I can still remember that day in first grade, when Mrs. Anderson brought a bathtub into our classroom, filled with soft, red pillows and loads of easy readers. It was an old fashioned, white tub with claw feet – nothing like I had ever seen in our home. Still, I wonder where she found it and how she managed to bring it to school. What a fabulous treat it was to take a turn reading in the bathtub. Two at a time. We could read with a classmate or friend, while being photographed by all the area newspapers, wanting to take a peek at the Tub Time Readers!
Often, for students, academic reading is not a source of comfort or pleasure. Assigned reading by teachers is homework, which purports a negative association. However, children should experience personal reading time in a place that creates lasting, positive memories, encouraging a lifetime of literary enjoyment. Winter is perfect for setting up the sleeping bags next to a cozy fireplace, so that the entire family can enjoy a Family Reading Night by the campfire. Or, pop a tent in the living room and use flashlights for reading an enticing mystery. Camping Out: A Shadow Story by Lisa Allen and Julie Sharp is an incredibly engaging story that incorporates shadow play into a plot line about camping. Children use flashlights to help tell the story about an outdoor camping experience where mysterious shapes are misunderstood for simple shadows at play. Or, taking children to the beach, a lake, pond, botanical garden, or stream with a favorite book will create a sense of relaxation and inner peace. An internal place that should not be overlooked or underdeveloped. Take a bike ride down your favorite path, pack a lunch, bring a book, and share an ice cream sundae.
If you can attain repose and calm, believe that you have seized happiness.
Julie-Jeanne-Eleonore de Lespinasse,
Roxaboxen, a hill in Yuma, Arizona, littered with rocks and wooden boxes, serves as the setting of this children’s book, which tells a true tale of one child’s active imagination. “With the aid of her mother’s childhood manuscript, the memories of relatives, and letters and maps from former inhabitants of Roxaboxen, author Alice McLerran recreated the magical world…,” in this storybook, “…as if she played there herself.” McLerran.
I’ll always remember the day my son returned home from third grade, after his teacher read Roxaboxen, by Alice McLerran, to her classroom of children. He couldn’t stop talking about the imaginary town, created simply from rocks, broken pottery, colored glass, and old wooden boxes. There were: buried treasures, a Main Street, houses, and dishes, a town hall, a Mayor, plenty of shops, money, a bakery, ice cream parlors, cars, a jail, police, horses, and a cemetery. Not only does Roxaboxen allow children to feel like they can participate in making a grown-up place all their own, students might just venture to create a town, which they can run – in the classroom, at a park, in the basement, or in the backyard.
Roxaboxen serves as a favorite childhood book in our home, as our son is now 12, and he continues to create imaginary towns, tree houses, recyclable villages, European cities, all of which found their roots in the works of Alice McLerran. Roxaboxen is “A celebration of the ability children have to create, even with the most uncompromising materials, a world of fantasy so real and multidimensional that it earns a lasting place in memory.” McLerran.
3rd Grade
What do a secret recipe, a perfect summer, a new kid on the block, and a surprise ending all have in common? The book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. Sometimes, parents do know best, as seen in this tale of a father, who concocts a secret recipe to rid enemies from his son’s life. While the apple “enemy” pie is being created, the father tells of the plan his son must follow in order for the pie to “work.” He says, “-you need to spend a day with your enemy. Even worse, you have to be nice to him.” This picture story creatively sends a message to children about how to handle sometimes difficult friendships.
Start a discussion with your student about the word irony. First offer a definition and explain the meaning, giving examples from everyday life. Ask her to identify examples of irony she has noticed in her life within the past week. Now, read aloud the book Enemy Pie asking the child to stop you when an ironic statement is made. And, ask why the author may be using irony at that moment. How might the story be different if the author avoided irony all together.
Next, talk about the concept of surprise endings. Ask your student to tell you about other favorite stories or movies with surprise endings. Discuss how Enemy Pie’s surprise ending creates interest in the book. After completion of the story, the student can create her own recipe to solve a problem, using irony and a surprise to create added interest.
When looking at art as a young person, children are often most interested in the story behind the art. Laurence Anholt has created a storybook for children that offers a glimpse behind the scenes of Degas’ most famous sculpture, The Little Dancer. Marie hoped to be a famous ballerina, but her hopes were crushed when her family suffered severe economic difficulties, forcing Marie to model at the ballet school for Edgar Degas instead of dance. It was at this time, the sculpture of The Little Dancer began to emerge, while at the same time, Marie finds sympathy for the ill-tempered Degas. Marie wanted to become the most famous dancer in the world. She did so through the artist’s work, not the way she had hoped, and the sculpture of her currently resides in the Louvre Museum.
Teachers and parents can certainly connect an art activity to this discussion about French Impressionism and the story behind the art. Another area of interest to children is the interest Degas had in painting race horses and ballerinas. He was artistically challenged by the rapid, changing movements of horses and dancers. Showing students examples of these types of paintings is also beneficial to their understanding of the artist.
Encourage your child or student to create a sculpture of his or her own from air dry clay or polymer clay. Be sure to include fabrics and ribbons to attach to the sculpture, as Degas did – a technique that was unique for the time period.
A deeper connection between literature and art is created when combined. In addition, allowing for hands-on art creation, by the student, forges a greater appreciation of the arts.
