Gizmos, Gadgets, and Goo - Wacky Fun with Science Week 3: Crash! Structural Engineering: The Great Bridge Challenge!

We'll be taking a look at some famous shaking structures then building our own suspension bridges - - and seeing which one can withstand the greatest weight.

(from our  Fizz Boom Read Summer Program (For students entering grades 1-5)  )

As children arrived: had a bunch of bridge & engineering books out for kids to browse..

Opened with this: “Engineers are problem solvers…so today we are going to be engineers and design and build bridges. Here’s a true story of how one man figured out how to make a very unusual bridge in a very unusual place..”

Showed The Man Who Walked Between the Towers* by Mordecai Gerstein (since we were a large group, watched the Weston Woods DVD version rather than reading the book.)

Talked about how the tightrope is a simple bridge -- illustrating tension (skyscrapers were anchoring cable on either end) and compression (the weight of the cable “dead load” and the weight of Philippe “live load”) pressing down.

Demonstrated this by having two kids pull on opposite ends of a rope (tug of war style) and pushing down on the rope with a toy car. 

Showed pictures of three main types of bridges: span, arch, and suspension – had drawn these beforehand on a whiteboard based on images on p. 17 of Bridges! Amazing Structures to Design, Build, & Test by Carol A Johmann & Elizabeth J Rieth and pointed out tension & compression in each structure…several kids knew how the keystone worked in an arch design.

Talked about how they were going to be engineers today – “Nearly everything we use has been engineered…including roller coasters, smart phones, running shoes, and even ways of keeping food safe.  But engineering is called “the stealth profession.” That’s because engineers work behind the scenes.  We hardly ever hear about the talented but “invisible” engineers who devise many of the creations on which we all rely.” – from Bridges & Tunnels by Donna Latham

Showed this diagram of the engineering design process.

http://works.stylefish.com/fb/teachers/engineering_design_process.html

Distributed thick books (to use as riverbanks/anchors) and pieces of paper and had kids experiment with different ways to make bridges from one piece of paper (no cutting, gluing or taping allowed, but they could try arches & folding – fan folding made a very strong bridge).  This was a good activity but took too much time from our one-hour program so I would omit it next time.

Mentioned that it is important that engineers create bridges that won’t break…but that sometimes hasn’t happened…showed video of “gallopin’ gertie”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)

Talked about parts of suspension bridge:


Explained that they would divide into groups of 3-5 to create their own suspension bridges and see how strong they were (idea based on the plans from the wonderful ndolan’s  http://cheshirelibraryscience.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/g3-program-15-bridges/ and PBS’s Fetch episode: http://www.pbs.org/parents/fetch/activities/act/act-whatgives.html)

Challenged them to design & build one using the rules below:


After bridges were built, piled books on to test the bridges.
(Since I had some younger kids (5-7 year olds), I also offered the option of building bridges using our straws and connectors kits.)

Good program but we were a little tight on time today – would love to do it again!
* thanks to http://thriveafterthree.com/2014/07/14/tower-building-with-the-school-age/  for the idea of using this book!
BWL 7/14

Gizmos, Gadgets & Goo -- Week 2: Bang! Balloon-a-mania

Ever heard a balloon scream, or made a balloon brain?
Join us as we explore a bonanza of balloon possibilities! 
(Part of Fizz, Boom, Read Summer Reading Club)
For kids entering grades 1-5

(Many of these ideas were taken from ndolat’s wonderful Balloon Bananza!   http://cheshirelibraryscience.wordpress.com/category/motion/ –  Her ideas and text are interspersed with my additions below.)

Opened with 8 volunteers doing reader’s theater with Shel Silverstein’s poem 8 Balloons (the rest of the kids helped with all the “pop”s!): http://www.shelsilverstein.com/media/fun/printable_files/EightBalloonsBooklet.pdf (page 1)

Asked kids who had seen the demonstration of a water-filled ziploc bag pierced with sharpened pencils (which we did at our school visits for Fizz Bang Read!)?   Then asked for volunteers, one sat underneath bag, others pierced it….asked “anyone know why this works?” explanation: plastic made of polymers.  rubber in balloon works same way…

The Properties of Polymers: Experment: The Balloon Skewer -- “Balloon on a Stick” (Teen volunteer did this demo for us…later, during the stations section of the program, teen helped kids try it.) The rubber in balloons is made of long strands of molecules called polymers -- the elastic quality of the polymers allows the balloon rubber to stretch.

