Apples and Author's Purpose

Our first graders have spent a lot of time learning about authors.  They are quick to tell you that an author writes the words of a story.  With this understanding solid, we moved into a discussion of WHY authors write.  We spent 2 weeks thinking about author's purpose, using a text pair about apples.   We began by thinking about how sometimes authors write to entertain.  We decided that entertain means to help us have fun or enjoy something.  So an author who writes to entertain writes the story so that people can have fun reading it.  

We read our fiction book, Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg and talked about how we know this books is meant for people to enjoy.  The tall tale worked well because there are all kinds of reasons we know the information is not true or trying to teach us something!  Then I gave each student a large piece of paper divided in half, a green square, a red square, a brown strip and a glue stick.  I also gave everyone a sentence that said "Authors can write to entertain, like in the story Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg."  

The kids glued their sentence on first and then ripped the paper to make an abstract apple tree.  We talked about how this apple tree is just for fun, just like when an author writes to entertain.

The next week when the kids arrived for library, we reviewed authors write to entertain.  Then we thought about other reasons an author might decide to write a story.  We decided that sometimes authors write to inform, or to tell us new or important information.  We read our non-fiction book, Pick Me an Apple by Shelley Rotner. Then we talked about the new things we could learn from reading this book.  In the time between library visits the kids had taken a field trip to an apple orchard so they were full of connections and examples which made for a very fun and very lively apple fact discussion.  After our conversation, I passed out the paper they began last week.  I showed them how they would need to work on the blank side this week.  They began by gluing down a sentence strip that said, "Sometimes authors write to inform, to tell us new or important information like in Pick Me an Apple by Shelley Rotner."  We then labeled the parts of an apple.  I gave them the apple cut out, a small white square, scissors, a glue stick and markers.  We all cut our square into a circle for the core of the apple and then glued the apple and the core in place.  Next, we drew seeds on the apple.  Finally, we labeled the parts: skin, stem, seeds, flesh.  I wrote in big letters on the whiteboard so the kids could copy if they needed to.

Neither project took a long time, but using a text pair allowed the kids to have a very concrete experience with an author writing to entertain and an author writing to inform.  Adding the project gave them a visual to serve as a anchor chart as they look deeper into author's purpose.

Synonym Sentences with Sizable Squash

This fall we have been enjoying all kinds of seasonal books in the library.  One of my favorite projects is the synonym sentence project the 5th graders did.  It is really easy to plan and great practice in creative thinking and good sentence structure.

First we read the book How BIG Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor  we enjoyed each page and took time to read the super cool facts in the end notes.  

I took each of the colored words, which are synonyms for the word big, from the book and wrote them on an index card.  I added a few so there would be plenty of choices.  Then I reminded the kids that synonyms are words with similar meanings.  We talked about how using purposeful word choice and adding synonyms made this book very fun to read.  After our discussion, each child got a piece of orange paper, a large index card, scissors and markers.  Then, they drew one of the synonym cards from my stack.

I asked them to create a pumpkin any way they wanted and then write a sentence that would either describe their pumpkin or what it could be doing using the synonym card they drew.  When they finished the pumpkin and the sentence, they stapled the two together.

They had a blast working on this project and it was fun to see the natural collaboration that occurred as they shared ideas and worked in close proximity to each other.  Hanging them up made a fun display and provided a great opportunity for other classes to review synonyms too!

Dot Day in the Library

September 15 is International Dot Day, the day when kids all over the world take time to enjoy the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and then "Make their Mark" in all kinds of creative ways.  You can read more about Dot Day, and sign up for next year's event here.

In our school, the specials teachers teamed up to make it a week long celebration for the kids.  Our fabulous art teacher read the book to each class and then introduced them to artists who have made their mark using different forms of dot art.  The kids then got to try their hand at making art in a similar style and we hung all their dots in huge dots that lined the hall.  They so enjoyed seeing the different styles of dot art!    Our wonderful music teacher took pictures of dots as parts of musical instruments and then made a slideshow where the kids had to guess which instrument the dot belonged to, when they guessed correctly they got to experiment with that instrument.  In PE they did all kinds of moving on HUGE dots.  The kids loved seeing dots in interesting new ways and having a common experience to talk about.

