Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

is a fantasy-adventure novel written by Grace Lin.

 It was a recipient of a 2010 Newbery Honor.  

In the Valley of the Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents.

In the evening, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon who knows the answer to all life’s questions.

4th grade student reflections…

“My pot is about when the monkeys don’t let anyone go through the peach tree path.”

“My pot reminds me of the happiness paper.  I hand drew the characters.”

“It reminds me of Minli because it tells about her age, gender and friend, Dragon.  Minli recued Dragon from the river.”

“My pot has a rabbit inside like Minli’s plate.”

“My pot is a rice bowl like Minli, Ma and Ba ate out of.”

“My pot reminds me when Minli gets home and they have a party.”

Through a Cultural Lens

Third graders used craypas to visually represent something special about their family.

At The River

Church with My Family

I have family in Paraguay so we go there often.

Thanksgiving with My Family

"I can't think of anything."

For some children, thinking about family traditions was hard.

"Do we have to do it every year?"

"Does the whole family have to be there?"

"How do I know if it is special?"

How BIG does something have to be before it is special?

 I like to meet my daughter for tea.  That is special to us.

Drippy monsters

Mrs. Frazier's kindergartners made these great monsters.  

We talked about warm and cool colors.  

If the monster was cool, we tried to add warm colors  and visa versa.  

We tried to make the monsters pop out of the paper.  

The monsters themselves were made with colors of paint and a straw.

Once we dabbed paint onto the paper, we blew and blew.  

"This is really hard work!"