Stone Soup - My FAVORITE Time of the Year!

I love this time of the school year!  I love Texas weather this time of year, and all the decorations, pumpkin scented Scentsy cubes and candles,  the whole deal.   But I think the reason I love it the most is because the holidays are upon us.   I love reading holiday books.   I have a basket FULL of Thanksgiving books that I love,  but I think my favorite book this time of year is Stone Soup.   It has no mention of the holidays,  but I think it embodies the "spirit" of the holidays better than many of the adorable turkey books.   It is a folktale, so there are many, many versions to choose from - some of which are titled Button Bone Borscht Soup, and Nail Soup, and Cactus Soup etc.   It seems that most cultures have a version of this tale and I love that!  It makes for a great book study.   We compare and contrast the different versions,  characters, setting, problem and solution.  It has great opportunities for text to self and text to text connections. The kids love when they notice a difference between the stories.  The whole moral of the story is great too - when we all add to the pot,  the result is greater than anyone can have on their own.   It is a story of sharing and coming together.   At the end of the unit we make soup,  each student bringing a veggie to add to the soup.   We break bread and eat soup together.   We also make a stone of our own that we write a lasting lesson on.   At the end of each school year,  this is always an experience that my students recall fondly.  I made this little unit to go along with it and have put it up on TpT.  If this is not a story you currently have in your curriculum I encourage you to add it this year - you will not regret it!

 

I hope your week starts out fabulously!