In the library, we focused on the idea that EACH person has a unique mark to make.  I painted a huge dot with blue and green to look like an abstract world.  Then after we read the book and talked about many different ways to make a mark on the world, each student got to paint their thumb and make a mark on our giant "world".  We chatted about how all of the unique dots work together to make the world a really cool place.  

While they waited for their turn to paint, each child drew or sketched about the specific ways they could make a mark on the world.  Some of my favorite ideas were things like, "I will use my height to make a mark on the world by helping others."  "I will make my mark by playing fair in all my sports."  "I will make a mark by being a good friend."  "I will make the world more beautiful with my art." It was really fun for the kids to have space to think and dream about their own talents and interests and how they could use those to make a mark on the world.  It took all week to work each class through, but the end result was a mural that we are still enjoying today!

I love that we can share our celebration with kids around the world and that this project creates space for kids to enjoy and value the creative process and begins a conversation that takes flight in their minds and hearts and allows them to dream BIG!

It Looked Like Spilt Milk: A Fun Book and Some Activity Ideas to Go With it

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw

This is one of our very favorite books.  We especially like it on summer days when huge fluffy clouds are abundant.  Sometimes we read the book and head out to observe clouds, sometimes we read and play the game, sometimes we read and do the art project, no matter what follows we enjoy the book and the conversations it brings each time we read it!  We hope you enjoy reading and cloud watching sometime soon.

1.  Set the Stage:  Tell your kids you'll be playing a game today to help them practice seeing.  Listen to them tell you they see just fine or wonder why you want to do that.  Then tell them they'll be learning to see things differently today.

"Seeing With New Eyes"

You'll need:

something interesting to look at (a globe, a fun vase, a favorite doll something fairly good sized with detail in or on it)

sunglasses (1 pair regular, 1 pair with the lenses painted a fun color-you can buy cheap ones in the party favor section of most stores so you don't ruin nice ones)

a magnifying glass (any size or shape will work)

a latex balloon in a fun color (different than the color of your painted glasses)

a latex balloon with writing on the pattern (happy birthday, it's a girl, etc....)

To Play:

Show your kids the object.  Let them each look at it for 10 sec. 

After everyone has looked at it talk a bit about it, think about the details of how it looked.

Then go through the above list one at a time.

First let the kids look with the sunglasses.  Then talk about how it looked.  What was the same about the object, what was different.

Repeat this with all of the supplies.  Be sure every kids gets a chance with every kind of "new eye" and be sure to talk about the differences and similarities.

When you're done ask the kids what the point was, what did they learn from this game.  Tell them that how you see something is called your perspective. Remind them that we all have different perspectives and that stopping to think about someone else's perspective can help them learn new things and can teach them to see things they might have never seen before.

Now tell them you'll be reading a story to help them think more about this.

2.  Enjoy the book:  Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw out loud to your kids.  Stop to look at the pictures.  Let them share what they think the picture looked like.

Questions to go deeper:  (As you read ask these questions)

I wonder who thought it looked like a tree?  Maybe someone who likes to be outside?  Maybe someone who likes learning about nature?

I wonder what the person who saw an icecream cone's favorite flavor is?  Maybe they were hungry when they were looking?

Why are most of the things food or animals?

Have you ever looked at clouds?  What did you see?  Do you wonder why you see those things and not something else?

3.  Experience the Book:

You'll Need:

A dark colored piece of paper for each child (I usually use blue like the book)

white paint (enough to make a blob on each paper-I like the crayola brand as it's thick enough not to leak and it cleans up really well)

Paper towels or wet wipes

Pen or marker

A Copy of the words "Sometimes it looked like_________ but it wasn't a ____________" for each child. I usually write them on the top of the paper or have the kids copy them.

