Big Universe

February: Lanterns ‘n Tigers and Mandarin…Oh My!

Valentine’s Day is Feb. 14, but did you know it’s the first day of the Chinese New Year, too?  Yup – the  Year of the Tiger is upon us! Maybe your child or class would have fun with some global fusion  –  half hearts, half dragons.

 Kids like quirky, well, most of them anyway. Hang Chinese lanterns from the ceiling and cut and paste valentines. Mix in talk of tigers, dragons and firecrackers and you are sure to engage the boys, as well.

I figure most of you have the Valentine’s Day theme down pat, so I’ll give you a few hints on how to use the Chinese New Year celebration as a spring board for learning.

Get to Know and Appreciate China

• Make Chinese paper lanterns to string in a doorway or from the ceiling. Very festive.
• Read “China” by Gisela Lee, who writes about this influential country’s rich history and vibrant modern-day culture. The book posted online by Big Universe has a map, colorful pictures and a good vocabulary list aimed at sixth-graders. (Teacher Created Materials Publishing)
• Fly a kite, bring collapsible umbrellas to school or play dominoes. They were all invented by the Chinese.
• Use “Kingka,” an award-winning board game, as a class supplement. Created by New Jersey educator, mom and children’s book author Sholeen Lou-Hsaio, the Mandarin-language matching game resembles bingo and introduces the 54 basic Chinese characters. It uses “the spirited nature of a memory game to encourage effective learning. It takes away the fear students have of learning Chinese,” said Lou-Hsiao.
• Learn more about giant pandas by clicking on this link, or read “Pandas’ Earthquake Escape” at Big Universe. (Sylvan Dell)
• “Confucius, Chinese Philosopher”  is another Big Universe book by Gisela Lee, who collaborated with Wendy Conklin to write this biography. (Teacher Created Materials Publishing)
• Look at “Holidays”  by author Dona Herweck Rice. It’s aimed at younger children with simple text and great pictures. Keep an eye out for the Chinese New Year street parade picture. (Teacher Created Materials Publishing)
• Go to Page 33 in the book “Animal World,” published by Saddleback Educational Publishing.  It offers a little zoology on the tiger – with colorful photographs and a fun “factoscope” box. Or read “What Tigers Do,” a beginner book written by Kris Bonnell and published by Reading Reading Books, LLC.
• Print out this coloring page of a tiger, a boy in traditional holiday clothing, or one of men dressed to do the Chinese New Year lion dance.

A Simple Book for Catastrophic Times: The Moon Came Down on Milk Street

As much as we try to keep our children safe and warm, life happens: a grandparent dies, the car crashes, a city event like a strike or a riot disrupts our daily routines. Children look to us for stability when their world feels shaken.

The metaphor is put to good use on “Milk Street” as Jean Gralley directs the reader to follow the advice of Fred Rogers’ mother. She told him if he saw a car accident or terrifying scene, “Look for the helpers.”

As you read this silly primary bedtime book with your child you will enjoy the Maurice Sendak-like illustrations and the gentle way in which a potential tragedy is presented and then solved.

Children will love the childlike community helpers as they work together to put life back the way it was. They will enjoy naming the various helpers learning vocabulary as they see everyone helping.

As the book ends, all is right with the world, the moon is back in the sky, and sleepy children are asleep. A soft, imaginary tale to help children trust in the world as changes occur and we all work to put it back together.

Language is Vital

Children have to see, hear and write words in order to learn. Without language they lose the ability to learn and continue to learn. It’s sad to see children who are unable to answer questions because they don’t have the language to respond. “What is that?” we as teachers ask each other. The children simply don’t have the language to respond. Some children respond but they do so with limited words. What’s missing? How are we changing as a society and what should we do to help our children reach their potential?

Talking is the first way to help a child reach their potential. The more language a child hears the more they’ll eventually be able to read. Once a child has heard a word it’s far more likely they’ll be able to read it once they come upon it in writing. Read to children. Young children should be read to everyday. If books aren’t always available choose newspapers, websites, street signs, cereal boxes, anything. Language!

Have language readily available. Books, magazines, newspapers, paper, pencils, crayons, computers… Television isn’t bad. There, I said it. My own children, now very happy, good teenagers, learned so much from Barney! But, they also heard the spoken word, used the computer, played outside, drew pictures, talked to each other, and experienced life in many different forms. Television wasn’t their life.

Parents are working. In most cases both parents are working and sometimes one or both parents are working two jobs. Sometimes there is a second language involved. Sometimes a parent can’t read or write. Economic difficulties play a large part in language deficits. When both parents work hard just to pay the bills there’s nothing left of their energies or their funds to explore the world with their children.

Back ground knowledge of many children today is extremely limited. I stop frequently during my reading to clarify vocabulary that I never would have clarified ten years ago. Garage, buffalo, slugger, shipyard, dock, camel… the list goes on. Children don’t need to have been everywhere to be able to recognize vocabulary. It helps, but it’s not realistic in our society.

The Internet, Smartboard, picture books, television, videos, virtual field trips, all of these can help bring the world to our children. It’s the way we, as teachers, parents, and concerned adults in the twenty-first century are going to have to bring the world to our children if we want them to reach their potential.  Language is the most vital component of learning. Our kids need to see it, hear it, even play with it. Language!

Urban Literature for Children: A chance to share the city with all children

Black Cat by Christopher Myers is an invitation for suburbanites to leave their quiet, tree-lined streets and for children living in urban settings to see their environment reflected in a strikingly beautiful book about a day in the life of a feral cat. Myers is the artist who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for his illustrations in his previous book, Harlem, and he received the Coretta Scott King Award for Black Cat.

“Black cat, black cat, cousin to the concrete, creeping down our city streets, where do you live, where will we meet?”

Poetic language and extraordinary collage and painted illustrations collaborate to reveal the beauty, light, shapes, and images of city streets. The descriptions of the black cat’s antics are exciting, dramatic, and compelling.

In and of itself, this books is a great choice for modeling effective writing and illustration to young authors in writer’s workshop. Black Cat is also perfectly suited to bring language experience to students who speak English as a second language or who have other language challenges.

A “prereading” view of the book, looking at just the pictures, along with prompted discussion, would give an adult the opportunity to bring forth vocabulary that labels locations, verbs, and facts about the city or the cat that are suggested by the illustrations. Once the language-learner has discussed the pictures, the adult is able to share the elegant poetry with the learner, who now has the background with which to discuss the images created by the extraordinary poetic language.

Lastly, Black Cat is a book to be enjoyed by people of all ages, and to remind us that there is beauty and wonder everywhere!