Comparison Poem--One Minute Till Bedtime

by Jacqueline Jules

How do you inspire students to write beautiful poetry? Share beautiful poetry in your classroom! A wonderful new resource is One Minute Till Bedtime selected by former Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt. This extensive collection features new poems from Jane Yolen, Jon Scieszka, Nikki Grimes, Jack Prelutsky, Lemony Snicket, Mary Ann Hoberman, Eileen Spinelli, and dozens of other well-known children’s authors. Each poem is a minute in length, perfect for a quick transitional moment before lining up for lunch, dismissal, or specials. It’s also perfect for calming a class down to begin social studies or math. Dreamy illustrations by Christoph Niemann will invite young readers to cuddle up with this book in a corner. If you are looking for poetry to add to your classroom library, this should be on your wish list.

For the writing workshop, One Minute Till Bedtime provides a wide selection of poems on various topics to use as models. You will find poems on virtually any subject of interest to your students. Family relationships, school, home, food—it can all be found in this 164 page compendium of rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language. Particularly notable are poems on the seasons, which could tie in to the science curriculum. Poems on animals also abound. My contribution to this collection is a poem called “Pigeon.” 

Illustration by Christoph Niemann
from One Minute Till Bedtime

Read this poem to your students and discuss how the poem compares pigeons to other birds. Challenge them  to write their own comparison poem. How does a flamingo compare to a penguin? How does a frog compare to a toad? This activity requires some science related research to compare two animals. Integrating language arts with science expands critical thinking skills and creativity!

Happy researching and writing!

www.jacquelinejules.com

Story Scenes: Just One Thing

by Nancy Viau

Anthony Pantaloni needs Just One Thing!—one thing he does well, one thing that will replace the Antsy Pants nickname he got tagged with the first day of fifth grade, one GOOD thing he can “own” before moving up to middle school next year. Every kid in Carpenter Elementary has something: Marcus is Mr. Athletic, Alexis is Smart Aleck, Bethany has her horse obsession, and even Cory can stake a claim as being the toughest kid in the whole school. Ant tries lots of things but – KA-BOOM! – nothing sticks! It doesn’t help that there are obstacles along the way—a baton-twirling teacher, an annoying cousin, and Dad’s new girlfriend to name a few.

“With tons of humor and lots of heart, this story jabs into the core of middle grade insanity and the question of whether or not a kid can ever make it out with even a little bit of self-esteem intact.” ~ T. Drecker (Bookworm for Kids) Discussion Guide for Teachers:

Follow-up Activity:

Fold an 8 ½ x 11 plain piece paper in half long end to long end.

Fold it again. And once more.

Open sheet to find 8 blocks.

Place paper on desk horizontally so that there are 4 blocks are across the top and 4 at the bottom.

In the corners, number the blocks left to right so that #5 is the first number on the second row.

Write KA-BOOM! somewhere on block #6.

Students get together in pairs, and interview each other using the following questions:

What kinds of activities/sports/hobbies do you do well?

What activities /sports/hobbies do you wish you did well?

In terms of activities/sports/hobbies, what frustrates you?

If you’ve found your One Thing, what is it? Is that working out for you? How?

If you could change your One Thing, what would it be?

Next, using the divided paper, each student creates a visual representation of another student’s journey in finding his/her One Thing. Using the interview answers above as a guide, they write a scene (like a mini-story) in 8 blocks. Each block is illustrated and supported by minimal text. As for the climax, that occurs on block #6 where KA-BOOM! is written. Here, the writer shows the turn of events that leads to a final outcome on block #8. Students can base their story scenes on entirely on the interview and write a factual account, or use the answers for inspiration only and write absolute fiction.

BIO: Nancy Viau no longer worries about finding her One Thing for she has found quite a few things she loves, like being a mom, writing, traveling, and working as a librarian assistant. She is the author of the picture books City Street Beat, Look What I Can Do! and Storm Song, and an additional middle-grade novel, Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head. Nancy grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA and now resides in South Jersey. 

Vist Nancy at www.NancyViau.com  

www.KidLitAuthorsClub.com or Twitter: @NancyViau1

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

Using Fables and Fairytales to Help Students Generate Ideas

by Laura Gehl

When I visit classrooms to read my new picture book Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel, I remind kids that one way authors get ideas is by starting with stories they already know.  I show various examples of picture books that are adapted fables and fairytales, including Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson and The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz.