The experience:  Before you begin, show the kids a finished project so they know what you're talking about and so you can point out the specific directions as you explain them.

Give each child a piece of paper.

Then explain that you'll put a blob of paint on each piece of paper (only use a little so you don't have a huge mess).  Their job is to fold the paper in half and then to slowly open it.(remind them to handle the paper carefully)

After they fold the blob, they need to "look with their eyes" and decide on what they think it looks like.  If they struggle, remind them to think of food, animals, things they like, letters...

Once they decide on something, they need to write that word on both of the blanks in their sentence, or you can write it for them.

If you all make one you can put them together (don't forget to let them dry!) and read them like a book.  You can even come up with a fun new title for your story.

Happy Reading and Happy Cloud Watching!

Chrysalis', Butterflies and Children's Book Week

As we celebrated Children's Book Week and waited for our chrysalis' to turn into butterflies,  we set a goal to see how many ways we could connect reading, science and art this week.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of great conversation.  We chose the non-fiction book It's a Butterfly Life by Irene Kelly to guide our thinking.  We read the book each day and each day new things caught our attention.  Here is what we focused on during our reading conversations:

Day One:  What new things can we discover about caterpillars, chrysalis' and butterflies?

Day Two:  What are some of the extraordinary things about caterpillars, chrysalis' and butterflies?

Day Three:  Did this new learning change any of our thinking about caterpillars, chrysalis' and butterflies?

Day Four:  How are reading and butterflies alike and how are they different?

We enjoyed conversation about these topics as we read and re-read the story.  Then we embarked on a few art and science projects to capture our thinking and learning.  

This is the first project, it is made with oil pastels:

We followed these directions to make this project.  We did it exactly as explained except one child chose to use purple instead of blue for the background. The shading takes quite a while so I explained the steps and then read and we engaged in our reading conversation as they worked, pausing to give the next set of instruction reminders when most were ready I printed the template larger for the oil pastel part of the project and smaller for the anatomy party.  We used this information plus what we read in the book for the anatomy labeling project.

Our second project was a bit more abstract.  We made a butterfly fact chain.  We began by water coloring card stock.  The brighter the colors the better.  As the paint dried, each child looked back over our conversation notes and chose their 5 favorite pieces of learning.  They then chose a solid color of paper and cut out 5 rectangles.  The smaller the rectangle, the more the finished project will look like a butterfly.  They then wrote one piece of learning on each butterfly and folded them back and forth like a fan.  To create the butterfly look, simply fold the folded fan in half.  Once the facts are complete, the students cut 5 rectangles from the water colored paper and followed the same folding process.  Then we stretch out white thread and tied on the watercolor and fact butterflies with yarn.  The finished projects are fun to look at and make great conversation starters as kids share which facts they chose to include and why.  It was a simple but fun project with a lot of room for great conversation.

As our week of thinking and learning came to an end we concluded that reading, art, and science all are beautiful because they help us think in new ways and share that thinking with others they all work together to give us deeper understanding and our learning would be incomplete with all three parts.  

Our final project was a joint piece of art inspired by these directions.  We just used painter's tape to mark off the word READ before we started.  We felt like it was a great way to tie together art, science, and reading and it was a lot of fun to make together.

We can't wait for our chrysalis' to turn to butterflies and we can't wait to see what new reading adventures next week will hold.

One of our favorite weeks of the year is Children's Book Week!  We make it a point to stop and have create conversations about our favorite books of the year as well as to explore some new books. This year we kicked our week off by making videos of our favorite book recommendations.  We used the ipad to record our videos and then used a free app call "videoshop" to edit them.  As you can see, everyone got in on the fun!  Here are our favorite recommendations from preschool, 2nd grade and 5th grade.  

Grace's Recommendation for 4th Grade and Up

Liberty's Recommendation for 1st Grade and Up

Hope's Recommendation for everyone!

Happy Children's Book Week, We hope you'll take time to celebrate great books and how much fun it is to read them together!

