Splish, Splash, Splat!

Posted on February 19, 2012 by carriegelson

Maria, our BLG reader this week, brought in a new Splat book by beloved author/illustrator Rob Scotton. As soon as she revealed the cover there was a collective cry, “Splat!” We were excited! Splish, Splash, Splat! did not disappoint.

Do you have a fear of water? Does swimming seem more horrible than fun filled? Remember learning to swim and the fear around it? Well then this is a book for you! Many of us shared connections as Maria read the story.

Scotton explores the fear of learning to swim and makes it completely normal, all the while making us giggle as Splat gets up to his usual silly escapades. I found the picture of Splat perched gingerly above a full tub of bath water particularly amusing. That has happened in my house!

When Splat finally leaps into the water after the equally scared Spike, we celebrate the two water phobic cats facing their fears and discovering that water is not horrible and wet but that it tickles and is full of fun. And wow, those are some pretty cool swimshorts Splat acquires on the last page! 🙂

Our student reviewers report:

Khai: This was a funny book. Splat was so scared of water!

Truman: Splat and Spike were both scared of water and hid behind each other. I liked the book.

The Really Awful Musicians

Posted on February 13, 2012 by carriegelson

We were delighted to have Deborah from BLG come to read to us today. She brought The really Awful Musicians written and illustrated by John Manders.

Before Deborah began reading, she asked if anyone in the class played an instrument. I think she was suspecting a few children to say they played the piano or maybe the guitar. But no! Hands shot up. “I play the trumpet and I’m really good,” explained Sergio. “We play the cello and Ms. Gelson gets freaked out by the large cases in the cloakroom! They are BIG!” “I can play violin!” Thanks to Saint James Music Academy‘s amazing partnership with Seymour School, we have many children who get to play an instrument and have weekly lessons! Deborah looked down at the book in her hand rereading the title. “So this book is certainly not about you guys!”

Manders’ book is delightful. On his blog he has jacket art sketches to check out and a link to a fabulous post on the 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog about his book and illustations.

The book begins telling us about a kingdom from long ago where the musicians were so terrible that the king ordered that no musicians were allowed to play in the kingdom! If they did, they would be thrown to the crocodiles. “Those royal crocodiles look a little full,” observed Catriona. Mimes replaced the musicians and musicians didn’t dare make a peep in hearing distance of the King or his guards.

No music? How would musicians endure? Piffaro played a tune on his pipe and was chased by the royal men-at-arms! He escaped on an old dray horse pulling a wagon. Piffaro and his horse soon encountered other musicians on the run. As musicians were added to their troupe, the wagon became much noisier. And our classroom got very loud as we helped Deborah make the sounds of the music:

poot poot poot poot poot

plinky-plinky plink plinky-plinky plink

deedlediddledoodlediddledeedledeedle

Drums! Harps! Mandolins! Off Manders’ pages and into our classroom! We soon got worried about the poor horse Charlemagne carrying all of these musicians on his back or pulling them in the carriage. “That horse looks pretty tired!” Not just tired. He was annoyed. “Enough!” he exclaimed listening to the musicians play, “You guys sound terrible! Why don’t you all play together?” He drew 5 lines in the dirt. We were a little confused about what this horse was up to.

“He could talk?” “He could draw?”

But then we caught on. “That’s a staph!” “He’s a conductor horse!” Most certainly. Charlemagne coaxed beautiful music out of these musicians. At this time the king came down the road in his coach. Listening to the music, the King urged the musicians to come play at the castle. If they played so wonderfully he wouldn’t dream of throwing them to the crocodiles! The last page shows us the musicians up on stage playing to a captive audience including Charlemagne and some pouting crocodiles.

Our student reviewers report:

Khai: I liked it because it was funny when the crocodiles got mad because they couldn’t eat the mimes!

Raymond: I like the part when the King threw the mime out the window. I like when they played together at the end.

Truman: I like the book! The crocodiles were so mad at the end because they couldn’t eat the mimes.

It was so wonderful to see the students so animated while Deborah read this book to us. That so many of them are beginning musicians themselves helped us connect and jump right into the story!

Beautiful birds

Posted on February 10, 2012 by carriegelson

Division 5 continues to study birds. This week we enjoyed Robins: Songbirds of the Spring by Mia Posada.

We enjoyed learning how these birds make their nests, care for their young and about how the fledglings learn to fly. Posada’s robins are lovely – and it sparked an interest in bird body parts. We spread out bird books on all of the tables and students made lists of all the important parts of the bird: beak, breast, feathers, wings, talons or feet, etc. Students then drew and coloured their own birds. Our bulletin boards are now covered in gorgeous birds designed by the students and inspired by a variety of real birds in nature.