In your own classroom, you might want to read out loud a few examples of adapted fables and fairy tales.  Then you can transition to helping your students think about different ways of changing a known story. 

1)    Change the characters

Ask students to fill in the blank.  Goldilocks and the Three ______________.

Monsters?  Princesses?  Basketballs?  Other ideas?

How would changing the characters change the plot of the story?

2)    Change the setting

Ask students to fill in the blank.  Hare and Tortoise Race Across ____________.

Washington D.C.?  The United States?  Mars?  Other ideas? Which landmarks would students choose to include in each location?

3)    Change the numbers

Ask students to fill in the blank.  The _____ Little Pigs

5?  10?  100?  Other ideas?

If there were 5 little pigs, what materials might the two additional houses be made out of?  How would one hundred little pigs work together to defeat the wolf?

Ask your students—by themselves, in pairs, or in small groups—to choose one fable or fairytale and change the characters, the setting, or the numbers.  Then students can try writing up (and maybe illustrating!) their own stories.

Another fun activity for classroom writing is to create a mash-up.  What if Goldilocks wants to race against Hare and Tortoise?  Or what if the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood turns out to be the twin brother of the wolf from The Three Little Pigs…and they decide to team up?  Encourage your students to brainstorm different combinations of fables and fairytales, then to write up their favorite.

Starting with a known story takes the pressure off of kids to “think of an idea,” which frees them to be creative and, most importantly, to have fun!

Laura Gehl is the author of One Big Pair of Underwear, a Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended Title; Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel; And Then Another Sheep Turned Up; and the Peep and Egg series (hatching spring 2016).  Laura also writes about science for kids and adults.  She lives in Maryland with her husband and four children.  Visit Laura online at www.lauragehl.com and www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraGehl.

Writing Connections with Kwame Alexander and The Crossover

by Mary Quattlebaum

The Crossover, the 2015 Newbery Medal winner, offers powerful lessons for writers of all ages. At a recent meeting of the Children’s Book Guild in Washington, DC, Kwame Alexander shared craft insights related to his novel in verse, which I then shaped into the following three writing prompts:

1.  UP YOUR LANGUAGE GAME:  Read aloud some hip-hop basketball poems (“Dribbling,” “The Show,” “Man to Man,” “Show-off,” “The Last Shot”).

Classroom Writing:  Have students write down the words and elements (line breaks, capitalization, font-size changes, rhymes, onomatopoeic words) that make this poem look and sound like a game of basketball.  Why might the author have made these choices?  Ask students to close their eyes and picture themselves playing a sport or doing an activity they love (soccer, ballet, hiking, painting, playing a musical instrument), then jot down words that remind them of this sport/activity and how it makes them feel to do it.  Ask them to write a poem or paragraph that captures (through sound, capitalization, font-change, line breaks, etc.) the way this sport/activity moves.  The final line or sentence might be how they feel doing it.

2.  WHAT’S IN A NAME:  Main character Josh Bell talks about his nickname in four poems (“Josh Bell,” “How I Got My Nickname,” “At First,” “Filthy McNasty”).  What’s the nickname and who gave it to him?  How does he feel about it at first?  Why does he change his mind?  How does he feel the nickname fits him in the last poem of those four?

Classroom Discussion:  Ask students if they have a nickname.  Is it a shortening of their real name?  A characteristic?  How do they feel about it?  Has that feeling changed over time?

Classroom Writing:  Ask students to write a name (could be an actual name or a nickname) that they would like to be called.  Why does this name fit them better, perhaps, than their real name?  (This could be a paragraph or a poem.)

Newbery winner Kwame Alexander and librarian Deborah Taylor, honored this year by ALA.

3.  WHO’S IN YOUR LIFE?:   Kwame thanked Deborah Taylor for suggesting, early in his career, that he write about a father, like his own, who is a strong influence on a young main character.  (Deb was in the audience and is the recipient of the 2015 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.  She works at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Md., and has been a beloved literacy advocate and mentor for teens.)

Classroom Discussion:  Have students discuss Josh’s father.  Josh includes many details about Dad so that readers get a clear sense of his personality.  What does he like to do?  (Give advice about basketball to his sons, tell stories and puns, eat salty foods.)  How does Josh feel about him?  Can students find the italicized words that Dad actually speaks?  What does he say?

