Nina is a poodle in Mrs. Lamonaca's first grade class. Everything about her is a dog. She eats. Plays. Sleeps in a bed. And provides her friends with love and companionship. Nina is about as real as a dog can be, even if she's made out of pillow stuffing and fabric. These two classmates (pictured on the right) fashioned her out of supplies from the classroom materials center and then gave her an identity and a heart, as one would expect children to do. Nina is what happens when students are motivated to learn more than what is required by the curriculum. The possibility of Nina inspires creativity, collaboration, the use of language, while preserving a child's innate desire to make the imagined world part of her real one.
-- Paul Tomizawa