Materials and technique for this and the 3 experiments below at: http://cheshirelibraryscience.wordpress.com/category/motion/

READ: Balloon Trees by Danna Smith (overview of process of balloon making from tapping the trees through finished product.)

Centripetal Force Experiment :  The Spinning Penny  The Spinning Penny  A single penny is placed inside a clear balloon. The balloon is inflated and tied off with the penny still inside.  After shaking the penny a bit, the balloon is then swirled to help start the penny on a circular path inside the balloon itself. Due to the limited amount of friction, the penny can stay on its circular path for close to 30 seconds before gravity begins to slow it’s path!
ndolat’s explanation:  The word “centripetal” is actually Latin for “center seeking.” And that truly describes this force. Without centripetal force, objects would not be able to travel in a circular path (they would only be able to travel in a straight path). One example is how a satellite orbits the earth. In this case, the centripetal force is supplied by earth’s gravity (think of it like an invisible thread that links the earth to the satellite and keeps the satellite moving around the earth in a circular orbit). Another example is the swings ride at an amusement park, where the centripetal force is supplied by the chains that link the chairs to the central pole. Jeff Williams on the International Space Station (ISS), shows that, due to centripetal force, the bubbles in his iced tea package move to the center of the package and form a large, singular air bubble when the package is put into a circular path.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs2orRFuolk

Friction: Experiment:  The Screaming Balloon -- variation to The Spinning Penny. For The Screaming Balloon, used a 1/4” size zinc hex nut…ndolat’s explanation: The nut also moves on a circular path within the balloon due to the centripetal force we supply, but there is more friction between the hex nut and the balloon thanks to the shape of the nut, and thus we get a high-pitched whining sound!

READ: June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner (engaging fantasy of balloons carrying a vegetable experiment into space)


Balloon Rockets:  Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction)  Experiment: I blew up a balloon and asked which way it would go when I let the air out, then demonstrated how they could make balloon rockets:    On a rocket “track” – a pair of chairs with some kite string strung between them (like a zip line) and a straw was threaded onto each string, then inflated (but not tied off) balloons can be taped on to the straws. When the air is released, the straw rocket will go to the other side.  Similar idea at: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/balloonblastoff.html -- try to hit a target with balloon and ingenuity.

“What goes up must come down…”
Main event: make helmets to protect our balloon “brains” (similar to the classic “egg drop” but less messy cleanup! http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/balloonbrain.html
Materials: water balloons (teen volunteers added faces drawn with Sharpies), soft and protective materials (egg cartons, cardboard, newspaper, etc.), masking tape.  We made the rule that they could cover every part except the eyes (so our our balloon heads could “see” where they were going).  After kids made their “helmets”, we went outside to see which sustained “head injuries” in their falls.  The kids were quite creative, we got lots of different designs and had a chance to discuss how their designs worked (comparing “crumble zones” to the way automobile hoods are made, multiple egg carton bumps similar to the Mars Rovers, etc. – mechanical engineering at its best!)
Similar idea at: http://thriveafterthree.com/2014/07/22/fizz-boom-read-egg-drop-with-school-agers/

Another possibility (skipped this because did something similar last week):

from http://hookedonscience.org/files/EXPERIMENT_ARCHIVE_Expanding_Balloon.pdf or use Balloon Inflation Demo http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/yeastpartii.html


7/2014 BWL

Gizmos, Gadgets, and Goo - Wacky Fun with Science

Week 1 of Fizz, Boom, Read! Summer Reading Club:
Fizz! (Chemical & Physical Reactions) -- Come help us get our crazy science summer off the ground with some sizzling and explosive science!  
(For students entering grades 1-5)

Read: Amelia Bedelia, Rocket Scientist? by Herman Parish. Explain chemical ingredients of her pie – p.60, (optional: booktalk The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake)

Demo: Kid-Safe Elephant Toothpaste


3% - “ok, ours will be more like horse toothpaste...not too dramatic because we only have 3% hydrogen peroxide like the stuff you might use at home for cuts – what happens when you put it on a cut?” (note: local beauty supply had 20 crème version but that didn’t work well so used drugstore 3%)

Supplies: Put a 16 oz. empty bottle on a foil pan, insert a funnel, pour in ½ c. 3% hydrogen peroxide, then add 3-4 drops food color, squirt of dish soap, and 1 tsp. yeast dissolved in 2 TBSP very warm water (make this mixture at least 15 minutes beforehand).