First students made pencil sketches.

We then added colour using crayons, oil pastels and pencil crayons.

Finally we shaded around our bird’s outline and cut them out. Some finished pieces:

Blue horses, orange elephants and pink ducks!

Posted on February 8, 2012 by carriegelson

We read and were inspired by Eric Carle‘s The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse.

This book takes us through page after page of vibrantly painted animals. Rich colours, perhaps not quite how we might have imagined them. Then again . . . A yellow cow under a deep blue sky. A purple fox trotting through the mud. A black polar bear roaming across the ice. All gorgeous as all Eric Carle art is! At the back of the book Carle explains that he was inspired by an art teacher in Germany who showed him Franz Marc’s Blue Horse painted in 1911. This painting, unrealistic in colour was forbidden during the repressive Nazi regime, but Carle’s teacher felt the freedom of the painting would speak to him. Carle claims that his colourful animals, often painted in the “wrong” colours were “really born that day seventy years ago,” when he was shown Marc’s work.

We pulled all the Eric Carle books from the library and started sketching animals. Here is Khai drawing an elephant.

Deandra draws a cat.

Students then began to outline their animals in pastel. Purity outlines her purple dolphin.

And then we got out the paint! Catriona paints a green horse with a wonderful looseness and freedom.

Quack. Quack. A pink duck with a green beak by Hailey.

Here is Khai‘s completed orange elephant.

Carmen painted a gorgeous orange dolphin swimming through vibrant blue ocean.

And who can resist Jacky‘s blue turtle ambling across the page carrying his brown shell?

Few words on five wordless books

Posted on February 5, 2012 by carriegelson

Because the creators of wordless books can say so much with no words at all, I decided to use sparse words to express my awe for each of these titles and let their gorgeous covers invite you in.

#1 Sea of Dreams by Dennis Nolan

Adventure over and under the sea . . .

#2 The Conductor by Laetitia Devarney

Swirl, whirl, leaves take flight . . .

#3 Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage

Where is that wacky walrus?

#4 Tuesday by David Wiesner

And what if frogs floated by?

#5 Beaver is Lost by Elisha Cooper

Beaver travels to a bustling city and back.

Thanks to Adopt a School Funds which purchased #1 and #2 for our classroom wordless (or nearly) collection. Wordless books allow us to practice using picture clues and background knowledge to infer meaning. They are also lovely to share together or to ponder over alone.

A House in the Woods

Posted on February 3, 2012 by carriegelson

Our BLG reader this week was Dan. He brought in A House in the Woods by Inga Moore to share with us! I was delighted as this book was on my “must have” list and now we have a copy for our library! Thank you BLG!

This is such a soothing, beautiful book to fall into. The lush woods. Industrious animals. A calm lake. A warm fire. A simple kitchen where you prepare and enjoy meals together. So lovely. The illustrations force you to read extra slowly to savour all the details. This is a book that should not be rushed. After reading this book to the class, Dan observed (talking about Inga Moore) “I think she wrote the book just so she could draw these pictures.” Indeed!

The story is one that initially surprises. It starts with two little pigs, one who had made a den and the other a hut. Clever readers expect to turn the page and discover a third little pig, another type of house and a wicked wolf lurking behind a tree. But, the next few pages instead reveal that a bear and a moose, both friendly instead of frightening, have attempted to move in and share the pigs’ homes. Unfortunately the sheer size of these creatures does irreparable damage to the den and the hut. The animals share a bench and some thinking time. This was a pickle. It really was.

Moose then has a brilliant idea! Why not build a large house for all of them to live in together? Yes! But they would need help with such an ambitious project. So, they enlist the assistance of the Beaver Builders! They fell timbers, erect walls, put on the roof, help the animals shop for furniture and curtains, etc. And all they want in return? Peanut butter sandwiches. The house gets finished and the animals rush to the store to shop for the needed bread and peanut butter.

After delivering the stacks of sandwiches to the beaver lodge on the lake, the friends settle into their first night in their new home. They enjoy a meal, tidy up, tell some stories around the fire and then climb the stairs to bed. A deep sleep in their new beds surrounded by a quiet night and occasional snores from Bear.

My students adored this book and pored over the pictures. Quite a few funny comments were made as Dan read aloud.

“Pigs don’t live in the woods!”

“Yes, some do.”

“Hey this could be the three little pigs in the woods!”

Much talk also about eating.

“I ate a moose.”

“Sorry but that’s kind of gross to me.”

“How come those beavers are eating the trees? They are going to get sandwiches!”

We were also a little suspicious that animals would actually build a house, shop in a store and sleep in beds.

“There are no grocery stores in the woods! And definitely not ones that are managed by donkeys!”