Classroom Writing:  Ask students to think of someone in their life that they would like to write about.   Have them jot down what this person likes to do and eat, their favorite words or phrases, and something that the student and this person have done together and how student feels about that.  (This might be a poem or piece of prose.)

MORE DETAILS ABOUT KWAME:  Click here for Abby McGanney Nolan’s interview with Kwame in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post.

www.maryquattlebaum.com

A COOL CONCEPT & COLORFUL WRITING

guest post by Hena Khan

I never realized that writing a concept book would feel like solving a puzzle. When I sat down to write Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors, I first brainstormed objects to represent each of the colors I wanted to include. Some were obvious choices, like brown dates or orange henna designs, but most of the others were not. Next I had to come up with something to say about each object using the formula I had created:

“Gold is the dome of the mosque, big and grand,

Beside it two towering minarets stand”

I continued with “Blue is…”, “Red is…”, “Green is…”, and so on, writing rhyming couplets. After arranging them into an order that made sense, I concluded with a summary page that tied everything together.

I’m going through the process again these days, this time working on a shape concept book. I’ve asked my own children to help me with the process of selecting objects and coming up with rhymes, and they have great ideas even as it often turns into silliness. I’ve realized that working on a concept book of poetry can make for both a fun group and individual writing exercise.

I picked Islam to introduce the topic to young kids, but your students can pick any theme that is special to them, like basketball, the backyard, the music room, or dance. They can choose to focus on colors, shapes, or numbers and use the same formula I do, starting each section with either “Red is . . .” “Square is . . .” or  “One is . . .”

For younger children, it might be enough of an activity to have them write a line about each object and illustrate their books. But it would be fun to challenge older kids to come up with rhyming couplets of their own and see what kind of puzzles they can piece together. At the end of the activity, there should be an opportunity to share a variety of creative concepts.  

Hena Khan is a picture book and middle grade author from Rockville, MD. Her most recent picture book, Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns (Chronicle Books, 2012) is a 2013 ALA Notable Book and a 2013 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year. Night Of The Moon (Chronicle, 2008) was a Booklist 2009 Top 10 Religion Book for Youth. Hena has written two middle grade choose-your-own-adventure style novels, Worst Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Mars (Chronicle, 2011) and Amazon (Chronicle, 2012); Mars received the 2012 Eleanor Cameron Golden Duck Award for Middle Grade Science Fiction. www.henakhan.com

CROSS-COUNTRY TRAVEL IN POSTCARDS

by Jacqueline Jules

Throughout the summer, Pencil Tips bloggers have been suggesting ways to inspire young writers to document their travels. Joan Waites suggested a map collage. Alison Formento provided ideas for listing facts and sharing the information in different ways. I’d like to suggest postcards enhanced by research.

Vera B. William’s classic picture book, Stringbean’s Trip to the Shining Sea, is an illustrated group of postcards written by a boy named Stringbean Coe on a trip from Kansas to California. In each postcard, Stringbean describes his travel experiences in vivid words and pictures. Share this delightful book with your students and ask them to write their own cross-country adventure  in postcards. This is a great opportunity to combine description with geographical research. Students will need to look up important facts about National Parks and other major tourist attractions so they can be accurately portrayed in their writing. Words and pictures can be created on large blank index cards (8 inches by 5 inches) and fastened together with string or a brad on the left hand side. The end result is a postcard book, just like Stringbean’s Trip to the Shining Sea.   

Another fun travel book to use for inspiration is Darcy Pattison’s The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman. In this picture book, a life-sized wooden toy hitchhikes across country while his progress is reported back to his owner through letters and postcards.

Both books depict strong characters and are great models of how a story can be interwoven in a travel narrative. Better yet, they are so much fun to read, your students may suggest writing their own travel letters before you give the class assignment.

www.jacquelinejules.com

DIGGING INTO RESEARCH

by Alison Ashley Formento

Do you like to dig in the sand? Or dig in the dirt in your backyard garden?

When I visit schools, I share research tools that I use as a writer and how I enjoy digging for facts before sitting down to write. I ask students I meet how to research a topic, and the first answer is usually something like this: “Go on the computer,” or “Google it.”

We all rely on our computers for information today, but research is more informative and much more enjoyable, if you step away from the computer and dig deeper to learn about your topic before ever writing a word.

Summer is almost here, so let’s keep this writing exercise as fun as a day on the beach.

