Finding Your Own Forest

by Karen Leggett Abouraya

This is the season to take a sketchpad or journal outside, walk a trail or just lie in the grass. Watching. Writing. Drawing.

That’s what Lulu Delacre did before writing ¡Olinguato De la A al la Z! Descubriendo el bosque nublado (Unveiling the Cloud Forest) . She traveled high up in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador to find the elusive little mammal, the olinguito. Lulu’s book was inspired by a Washington Post article about the discovery of the olinguito . Her journey to the cloud forest of Ecuador resulted in a fascinating, elegant bilingual book filled with a whole alphabet of wildlife – and many ideas to spark summer writing and drawing.

1.    Look at a newspaper and find an article that inspires you to write a short story or a poem. Illustrate your story.

2.    During your own walk outside, try to find something that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Take the first five words on your list and write a story using all the words. It might be a very silly story!

3.    If you are in a place where you can pick up leaves or twigs from the ground, bring some back to use in your illustrations. Lulu used real leaves to get the texture just right for the background in these pictures (now on display at Strathmore Mansion in Rockville, Maryland.

4.     Find the zoologist hiding on every page of ¡Olinguito!  Go to the library or use the Internet to find other people who work with animals. Choose one and write a paragraph about what that person does.  Maybe you can even interview someone who works in your community.

Need more ideas?  Here’s the Lee and Low Teacher’s Guide for ¡Olinguito!

You never know where an outdoor adventure could lead on paper and in your heart.  Lulu says she “came back from my trip amazed at the interconnectedness among all the life-forms in the cloud forest, and with a deep respect for what these rich places mean to humans and the earth.”

http://childrensbookguild.org/karen-leggett-abouraya

WRITE YOUR ABC'S

by Alison Ashley Formento

Alphabet books fill the children’s shelves at libraries and bookstores. They are easily found in book bargain bins at local retail and grocery stores. Teachers and parents pull out popular ABC picture books to use in teaching letter recognition to young readers. Authors who write for children love ABC books, too. Every picture book author I know has attempted to write an ABC story, or many, even though these are hard to sell to editors since there is always glut of these titles in the marketplace. Still, new ABC books appear every year, and if the illustrations are fun like Miss Spider’s ABC by David Kirk, or sweet like Margaret Wise Brown’s Sleepy ABC, with pictures by Karen Katz, we’ll eagerly add more of these books to our collection.

Write your ABCs

Challenge your students to write their own ABC into a fun story poem.

Alliteration is a great way to inspire ideas and it certainly can add to the ABC fun. Long or short sentences are fine. It’s your choice.

Short sentence example: Apes ate ants.

Longer sentence example: Alice’s alligator ate apricots and asparagus at an Albany assembly.

Use your favorite activities (sports, hobbies) to help inspire ABC ideas, too.

Example:

Alex aced archery.

Beth bounced basketballs.

Carlos caught catfish.

Dean dove deep.

Once you’ve completed your letter list, if you’re inspired, add drawings to create your own ABC picture book.

 www.alisonashleyformento.com

WRITING WILD

by Karen Leggett

If you could be any wild animal, what would you be?  Kids can be motivated by animals any time of year, but in May there are at least four special days  that encourage a focus on animals: Endangered Species Day May 15, International Day for Biological Diversity May 22,  World Turtle Day (who knew?) May 23 and environmentalist Rachel Carson’s birthday May 27.

Gather a collection of books about wild animals to help children choose a favorite. Fun titles to include are Susan Stockdale's new book Spectacular Spots as well as her earlier titles such as Fabulous Fishes, Bring on the Birds and Stripes of All Types (also available in Spanish).  Although written for very young children, these books provide excellent examples of verses students can write and the kind of information they can collect. 

An alphabet book by David McLiman's, Gone Wild (2007 Caldecott Honor Book) introduces students to endangered animals all over the world - each with a specially designed letter that will inspire the young artists in your midst.

Ask students to write down basic information about their chosen animal’s habitat and food as well as a few interesting facts, gathered from the books you have collected or the Internet, depending on the age of the class and the time available.