“Well, it is make believe,” Dan gently reminded.

Our student reviewer reports:

Khai: I liked the book because the illustrations were so nice. The book was funny too. One of the funny parts was the moose – it even made a sandwich!

Chicken Cheeks

Posted on February 3, 2012 by carriegelson

Today during free time, I had a student complain about another’s students poor language. He spelled out a word he had overheard and the two of us agreed, not a great choice to express one’s self in the context of a classroom. It’s much more fun to play with language, so that it makes us laugh. Not so great when it offends us.

In one of our morning stories, we laughed a lot. And with the request, “Read it again!” we got to engage in a whole bunch of giggling all over again!

Chicken Cheeks, written by Michael Ian Black and written by Kevin Hawkes, is a hilarious book all about animal rear ends. Yep, you heard correctly. Behinds. Of animals. And all the different names they have. Chicken cheeks. Turkey tushy. Rhinoceros rump. My favourite to say: Penguin patootie. The one we recited as a class multiple times: Duck-billed platypus gluteus maximus.

Moose Caboose

Each page has a picture of an animal’s wazoo (that’s another one!) and a descriptor: Hound dog heinie, for example. Lots of fun in and of itself. But, as you flip to the final pages you realize something else is going on. These animals are boosting each other up trying to reach a honeycomb. Seems like they are in luck until the attack of . . . Bumblebee bums!

The joy of words and the fun they have when we roll them around in our mouth!

The Lunch Thief

Posted on January 31, 2012 by carriegelson

Our latest book on the theme of kindness is The Lunch Thief, written by Anne C Bromley and illustrated by Robert Casilla.

Rafael loves to eat. It is his second favourite thing next to pitching for his school baseball team. So why is he lying about forgetting his lunch? Because someone stole it. And he knows who. It was Kevin Kopeck, the new boy at school. Rafael had seen him do it. He could report him, but he decides not to. What if Kevin picked a fight? Rafael follows his Mama’s wisdom: fighting is for cowards.

We stop and examine the picture of Kevin hunched over eating the stolen lunch, sitting by himself by the stone wall. Why did he take Rafael’s lunch? We had a wide range of suggestions: “He is hungry and doesn’t have a lunch.” “He’s just a thief.” “He steals because he has no friends.” “His family is poor so he doesn’t get food.” “He is new and trying to prove himself.” We continued reading to find out more.

Over the next few days, Rafael witnesses Kevin stealing other lunches. He again heeds his Mama’s advice: “Use your mouth before your fists.” He decides to talk to Kevin, asking him where he is from. Rafael learns that Kevin is from Jacinto Valley, an area burned down by wildfires. Rafael notices Kevin’s reluctance to talk about the fires and how quiet he gets when he asks more questions. Students have some more suggestions for Kevin’s stealing. “The sadness turned him mean, ” suggests Shae-Lynn. Catriona builds on this idea: “His house was burned down and he is hiding his sadness by being mean.”

While out in the car with his Mom, Rafael notices Kevin next to the Budget Motel. His Mama explains that if Kevin’s family lost their home, Kevin may be living at this motel for some time. Rafael begins to think about his daily lunch, lovingly packed by his Mama. He makes the decision that maybe he doesn’t need two burritos each day. In our class, hands shoot in the air. We know what is coming!

“He’s going to share.”

“Giving is the key!” shouts Sergio.

“It’s all about the Golden Rule.”

On the final page of the book, we see Rafael inviting Kevin to join him and Alfredo to hang out at lunch. He passes him a brown paper bag. “Do you like burritos?”

“He noticed that Kevin needed the food,” someone observed. We decided that this book had taught us some more things about kindness. Yes, kindness is about awareness and yes, it is a choice. But now we have learned that to be kind, sometimes you have to really listen. Some of us also pointed out that you have to be calm, you can’t just react to something – like getting mad that Kevin took the lunches. You have to be calm enough to realize that maybe he needed them. As Sergio says, “Giving is the key!”

New Books for Buddy Reading

Posted on January 30, 2012 by carriegelson

Thanks to a generous donation towards books for our classroom and funds matched by Adopt a School, we have some amazing new titles to share when our Grade 2/3 s invite the K/1 class up for buddy reading once a week. It is an important time we all enjoy and now we have some wonderful new books to share together!

Hug Time by Patrick McDonnell is a tiny little book all about having a huge heart. A little kitten so filled with love decides to give the whole world a hug and sets out with friends and a Hug-To-Do-List to travel the world from pole to pole and do just that – hug every living thing he comes across. My favourite? Hugging a big blue whale!

Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett has wonderful rhyming, repetitive text perfect for sharing with our 5 year old little buddies.

