Famous Last Words Week 4

Well I have to do my famous last words early this week because tomorrow morning I get my wisdom teeth out.  I am actually very nervous. I have never had a major procedure done, besides when I was a baby and five years old. This has already been a very eventful week. I have actually been sick all week. I did not go to class Monday and got to spend my day at the doctor on Tuesday. Therefore, all of my work this week has been done while lying in bed or on the couch. I think that I actually write better when I am sitting up. I am more than ready to feel better.

Besides that, I have enjoyed my reading this week. The Jataka Tales (Babbitt) were very easy to follow and to read. This made it helpful since I have had zero energy this week. I can only imagine how I am going to be this weekend with my wisdom teeth. I liked these stories because they were all about different animals. Some of the stories were very realistic as well.

My classes are going well so far. I got a little behind since I missed class on Monday, but I am trying my best to catch up fast. This is because I have two tests next week. They are both on Wednesday and they both cover a lot of information. I have already started studying for these tests. Highlighters, note cards, study guides, and notes are everywhere around me.

Since it is not Thursday, I have not had the chance to comment on my other classmates blogs. I know that everyone is doing a great job. I am very anxious to see how everyone’s storybooks or portfolios come out. Everyone has such a great imagination, so I know they will all be amazing. 

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Essay: Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

I was very impressed with this unit. I really did enjoy the readings. I hope that I am able to read more units like this one throughout the semester. I liked how each story was easy to follow, the main character were animals, and that most of the stories had an overall theme.

My favorite story from this section was The Turtle who could not stop talking. I have actually read this story before, so it was very familiar to me. However, I am still trying to figure out where I read it. Another story that stood out to me was Beauty and Brownie. First off, the title was very catching because unlike the other stories you could not tell who was going to be the main character. This story was also very practical since it had to do with deer and hunters.

I believe that this unit and the unit I read in week 3, Aesop (Winter), were similar in the fact that they both had animals as the main characters. There can be many connections made between these two units. I also feel that some of the stories could even overlap some. The themes of the stories in both units are both very practical. However, in this unit you had to figure out the theme, while in week 3, there was a sentence stating the overall theme of the story. 

This unit is very well organized and written. I do not believe that they are additional notes needed because each story is easy to follow. I would suggest to add some color pictures in the stories, since they are all black. This would add some excitement to the reading. All of the background information provided for this unit was very helpful. Even though, there are not storytelling ideas for this unit, I believe that these stories are easy to add your own thoughts to.

Picture Credit

Storytelling Week 4: The Stupid Monkeys

Once upon a time there was a very hard working maid. She was the maid of a King who never gave her any vacations. She was in charge of all the cleaning, laundry, and even watering the plants. 

However, one day the queen requested that the king should give the maid a vacation. The king gave the maid a week vacation. The maid has never been on vacation before, she was overly excited. 

Before the maid took off on her vacation, she had to find someone to cover for her while she was gone. She remembered how smart the king's monkeys were, so she hired them for the week. Little did she know, they did not understand her directions very well. 

The monkeys went to do their first task, mop the kitchen. It took them thirty minutes to even remember where the mop bucket was. Once they found it, they poured in the soap and then added the water. They then started to mop just how the maid told them too, however, they forget to tell the king they were mopping. So the king slipped and fell on the wet kitchen floor. The king was very upset.

Soon after the monkeys finished mopping they had to start the laundry. They went up to the king's room and collected all of his clothes. They did remember they had to sort all the laundry out by whites or colors. However, one red sock got stuck in the white pile. The monkeys started the laundry, which they thought was going perfectly. Then it was time to put the while load into the dryer.Uh oh..all of the whites were PINK! The monkeys were so confused on how this happened, until they discovered the one red sock. 

The monkeys were so tired but had one more task to finish for the day. They were hoping they could finish this task perfectly with no mistakes. Their last task was to water the plants. They filled up the water can and started walking around the castle watering the plants and flowers. The monkeys remembered ten out of the thirteen plants that the maid told them about. Since they forgot to water those three plants, all three of them died. 

