Big Universe

Writing With Young Children

My three year old is very interested in writing her letters right now.  As she was working on writing the letters of her friend’s name, I started thinking about ways that I may have already encouraged her and ways I can continue to encourage her to write.  Here are a few tips:

1. Be a Role Model:  My children always see me writing: my grocery list, reminder notes, thank you notes for gifts, notes in their lunch boxes, and even typing on the computer.
2. Provide a Writing Area:  We have a little children’s table in our breakfast room.  The table has provided hours of opportunity for my children to experiment with writing.  I provide different kinds of materials (computer paper, stationary, envelopes, lined writing paper, white boards, etc.) for my children to write on.  I also provide different writing utensils: pencils, pens, crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc.  At least once or twice a day, my three year old will write something for a family member.  If it’s made available, they will use it!

3.  Scribbles are Great:  From their very first scribbles, children are writing.  Encourage scribbling and ask your child what he/she is writing.  Transcribe it for them.

4.  Play Games that Encourage Writing:  When my son was younger, he enjoyed playing “restaurant.”   He was the waiter and he would take our orders.  He started out scribbling, then matched letters to the beginning sound of the word, then wrote the word with invented spelling.  It was wonderful to see his writing develop over time, and he had a ton of fun playing (I must admit, my husband and I did, too)!  Mental Note to Self: encourage three year old to play this game now!

5.  Write Messages:  Sit at a table and write messages back and forth to each other.  You can do this even if your child is not able to write yet.  Simply ask your child what the note says and then respond in writing to your child.  This is a quick and fun way for your child to see how words make meaning and you are modeling writing at the same time.  In the picture below, I began by writing (on a white board) “How is your day?” and read it to my daughter. She responded with a “G” and said good.  I then repeated what she said and gave her another message, “I love you” – and read it to her.  She responded with “TU” – Thank You – which is so funny, because if you verbally tell her you love her she thanks you then, too!

Often times, we forget that reading and writing go hand in hand.  In order to become a better reader, you must write more and vice versa!  If we read aloud to our children and play with writing every day, we are bound to raise fun loving, engaged readers and writers!

How do you encourage writing in your home?

Dawn Little (aka Links to Literacy) also blogs at www.teachingwithpicturebooks.wordpress.com where she provides educators with picture book lessons based on comprehension strategies and the Six Traits of Writing.  In addition, she blogs at www.literacytoolbox.wordpress.com where she provides educators and parents with tips and tools to enhance the literacy lives of children.  She is the founder and owner of Links to Literacy, a company dedicated to providing interactive literacy experiences for children and families.  Find out more at www.linkstoliteracy.com

Census 2010 – The Impact It Has On The Future and Education

Have you received your form yet? You know the one – where you fill out for the Census? The one where you have to include your family member count. Most people disregard the forms, but it is very crucial to get a proper head count for our children and family members.  We just received ours today and it literally took less than five minutes to fill out and this was for a family of four.  Don’t worry, your information is used only for statistical purposes only and the severity of importance it has is high.  Our children’s educational funds depend on this, as well as other important factors.  And, this costs you nothing.  The form that you mail back comes with an envelope in which postage is already prepaid.

WHY IS THE CENSUS SO IMPORTANT?
 
“A complete and accurate count of our nation’s youngest is critical to their health and education, and the future strength of our communities and labor force,” said Robert M. Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

The federal government uses Census data to determine how to best distribute more than $400 billion in annual funds, including $26 billion earmarked for educational services and other programs to benefit children. Undercounting will mean some communities won’t get the funds that they need.

The full Census occurs only once every 10 years, therefore a child born today will be in the fourth grade during the next national Census. Missing them this year means the child would spend their first decade of life with reduced health, education and community services because the federal government is unaware of the need.

Click HERE to see a message from Dora about the Census!  In a video called “Children Count Too,” Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer stresses the importance of including infants and young children on 2010 Census forms.

Click HERE to visit the 2010 Census website to learn more about the campaign, download web buttons, forms, and more.  Again, census data are used to determine the number of representatives your state receives in the U.S. Congress, as well as your community’s representation in the state legislature.  The data are also used to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds each year to communites for estasblishing and improving schools, hospitals, roads and senior servies.

