Crest Hill Elementary teacher Cathy Quinlan had every eye on her as she read aloud from a book titled "Stone Soup." Her first-grade class listened closely as Quinlan finished the story of how three soldiers managed to make a hearty pot of soup, starting with only a stone.

"What did the soldiers teach the villagers?" Quinlan asked.

"You should never keep some stuff all to yourself," one girl said. "You should always share it."

In the spirit of sharing, Quinlan's class worked together to make their own batch of stone soup last week before Thanksgiving break.

Carrots, potatoes, peas and little chunks of turkey were all mixed in a pot with boiling broth, noodles and an actual stone. After being served, one boy leaned over his paper bowl, sticking his nose dangerously close to the warm broth.

"Smells good," he said.

The students decided the soup was pretty good, even though they didn't necessarily like all the vegetables in it. One boy said he thought the unusual concoction tasted a little like chicken noodle soup.

Sarah Skiles, 6, said she was in charge of stirring the soup, and that she even put her spatula right on top of the stone, just to make sure it was really in the pot.

How the soup tasted was a little surprising to Sarah.

"It doesn't really taste like stones," she said. "It just tastes like normal soup."

Quinlan started the tradition of making stone soup as a way to teach students about teamwork and sharing. Each student was in charge of adding an ingredient and taking turns stirring the mixture.

"Thanksgiving tradition is about sharing," Quinlan said. "They all helped add to the soup."

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at Jasa.Santos@trib.com. Read her blog at my.trib.com/jasasantos.