Ask them to think about the questions posed in this quiz from the National Wildlife Refuge System as it pertains to their animal - What is your animal’s idea of a great adventure?  What is your best quality?  How close are you to your family and friends? What is your favorite food? How do you escape predators? What super power do you have (or would you like to have)? Students can actually answer the quiz questions and see a sample profile. Then ask them to write their own paragraph or personality profile about their animal - ideally in the first person.

If there is time to expand the activity, provide a list of animals and the profiles written by students to another class to see if the new group can match each profile to the correct animal. 

http://childrensbookguild.org/karen-leggett-abouraya

Printmaking with Picture Books

by Joan Waites

With snow, sleet and rain still in the forecast, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that spring will ever arrive. One way to brighten up the classroom is to work on some springtime art and writing activities with your students, even though it may be a month or more till we see some green.

A project that is always big hit with my students (and one that produces successful results), is printmaking. When talking about and explaining how different types of prints are made, I will often use one or more picture books where the illustrations were created with prints (as opposed to painting, drawing, or digital art) to show as examples.

The artwork created by Caldecott winning artist Mary Azarian, is a great way to introduce students to the art of printmaking. In her one of many books, A Gardener’s Alphabet, Mary highlights her own garden filled with beautiful flowers. The illustrations are created with woodblock prints, which would be too hazardous a technique for little hands.  For making prints in the classroom, I use the simpler and safer technique below. Using this technique, have children illustrate some flowers in a vase or a garden scene as depicted in the picture book. Simpler lines and shapes produce better results as opposed to a lot of detail. Students could also write a short paragraph about their own garden, one in their community, or one they have visited. Ask them to describe the garden using details like smells, colors, and textures.

Making a Styrofoam Print

*Using inexpensive Styrofoam printing plates (purchased from art supply stores), or carefully washed, recycled meatpacking trays, have students draw with a pencil directly on to the plate, using firm pressure.

*Go over lines on the plate one more time, making sure the lines indented are thick and deep (without going all the way through the plate).

*Roll out some water-soluble printing ink or some heavy body acrylic paint with a brayer. If a brayer is not available, brush on paint with an inexpensive foam brush. Be careful to not fill the lines up with paint. If this happens, simply swipe out the excess paint from the lines with a pencil.

*Place a sheet of printing or other smooth paper on top of the inked plate, and firmly rub your hands over the paper using some pressure.

* Pull off the paper to reveal the print! The plate can be rinsed with soap and water, dried, and used again with different or multiple colors.

www.joanwaites.com   

THE READING/WRITING CONNECTION

by Alison Hart

Dear Ms. Hart,
    My class of seventy sixth graders recently finished reading your book, Gabriel's Horses, during literature circles.  They all simply loved the book.  As we would finish up one chapter they couldn't wait to read the next one.  For some of my students it was actually the first book they have loved to read on their own.  . . .

          As an author, receiving e-mails such as the above gives me a huge boost. I loved that my novel was suspenseful, interesting and engaging to this group of students. As a teacher at a community college, however, the statement “For some of my students it was actually the first book they have loved to read on their own” saddened me. I teach reluctant readers who are working on pre-college skills. When asked the question “who has read or is reading a good book?” only one or two raise their hands. There is a serious detachment from reading, which is one reason many of my students have difficulty writing. This post will be more about reading than writing, because although I have never researched statistics and studies on the reading/writing connection, instinctively, I know it is crucial.

          As I discussed in my last blog, storytelling and vocabulary are key to good writing.  Reading is key to developing both. When kids don’t read, their writing skills suffer, no matter how well and often we teach point of view and description. How then can we get more kids interested in reading, which will consequently improve writing? The answer to that question has been discussed and dissected for decades and still educators and parents are baffled.  Many kids devour books. But more today are considered aliterate, which is defined as when someone has the ability to read but has total disinterest in reading.  Some facts:

         

          1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

          80% of US families did not buy a book last year.

