“The Caterpillars Marvelous Transformation…”

by Karen Leggett Abouraya

“Small, silent,

swelling to

roundness,

I do not yet know

what secrets I hold

what marvels await me.”

Joyce Sidman’s poem is written from the point of view of a butterfly egg, the first chapter in The Girl Who Drew Butterflies – How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science.

Maria was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1647.  Her father ran a publishing shop until he died when Maria was only three years old.  Her mother married an artist who painted flowers and insects, which Maria often collected for him. No one knew at that time how insects grew. Some people thought butterflies flew in from somewhere else; others thought they emerged from dew, dung, dead animals or mud. Maria was fascinated.

She learned to paint and draw from her stepfather. But she also collected insects in glass jars to watch them grow and change – silk worms and then moths and butterflies.  Her interest in art and especially science set her apart from other girls in the 17^th century. She was different – she had to be careful and clever about how she worked. 

In 1679, at the age of 32, she published a book with a long and fabulous title, typical of the time – The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food. She engraved every print in the book herself and hand-painted many of them, like this title page. You can see her name in the branches at the bottom. 

First published 1679, digitized by the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg

Maria did not have a happy marriage, leaving her husband to live in the Netherlands with her mother and daughters. She even moved to Surinam, a South American country with Dutch colonists.

“She rented a house, cultivated a large garden, and plunged into the work of discovering and breeding caterpillars.”

When she returned to Amsterdam several years later, “Maria’s beautiful, accessible art and text electrified her fellow naturalists. Most of the species she discovered were unknown to Europeans at the time, and her observations were widely quoted and discussed.” 

Joyce Sidman raised caterpillars herself while she was writing about Merian and also read her books, including The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation – a primary source for her research. Sidman wrote a short poem for each stage of a butterfly’s life, from egg to approaching death.

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies is the tale of a young woman who stepped far outside the typical world of 17^th century girls to become a botanical illustrator and scientist who “saw nature as an ever-transforming web of connections – and changed our view of it forever.”

Here are several ideas to let Maria Merian’s work spark creativity in modern-day young people.

1.    Take a walk outside.  Ask students to look carefully at any living thing – plant, insect, bird. Write a short poem describing the plant or animal – or written from the point of view of that plant or animal, like Sidman’s poems.  Budding artists could instead draw their chosen creature or plant with all the detail of Merian’s illustrations.

2.    Maria Merian traveled to the Dutch colony of Surinam, also known as Dutch Guyana, and now spelled Suriname. Where in the world would you want to travel and why? What would you want to see or learn there?

3.    Are you passionate about something that you would like to make your career? It’s ok if you have no great passion yet, but if you do, write about why you would like to spend your life working in that field.

In her poem about a butterfly in flight, Joyce Sidman mused,

“How vast

the swirling dome

of the sky!

How strong the wings

I have grown

for myself!!”

Encourage young writers and readers to grow strong wings for themselves by writing, drawing and carefully observing the details of their world.

Experimenting with Imagination

guest post by Sue Fliess

The title of my new book Mary Had A Little Lab came to me in a dream—really. So when I visit schools and talk about this book, I tell them that they can dream up any story they want—or any machine they’d like—the only limit is their imagination. 

 My book is about Mary, a scientist and inventor, who makes her own dreams come true. She doesn’t have friends, so she decides she needs a pet. But rather than buy one, she makes one! A sheep, of course.  Once she makes a sheep, she is no longer lonely, and it soon allows her to make friends. Then her friends want sheep as well. But her Sheepinator goes haywire and starts making so many sheep that she and her new friends have to solve this new problem. The story has several problems that Mary and her friends must solve before the end. It’s like any experiment—things don’t always go right the first time. It takes many tries. Just as this book did to get it right!

One fun activity I do with students when I visit schools is to have them line up and recreate the Sheepinator from my book. They each have to choose what function they serve, what simple machine or movement their body must do to perform that function, and what sound it makes. They go in order, until, at last, a sheep pops out in the end—one student getting to be the sheep (I have a costume for this part, but that’s not necessary!). This gets them thinking about machine parts, how things work, and how things must work together.

Another activity is to have students create their own version of a Sheepinator. Draw a schematic on paper, then build it with arts and crafts and explain how it works.

A third, and maybe my favorite, it to ask students “If you could construct a machine to make anything you wanted, what would it be and what would it make?”  This allows them total freedom. Maybe they want to create an ice-cream-o-scooper, which makes any flavor of ice cream with the push of a button. Or a Cash-o-matic that spits out money. They can draw it, explain how it works, and even create a 3-D model of it, if they like.