Inquiry, Art, and Caterpillars

Caterpillars have crawled all over our classroom and our imaginations this week.  Our annual butterfly hatching project was kicked into high gear with the arrival of our caterpillars.  Our first order of business was to OBSERVE.

This year we did inquiry based observation.  The students created a list of questions they had about their caterpillars and then set out to gather data.  Nearly everyone wanted to track their growth in an attempt to answer the question, "How big will they grow?"  We also have kids tracking color, changes in marking, and amount of movement.

This year we are using a simple student made data sheet so they can record exactly what is important to them.

Once our observations were underway, we moved to a bit of an intellectual art project.  Each child paints their toes, just the small round part, and then stands down on a piece of paper making the body of the caterpillar.  We used small paper plates with 4 possible colors for a group of 4 kids to share.  They painted with a paper towel and then washed off with another paper towel so the mess was a minimum.  While the paint dried we explored "Caterpillars" on the Britannica on-line data base.  I read aloud and showed pictures from the site and the kids recorded favorite facts below their painted caterpillars.  (This girl is a BIG fan of Eric Carle so you can tell her facts are seasoned with her own schema!).  By the time we finished with favorite facts their caterpillars were dry and they added in eyes, legs, and antennas.

As we read on-line we began to notice that a lot of what we thought we knew about a caterpillar's anatomy was incorrect.  This began a quest to discover what a caterpillar's body is actually like.  We read, From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman and Caterpillars and Butterflies by Stephanie Turnbull.  As I read the kids took notes of the specific body parts mentioned and what was true about them.  We then spent some time observing our caterpillars with magnifying glasses and looking to identify these parts.  At the end of our time together the kids drew an "accurate" picture of a caterpillar's body under their facts.

We ended our week of inquiry and observation with the beloved The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and talked about fiction, non-fiction, and books that contain a bit of both.  We then painted rock caterpillars and enjoyed moving like caterpillars.  We can't wait to explore the pupa or chrysalis stage next!

Why POETRY is Worth Your Time

Poetry Response

Poetry is a fantastic way to engage readers of all ages and abilities.  In the above example kids used a quick 4 block page to record their thinking about a poem.  They jotted down their thoughts as we read the poem out loud and then they shared in pairs and with a group.  In this particular activity we practiced Mental Image- What picture pops in your head as you read? What words or specific parts of the poem help make your picture more vivid?  Connections-How does this poem remind you of other things you have read (text to text), things you already know or have experienced (text to self) or things you have seen or heard about in the world (text to world). Author's Purpose- based on your response to the poem, Why do you think the author wrote it?  Was the author striving to entertain readers, inform readers, persuade readers, or were they writing for another purpose entirely?  Asking Questions- As you enjoy this poem what questions do you have?  What does it make you wonder about?

Here a Four Fast Reasons we LOVE to read and think about poetry:

4.  Poetry is SO diverse!  There are all kinds of poems by a wide variety of authors about a wide variety of subjects making it fun and different.

3.  Poetry is quick!  Poems can be read out loud quickly and therefore leave lots of time for multiple readings and great conversations.

2.  Poetry is powerful!  By its very design poetry can send a big message with a few carefully chosen words.  That makes it an excellent genre to both think about meaning and practice our own word choice.  It also gives a voice to readers not looking for a long text or working hard to gain confidence.  

1.  Poetry is fun!  Poetry in all its various forms can paint a picture that is fun to read and we all know it is worthwhile to read fun or funny pieces for the pure enjoyment of it.

Here are 4 of our favorite poetry books:

A Kick in the Head by Paul B. Janeczko

Castles:  Old Stone Poems by Rebecca Dotlich

Sky Magic by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Thunderboom by Charlotte Pomerantz

Whether you are looking for a quick read to enjoy together, or a well written piece of writing to teach word choice or thinking strategies, poetry is most definitely worth your time!

Playing with Poetry

April is National Poetry Month and that makes it the perfect time to play with words!  

Here are a few books we've used to guide our play:

A Kick in the Head- An Every Day Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul Janeczko

Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli

I am the Book by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Here are a few projects that we've used to enjoy playing with words:

1.  