Showed pictures of H2O and H2O2  – explained chemical reaction -- yeast, a catalyst -- a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change -- caused the H2O2 to split into H2O and O (heat), oxygen combined with soap to create bubble foam.)


Explanation from http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2010/08/dinosaur-toothpaste/:  “The yeast contains an enzyme called Catalase that breaks down hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into oxygen gas and water. The oxygen gas gets trapped by the soap, and you get a large foamy solution that squirts out of the top of the bottle! The cool thing about this activity is that the enzyme Catalase can also be found in potatoes, dogs and even us! We have the same enzyme in our bodies. That is why you see the 3% hydrogen peroxide bubble when you put it on a cut or scrape. The oxygen released is what kills the germs in the cut.”
“Now I will show you some real elephant toothpaste!”

Show video: Patriotic Monster Foam from Steve Spangler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDd3pGIyS7I


For real drama of our own -- went outside and demoed: Diet Coke & Mentos
Supplies: a couple of bricks to keep Diet Coke bottle upright, 7 Mentos (made a good show with room temperature Diet Coke, don’t know if using more would have been more dramatic), tube rolled of heavy-stock paper to use to slide Mentos quickly into bottle.



HOW DOES IT WORK? Why does mixing Mentos with soda produce this incredible eruption? Actually not a chemical reaction -- scientists now believe physical reaction:  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/original-mentos-diet-coke-geyser#sthash.GqRzqriH.dpuf

Came back inside – showed book How to Build a Fizzy Rocket – 507.8 SHORES. http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/filmrocket.php



Craft/Experiment: Made construction paper rockets then headed back outside: Hands on explosive science -- film canister rockets.   Note: it is hard to find film canisters locally anymore (available for purchase online) and only the clear ones with tops that fit tightly inside work. (The black or grey ones with the tops that overlap leak.) We ended up having kids create their construction paper rockets around the black or grey film canisters then pulled those out and inserted the clear ones at launch time.  We swapped the canister, had each child don goggles, pour the tsp. of warm water in and add a ½ tablet, then a teen or adult quickly snapped on the lid and put the rocket down on the ground. (Supplies: safety goggles, film canisters, teaspoon, warm water, alka-seltzer tablets (we used a half tablet for each, but my teen volunteers tried it with a whole tablet and got more “explosive” results.)

Explanation: Chemical reaction -- water starts to dissolve the alka-seltzer tablet creating carbon dioxide gas. As the carbon dioxide is being released, it creates pressure inside the film canister. The more gas that is made, the more pressure builds up until the cap is blasted down and the rocket is blasted up.

Take Home project: Soda Bottle Boat (Related book: The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake) http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/sodabottleboat.html
Copied this two to a page:

		Soda Bottle Boat http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/sodabottleboat.html Related book: "The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake". Next Sci
		your results Materials Needed plastic soda bottle thumb tack toilet paper baking soda vinegar marbles Using the thumb tack, make a hole in the cap of the soda bottle. Take three or four sheets of toilet paper and put some baking soda on them. Spread the baking soda out evenly and roll up the toilet paper. This slows down the reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar. Put the rolled up toilet paper into the soda bottle. Also add some marbles so that the opening of the bottle is weighted down and the hole that you poked is in the water. Fill the bottle a quarter of the way with vinegar and quickly put the cap on the bottle. Place this in a tub or pool of water and watch it go! You can also do it without making a hole - loosen the cap.

Program inspired by: Soda Geysers & Film Canister Rockets! http://cheshirelibraryscience.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/g3-program-12-soda-geysers-film-canister-rockets/  –Thanks NDolan! 


Stay tuned for upcoming programs:
Week 2: Bang! Balloon-a-mania -- Ever heard a balloon scream, or made a balloon brain? Join us for as we explore a bonanza of balloon possibilities!
Week 3: Crash! Structural Engineering -- The Great Bridge Challenge! We’ll be taking a look at some famous shaking structures then building our own bridges -- and seeing which one can withstand the greatest weight.
Week 4: Boom! Energy Explorations -- Bounce on over to the library and join us for a great big bang with a marshmallow catapulting contest!
Week 5: Squish! Polymers, Diapers, and Goo…oh my! Be prepared to get messy as we explore the powers of polymers by dissecting diapers and mixing up a batch of Oobleck -- the original Newtonian solid (it behaves as both a solid and a liquid at the same time!)