          27% of adults in America did not read a single book in 2007 (USA Today)

          In his book Readicide, author Kelly Gallagher gives further statistics and does not hesitate in declaring that too often aliteracy is “exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.” I would love to blame it all on the teachers, but I cannot. Every day when I enter my own classroom, I celebrate the power and joy of reading, yet too often I do not make a difference.  This semester I introduced literature circles to my students. The books were hand-picked for a variety of topics and genres as well as high-interest and readability. The students got to choose which book they wanted to read. In groups, they did pre-reading activities designed to improve their background information. For example, the group that read I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, the true story of a young girl from Yemen who is married at age ten to a thirty-year-old man, researched the country and its customs to help them understand the setting and context.

          How successful were the literature groups? It’s hard to tell. Nothing was graded and I had no firm criteria for success. Groups met and set the number of pages to read and discuss each week. If a student chose not to read, there were no consequences--I didn’t want reading to be equated with punishment.  There will be a final group presentation, which requires minimal writing; however, the project is intended to share the book and I will not penalize someone who did not read it.

          Success? Failure? I can only judge based on comments from the students.  Most enjoyed the books, some obviously more than others based on listening in on their discussions. Two students asked to read books from another group. One student asked for a recommendation for something similar. One asked if she could give it to a friend to read. A handful said it was the first book they had ever read.  More shrugged their shoulders and said “it was all right.” Did any students suddenly become enraptured with books?  No.  Did “they all simply love the book” as the teacher expressed in her e-mail? No again. Did I suddenly see a surge in writing skills.  Um, no.

          Still I am forging ahead, fine-tuning the groups and process. As an author and teacher, I understand the importance of reading and its connection to writing and future success.  It is a message I will continue to convey to my students every day and as best as I can!

The books my students in the lowest reading section chose this semester which they seemed to enjoy:

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Of Mice and Men

A Child Called “It”

The First Part Last

Lockdown

What books have motivated your students and/or children? I’d love to hear from you.

 http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/

LOOPY LETTERS

by Mary Quattlebaum

We tend to take the letters of the alphabet for granted.  Face it, we’ve sung the ABC song umpteen times as parents or teachers.  We use letters daily to construct words; we’re familiar with their basic shape.

But take another look.  Letters are amazing!  Check out the delightful “oo” sound and waggly tail of the round, capital “Q,” the explosive, breath-puff of “P,” which looks like a flag.

Letters and alphabet books might be a jumping off point for playful writing explorations for folks of all ages.

Sound and (Non)sense.  In 1871, Edward Lear published an alphabet book that tickled the ear and the funny bone.  Using Lear’s book as a model, you might have students each choose and embellish a favorite letter.  For example, Lear’s poem for “C” reads “C was once a little cake,/Caky/Baky/Maky/Caky/Taky caky/Little cake” in An Edward Lear Alphabet by Edward Lear, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky (HarperCollins).

Letters and Things.  As a tot, my daughter loved the short rhymes and photographs of everyday things in John Updike’s A Helpful Alphabet of Friendly Objects, with photographs by David Updike (Knopf).  After sharing this book with students, you might have them bring in a photo of something that begins with a particular letter and write a short poem or description.  Updike’s “V for Vacuum Cleaner” begins with sound and action:  “In goes dirt,/out comes noise!/Rumpling the rug/and scattering toys…”

Mischevious Alphabet Books.  Tired of the staid, predictable “A is for apple” type of alphabet book?  Shake things up with An Alphabet of Rotten Kids by David Elliott, illustrated by Oscar de Mejo (Philomel) and Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook).  Such books encourage larking about.  Students of all ages might write poems or silly descriptions of their own names or create a naughty human or critter character.

Who knows what wild, wacky, and wonderful writings these four alphabet books might inspire—for your students and yourself?  Have fun!

http://www.maryquattlebaum.com/

P.S. Don't forget to enter our Pencil Tips Book Giveaway!

PENCIL TIPS GIVEAWAY!
Win a signed copy of I'm Not by Pam Smallcomb
To enter, leave a comment on a Pencil Tips blog post
Random winner contacted September 30th

"...a fresh take on friendship/reassurance stories and is, for sure, not boring"

- starred review Kirkus Reviews December 2010

Leave a comment at any Pencil Tips blog post between now and September 30th
for a chance to win a signed copy.