Please do your part because EVERY child counts!

A is for Appleseed

March 11 is Johnny Appleseed Day. I haven’t thought about this American folk hero in years, but I warmly remember singing about him in second grade and listening intently to the story my teacher read. (See book list below.)

Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan and Rip Van Winkle were three of my favorite folklore characters. Their stories were larger than life, and that appealed to a child of 8.

Mr. Van Winkle’s story was a variation on the time travel theme – an easy remedy for life’s problems. Simply go to sleep and they vanish! Mr. Bunyan lived with gusto. He made flapjacks on such a big griddle that skaters had to strap hunks of bacon to their feet to grease the pan! And, Mr. Appleseed was a tree-hugger prototype, someone who appealed to an outdoorsy girl like me, who had grown up camping and playing for hours outside every day.

“Rip Van Winkle” was a short story written by Washington Irving and published in 1819. The legendary antics of super-human lumberjack Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are still told today, and many towns in the United States lay claim to him. The origin of these tales is hotly disputed.

John Chapman, the son of a Massachusetts farmer, was born in 1774. His favorite spot on his father’s farm is said to have been the apple orchard. He enjoyed talking to people who passed their farm as they headed west on wagon trains. The more he learned, the more he dreamed of joining them. He eventually set out, heading west with a pot on his head, a walking stick, a book and a bag of apple seeds. As he traveled, he planted seeds and told stories. The resulting trees became the source of delicious apples and legend, and John Chapman became known as “Johnny Appleseed.”

Why not read this enduring story to your children? Tie in additional lessons if you wish. His tale is a great launching pad for discussions about fruits, vegetables and nutrition. A bag of apples of various colors can be used to practice counting and graphing numbers on a chart. Talk about the difference between facts and legend. Discuss his character. Examine his attitude toward nature.

Here are some books to get you started:

• “Johnny Appleseed: The Story of a Legend” – This book was written and illustrated by Will Moses, the great-grandson of folk painter Grandma Moses. It’s intended for ages 5-9. “The virtues his picture biography teaches include sharing, simplicity and kindness to animals,” said Massachusetts elementary school teacher Simon Rodberg in a New York Times review. “This ‘Johnny Appleseed’ is biography as parable, embracing history and tall tales equally, its bright pages packed with country cheer.” (Philomel Books)
• “Johnny Appleseed” by illustrator Steven Kellogg. (Morrow Junior Books) Ages 8-12.
• “Johnny Appleseed” written by award-winning author Carol Ottolenghi and illustrated by C.D. Hullinger. (School Specialty Publishing) Ages 6-10.
•  “The Story of Johnny Appleseed” written and illustrated by Aliki. Ages 5-7.
• “Johnny Appleseed” written in poem form by Reeve Lindbergh and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen Hallquist. A Redbook Children’s Picture Book Award Winner.
• “Johnny Appleseed” written by Patricia Brennan DeMuth and illustrated by Michael Montgomery. (Grossett & Dunlap) Level 1 Beginners.
• “What’s so Great About…Johnny Appleseed” written Daryl Davis Zarzycki, a second grade teacher in Delaware. (Mitchell Lane Publishers)

The Importance of Reading

As parents, we all know how important a good education is to our children.  To me, however, I feel that reading and writing skills are priority.  Don’t get me wrong, I hope that both of my sons excel in all subject areas, but I will place emphasis on their reading and writing skills. 

Reading is the foundation for the development of many other areas in children’s, as well as adult, lives.  Reading skills opens up the imagination of a child.  A child that is a great reader has better comprehension and analytical skills than those who don’t read quite as well or as often.  And, avid readers process information faster as noted in research presented by the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

Here are some other advantages for your child while reading:

• Reading develops creativity in a child that a TV show or a movie could not.  It makes their imagination stretch to the unknown as they read each paragraph of a story.  It makes them visualize what the author is describing from each word that is written. 
• Reading develops critical thinking skills.
• Reading increases vocabulary.
• Reading gives your child access to any topic.  For instance, if a child can read well and they are exposed to their library, internet, books, etc., then whenever they need to find an answer to a question, they have the whole world at their fingertips. 
• Reading can teach about other culture’s that your child may not be familiar with. 
• Reading can be a time of bonding for parent and child or grandparent and a grandchild.