Digging Deep: Read, Research, Write

1. Choose your favorite summer activity to do outside. It might be swimming, playing soccer, or going to the beach. My activity example for this writing exercise is hiking.
2. Look up five facts about hiking on the computer. Example of one hiking fact: In Australia hiking is called "bush walking" and known as "tramping" in New Zealand. 
3. Go to your school or town library and find at least three books about your topic. Find at least one new fact you didn’t find in your computer search.
4. Visit a locale where you can do this activity. I hiked at Bear Mountain when writing my new book These Rocks Count! I also spoke to numerous geologists about rocks.
5. Talk to an “expert” who knows about your activity. If you love swimming, talk to a swim coach or a swimming instructor at a local pool. For hiking, experts might be trail guides at my local camping store or a forest ranger at a hiking spot in a national or state forest.
6. Ask this expert if they agree with the facts that you have researched.
7. Ask them to share something that you might not know from your previous research and helpful advice about your topic. Example from a trail guide about hiking: Always hike with a First Aid kit, packed with extra band-aids for blisters.
8. Gather your computer, book, and expert fact research. You know much more about your topic now and you are ready to write (a little or a lot) about your favorite summer activity.

Now it’s time for me to swim, hike, dig in the sand, and read lots of books. Whatever you enjoy doing; I hope you have a wonderful summer!

www.alisonashleyformento.com

MLK DAY WRITING: I HAVE A DREAM TODAY

by Alison Ashley Formento

Martin Luther King, Jr. would have celebrated his 85th birthday this month. Each January, when reading or listening to a recording of Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, we’re reminded of the power of his words and how they helped inspire change in America.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' 
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
 I have a dream today. 
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

           

We encourage students that, with persistence and hard work, all dreams are possible. To honor Dr. King’s memory educators may discuss Dr. King’s famous speech aloud with students to express how his ideas relate to our world today.

            Ask students to write their own “I have a dream today” speech. Using the following questions may help focus writing ideas:

• What is something special you hope to happen soon in your life?
• What do you hope or dream about happening for your family?
• Do you have any hopes or dreams for your friends?
• Do you have any hopes or dreams for the world?

      After writing a personal speech just as Dr. King did, give students a chance to share their hopeful “I have a dream” speeches aloud to help show the power of the spoken word.

There are several good books about Martin Luther King’s life and legacy. One popular picture book is My Brother Martin written by his sister Christine King Farris with detailed illustrations by Chris Soenpiet.

This book shares how Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up in Atlanta in the 1930’s. He liked to joke and had to practice the piano like a lot of children still do, but young Martin was told by his white neighbors that they couldn’t play with him because of the color of his skin. That’s when he first began to dream about the need for change in our world. This book shows readers the thoughtful boy who became Dr. King, a man with a courageous dream that continues to inspire people each and everyday.

www.alisonashleyformento.com

            

Writing Connections with Jennifer Allison

by Mary Quattlebaum

Writing and reading are new challenges for second and third graders, and Jennifer Allison motivates kids to tackle them with her rambunctious new Iggy Loomis chapter-book series.  Short chapters, a fast-paced plot, and Mike Moran’s zany illustrations playfully engage young readers even as they help hone reading skills—and perhaps even inspire kids to write/draw their own superhero adventures.  Jennifer shares her writing process and a classroom writing prompt for Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training (Dial, 2013), the first book in the series. Check iggyloomis.com for additional activities.

Welcome, Jennifer!  As you know, my family members are big fans of your Gilda Joyce mystery series for ages 10 and up.  Iggy is a departure from these mysteries.   What inspired you to write a chapter book?

I have three kids in elementary school (boy-girl twins who are first graders and also a 4^th

grader), and I was inspired to write a book that all three of them would want to read.

The combination of real-life problems (how to deal with difficult friends and siblings) and science fiction (secret alien technology and curiosity about other worlds) was inspired by the way ordinary life, imaginative adventures, and ridiculous mishaps all blend together in the daily lives of young kids. Quite a few funny details in Iggy Loomis began with me jotting down a note about something one of my kids actually said or did.

How do you see the illustrations enhancing the text & what were some of the

challenges you faced in writing this chapter book?  

In a nutshell, I was reminded that just because a book is “easy to read” does not mean that it was easy to write!

