The Wild Christmas Reindeer

Posted on December 13, 2011 by carriegelson

Today we read Jan Brett‘s The Wild Christmas Reindeer in our reading group.

Jan Brett is a favourite author for beautiful winter books. My home collection has many of her books and it was lovely to share this book with a small group today. In this story, Teeka is given the big responsibility of preparing the wild reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh Christmas Eve. She approaches this task seriously and sternly and quickly learns that she needs to change her style to be able to work with the reindeer. A gentler, kinder approach is what makes a difference!

We are working on making observations about the story and asking questions about what we are still wondering.

Some observations:

Teeka wasn’t very good at her job at first
The reindeer didn’t like it when Teeka used a mean tone of voice
Teeka felt embarrassed about how hard she found her job
The reindeer forgave Teeka when she was kinder and more gentle
The reindeer were ready for Santa and Teeka was proud

Some questions:

Will Teeka do this job again next year?
Does a different elf take on this job every year?
Will Teeka train another elf to do it?
Were her jobs difficult? Carrying water? Brushing the reindeer?

Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader this week was Bill. He read us Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree? written by Jennifer Blomgren and illustrated by Andrea Gabriel.

There was lots to learn from the text of this book: all about nurse logs, the life cycle of trees, the amazing creatures that inhabit the forest and the wonder of every layer. The book ends with an invitation to come into the forest and discover more for yourself. But it is the illustrations that pull you deeper – the lush vibrant greens, the dripping rain, the spotted wingspan of the owl . . . Wow!

Such a gorgeously illustrated book. Students also kept referring to the pictures and how beautiful they were.

Would love to use this before a forest walk. Or after and connect our learning . . . .

Our student reviewers report:

Catriona: Its illustrations were very very interesting because they were probably painted and they looked real. I could easily connect to it.

Truman: I like the drawings and the rhymes and the details. I like the page that has the pine martin on it because of the snow and how the pine martin is jumping.

Khai: The illustrations are great because they were nice and colourful. They reminded me of another book about a forest.

Deandra: It was really cool. I saw a squirrel gliding to a big tree. I liked it so much I loved it.

Scaredy Squirrel at Night

Posted on December 7, 2011 by carriegelson

As we explore what it means to be courageous, we thought it was time again to talk about our own fears. Scaredy Squirrel was just the character to give us inspiration!

Melanie Watt gives us the cautious, worried and fearful Scaredy Squirrel. My students also thought that Scaredy Squirrel had some other important character traits: organized, creative and persistent. Important to recognize his strengths of character! Early on in this story we realized that Scaredy Squirrel is not sleeping because of worries about what he might dream about. What can happen when you don’t get enough sleep? “You die, you actually do,” insisted one student. Others included things like “Your run out of energy”, “You need to have a nap” and “You get very hurt, red eyes.” You definitely get obsessed about what worries you!

Our response to this book today was to include our own bad dream anxieties. What do we want to avoid in our sleep?

We used this page as the inspiration:

And created our own “page” – Truman decided that he was afraid of both things and creatures.

Who isn’t afraid of that closet lurking across the room?

And how about fire? This made a lot of lists.

Big fear in our class? Lice! Even though we have quite a few of these critters making their way through our tresses! We fear they might not leave!

Like Scaredy Squirrel though, we realize that a good sleep is a great cure for an overactive imagination! Feeds our energy and calms our fears. Everything looks better in the morning! Sometimes what we need to feel brave is new perspective.

Owl Moon and inspired Owl Artists

Posted on November 29, 2011 by carriegelson

One of my favourite books to read aloud in the cold dark days leading up to winter is Owl Moon, the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr. This book fits in with our theme of Courage that we are exploring through various picture books but also allowed us to have a wonderful springboard for some gorgeous owl art.

A little girl goes owling with her father for the very first time and we, the readers, get to creep along with this pair over hard packed snow illuminated by the moon. We breathe the cold air, feel our own cheeks burn and marvel at the wonderful sound of crying out “Whoo-whoo-who–who-who-whoooo,” and then feeling the silence (heavy and full of wonder) surround us. Yolen’s text is poetic and the illustrations magical. A treat for the senses! When an owl is finally discovered, all of us gasped at the huge wing span and bright yellow eyes depicted in the pictures. A gorgeous book and one I never tire of reading with a class.

We discussed why the little girl in the picture was so courageous even though she was out on a dark night deep in the forest. Some insightful suggestions from the group:

She was too excited to feel fear
Being with her Dad made her feel safe and secure
Watching and listening for the owl distracted her
She pushed her fear away because she was doing something (going owling) that she had been waiting a long time to do

After the story, Ms. Gelson led a mini “how to draw an owl” lesson inspired by this wonderful blog post from Art Lessons for Kids.