Monkey and me, Monkey and me,

Monkey and me, We went to see,

We went to see some . . . .

Flip the page and who knows what you might find? Bat! Elephants! Penguins! All beautifully illustrated in classic Gravett style.

Antoinette Portis created the extremely clever Not a Box. Little Rabbit is in the first picture sitting in what looks like a box. “Why are you sitting in a box?” the text reads. Next picture, little rabbit is in a race car, “It’s not a box,” he explains. And so the book continues. The power of imagination means that a box is really anything a child can make of one. Fun to read and more fun to begin a conversation. What else could a box be?

Hello Baby is written by one of my favourite authors for young children, Mem Fox and illustrated by the incredible Steve Jenkins.

Hello, Baby! Who are you?

The book begins with this first question and goes on to ask many more, Are you a . . . ? Everything rhymes, images are striking and often surprising and at the end, you want to go back and read it all over again. Yes, our 5- 8 year olds aren’t babies but many of them are intrigued by animal babies and Fox and Jenkins have created an engaging delight in a tiny little book.

It is hard to resist the humour in Jeremy Tankard‘s Grumpy Bird. Grumpy Bird wakes up, clearly on the wrong side of his nest, too grumpy to do anything. He won’t eat, play or even fly. His grumpy march across the land looks lovely to every other animal who joins him as he trudges along snipping and quipping at everyone he meets.

“WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO KNOW WHAT I’M DOING?” shouted Bird.

In the end, as you might guess, Grumpy Bird has found a cure for his grumpiness and he gets to share it with his friends. Lots of fun, especially for those of us that work really hard to stay mad even when we aren’t anymore . . . .

Little Blue Truck is written by Alice Schertle and illustrated by Jill McElmurry. In this sweet little story, Litle Blue Truck shows a Big Dump Truck the power of many helping hands. I think this book will be a favourite as it is full of rhyme, repetition and animal sounds! So fun to read aloud and have a little buddy join in as they are able: Oink! Quack! Baa! Moo! Cluck! Peep! Neigh! Croak! Maa!

I absolutely adore this book by James Mayhew and now, happily have a copy for the classroom! Saber-toothed tigers. Wooly mammoths. Sleepy dinosaurs. A little boy exploring the world around him. In Boy, author James Mayhew explores a little guy’s yearning for independence while at the same time honouring his deep connections to home (and the happy snuggles from Mom and Dad). Where in the world do we find warmth? In the security and love from our own family.

How fun is this book by Edward Gibbs?! In I Spy with My Little Eye, we turn page after page of eye spy riddles – on each page, we get a clue, the name of a colour and that same colour in a perfect circle that turns into the eye of each creature.

I spy with my little eye . . . something that is gray. I have a very long trunk.

Flip the page and of course you find . . . an elephant! So much fun to look through a spy hole to discover an exciting parade of gorgeously illustrated animals in bright and beautiful colours.

Note: I purchased many of these books in board book version – to give them more lasting power and to be easily held in tiny hands. 🙂

Thanks to our generous donors and the Adopt a School fund for supporting early literacy at Seymour! We are keen to put the remaining funds into other important book purchases to share with our students.

The Lion & The Mouse

Posted on January 30, 2012 by carriegelson

The Lion & The Mouse by Caldecott medal winner Jerry Pinkney is another book we have shared together as we continue to explore a theme of kindness through picture books.

Pinkney’s story is an adaptation of the Aesop fable of the lion and the mouse who exchange an important gift – that of setting one another free. This gorgeously illustrated book is basically wordless, the only text are a few sound effects. Each page is so detailed, we found ourselves studying each image closely for clues as to what was happening in the story. We see a humongous lion being disturbed in sleep by the tiny mouse. Despite his irritation, he lets the tiny mouse go free. The mouse races back to her nest and her young. When the lion is trapped in ropes set by poachers, the tiny little mouse repays the kindness offered to her by the lion and gnaws through the ropes, setting the king of beasts free.

Pinkney sets his version in the African Serengeti of Tanzania and Kenya. Students were fascinated by all of the animals depicted in the background as much as the close up pictures of our two heroes – the lion and the mouse.

Setting the little mouse free

How does this book continue to teach us about kindness? Students are clearly understanding that kindness is a choice, articulating that each main character had to decide what to do and chose to be kind to the other. We also spoke about how such a small decision to be kind can have far reaching effects. Students pointed out that not only did the lion save the mouse by setting her free, he also saved her family who was dependent on her. Students connected this story to other stories about the “golden rule” – treat others the way you want to be treated and spoke about karma (that all good done comes back to you.) What a powerful discussion this beautiful wordless story inspired.