SPINE POETRY

This was our first attempt at spine poetry and we had a blast.  In this free verse style poem, anything goes.  Simply gather a selection of books whose titles convey your message of choice and then stack them so their spines spell out your poem.  This one, by a 2nd grader, reads:

"What do you do with a tail like this

  The President is Stuck in the Bathtub

   Wackiest White House Pets

    Taking a Bath with the Dog and Other Things that Make Me Happy

      Puppies Count."

You can stack them up like this and take a picture, or write out the titles and illustrate your poem.  The possibilities are endless and you may just discover some books you can't wait to read as you hunt for the perfect title to form the next line of your spine poem!

2.  

Found, Push Pin Poetry

We let our imaginations run wild with these little poems!  First you'll need to cut cardboard squares to serve as the base for your poem art.  (You could also use cork board if it is available).  Then let kids cover their square with whatever you have on hand, we used paint and let it dry while we searched for words, but you could use paper or colored pencils or markers....The poem is created by finding words in magazines or old books, highlighting them by outlining them in a fun way, see the picture above, and then cutting them out and pinning them to your square (we used push pins but tacks would work too).  We finished our squares by attaching a ribbon so it could be hung as poetry art.  I sent each child home with extra pins and extra words they had chosen so they could "find" and pin a new poem as often as they wanted.  We had some kids write a couplet, some a list of facts, some a rhyming quote or lyric, and some who did true found poetry and used the words found on one page to create an original found poem.  I found that giving them lots of choice in how they would use the words made them crazy excited and they worked hard at finding words and using them to create poems for as long as I let them!

3.

Book Poetry, Narrative

This project was inspired by the I am the Book collection of poetry.  We so enjoyed reading the book and looking at the illustrations inspired by each poem.  When we finished enjoying the poetry I asked the kids to choose one type of poem to reflect their feelings about books or reading.  Most students chose to do a list of participles describing books, but this fifth grader wrote a narrative and added her own illustrations.  It was interesting to see the kinds of words kids used to describe reading or books and to watch them illustrate to add meaning.  This was a fun and free kind of activity that led to some great thinking and writing.  The above poem reads:

Books

Books, spinning, swiriling, running, flying, everywhere, anywhere, anytime

Seeing, singing, reading, writing, over and over again.

Dancing, the images dance, bubbling, bouncing, boiling over

all over the place, like frosting on a cake

and colors on a cupcake.

Yummy, nummy, intriguing, like a kite in the sky 

carrying you away to entertain your imagination.

Showing the way from boredom, books RESCUE!

It's not too late!  Pick a poem or a project and get busy playing with words today!

Teaching Kids How to Deal With Bullying: A Book and a Project to Help you Start the Conversation

Hand in Hand We Can STOP Bullying

Source: thebookmom

When Should I Use This Lesson?

When siblings are treating each other unkindly
When a new student is entering your classroom and you are wanting to create a safe atmosphere for them
When you notice a student with bullying tendencies
When you notice a student who is being bullied
When you want to remind kids what good friends (the opposite of bullies) look and sound like

What exactly is a bully?

Websters Collegiate Dictionary defines a bully as, "A blustering browbeating person." My girls answer the question, "A bully is a mean person mom, a kid that hurts people on purpose." Both definitions are exactly right, whether it is an elementary kid yelling or hurting others physically or a middle school kid heaping shame on another with his words, bullying is treating another unkindly because you want to. President Obama said this about bullies, "...no one deserves to be bullied." I couldn't agree more. Below you will find a book and a project to help you talk with kids about bullies, both what it means to be a bully and how to handle a bully. Let's get the conversation started and help stop bullying among our children.

The Book

Little Smudge by Lionel Le Neouanic

Source: thebookmom

How to Use The Book

Read the book Little Smudge by Lionel Le Neouanic with your children. I read it all the way through enjoying the story. Then ask these questions. I included our answers in pharenthesis so you can get an idea of how a conversation could go.