And wow, did students get engaged with making beautiful owl scenes to fill up our room!

First we drew owls on plain paper and added details and colour. Hailey did a lovely job of filling up her whole page with an adorable looking owl and baby.

Catriona drew her owl in flight!

Some owls seemed to be waiting to jump into a picture book as the main character of an exciting story. Purity‘s owl is very dramatic.

Students then cut out their owl (s) and glued them to black paper making a scene. Khai made a whole family of owls perched on a branch.

Carefully positioning owls on the page.

Sergio was very clear that his owl was pregnant and put an awaiting nest on the branch. Many debates began whether an owl could be pregnant if it lay eggs. Some people thought an owl should be called “ready to lay eggs” and not pregnant. Sergio made it clear he liked his idea best and made a label on his picture pointing to the owl’s belly “pregnent” 🙂

Truman made lightly grey owls with beautiful ear tufts. Striking against the black background and yellow moon.

Huge words, huge feelings

Posted on November 28, 2011 by carriegelson

Last week I read The Day Leo Said I Hate you! written by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Molly Bang (famous in my world for When Sophie gets Angry, Really, Really Angry.) We read it because some days there are lots of strong feelings and strong words flying around our classroom and so my belief is we need to embrace what’s going on and explore it.

This book lets us explore how we feel when we get mad. What do we do with those frustrated feelings? What happens when our feelings explode and we say something that is hurtful? Can you take back words once they are spoken? Where do you go from the terrible words to get back to the care and connection that a relationship is made out of?

Leo tells his Mom, “I hate you!” Then the two of them discuss how those words made them each feel.

Did my class react? Oh my yes! One student pointed out, “__________ shouted those words at you last week, Ms. Gelson!” Very true. Now we had another way to look at that situation since we had been able to explore it through a well told story. Those words have big power, but there is also power in calming down, reconnecting and moving on. Talking about it lets it all be normal.

One student burst into tears when our story ended. This story hit close to home and before she could continue with her day, she needed to write a letter to a family member to apologize for some strong words used that very morning. The book was a gift – it allowed her to give words to her sad feelings and move on with her day.

I believe strongly in the healing power of books. When we talk about the stories, connect to the strong feelings, we learn about ourselves and our place in our world. Using powerful literature allows us to reach in and grab a hold of hidden feelings and shake them up. Doing that in a caring, calm classroom builds community along with strong emotional learners. Books have the ability to connect us through stories and our conversations allow us to strengthen those connections even further.

One Horse Farm

Posted on November 27, 2011 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader this week was a new reader for us. Welcome Radica! Radica brought a very special book: One Horse Farm written and illustrated by the amazing Maine artist Dahlov Ipcar.

This book was first published in 1950. It tells the story of a boy and a horse that grow up together on a farm and gives us a lovely sense of daily farm life through the seasons. Simple, soothing and all in repeated colours – turquoise, orange, black, white and brown. The boy Johnny and the horse Betty age in different ways – my students were fascinated that Johnny was an adult but Betty was an old horse. Why? Great discussions on life span and rates of growth and how they differ between humans and various animals.

To learn more about Dahlov Ipcar, go here.

Her artwork is amazing. Wildebeests and Zebras (at left) is just one of many pieces that feature animals. More art work is featured here. Ipcar is 94 years old and still painting! She has paintings in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Jack and the FlumFlum Tree

Posted on November 27, 2011 by carriegelson

BLG reader Deborah brought us a fabulous book to read together: Jack and the FlumFlum Tree written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by David Roberts.

How much do we love to read rhyming text together? A whole lot! Add in some quirky repetitive phrases like,

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” said Jack.

“Let’s have a look in the patchwork sack.”

and well, we know we have an energizing, engaging book to jump into!

Jack’s granny had great big purple spots (lots and lots). The diagnosis: the moozles! Oh no! But . . . there is a cure – the fruit that grows on the flumflum tree on the faraway Isle of Blowyernose! So Jack sets off with Rose and Stu and a patchwork sack full of an odd assortment of items (careful readers should pay attention to what is in the sack!) The journey to the Isle of Blowyernose is not an easy one. Circling sharks, a leaking boat, and Stu overboard are some obstacles that the crew must overcome. Those items in the sack are very handy and the three adventurers complete their mission successfully. Such a fun read aloud! Students were repeating reoccurring lines quickly and loved to guess which item from the sack the children might need to solve each problem. There is nothing like a room full of shrieks of “Ohhh!” and “Ahhh!” and children shouting out answers in unison. Verdict: This book is a winner! Perfect for buddy reading and sharing again and again!