School Age Program: 4th of July–Celebrating our History and Heroes

 

(For grades K-5) Wednesday, July 2.  Get an early start on the 4th of July as we celebrate our history with stories, music, and  crafts plus a parade through the library.

Room was set up with dozens of collective and picture book biographies of American historical figures… presidents, scientists, activists, women, minorities etc
.
As children arrived, had them browse through the books (with patriotic music CD playing softly in the background). After everyone checked in, asked them to close the books (temporarily) and sit where they could see & hear the stories.

Read: Imogene’s Last Stand Candace Fleming’s funny yet inspiring story of a girl who stands up for historical preservation…peppered with wonderful real quotes from history.

Read: Of Thee I Sing – Obama’s tribute to the many different people who have made this country great.

Craft: 35 kids and 6 teen helpers made posters of heroes of their choice inspired by the people in the books I read and/or the books they picked (Supplies: 12x18 poster board (leftover from our Baker & Taylor shipments), markers, scissors, glue sticks, wallpaper samples (for clothes) plus hole punches & yarn to hang these around their necks.)

We played patriotic music CD while they were creating.

We lined up for a group picture then took the boom box and I led our “Parade of Heroes” (children wearing their people placards and waving American flags) around the library.  Parade included a great variety of “heroes” Jackie Robinson, Jack Kennedy, Helen Keller, Cesar Chavez, Chief Joseph, Rosa Parks, MLK, Thomas Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony, Sacajawea, Betsy Ross, and many more.  (If I had had a smaller group or more time, I would have liked to have each person say why they chose their person, but we were running out of time and it was rather chaotic getting 35 people out the door for the parade so we had to skip this.)



7/2014 BWL

Fizz Boom Read! Building Excitement for Summer Reading Club at the Public Library

School Age (K-3) Storytime promoting 2014 Summer Reading Club

Introduced summer reading theme: Fizz, Boom, Read!  then shared books on experiments and inventions (both real & fantastic):

Read: Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold (599.67 ARN) – true book about how elephants can paint.  Fascinating factoids – who knew elephants had 150,000 muscles in their trunks? (humans have only 639 in their entire body). 

Mentioned another fascinating insight into the elephant mind – teachers may want to share with students:
Elephants in the Mirror - YouTube

1. 
   Many of the elephants quickly recognize that they are seeing themselves .... Interesting video about how elephants are self aware & are very ...
   

Other great animal research:  Check out the dog’s vocabulary in this video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/how-smart-are-animals.html



Read: “Experiments with Motion” (interactive yodeling)  from 11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill  -- introduce/remind word “hypothesis”
Speaking of experiments not quite going as planned…
 
Read: The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra or The Fungus that Ate My School by Arthur Dorros or Wendel’s Workshop by Chris Riddell. Booktalked: Oh No! (or How My Science Project Destroyed the World) by Mac Barnett. 

Read: “Will a piece of bologna fly a a Frisbee” from 11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill
Creative inventing…

Read: If I Built a Car or If I Built a House or Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit (all by Chris Van Dusen) or Levi Strauss gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants by Tony Johnston (older groups only).

Read: “Can a Washing Machine Wash Dishes?” from 11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill


Read: Weslandia  by Paul Fleischman (0lder groups only) – bullied non-conformist invents whole new civilization based on a plant seed that blows into his garden.

Read: “Can a message be sent in a bottle to a faraway land?” from 11 Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill

…speaking of water experiments, let’s do one.  I need a volunteer – do you feel brave?
Ask for the 4 states of matter – solid, liquid, gas, plasma.  What is a plastic bag? (solid).  So hypothesis – what will happen when I poke a hole in it?  Hold ziploc bag half-filled with water above volunteer’s head, poke with sharpened pencils….ask -- why did s/he not get wet?  (plastic is a polymer, made of molecules in a long stretchy chain so stretched around pencil.)



Poem: “I Tried to Do My Homework” from What a Day it Was at School by Jack Prelutsky
Finished with “There are lots of fun books, reading, and science programs at the library this summer…and cross my heart and promise…your dog (or cat) will be perfectly safe!
”
Joining a reading club at the library this summer will keep and expand kids’ reading skills.