1. What was this story about? (being nice, friends, solving a problem, not judging, helping new people) Me: "Those are great ideas, yes, I think the story was about all of those things.

2. What do you think the author wanted us to learn from reading this story? (how to be nice, to not be scared or mean to mean kids, to let everyone play) Me: "Wow, good thinking"

3. Tell me about the kids in this story. (There was one nice kid, he was shy and kids were mean to him. There were mean kids that got nice but they forgot to say sorry) Me: Yes, it is important to say you are sorry when you are mean.

4. Do you think the mean kids were mean on purpose? How do you know?(Yeah, they totally were, they were teasing and everything and they even wanted to fight!"

5. Do you know what it is called when you are mean on purpose, when you choose to do or say something you know will hurt somebody else? (a naughty kid) Me: "Well, it is a naughty thing to do, but you call a person who does that a bully. A bully chooses to be mean on purpose."

6. Do you think Little Smudge did a good job of handling the bully kids in the story? (yes, he solved the problem and he wasn't even mean). Me: I think so too. Let's see if we can make a chart of how he handled bullies so we can use it if we need to handle a bully.

Our "How to Handle a Bully" Chart

Source: thebookmom

How to Handle a Bully

1. Walk Away
2. Go find and adult who cares about you to talk about the problem with you
3. Cry if you need to, it's ok to cry when you are sad
4. Make a plan with a grown up who loves you
5. Have courage and try your plan
6. If your plan doesn't work, don't freak out just walk away and talk to your grown up again

Working out our Understanding

Source: thebookmom

Project Supplies

3 different kinds of ribbon cut into smaller sized pieces
You will need enough for each child to have a set of all 3 ribbons
construction paper
tape

Our Project

Each Shape is unique.

Source: thebookmom

Each shape is important.

Source: thebookmom

When we work together, we can make a beautiful picture!

Source: thebookmom

The Project

Once you have read and talked through the book and made your own "How to Handle a Bully" poster, you are ready for the project. You will be using three different kinds of ribbon to think again about the lesson this book is trying to teach.

Step One: Give each child 3 different kinds of ribbon cut into smaller sized pieces. In a classroom I would have them pre-cut and placed in baggies to pass out quickly.

Step Two: Instruct your children to choose one ribbon to represent themselves and then put the pieces together to make any shape they want. It can be a square, rectangle, an animal or something they like, anything.

Step Three: Instruct the kids to take the other two kinds of ribbons and make two more shapes. All 3 shapes need to be different but made with the same kind of ribbon (if you have a heart it should only have one kind of ribbon in it.)

Step Four: Ask the kids what part of the story these three shapes represent. (This is the part where all the shapes are apart and looking at how they are different, so there's a good chance someone could choose to be a bully.)

Step Five: Now ask the kids to think about how they could change the picture they made to look like the pages at the end, where the shapes realized they are all important and had something fun to offer. Encourage your children to make lots of different shapes that include some of all the ribbons.

Step Six: Challenge your children to see if they can use all the ribbon to create a shape or picture that shows the author's point, that we all have unique and important things to offer a group or that we are better when we choose to be kind and include instead of be mean and bully. We came up with a house and a hand, a circle or heart might be good. I would leave it really open ended and let your children explain their picture to you.

Step Seven: If you want to have a concrete reminder of this project, have the children rebuild their final shape on a piece of construction paper and tape it on. Then hang them up near your "How to Handle a Bully" poster.

When you are done with the project, remind your students again that they can choose to not bully by seeing that everyone is important and should be treated with respect. Also remind them that they have the power to stop a bully by using the steps on your "How to handle a Bully" chart. I would hang your chart in a place where it can be seen often. I'm sorry to say this won't solve the problem forever, but it will give your kids a good working knowledge of what a bully is and how to handle a bully. It will also begin a conversation that will help you when you need to deal with a child who is bullying or one who has been bullied. By educating and engaging with our kids we can make our homes, neighborhoods, and learning environments safer places. Start your conversation today.