The narrator of Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training is Daniel Loomis (Iggy’s older brother), who’s approximately nine years old, although I never reveal his exact age. His voice is sometimes challenging for me because Daniel is far less verbal than a teen like Gilda Joyce, who is a self-described “preternaturally gifted” writer. Writing from Daniel Loomis’s perspective pushes me to think visually and to reveal character traits through actions. The verbal limitations of a less-than-bookish elementary school narrator also make Mike Moran’s illustrations crucial to the book – not just as fun enhancements to the text, but to show the reader the range of emotions Daniel, his little brother Iggy, and best friend Alistair experience.

Another challenge for me was the very streamlined form of this humor/adventure genre for elementary school readers: it’s more linear and pared-down than the structure of the Gilda Joyce books, which include several subplots and an exploration of the inner lives of multiple characters. I naively assumed that writing in a very spare form would make my task as a writer easier, but I was wrong. My editor at Penguin, Lucia Monfried, was crucial when it came to helping me refocus my first drafts of Iggy Loomis on only the most essential story elements.

What was your greatest joy?

A few weeks ago, we launched Iggy Loomis with a pajama party for kids at a wonderful independent bookstore in Chicago called The Book Cellar. There aren’t many bookstore owners who will personally make “bug Jell-O” for a children’s book event, and Suzy Takacs did just that in an effort to get kids thinking about the insect theme of the story.

We planned the bookstore event as a “birthday party” for a new storybook character (Iggy Loomis), and the store was packed with a somewhat zany crowd of sugar-fueled kids ranging from 1^st graders through 4^th graders. I loved how, when I started reading from the book, they all fell completely silent – on the edge of their seats and genuinely listening to this story about a boy whose little brother gets mysterious superpowers. This was also the first book event that included my own three children and lots of their classmates as participants. I will always remember the end of the party: my younger son Marcus came up to me and asked if I would please also sign his book. He took his copy of Iggy Loomis everywhere for the next week “because I love it so much!”

Wow, it’s lovely to be able to inspire your own kids to read and write!  Do you have a writing prompt or suggestion that might connect with the book?  

Iggy Loomis: Superkid in Training is a humorous science fiction book that introduces several “real world” science concepts including the study of insects and DNA. The website www.iggyloomis.com includes a list of suggested nonfiction resources for kids who want to learn more about science. The website also includes a complete classroom discussion guide and a list of interdisciplinary projects that will engage visual and experiential learners. Here’s one project that teachers can find on the website:

Paint Your Own Planet! How do you imagine Alistair’s home planet (Planet Blaron) looks? Draw or paint your vision of Alistair’s home planet. Write a paragraph explaining the choices you made (details of the landscape, color choices, etc.) based on details from the text of Iggy Loomis and/or research about planets in distant galaxies.

I love that this prompt includes writing and drawing since kids this age seem to enjoy and get so much from doing their own visuals.  What are you working on now?

I’m currently finishing the second book in the Iggy Loomis series entitled A Hagfish Called Shirley. Kids interested in unusual sea creatures and weird pets should add the next Iggy Loomis book to their reading lists!

This sounds like so much fun, Jennifer!  I’m going to add it to my reading list.  Thanks for joining us at Pencil Tips. 

www.maryquattlebaum.com

JUMP ROPE WRITING FUN

by Alison Ashley Formento

School is back in session and one of my favorite memories is jumping rope at recess. Long ropes and short, lines would form to run in and jump and sing. Here’s an old favorite jumping rhyme:

"School, School the golden rule, spell your name and go to school."

Many schools include jump rope as part of gym class and I still enjoy jumping rope to rev up my body and mind when I’m writing. With a new book debuting soon in a new genre, it’s as if my writer self is jumping rope between novels, picture books, and blogging. Many authors are excited by the challenge of publishing in different genres and how it can spur on new creative writing skills.

Jump Rope Writing Fun

Quick Time: Choose one topic from the current classroom curriculum or a topic that might affect the entire school, such as “How can we promote recycling in our school this year?” Write a list of opening “hook” sentences as fast as possible. Example quick time sentence starters: Collect plastic bottles for an art project. Tie up extra paper in bundles to help the school janitor.

Double Dutch: Write an opening paragraph on the selected topic. Trade papers with another student in class. Write their next paragraph. Trade again. Repeat until a full page is written.

Cross Over: Write a statement you can support with facts from a local newspaper article. Example: Dogs must be kept on leashes in city parks. Write a paragraph about why you agree with this statement. Next “Cross Over” and write a new statement and supporting paragraph to challenge this statement and show the opposite side of thinking on the chosen topic. Example: Well-trained dogs should be allowed to run off-leash at all times.

