Pillows, Dogs, and Writing Fun

by Laura Gehl

My Pillow Keeps Moving, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Christopher Weyant, is the story of a lonely man who tries to buy a pillow and accidentally buys a dog—who becomes his new best friend.

After you read My Pillow Keeps Moving out loud to your students, you can use the story as a fun writing prompt. Try these suggestions for getting your students writing:

1) In this story, a man walks into a pillow store and accidentally buys a dog. Write your own story using this formula:

? walks into a store to buy ? and accidentally buys ?

Replace the first question mark with a character, the second question mark with an item you might buy in a store, and the third question mark with an animal.

2) The man in the story starts out with no pets and ends up with two. Do you have a pet? Do you wish you had a pet? What pet would you like to have, and why? You can even write about an imaginary creature you would love to have as a pet, like a unicorn or a dragon!

3) This book has a lot of pages without text, where the story is told only through pictures. Choose one of those pages and imagine that you need to describe what is happening to someone who cannot see the illustration. Use words to tell that part of the story.

www.lauragehl.com

Jim the Wonder Dog--Writing About Pets

guest post by Marty Rhodes Figley

My newest book, Jim the Wonder Dog, is about a Depression Era Llewellin setter that many believed was either a genius or possessed of clairvoyant skills. This hunting dog predicted seven Kentucky Derby winners, the winners of the 1936 World Series and presidential race. He could also take direction in foreign languages (Italian, French, German, Spanish), shorthand, and Morse code—and recognized both colors and musical instruments. After a thorough examination by veterinarian scientists at the University of Missouri the mystery of Jim remained.  No one could ever figure out how he did those things. 

In the back of my book I have an extensive discussion of oral history. We have a much better understanding of Jim the Wonder Dog and the town where he lived because of the oral history created by the Marshall, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Valley College. In 1997, those two organizations conducted video interviews of people who had known Jim when they were children or young adults. Their recollections have details about Jim and Marshall, Missouri that would otherwise have been lost to time.

Classroom discussion: Discuss what an oral history is, its strengths and weaknesses.

Oral histories capture a moment in history that might have otherwise been lost.

In the case of my book, these personal stories, from people who are no longer with us, about their experiences with an amazing dog they could not forget, let history come alive. Their enthusiasm and love for Jim the Wonder Dog are apparent, as is their obvious enjoyment in having an opportunity to give their honest account of their treasured memories of Jim from so long ago.

Some disadvantages of oral history are: The person who is giving the firsthand account might not have been able to observe everything that happened or his perspective might have tainted what he saw. That person also might not have made an accurate observation because of his location, the surrounding circumstances (such as darkness, rain, or smoke), or his personal circumstances (such as excitement, sleepiness, or poor eyesight).  Finally, that person might not remember accurately.  Memories can fade with time or be influenced by hearing other accounts of the same event. 

Your students can make history come alive by creating their own oral histories by interviewing family members.

It’s important to conduct the interview in an informed manner.

Ask questions one at a time.

Give time for an answer before you ask the next question.

Try to ask questions that can’t just be answered with a yes or no.  Get more detailed responses.

Be a good listener.

Here are some questions  students could ask family members about their experiences with pets.  

Did you have pets when you were growing up?

How old were you when you got your first pet?

What kind of animal was it?

Where did you get it?

Who named it?

Who took care of the family pet?

Where did your pet sleep?

How did your pet show you love?

Did any of your pets have special talents?

What was the most interesting thing your pet did?

Did you feel your pet understood you? Why?

Did you have a favorite pet?

If so, why was this pet your favorite?

What did your favorite pet look like?

Did you ever have more than one pet at the same time?

If so, did they get along?

Bio: Marty Rhodes Figley is the author of several picture books including Emily and Carlo, Santa’s Underwear, Saving the Liberty Bell, and The Schoolchildren’s Blizzard. She grew up in Missouri and now lives in Virginia with her husband and Airedale terrier. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College where she earned a bachelor's degree in American Studies. Besides writing for kids Marty enjoys making pies and playing the guitar. Visit Marty online at /http://www.martyrhodesfigley.com/

All Dogs Must Go!

by Karen Leggett  Abouraya

All the dogs at the shelter must be adopted before closing day. Will that include Spanky the pup with three legs?

This short story will pull at your heartstrings and provide many opportunities to get young children or teens talking, thinking and writing.

Spanky the Pup was written by Abreona Curtis, Darrin Gladman, Rochelle Jones and Temil Whipple, illustrated by Evey Cahall. That’s right – a team of writers. All teenagers themselves, all working with Shout Mouse Press, a nonprofit writing program and publishing house. As it says in each published book, “Shout Mouse Press empowers writers from marginalized communities to tell their own stories in their own voices and act as agents of change.”

Photo credit: Reach Incorporated

Shout Mouse Press partnered with another nonprofit, Reach Incorporated,  to help teens in Washington, D.C., write their own stories for young children. The teens were challenged to write original, inclusive stories that would reflect the realities of their own communities. 

Four new titles were published in November 2016: 

Time for Change: The Lionand Hyena Story   

Drip Drip: The Story of the Angry Sherbet 

Out of Breath: Kendra’s Big Secret 

Spanky the Pup 

The books may be shared with older students as a project they could replicate. Students of any age can use the books to spark discussion and writing.  