Also, don’t let your kids’ math skills get rusty this summer…suggest they do a daily Bedtime Math (bedtimemath.org) problem with their families…they are free, fascinating and fun for all ages!  Here’s a sample:

It always feels good to fold a piece of paper into a triangle, hurl it into the air and watch it sail across the room like a real airplane. So you can imagine the excitement if that paper plane is 45 feet long. A group made a giant paper plane that size from an 800-pound sheet of paper, and used a helicopter to pull it high into the sky. They also strapped a camera to it, so when they cut the cord, the camera took video of the plane's amazing flight through the sky - and its crash. As we see in the film, all good things come to an end, at least for this paper airplane...but hopefully this won't be the last house-sized piece of paper to fly.

Wee ones: If this plane flew at 3,000 feet high and an eagle flew through there at 4,000 feet, which one flew higher?

Little kids: The paper weighed 800 pounds! If the helicopter could lift only 100 pounds more than that, how heavy a plane could it have lifted?  Bonus: If the plane weighed 800 pounds and the camera weighed 10 pounds, how much did they weigh together?

Big kids: To get a sense of this plane's size, a car is about 15 feet long. How many cars long was the plane?  Bonus: At around 1:16 into the video, the camera catches the helicopter whirring high above the paper airplane. If the plane was 2,100 feet off the ground and the chopper was 4 times as high, how high was the chopper flying?

Answers:
Wee ones: The Eagle flew higher.
Little kids: 900 pounds.  Bonus: 810 pounds.
Big kids: 3 cars long.  Bonus: 8,400 feet.

More Ways to Get Bedtime Math!
Crazy 8s Club, our new after-school math club! It's a free kit that any elementary school or library can order to host 8 weeks of math and mischief. Math club will never be the same. Click here to learn more.
Check out the second Bedtime Math book Bedtime Math 2: This Time It's Personal at the library for more fun, offbeat daily math.

The app: Our whole archive of math problems, with colorful animations and cool sound effects.  Check it out here at the App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play for Android!

The website: Find all your favorite bedtime math problems (BMPs) at www.bedtimemath.org. And check out our new Add It Up parent blog on how we can make math fun for kids.
Facebook: One more way to get your daily BMP fix. If you're on Facebook, please like us and help spread the word about Bedtime Math!  

Twitter: Get bite-sized Bedtime Math all the time!   

If you're new here and want our daily e-mail, just click the Sign Me Up button below.   There's no cost, and we will never share our mailing list with anyone.  

Or if that little button didn't show up, you can click here.   Thanks for joining us!  
© 2014 Bedtime Math Foundation. All rights reserved.
 


Want to find book-related Apps – check out this article:

Whether you are just after something to keep the kids occupied for a while or if you want them to continue learning to keep their brains sharp here are some wonderful apps to help.   MORE

Fossils in NJ: Millions of years of life found in South Jersey sand pits…read MORE.  The fossilized bones of a 65 million-year-old giant crocodile were in several cardboard boxes on the counter of the new natural history lab at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton.
"New Jersey is one of the greatest places on earth if you’re a paleontologist, Of the 11 (geologic) periods in which we identify fossils, nine of them are in New Jersey."
Who knew?

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER GREAT  PLACES TO GO THIS SUMMER

Free and Almost Free Places For Family Fun
in New Jersey And The Surrounding States  2014

Here are some of the amazing places in New Jersey area that the family can go for free, or at a very small cost.  NJ and the surrounding states are abound with some wonderful places for families to have a break from the everyday routine.  Each place is amazing and fun, definitely worth a visit!   MORE.

Fancy Nancy Tea Party

Ages 4-9: Fancy Nancy Tea Party: Oh-la-la! Dress in your fancy clothes and join us for a tea party starring the exquisite Mademoiselle “Fancy Nancy.” 

Note, we will be making and serving refreshments
so please alert us to any food allergy issues.

As kids were arriving, asked them for “fancy” words – wrote them on white board

Read:  Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly – added and define more fancy words on the white board.

