adaptations can be equally interesting and make you see a story from a different angle. Thanks for your reply.
Mrs M
To start with the boat trip looked fabulous, I’d have gone for the slow version, but that’s because I’m old! Opera, love it, what an exciting thing to visit. Hansel and Gretelmy favourite traditional tale… ‘ogre!’, no, no WITCH for me every time! Maybe that’s me being old again, or more likely I do better witch voices than ‘ogres’ when I tell this story. Your storieswerevery enjoyable, I particularly like the way that the speech was given intonation. I haven’t seen story tales used before so that was interesting as well.
Did you get the slow boat home?
Mr E
Hawes
Dear Mr. E,
Thank you for the wonderful comment. Yes we did take the NAIAD explorer home. I thought that it was very interesting too 🙂 I thought that it was enjoyable too 🙂
Thanks again
Sophie :p
P.S
:p is my signature.
Dear Mrs Watson and class
What a wonderful opportunity you all had to attend the opera.
The Birdtales were a fabulous way to retell the opera and your pictures really showed the emotions the characters feel in the story. The expression you put in your voices add to the enjoyment of watching and listening your retelling of this classic fairy tale.
It must have seemed strange for you at first, to have an ogre in the story rather than a wicked witch.
Like Mrs Morgan, if we go out on school trips we take the bus, so the boat ride alone seems like an adventure for me. Did the boat ride feel unusually short? And, was the trip smoother or quieter? What does NAIAD stand for?
Thank you for sharing your stories.
Kind regards
Miss McLeod
Room 24, Taradale Intermediate, New Zealand
Dear Miss McLeod,
Thank you for the comment I have a feeling that my class and you are going to be really good blogging buddies. I am glad you liked the bird tales my friends and I tried hard to make them as good as possible for 7 and 8 year olds. It has been changed many times and the opera choose an orge. It is always good to change things up, a little change is good. I take the ferry, not the NAIAD explorer, so it was a lot faster to me. The boat was quiet but the people were loud and we were going so fast against the wind and waves. It was really bumpy! I lifted off my seat, but people do say I am light for my age. I don’t know what it stands for.
From,
Kennedy <3
Dear Mrs. Watson and 2/3’s,
My name is Sydney and I live in Michigan. I’m in Mrs. Moore’s class. You are my blogging buddy. I think your NAIAD Explorer ride was so cool! It looked super fast. I want to go on a NAIAD Explorer one day.
My favorite fairy tale is Hansel and Gretel! My favorite part of the story was when they get so fat. Was it different then the original Hansel and Gretel? I think going on a NAIAD Explorer and going to see an Opera of Hansel and Gretel is so cool! Your 2/3 class is so lucky!
Hope to see you soon!
From your blogging buddy,
Sydney
Techie Kids
Dear 2/3’s,
It sounds like you’ve had quite an adventure! Thank you for showing us Little Bird Tales. That is not a website we’ve tried before. You all did a wonderful job with your retellings. We thought it was important to see the whole writing process you went through before posting your ideas. The video showed us that you planned out the most important details and then created illustrations to go along with them. Kennedy, Jacob, and Brooklynn made us smile by the voices they used for their characters. We think we even heard the fairy singing! 🙂 Ana, Trista, and Mia grabbed our attention right away with their colorful cover. Your illustrations throughout the story were very detailed and gave us lots of help visualizing. Sophie, Gwendalynn, and Solomon shared a lot of text on each slide. We found some details in this retelling that we hadn’t heard from the other stories. We thought Quang, Sharon, and Lily’s sound effects were funny! Your character voices were so expressive.
We wonder what your tales would be like if you changed one of the characters to behave opposite to the way they acted in the original story. It is also fun to think about adding a brand new character and how they might change the story too. Thank you for sharing your lovely stories with us!
Your fans,
Mrs. Moore and the Techie Kids
Dear Mrs. Moore,
Thank you so much for the comment. I think Ana,Trista,and Mia did had a very colorful cover too 🙂 Gwendalynn, Solomon, and I did put a lot of words on each page of the book.
Thanks again
Sophie
Wow! You sure had a fun day! I love the ride on the NAIAD too although it sure it noisy! Your collaborations are all so amazing. Mrs. Watson is a fabulous teacher too – using such a wide variety of media and then teaching you to put your own creations together. I hope you continue the wonderful play and work you do together. I enjoy the little window into your world that you share through your website.
Dear mama,
The minute I saw your comment I said I would do it .
What computer did you use?
I heard that Shanon and the girls went to your place and slept there and saw the whole place it sounds amazing.
