Teaching Allegories by Writing Allegories

"Using Picture Books to Teach Allegory..." post on March 21st promised a follow up with student samples. I've finally gotten a chance to take pictures of some of the allegories my students wrote. Then,  I had to email them to myself, etc. You know the drill-as far as getting pics on your computer! 


I have tons of great student work, but here are 5 snippets. After I'd taken pictures, one of my students brought in a POP-UP Children's Book---Allegory with Waffles as characters! How stinkin' cute is that?  He spent hours, and it showed! I will have to be sure to get a picture of it too! 

Poster Display with Allegory Attached

Poster Display With Allegory Attached

                           

                                     

This one is a page in the children's book one of my students created.
Crayons were her Springboard!

Poster Display with Allegory Attached.

                                                                                  

Snippet of Cover for Another Allegory!

Hope you like these! Quite of a variety of approaches were taken for this activity, and I was impressed with the results. 

Regards,

Using Picture Books to Teach Allegory...

Eve Bunting's "Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust" 
Use this great read to introduce a unit on The Holocaust! 
Or it can be used to introduce topics such as:

•  Bullying
•  Racism/Prejudice
•  Different Cultures/Religions
•  Kindness
•  Helping Others
•  Acceptance
•  Violence

And don't forget the LITERARY ELEMENTS you can teach using this story....

• Allegory
• Metaphor
• Symbolism

My classes just started a unit titled "The Spirit Within," which focuses on The Holocaust. Prior to reading Night by Elie Wiesel and  The Devil's Arithmetic  by Jane Yolen, we usually begin with Bunting's story and then venture into analyzing literary elements such as those above. As a creative project and assessment tool, the students create allegories of their own! I'll be sure to post pictures of the great projects they produce! Can't wait! 


Regards,
Ann Marie Smith