Overall, the monkeys thought they did a great job at doing the maids job. By the end of the week, the king had yelled at the monkeys everyday. The king also told the maid that she was never to hire the monkeys again. If she wanted to go on vacation, she had to find a new maid for the week she was going to be gone. 

(Crazy Monkey Picture)

Author's Note:
The original story is about when a king gave a holiday to all the people in his city. The king's gardner wanted to go to the city with all of his friends, but was unsure how he was going to go if he still had to water the trees in the king's garden. Then he realized that he could have the monkeys do it. The gardner asked the monkeys nicely if them would water the trees so he could go enjoy his holiday in the city. The gardner told the monkeys that, "Do not forget to water the trees when the sun goes down. See they have plenty of water, but not too much." The monkeys were happy to water the trees, but they were unsure how to tell if the trees had enough water. So the monkeys pulled up each tree to check the length of the roots to determine how much water each tree should get. However, this killed all of the trees once the gardener got back.

I chose to keep the monkeys as the main characters of the story. I wanted to keep the story-line mostly the same, however, I changed the gardener to a maid so that the monkeys could have more tasks to complete. I just came up with daily chores and made the monkeys make basic mistakes.

Bibliography:
The Stupid Monkeys
This story is part of the Jataka Tales unit. Story source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1922).

Reading Diary B Jatakas (Babbitt)

Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

Once again, this unit had great stories. The stories all included crazy animal characters that make them very interesting to read.

The Stupid Monkeys These poor monkeys, they wanted to help the gardener, but had no idea anything about trees. I cannot believe that they killed all of the trees by looking at the length of their roots. But I will say, it is the gardeners fault for leaving the task to the monkeys. How are they supposed to know what to do.

The Woodpecker and the Lion I enjoyed reading this story. The woodpecker was very nice to the lion, even though he had worries. I thought it was nice of the woodpecker to help out the lion even though he was scared the lion was going to eat him. It was very smart of the woodpecker to put sticks in the lions mouth, so he could not eat him. I still think that the lion should have done something more for the woodpecker.

The Hawks and Their Friends this was a great story that incorporated many animals. I like how the father hawk had to keep repeating what was happening and all of the animals responded with, "I will come at once." I also think that this would be a great story to use in my storybook, the location is at a lake and it is easy to incorporate an adventure into it.

Beauty and Brownie

Picture of Beauty and Brownie

This story brought the other side of hunting, it was the animals perspective. Which to me, was really sad. Those poor deer have to watch out for their entire family and can't get caught in the traps. I wish that both of the deer would have listened to their father.

Reading Diary A: Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

Jataka Tales (Babbitt)

This unit caught my attention by the first section The Monkey and the Crocodile. The monkey was very good at tricking the crocodile and the crocodile would fall for just about anything. Poor crocodile wanted to eat the monkey, but could never outsmart him.

How the Turtle saved his own life was another great story. I think it could be helpful with my storybook, if I chose the adventures of animals at the lake. I cannot believe that they thought the turtle would die in the lake, silly people!

The turtle who could not stop talking, I have read this story before, however I can not remember when and where. I enjoy it every time! However, it is sad that the turtle dies.

The King's White Elephant. I enjoyed reading this story.It was such a happy story until the very end. I would love to see an elephant walking with three feet, that is a sight that I can not even picture in my mind. When I was a little girl, elephants were my favorite animal. I loved how helpful the elephant was and even got his son to help. It was sad that the king bought the son and he was not able to play or help his friends anymore. I did not see the white elephant getting sold to the king.

(The King with the White Elephant)

The Tricky Wolf and the Rats. The wolf got away with eating some of the rats by tricking them to think he was poor and that he could not walk. However, there was a great twist to the story when the Chief of rats caught on. I am glad that the rats outsmarted the wolf.

This unit was full of great stories, that had animals as their main characters.These animals were kind, helpful, and even sometimes tricksters! Most of the stories would end happily ever after. There were some that would have a twist that made them interesting.