Let the inventions begin! 

Sue Fliess ("fleece") is the author of numerous children's books including A Fairy Friend, Calling All Cars, Robots, Robots Everywhere!, The Hug Book, Tons of Trucks and Shoes for Me!  Sue lives with her family and a Labrador named Charlie in Northern Virginia. For more information about Sue and to check out her books and song parodies, go to http://www.suefliess.com/

Charlotte The Scientist

by Laura Gehl

Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished, by Camille Andros, illustrated by Brianne Farley, is a cute bunny story with adorable illustrations appropriate for very young kids.  But Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished is also way more than that.  Charlotte uses the scientific method in trying to solve problems, which provides a fun way to introduce the steps of the scientific method to elementary school students. Charlotte is also a strong, powerful girl who will remind kids of any age that girls can be scientists, mathematicians, or engineers…and that girls are problem-solvers in whatever careers they choose.

Charlotte The Scientist Is Squished makes an excellent writing prompt for the classroom.  After you read Charlotte out loud to your students, here are a few suggestions to get kids writing:

1) Scientists try to find the answers to important questions. If you were a scientist, what questions would YOU want to answer?

2) Do you ever feel squished at home, at school, on the bus, or in other parts of your life?  Write about when you feel squished. Or, if you never feel squished in real life, imagine when you might feel squished….when you and all your friends try to cram into a closet when you are playing hide and seek? When you and your eight dogs (remember…you are imagining this, so you can have as many dogs as you want!) try to fit in one sleeping bag on a camping trip?

3) Do you have anyplace in your life where you have your own space? Describe it. Or, design the perfect place where you could have your own space.  Would it be a private island? A treehouse? A boat?

4) Camille and Brianne are working on a sequel to Charlotte The Scientist is Squished.  If you were writing the next book about Charlotte, what would happen?  What discoveries might Charlotte make?  What problems might she try to solve?

5) What if you were illustrating the next Charlotte book…what changes would you make in the sequel?  Would you give Charlotte a new lab coat?  Different safety goggles? Cool earrings? Rubber boots? How would you make your pictures of Charlotte stand out?

www.lauragehl.com

Ann McCallum Wants Kids to Eat Their Homework!

by Joan Waites

We have all heard the excuse “the dog ate my homework” when a child forgets to bring in an assignment to school.  But, what if you told a student to “eat their homework?” You would definitely get their attention, and they just might learn math, science and history facts without even realizing it.

Author Ann McCallum has a unique approach to writing books that engage and entertain students while learning important content. I recently spoke to Ann about these books came to be.

1. Tell us a little about your background, and what inspired you to write books for children?

I’m a mom and a teacher. Now I teach high school students from other countries how to communicate in English. I’ve also taught in a one-room schoolhouse (A remote community in Northern Canada during my first year out of college), in two elementary schools, and at the college level at a university in the United Arab Emirates. Writing children’s books is what I love best. I have inspiration all around: the antics of my own kids growing up, my various students, and my subtle observation of the children in my neighborhood. Plus, I’ve always loved reading children’s books. Even now, I’ll read 10 children’s books for every one adult book.

2. The "Eat Your Homework" series of books is such a unique take on teaching math, history, and science. How did you come up with the idea to combine cooking and teaching these subjects?
I first thought about writing a book and in particular the “Eat Your Homework” children’s books when I was teaching math in elementary school several years ago. One day before Winter Break I had my students make mathematical gingerbread houses—they had to show examples of math in their finished products. The kids were ecstatic and their math connections were amazing. My idea to teach math through food took root, though funny enough, “Eat Your Math Homework” was the fourth book I had published. Cooking and math fits so nicely together not only for the obvious tie-ins like temperature and measuring, but because cooking is a motivating and kid-friendly activity that can serve as a springboard to learning. Take Fibonacci Snack sticks which focus on patterns. Making kebobs with fruit is healthy and fun. Add patterning, and there you have an easy math activity. Depending on the age of the child, you can get into the Fibonacci sequence which is a little more complex, or you can create a more simple pattern with fruit. The food and math connection involves looking at the world in a new—and delicious—way. Similarly, the relationship between science or history and food is just as tasty!

3. There must have been a lot of experimenting happening in your kitchen! How did you choose the recipes that would match the facts you were highlighting in your books?
Oh yes! All that time in the kitchen was really fun. I came up with the concepts I wanted to cover first and then the recipes. Next, I headed to the kitchen to create the original recipes. I had to build every recipe multiple times, measuring ingredients carefully and taking notes on things like pan size and oven temperature. One of my favorite experiments was when I worked to develop Invisible Ink Snack Pockets for the “Eat Your Science” book. I wanted to re-create a situation like painting lemon juice on paper and having the juice become visible when you put the paper near a heat source. My recipe takes this idea, but the invisible, edible “ink” is painted on a pizza dough pocket with a clean paintbrush or cotton swab. When heated in the oven—voila—the printing becomes visible!