Sing Song: Write a jump rope song. “School, School, the golden rule..” is one example of a rhyming sing song that’s great for jumping rope. Try writing an individual rhyming song or the entire class can write together to create a group song like the following example, with alphabetical names, places, and activities. When it’s time for gym or recess, you can use the jump rope song you created in class.

A my name is Alice

And my friend’s name is Arthur,

We come from Alabama,

Where we sell artichokes.

B my name is Barney

And my friend’s name is Bridget,

We come from Brooklyn,

Where we ride bicycles.

C my name is _________ (and so on).

Jumping rope is always fun and it can be an enjoyable and productive writing challenge to jump from one style or genre to a new one.

Alison Ashley Formento’s debut young adult novel TWIGS is available September 2013.

THE WORD ON WORDLESS BOOKS

by Laura Krauss Melmed

Picking up on the picture book literacy theme running recently through Pencil Tips, I have been thinking about wordless picture books. I’m a fan of these and like to collect them. This fascination might seem a little odd on the part of a picture book author who is not herself an illustrator, but in the hands of an amazing artist, pictures can sometimes tell it all. (I also love graphic novels, and I’m sure these two interests are related.)

One category of wordless book takes a “what if” concept and catapults it into a world of fantasy. My favorite book of this type is Flotsam, by David Wiesner, a mind-bending tale in which a boy finds an old camera on the beach.  The camera leads him and the reader on a fantastical visual journey beneath the sea and back in time.   Two other books in this vein are The Red Book, by Barbara Lehman, and Zoom by Istvan Banyai.  For some reason, all of these books have vivid red covers. They are just plain fun to share with children, and in the case of Flotsam and The Red Book, could lead to an exercise in writing a fantasy story (wordless or not) about a found object.

Other wordless books that are more plot driven.  These include A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog by Mercer Mayer, Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola, Wave by Suzie Lee, and Train Stop, also by Barbara Lehman.  These books can be used for exploring the five essential elements of a story.  Here are some questions to move this process along:

Characters: Who is the main character?  Are there other characters in the story?  What part do they play?  What are some of the challenges an artist or writer faces in carrying the same characters through a story from beginning to end?

Setting:  Where does the story take place?  How important is the setting to that particular story? What are some devices the artist used to bring the setting to life?

Plot: A story has a beginning, middle and end.  In the wordless story, which illustrations make up the beginning of the story? The middle? The end? 

Conflict:

A story without conflict would be a big yawn.  Usually, the conflict comes about because the main character has a problem to solve.  What is the main character’s problem?  How does he or she try to solve it?  If the problem were solved immediately, there wouldn’t be much of a story.  How do the illustrations build up the suspense leading to the climax of the story? Identify the climax, the place where the action becomes most exciting. 

Resolution:  After the climax comes the part of the story where the problem is solved.  How does this happen in the story at hand?  Do you think the ending was a good one?  What is another way you could think of to end the story?

Creating a wordless picture book from scratch could be a great follow-on project.

www.laurakraussmelmed.com

SCRIBING FROM SUMMER'S SCRAPS

by Jane Harrington

It’s that time of year again: kids are sitting at desks, doing jumping jacks in the gym, and standing in lunch lines. The student body has returned! But what about the student mind? Is it still lingering on summer memories? Is it still off at soccer camp or traipsing the trails of Yellowstone National Park? Most likely. But don’t let the daydreaming drive you crazy. On that path creativity lies.

Scrapbooking about summer can be a great weekend assignment, or something students do together in class after bringing in personal collections of memorabilia. Ticket stubs from plays or museum visits, photographs from camp or a sleepover, feathers or cicada shells from a nature hike—these sorts of tidbits, glued onto pages of a journal, can inspire students to do some meaningful writing about those summer days that they’re not quite ready to leave behind. The length/genre of writing can be easily tailored to any grade level or standards.

Of course, this idea needn’t be limited to the classroom. It’s perfect for homeschooled writers, or for any families who want to savor the adventures and closeness that seem to too quickly get left at fall’s doorstep every year. The artistic side can be expanded, as well, by creating collages for the covers and decorating pages.

Tips: To make this a low-budget activity, find those super-cheap spiral notebooks that are always available in the fall. But don’t scrimp on the glue—you need a good quality craft glue to make journals that can become keepsakes.

www.janeharrington.com