Our student reviewers report:

Truman: I like the part when they sailed to Blowyernose and they blew their noses!

Khai: I really liked the illustrations because they were nice and bright!

This is a fabulous author/illustrator pair and we enjoyed another of their books – Tyrannosaurus Drip last spring with a BLG reader.

Julia Donaldson has a fantastic website to check out with information about all of her books. Exciting news?! Julia is the new Children’s Laureate. Read about her goals and passions here.

David Roberts is one of my very favourite illustrators. His website is wonderful to explore.

Farley and the Lost Bone

Posted on November 27, 2011 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader Bill brought us Farley and the Lost Bone by Lynn Johnston and Beth Cruikshank, well known for the cartoon “For Better of Worse.” I think Bill was quite excited to share the talent of these cartoonists with Division 5!

Poor Farley has lost his bone and can’t remember where he buried it! Well, truth be told, he can’t even remember that he lost it to begin with – he just has a longing and a nagging feeling when he sees Elly digging in her flower bed. When he realizes that he has misplaced his important bone, he digs up many corners of the yard in an attempt to find it. The family is not too happy and he gets yelled at and chased multiple times. But Farley perseveres and finally discovers his bone! The family forgives his incessant digging attempts when they realize he was just after his bone all along. A lovely story for dog lovers and for those that find remembering important things a little challenging at times :).

Our student reviewers report:

Jacky: He should just put signs where the bone was. Then he wouldn’t have so much problems.

Khai: I like it how in every illustration there is a bone! The book is colourful and funny.

Carmen: In this book, all the pages have a bone. Farley even forgot where he put his bone so then Farley went to his people friends but they told him to go away. After Farley ran off, he felt soft soil and he dug and found his bone!

Searching every illustration for a hidden bone is a lovely interactive feature between readers and listeners if this book is read aloud.

Our week in pictures

Posted on November 9, 2011 by carriegelson

Life has been busy at Seymour School! But lots of great learning and working together has been going on. Some highlights of the past week!

Buddy reading with our little buddies in Division 7 (K/1) is always a highlight of our week. This week we broke out the rhyme and repetition bin and enjoyed the repeating parts of stories we could share together.

Sometimes books call to you, “Come into the story!”

In math we have been working on skip counting. We find that physically moving numbers into sequence helps us practice the patterns really well. With 25s, we chanted “25, 50, 75, double zero!”

Our reading group shared a fantastic book called Clever Beatrice written by Margaret Willey and illustrated by Heather Solomon.

As we read, we charted the character traits we noticed in Beatrice and at the end of the story, took turns sharing examples from the text that illustrated each point. Soon, we will be doing this with a partner and then eventually, on our own, as we read a picture book.

In Science, we have been studying structures. Today we learned some new vocabulary to help us talk about bridges: approaches, foundation, supports and span. The task was then to build a bridge using just blocks and rulers.

This group attempted to make the longest bridge possible and even test drove matchbox cars up the approaches and along the bridge.

Another group wasn’t interested in the longest bridge, they were all about interesting! This bridge had multiple approaches and reinforced supports. (And options for multilane traffic)

All over the classroom, bridge construction and team work could be observed. The adults loved listening to small group presentations about bridge design and how the groups worked together. One self assessment: “Next time, I will work harder at team work.” We really do depend on each other!

Sneaky Sheep

Posted on November 7, 2011 by carriegelson

This week our BLG reader Maria brought in a fun read aloud – Sneaky Sheep written and illustrator by the talented Chris Monroe.

Rocky and Blossom are two sheep among 147 others who are all watched over by Murphy the sheepdog in a large meadow. Rocky and Blossom are determined to explore the meadow on the mountain far away. Despite their sneakiest attempts at escape from Murphy’s supervision, Murphy always seems able to bring them home. One day however, they do manage to get away and are threatened by a wolf. Murphy turns up at a critical moment and helps them to safety.

This story had lots of drama and funny bits but our classroom experience brought even more humour to the story. Early on in the story, there was a page that showed our two sneaky sheep juggling fire. Jacky in our class was convinced that the picture showed wrestling chickens. The rest of the story seemed to take on a completely bizarre twist as Jacky wondered if the wrestling chickens would come back. It was a kind of “you had to be there to understand” experience but I don’t know if any of us will ever pick up this book again without thinking about the wrestling chickens!

Our Student Reviewers report:

Khai: I like the designs and drawings because it was colourful and really nice. I liked the part where the wolf comes and scares them because it was kind of funny.

Catriona: The drawings were good but their sheep dog Murphy, does not look like a sheep dog should. Otherwise, it was a very funny and good book.