4. What kind of reactions have you gotten from your young readers?
I have received fantastic enthusiasm whenever I’ve taken my books and ideas in front of young people. Kids are naturally curious. Even reluctant math or science kids have told me how much they now love the subjects. With the history book, young people have also told me how much they love connecting food to the topics in the book. George Washington and homemade ice-cream? Yum! One of my favorite questions of all time came from a young child during one of my Skype author visits. He asked me, “How much ink does it take to make a book?” I admit I was stumped with that one. However, I went to my publisher and found out that each “Eat Your Homework” book takes about 3 ounces of ink to produce. Amazing.

5. Are there any more "Eat Your Homework" books in the works and what are you working on next?
You know—I’m not sure. I keep thinking that we now need an “Eat Your Language Arts Homework” book, but I’m not sure how to write it. . . yet. I’ll keep thinking! In the meantime, I have a couple of picture books in the works as well as a middle grade novel. I plan to spend some wonderful, long summer days writing these and more books. Thank you for asking!

Thanks, Ann for stopping by!

www.joanwaites.com

Writing Connections with Science

by Mary Quattlebaum

How to connect writing and science?  Both are important areas for learning for students of all ages.  At the same time that you teach one, you might look for opportunities to reinforce learning in the other.

The website of the publisher of my new nonfiction picture book, Mighty Mole and Super Soil (ages 4-9), features an article with activities related to the book (including making a dirt cake) and Common Core-related projects.

Here are two activities that connect writing with science:

DIRT LETTERS: The United Nations named 2015 the International Year of Soils, in honor of this important resource.  Soil is vital to the health of the planet, but most humans rarely think of it because they can’t see it.

Classroom discussion:  Have students look around the room and out the windows and brainstorm ways that soil is important to life.

Writing:  Young elementary-aged children might choose one of those ways and write and illustrate a letter thanking soil for what it has done/gives and how that particular child has benefitted.  Older children might send their letters to a congressman.

Sharing:  Letters might be posted on a classroom bulletin board, to help celebrate World Soil Day on December 5 (as well as the year-long celebration).   Also the class as a whole might plant a seed or transplant a houseplant into a special pot so that students can feel soil and experience it through many of their senses.  (Chad Wallace brings the underground world to vivid life through his illustrations for Mighty Mole and Super Soil, and students might look at them as they illustrate their letters.)

Playing with Font/Letter Shapes:  Patty Arnold, the book’s designer, worked carefully with the font so that the title and words in the main story look “gritty,” as if they’re fashioned from soil.  As Patty says, the shape and design of the words can help to create a picture and enhance the story.  Students might make some of their words (such as “soil”) look as if they’re made of dirt, perhaps by using a brown crayon when writing that one word.

ARGUE ON PAPER:  Mighty Mole and Super Soil grew out of an ongoing discussion with one of my brothers about moles.  I was Team Mole, appreciating the shy mammal in our backyard.  Moles mix and contribute to healthy soil.  My brother was Team No Mole, irritated by the ridges and molehills in his plush lawn.  He called the mole a pest!  Doing the research to persuade him otherwise gave me the idea to write this book, which I dedicated to him. J

Classroom discussion:  Ask students to list creatures that many people label as pests (specific types of animals or weeds, perhaps).   Why are they considered pests?  What do they do that disturbs humans?

Research and Prep:  Ask students to each choose one of these “pests” and to research its benefits (find at least three).  Then ask them to close their eyes and “become” this pesky animal or plant.  What does it see, hear, smell, taste, and feel?  What is its world like?

Writing:  Continue to pretend to be that pesky animal or plant, and write a letter from it to someone (the world at large, an exterminator, a mole catcher, human parent, etc.) to persuade that person that it is not a pest.  Why should this creature or plant NOT be destroyed or removed?  Have students work in pairs to peer review one another’s work and enhance the persuasiveness.

Share:  Ask for volunteers to share and encourage students to send their letters to the person or to a newspaper editor or organization.

www.maryquattlebaum.com

MENTOR TEXTS AND PLAYGROUND FUN

by Jacqueline Jules

At the last NCTE conference, I had the privilege of serving as one of the roundtable leaders for a session sponsored by the Children’s Literature Assembly called “Reading Poetry Across the Curriculum.” In preparation for my discussion, I came across some terrific mentor texts that could be used in a combination of ways in your writing workshop classroom.