This list could go on and on and on.  So, how can I improve my child’s reading skills?  Here are a few things that I feel works:

• Make time to read to your child or with your child every day.
• Surround your child with plenty of books and other reading materials.
• Show genuine interest in your child and their progression with their reading skills. 
• Take regular trips to the library.
• Possibly have your child join a book club or reading club at your local library.
• Encourage writing, whether it be writing or a story or writing in a journal, encourage writing.

I have always been an avid reader and reading has always came easy for me, so I try not to take that gift for granted.  My oldest son is having a bit of a harder time than what I had but, hopefully, with these tips, he will improve and enjoy it more and more as he becomes older.

Week 6 High Frequency Word List

1. me
2. up
3. go

~ Amy E. Snyder

Preschoolers: Hands-on Literacy Activities

Children learn best by doing.  Preschool children learn best by playing.  With this in mind, I’ve developed a list of a few literacy activities that you can do with your child that incorporates active play/learning.

• Pipe Cleaner Letters – Work with your child to shape letters out of pipe cleaners.  Help your child make the letters of his name.  Work on additional words your child may know as well.  This activity is great for fine motor skills.
• Magnet Letter Match – Provide a cookie sheet and a box of magnetic letters.  Cut various pictures out of magazines and glue them to individual index cards.  Put magnets on the back of the cards.  Ask your child what the picture is.  Have your child match the letter to the initial sound of the picture.  For example if you have a picture of a cat, your child should match the letter “C” to the picture.

• Sticker Stories – Provide your child with stickers.  Have your child make a scene with the stickers.  Then ask them to tell you a story about the scene.  Write the story for them.

• Letter-Balloo – Put large pieces of cardstock with one letter on each one on the floor, have your child, swim, run, skip , crawl, jump, slither, or spin to the letters you call out.

• Rhyme-Balloo – Put pictures on pieces of cardstock.  Place them on the floor.  Call out a word that rhymes with the picture and have your child swim, run, skip, crawl, jump, slither, or spin to the picture that rhymes with the word.

Dawn Little (aka Links to Literacy) also blogs at www.teachingwithpicturebooks.wordpress.com where she provides educators with picture book lessons based on comprehension strategies and the Six Traits of Writing.  In addition, she blogs at www.literacytoolbox.wordpress.com where she provides educators and parents with tips and tools to enhance the literacy lives of children.  She is the founder and owner of Links to Literacy, a company dedicated to providing interactive literacy experiences for children and families.  Find out more at www.linkstoliteracy.com

Let’s Play!

I love activities where reading and movement come together. How about a game that involves following directions, counting, big & little movements and reading? Not enough? What if I told you that the reading involved is reading riddles? I’ll bet I’ve got your attention now! More importantly, I’ll bet you’ll have your child’s attention with this cool game.

Riddle Search

First, write several riddles on a piece of paper. Be sure that you write the words large enough for your child to read them clearly. Use the kind of riddles that ask a question and have an answer. Those work best for this activity. Riddles for kids can easily be found by doing a google search, but for fun I’ve collected a few here as an example:

Why did the cake like to play baseball?   Because it was a good batter!

What do sea monsters eat?    Fish & Ships.

Why did the banana go to the doctors?   Because he was not peeling well.

What do moths study in school?  Mothematics!

Separate Riddle Questions & Answers

Next, separate the riddle questions from the answers using scissors.

Hide and seek riddles

Go around your house and place (or hide) each riddle question with the corresponding answer positioned somewhere close by it. The point is for the child to find each answer shortly after finding the related question.

Make A Riddle Guide

After you’ve got all of the riddles in place you’ll need to fill out a paper to give your child as a guide to finding all the riddles. List three or four riddles for your child to find. Your riddle guide will read something like this:

Hop 5 times to the couch. (Question is found there)

Now spin 2 times to other side of the couch. (Answer is found there)

Next take 25 baby steps to reach the kitchen table. (Question is found there)

Take 2 giant leaps to the kitchen chair. (Answer is found there)

Have Fun Finding All The Riddles

Each time your child finds a riddle question or answer be sure to have him/her read it out loud so you can enjoy it too.

