My sweet second grade students celebrated the ending of our read aloud, The Secret Garden, by doing a very creative “diorama” art project, and then later in the week watching one of the movie versions of the story (it’s the version with “Professor McGonagall,” Mrs. R, “it’s Professor McGonagall!“). We had a great class discussion about the similarities and differences between the book and the movie, and the class voted and decided that the book was better than the movie, although we all liked the movie. Fun overall book experience!
A Fondness For Reading 
I like the diorama, but I especially like that the kids enjoyed the book better than the movie!
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It is something they will ALWAYS remember. When a book comes alive long enough for analysis and artwork it has been a memorable experience.
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That does sound like a fun experience!
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Les, it was a very close vote, and the kids actually wanted to vote that they loved both rather than choosing one over the other. They explained very insightfully what things they liked about the book, and what things they liked better about the movie. It was a wonderful discussion.
Thanks, Tabor. They talk a lot about three special Read Alouds this year, so I do think the experience of those three books will stay with them [hopefully forever!]. They loved Charlotte’s Web, The Wizard of Oz, and now The Secret Garden. They’ve been a great listening group.
Kelly, they enjoyed the art project after we finished the book. I loved it, too, because it was fun to see them so focused on creating their own little secret gardens.
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