The Fastest Game on Two Feet and Other Poems About How Sports Began by Alice Low is a delightful combination of history, poetry, and illustration. Many people know that basketball was first played with peach baskets hung on the wall. But did you know that some say soccer began as a kicking game with a skull found on an English battlefield? Alice Low introduces the history of popular sports with a nonfiction paragraph followed by a beautifully illustrated rhyming poem. Most students have a favorite sport and should be naturally curious about its history. Read selections from The Fastest Game on Two Feet to inspire your class to research the origin of a sport. Afterwards, they can write about it in both nonfiction form and poetry, just as the book models. Students might also enjoy creating timelines, also included in this book. This would make a good class project with each student contributing an illustrated page.

A Stick is an Excellent Thing by Marilyn Singer extols the joys of outdoor and imaginative play. Bring in a stick and ask students to brainstorm all the games it could be used for. The poem suggests using the stick as a scepter for a king or a magic wand. This book also includes poems on favorite pastimes like hopscotch, swinging, blowing bubbles, making pretend soup, hide-and-seek, and jump rope. Each poem does an amazing job of portraying the activity, making them terrific models of description.

Joy in Mudville by Bob Raczka provides a great opportunity to compare and contrast. This illustrated poem is a sequel to Ernest Thayer’s famous “Casey at the Bat” reprinted at the end of the book. After reading Joy in Mudville, your class can discuss how Raczka took a well-known story and continued it with a new character and different ending. Students can write their own story about Mudville and a sport of their choice. Or you could do it as a class writing project.

Students are interested in sports. They love playground time. Using texts that celebrate what kids enjoy doing most is a sure-fire way to provide high interest reading and inspiration for writing.

The handouts for CLA Master Class "Poetry Across the Curriculum" session at NCTE are posted online. I hope you'll check out these great resources. In addition to information about Poetry and Sports, there are poetry handouts for Science, Math, Social Studies, and Art.  

www.jacquelinejules.com

MAKE A SPLASH:OCEAN RESEARCH AND WRITING FUN

guest post by Alison Formento

When I write for magazines or newspapers I must fact check all information I include in an article or essay. I conduct interviews and research whatever topic I’m writing about and it’s no different when I write my nature picture books. My books are considered literary non-fiction. There are fictional elements in my stories in which the trees, bees, or seas talk, but every fact shared has been thoroughly researched and verified by scientists and experts, such as apiarists (beekeepers) for my book These Bees Count! and oceanographers for These Seas Count!

My new picture book These Seas Count! was an exciting book to research since our world’s oceans and seas are fascinating and a vital part of keeping our Earth healthy. Scientists have guessed that there are perhaps a million yet-to-be discovered marine life forms. A million! We know so many amazing sea facts such as there are phytoplankton too small to see which help make our air breathable and there are whales the length of several school buses who can communicate in their own language, but imagine what else we don't know yet about marine life. Our oceans and seas are a place of mystery and wonder and we must care for them as we would a garden in our own backyard.

In my research, I discovered underwater coral called Sea Fan and used that as the name for the boat in These Seas Count! Here’s a way students can use research to make a splash in their own writing.

1. Students draw an ocean, beach, and sky scene. Drawing a scene can help inspire creative thinking, especially for those students who may have a hard time getting started on a writing project.

2. Free-write names of sea life that make the beach or ocean its home. Example, write “Whale” in the water part of the picture or “Gull” in the sky part of the picture. The goal is to fill the page with as many of these words as possible to use in drafting an essay.

3. Research books, magazines, educational websites, and ocean links to find a sea creature that you’ve never heard of before, such as the new Zombie Worm recently discovered in the Antarctic Ocean. There are links to several wonderful educational ocean websites on the Educator’s Guide for These Seas Count! (found on my website) including this one: http://oceana.org/en/explore/marine-wildlife.

4. List at least five facts on one new sea creature. Include this new creature on drawing.

5. Use ocean drawing to inspire writing. How does that new creature, like the Sea Fan or Zombie Worm interact with other creatures on the ocean drawing?

6. Write about this creature using the five facts discovered through research. Share information as if writing for someone who has never been to the ocean.

7. Make a splash using personal knowledge of the ocean, along with newly discovered facts, to draft an essay that is both interesting and fun to research, to write, and to read.

Alison Formento is the author of This Tree Counts!, This Tree, 1, 2, 3, These Bees Count!, and These Seas Count! For more about Alison visit her website: www.alisonashleyformento.com