If your child doesn’t read yet then you can either read out the directions to your child or just make them up off the top of your head.  This game would be really fun for toddlers.

*This activity can be altered for any kind of questions and answers that you think would interest your child. Try this out the next time your child has to study for a test!*

The proud mother of four children with voracious appetites for reading, Mindi Flowers is a work-at-home mom with a passion for promoting literacy. Mindi is the author of several children’s books, including the imaginative and interactive Super Hero Joe series. She is also the creator of an innovative system designed to teach reading skills to toddlers and adolescents using sound, successful practices with repetitive and fun activities. Mindi Flowers is also the force behind Bailey A. Bookworm, a.k.a. B.A. Bookworm, a website and blog that offers innovative tips and interactive activities geared towards nurturing the reader in your child. Visit her site http://babookworm.wordpress.com to view more of her work.

I Don’t Like Dr. Seuss

It’s true. I don’t like Dr. Seuss.

There, I said it…on his birthday, no less. I imagine this is a form of blasphemy, a veritable act of treason, but I just had to get it off my chest!

 While I mean no disrespect to Theodor Seuss Geisel himself – who was born on March 2^nd 106 years ago in Springfield, Mass. – I have to be honest. His books creeped me out as a child. (They sit on the same memory shelf as “The Wizard of Oz” and all those flying monkey things.)

The stories involved naughty characters and scenarios of impending doom. It was a little much for a sensitive kid with a highly developed imagination, a quick trigger finger over the “Guilt” button, and a hyperactive sympathy response. (If my brother got in trouble, I would be the one crying when it was all over.)

 In my world, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Horton Hears a Who” were horrible stories. A thief was going to steal Christmas, my very favorite day of the year, and a little miniature civilization was going to be crushed despite the efforts of a well-meaning elephant. Don’t even get me started on “The Cat in the Hat” stories or “Green Eggs and Ham!”

 Those siblings in the Cat story were going to be in BIG trouble when their mom got home and found the house a disaster. The Cat and Thing One and Thing Two were uninvited guests and did not jibe with my inner “voice of reason” or my healthy fear of strangers.

And, for goodness sake, green eggs and ham? That entrée sounded particularly disgusting to a girl from a “clean-your-plate-or-you-do-not-leave-the-table” household.

 The illustrations were particularly creepy to me, too. I did not find them funny or cute. I loved animals, but these characters didn’t look like the soft furry ones I knew and adored. A one-humped Wump? A virtually hairless Zed? Zaxes, zooks and sneetches? No siree, bob. Not for me.

 Yup, childhood memories are powerful things. Although I grew up to be a reasonably well-adjusted adult, I simply could not overcome my feelings about Dr. Seuss’ books. So, I refused to read them to my children. (Did I just hear a gasp on a global scale?)

 Lest you think my children were deprived, think again. The books would end up in our take-home baskets at the library, although I never personally placed them in there. Unlike me, my husband reveled in reading “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham” to our girls – over and over and over again. He can still quote passages by heart as can my girls!

 I kept my prejudice to myself. An anti-Seuss sentiment just seemed so, well, un-American. I confided in my husband, but no one else knew. But, years have gone by and I have felt the urge to unload this heavy burden. My daughters are big girls now, young women of 16 and 19 years. I think it’s safe to purge. I think we are past the risk of leaving permanent psychological scars on them or impeding their education.

 My name is Suzan, and I am a Dr. Seuss book hater.

I guess that means  The Cat is out of the bag.

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Dr. Seuss” wrote and illustrated 44 children’s books during his lifetime. His works were turned into numerous TV specials, a Broadway musical and feature-length motion pictures. His honors have included a Pulitzer Prize, a Peabody award, two Academy Awards, two Emmys, and a whimsical sculpture garden was built as a memorial to him in his hometown. Despite my lack of appreciation for his well-loved rhyming schemes and quirky illustrations, his biography is fascinating and his contribution to children’s literature is unquestioned.