Let’s take Spanky, the pup with three legs who fears he will be left out on the final day of adoptions.  Spanky’s story may help children talk or write about a sensitive topic.

·       What did the dog named Dorothy do to help Spanky (defended him, built up his confidence)?

·       Write about an experience when you felt left out. What do you wish someone had done to help? How could you help make sure someone else doesn’t feel left out?

·       What can you say when you see someone being unkind or hurting someone else with their words?

·       What are ways to act with kindness at home or at school?

As a writing style, it is also possible to talk about the ending of this story which is shown entirely in pictures without a single word.  No spoiler alert here…

Shout Mouse Press would like to know how you use the books written by these teen authors with students. Please share your projects with kathyATshoutmousepress.org.

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

Writing with Animal Scientist Alexandra Horowitz

by Mary Quattlebaum

Many kids think that scientists work with beakers and microscopes, but Dr. Alexandra Horowitz is a scientist who works with her pets.  By carefully watching her dogs, she gains insight into how dogs in general behave and learn.  In a recent interview with the KidsPost section of the Washington Post, she talks about her newest book Inside of a Dog, a fascinating nonfiction account about the way dogs learn, how they descended from wolves, and why they behave as they do.

Below are writing lessons for the classroom or for individual writers ages 8 and up.  They are adapted from suggested activities in Dr. Horowitz’s Inside of a Dog.

EYES OPEN, PENS READY:  Some scientists study exotic animals—like pandas and lions--in the wild, but Dr. Horowitz thinks we can learn a lot about animals that are part of our everyday life, such as squirrels, sparrows, pigeons, and our pets.  Brainstorm a list with students of possible “everyday” animals. 

Classroom Writing #1:  Ask students to choose an animal at home and observe it closely for 15 minutes every day for a week.  Have them write down what the animal does during that time.  At the end of the week, ask students what they observed about their animal.  What did it do?  Why do they think the animal did that or behaved in that way?  Were students surprised by any specific behaviors?

Classroom Writing #2:  A dog is not a person in a furry suit.  Humans experience the world by seeing it; dogs smell it.  Imagine walking into a room and being extremely aware not of the lamp or the book on the floor but of the many smells therein.  Have students close their eyes and concentrate on their sense of smell.  What are all the different smells?  Have them try this in two different rooms (perhaps one could be a kitchen at home) and record what they smell.  They also might get down on their hands and knees and pretend to be a dog and move through the rooms for about 10 minutes, experiencing things at the dog’s level.  How does the room look/feel different to a dog than a human?

Ask students to do one of two writing projects: (1) Based on what they learned/recorded in Classroom Writing #1, they might choose a particular behavior they observed (sleeping in certain postures, eating a certain way, barking, tail wagging) and do some additional research to learn why this species of animal does this behavior.  The first paragraph might focus on what they learned by watching this one animal, with the second paragraph providing information on why this particular type/species of animal does this behavior.   Or (2) Based on what they noticed about smell/perspective in Classroom Writing #2, they might pretend to be a dog (or their dog) and write a story or poem in the first person (using “I”) from the dog’s point of view.  What do their dog-selves notice about the world?

www.maryquattlebaum.com

Writing Excellence with EXCELLENT ED

by Laura Gehl

Excellent Ed, by Stacy McAnulty, tells the story of the Ellis family, where all of the children are excellent—at all kinds of things!  Poor Ed, the family dog, feels a bit left out.  Ed wants to be excellent too.

In the classroom, Excellent Ed makes a great writing prompt.  Here are a few ideas for using the book in your classroom.

1.    Ask students to make a list of their own excellent qualities—and remind them to think outside of the box. Some students may be excellent at math, or gymnastics, or soccer.  But they can think of more unusual excellent traits as well.  Perhaps one student is excellent at putting off cleaning her room or making realistic fake vomit sounds whenever she sees chopped liver.  Perhaps another student is excellent at tying his shoes in knots so tight that his dad can’t get them out. 

2.    Ask students to make a list of another person’s excellent qualities.  This could be a parent, friend, or teacher, for example.

3.    Just like Ed the family dog, every kid (and adult) sometimes feels…less than excellent.  Ask your students to make a list of excellent qualities they WISH they had.  Do they wish they could jump higher than the Empire State Building? Turn Brussels sprouts into chocolate? See through walls?  Or, maybe students wish they could make sad a friend feel better, shoot a goal at the next hockey game, or learn how to ride a bike.  You could even encourage students to make two wish lists—one of realistic qualities, and one of crazy, over-the-top, not-gonna-happen-but-fun-to-think-about qualities.

4.    Make an “Excellent Sheet” for each student in the room, with the student’s name at the top.  Ask students to write on each other’s Excellent Sheets, writing at least one excellent quality of the student on his or her sheet.  When students get to take home their Excellent Sheets, they will have a concrete reminder of their own excellent qualities, as seen through the eyes of their peers.

Excellent Ed is a wonderful book for reminding students how excellent they all are, in their own unique ways!

http://www.lauragehl.com/