I never anticipated that my time as a second-year TFA teacher serving New Orleans would be cut short following the closure of physical school buildings in Louisiana due to COVID-19.

Virtual learning has been a departure from what I am used to as a 4^th grade English teacher. I miss being a fly on the wall listening to Socratic seminars, watching students apply their knowledge on writing prompts and my favorite - whole class read aloud! 

I thought about what skills I would want to promote during this period of distance and what my students would appreciate most during this time. 

The "Tale of Despereaux" by Kate DiCamillo is a book I remember loving when I was a 4^th grader, so much so that I read it again on my own when we got done reading it as a class. I hope to provide each one of my students with their own copy of the book and a journal with creative writing prompts to promote writing.  

It is my intention that students will be able to find joy in a great novel and engage that part of the brain that breeds creativity and imagination during this time of social distancing.

Books and journals will be delivered to students after I take some time to personally write a note to each of them!

Links for items are below:

Books

https://www.fbmarketplace.org/the-tale-of-despereaux-carton-of-48-paperbacks

*an additional 22 copies of TOD will be purchased for approximately $80

Journals

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XMB33H8/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07XMB33H8&pd_rd_w=uUCsN&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=7R94P&pf_rd_r=YVTW4ZJFJ45T5AMZTT6N&pd_rd_r=3e4cf957-3488-4fd3-870b-405fd1640804&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNTlCTk9YMDM1VFZNJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzQ3OTgyMk9WMlRMWjBET0xLQiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUExMDAwMDM0MUJCUUI0NldaSTlBOSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

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