• To read more about this children’s literature giant, go to www.catinthehat.org.
• For a Level One Seuss word search puzzle, click here.
• Visit Seussville, a fun, interactive educational site for children.
• For additional  reading fun, visit Big Universe, a source of children’s books online.

Picture Book University: Week 8

Hmmm….Book Clubs or Books Online?

My oldest son came home the other day with a Scholastic book order form.  I remember these from the time I was a child in school.  I absolutely LOVED getting them!  Actually, I am still excited to get them when my son brings them home, as silly as it sounds.

I looked through the current order form and I am excited about ordering this new book “While the World Is Sleeping” by Pamela Duncan Edwards.  This is a bedtime storybook in which the scene is set as you are taking a ride on a white owl at nighttime to explore nature wtih foxes, porcupines, raccoons, fish, mice and so on, all while their day begins as the rest of the world is asleep.  I tried to find some reviews (as I am a firm believer in reviews) and it had EXCELLENT reviews.  Also, while in my search for more about this book, I found that it is listed at over $10 more on other sites if not bought through Scholastic.  WOW!  That is a saving!

After my book review search, I started thinking about book clubs.  Many years ago I was a member of a book club.  You know the one – where you pick out five books and pay a penny for them, with the promise of buying a certain amount in a certain time period.  It made me wonder about book clubs for kids.  I guess you can say Scholastic is sort of a book club, not in the sense that you have to purchase a certain amount of books in a particular time frame, but in the sense that you get deeply discounted prices and your school gets rewarded for the purchases also.  They have been around for years and I just think they are great.  If you are interested in finding out more about them, or if you just want to check out their site and see what kind of books they offer, you can click here to view that.

But, book clubs just aren’t for some people.  Some people don’t want to feel obligated and I can understand that.  If you are one of those people, then Big Universe is the place for you and your children!

With a small fee (as low as $6.95 per month that allows unlimited book reading, create unlimited books, and share unlimited books), you have access to thousands of different books online – all at your fingertips!  And, as stated previously, you have the option of being able to create, publish, and even print your own book!  The site gives you over 7000 images to chose from to help out with your book debut.   What a great way to get your child’s imagination rolling!  But if creating your own book seems too much at first, take your time, find a book that you think your child would be interested in, and just read.   The site has TONS of fiction and nonfiction books of all academic subjects with quizzes at the end to assess comprehension.  The colors on the site are amazing and the pictures just jump out at you!

So, whether you prefer book clubs to online sites or vice versa or possible both, just remember to take the time to read with your child(ren) as it is the stepping stone to a brighter future!

Week 5 High Frequency Word List

1.  go

2.  on

3.  my

~ Amy E. Snyder

Picture Book University: Midterm Review

After several weeks of classes it’s time for a quick review on –

How to Write a Picture Book

Choose a story trigger. A story trigger is anything that you can use to start a story. It is anything that can be a part of the story, which is… anything.

You will find that some story triggers work better for you than others. Use those.

Some story triggers, such as titles or first lines, should be adapted before used. Change “Gone with the Wind” to “Gone with the Trash”, or “Goon with Wings”, or “Going into the Wind”, or anything else the line leads you to.

Once you have your trigger, start asking questions, any question about the trigger that pops into your mind. What is important about it? Unusual about it? What problem surrounds it? What would happen if you threw another character into the mix? What does it want? Where’s it going? What complicates its problems? Does it have enemies? Who? Does it have friends? Who? Can I fit it into a picture book format or model? And of course, two always useful questions, what’s next? And what’s missing?

Keep asking yourself questions until there doesn’t seem to be anything missing from your story, until it feels complete.

Then, look at the writing and revising rules discussed in previous (and future) posts. Compare them to your story. Does your story follow the rules? If not, is there a good reason?

Once you’ve done all you can to your story, read it to yourself out loud. Several times. Record yourself reading it. Listen to your recording. If you hear any problems, fix them.

Have someone with no sense of rhythm read your story out loud to you. Listen for where they stumble, where things don’t sound quite right. Fix those places.

Have others read your manuscript and tell you what is working, and what is not working for them.

Based on the feedback you’ve received, revise your manuscript one more time.

Then send it off to an agent or publisher, forget about it, and start working on your next manuscript.