The opera was amzsing and very fun but I had to sit on the cold hard floor,
Suprisingly it was an ogre, not a witch and Hansel and Gretel spilt the milk on the floor when they were fiting, Mother ,said to get strawberries from the wood.
Hope you write
back
Love Ana.:)
Dear Mrs. Watson’s 2/3 Class,
What an AWESOME blog!!! I think that your opera video and stories about Hansel & Gretel are fantastic, and my work mates at Vancouver Opera think so too! Thank you for sharing it! We look forward to returning to the Vancouver Island North district with another VOIS opera!
Sincerely,
Melissa Tsang
Vancouver Opera In Schools (VOIS) Manager
vancouveropera.ca
vancouveropera.blogspot.com
@vancouveropera
facebook.com/vancouveropera
Dear Melissa,
It is such an honor for you to leave a comment on our blog. I am so glad you liked it and your work mates at Vancouver Opera. I will defenitly be looking for your work every where.
From,
Kennedy <3
Dear Kennedy,
Thank you for your personal reply to my comment! It is a pleasure to hear from you. I thought that you would like to know that last week Vancouver Opera posted a link to Mrs. Watson’s 2/3 class blog, on both our VO Facebook page, and VO Twitter page! We have over 3100 people who like our Facebook page, and over 6100 Twitter followers, so we hope that our friends and followers from around the world will enjoy your blog as much as we do!
With best regards,
Melissa Tsang
Vancouver Opera In Schools (VOIS) Manager
vancouveropera.ca
vancouveropera.blogspot.com
@vancouveropera
facebook.com/vancouveropera
Dear Melissa,
I am so glad you wrote me back! That is so cool. When you put a link on our blog to your Facebook and Twitter page you made our blog a lot more popular Thanks! I am going to have to thank you 10000000000000 times.
Best Wishes
Kennedy <3
Dear Kennedy,
10000000000000 or ten trillion times is a lot, but thank you for your gratitude! Is your class able to tell how many people visit your blog page (is it ten trillion?), and where they live? I look forward to checking out more of your class blog in the future. If you ever want to check out our page, it is here: http://vancouveropera.blogspot.ca/
From,
Melissa
Dear Melissa,
We have been writing each other bock so many times my teacher I believe thinks we are having a very long conversion. Yes we can see how many people have left us a comment and were they live. I you do check out are blog in the future to. We will definitely check out your site.
Best Wishes,
Kennedy <3
P.S You should check out the Grade 2 kid blogs, and the grade 3 blogs on the side link at the top.
Dear Mrs Watson
I think that it’s really cool that your class got to see opera.
The drawings were really good, are some of your students artists? I thought the pictures showed a lot of expression, I really liked them, and they did a great job. Hope to hear from you.
Your blogging buddy
Kate
Dear Kate,
Thank you so much for leaving us such a nice comment! In our class we really love art and so I guess you could say that we are all artists, even if none of us are famous yet. Do you like to draw too? Have you ever been to the opera?
Your friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Dear Mrs Watson and class,
I’m Skye from 4KJ, Australia. I am in Miss Jordan’s class. Mrs Watson might remember me because I was in 2KJ two years ago.
Anyway, what an interesting post. It looks like you had a super time seeing opera. I loved the videos. It really entertained me. The pictures look like they have had a lot of work put into them.
I have started a new blog and this is the address if you want to visit: http://skyessuperblog.global2.vic.edu.au/
Your blogging buddy from down under,
Skye
Dear Skye,
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such a great comment. Mrs. Watson and the students in grade 3 all remember you from 2 years ago. Your class was the first class that we connected with globally. It sure feels like a long time ago doesn’t it?
We are glad that you enjoyed the post. Have you ever been to the opera before?
We will definitely stop by your blog.
Your friends,
Mrs. W and the 2/3s
Dear Skye,
thank’s for leaving us such a wonderful comment. I wasn’t at the opra because I cot a cold. If I had been there it would have awesome. I’m a gr.3 named Karin. It was to bad that we couldent take a video.
Karin;)
Hi Mrs. Watson and Class,
That’s sounds really fun, a boat ride is a pretty good trip and then a show on top of that… Wow! You all are so lucky! I’m sure you all enjoyed the performance AND the boat ride, certainly more fun than a slow ferry. Its just sad that you cant have a fast boat, that takes just the same time to get somewhere as the slow boat.
From your blogging buddy
Mackenzie, Room 24
Dear Mackenzie,
Thank you for the extraordinary comment. I was really fun. I thought that the NAIAD explorer took like 5 minutes to get from Sointula to Port Mcneil. I think that it is awesome that we have two boats for transporting yourself.
Thanks again,
Sophie,
P.S If you could live anywhere in the world were would you live?.