Stations:
· Make fancy placemats 11x14 paper (kids cut out butterfly shape, then decorate with sequins & markers – encouraged them to make their name “fancy” and write some of the fancy words from the white board)*

· Make napkin rings – Stack 5 4x4 inch tissue papers.  Fan-fold tissue paper pile, fasten with pipe cleaner, pull up each petal to make flowers (tissue paper, pipe cleaners), then loop the pipe cleaner to make the napkin ring. http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/tissue-paper-flowers.jhtml To fold the napkin: Fan fold a guest quality paper napkin (it is fancier if you start from a point rather than a flat side), then slip the folded napkin inside the napkin ring and fan it out. (Napkin rings can become wrist corsages for the parade.)

· Decorate die cut crowns or hats with feathers and sequins.

· Optional: make wands/wings - Crepe paper streamers wands – omitted, no time

· Make tea sandwiches – Materials: hand wipes, white bread, cream cheese, jam (squeeze containers easiest), wax paper, rolling pins, plastic knives, paper plates – had kids clean hands, then cut crusts off bread, put slice between two pieces of waxed paper & flatten with rolling pin, spread with cream cheese & jam, roll up then cut into pinwheels and put on paper plate*   Optional, could have also made triangle sandwiches with bread, cream cheese & thinly-sliced cucumbers.

· Optional: Make fruit kabobs --   fancy toothpicks, grapes, blue berries pink lemonade for refreshments*

Music: Anything classical or something like Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach: More Favorite Disney Tunes in the Style of Classical Composers.

· When crafts were done, each child had a placemat, crown, napkin ring, napkin and pinwheel sandwiches.
 We removed the craft supplies and served pink lemonade with strawberries & blueberries for garnish (“fancy”) and tea cookies.

· After our “tea,” gave away “Fancy Nancy” paper fans as party favors (had these left over from another program, don’t know the original source.) -- would have made wands if I didn't have these.

· Finished with a Fancy Nancy follow the leader parade* around the library.

“Au Revoir” – till we meet again!
 
*Ideas from Fancy Nancy Tea Parties by Jane O’Connor
6/2014 BWL

PreSchool or School Age Storytime: Thinking Outside the Box: Celebrating Creativity & Imagination

 

Thinking Outside the Box: Celebrating Creativity & Imagination

Also reinforces individuality, self-confidence, days of the week, phonemic awareness, choral reading (Long -- pick and choose)

Opening Music: "Neverland Medley" track 2 on Kenny Loggins' Return to Pooh Corner or Pure Imagination (from the album of the same name) or tracks 1,6&7 from the soundtrack to Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.)

Book: Perfect Square -- Michael Hall   A square is perfectly happy being just a square until he discovers there are many more possibilities!  (also nice reinforcement of the days of the week)

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It!  ...sad: shed a tear  ...angry: stomp your feet

Book: Bear's Picture -- Daniel Pinkwater (2008 edition, illustrated by D.B. Johnson.) Bear is unperturbed as two very proper gentlemen criticize and try to guess what he is painting.  Illustrator D.B. Johnson adds several additional elements to the story – including having the proper gentlemen swallowed into the painting and a surprise "reveal" at the end when you turn the book upside down!

Discuss whether the above book was fiction or non-fiction (true), then show Elephants Can Paint Too  and ask the same question.  Surprise…it’s non-fiction! share pages from Non-Fiction Book: Elephants Can Paint Too -- 599.67 Arnold  (Katya Arnold explains how she teaches both children and elephants to paint -- fascinating!)

School Age Book: The Dot – Peter Reynolds. A beautiful book for inspiring self-confidence: Vashta thinks she has no artistic talent until an art teacher tells her to make a dot on a piece of paper then sign her work. The next week Vashti sees her picture hanging in a beautiful frame, which inspires her to explore all sorts of possibilities….

Book: Changes -- Anthony Browne (a boy's imagination runs wild as he waits for his parents to return)

Book or Booktalk: Duck! Rabbit! -- Amy Krouse Rosenthal (What do you see? Two unseen narrators argue over which animal they are seeing.  With school age classes, can divide the room into two parts and have each side read one of the narrators.)

for PreSchools: Song/Flannelboard: Look There Daddy, Do You See? (also known as The Horse in Striped Pajamas) from the old TV show "Captain Kangaroo".  (Tune and various versions available on the internet by searching: "look there daddy do you see lyrics")
Look There Daddy, Do You See?
Look there Daddy do you see?
There's a horse in striped pajamas.
   No that's not what it is at all,
   That's an animal people call a zebra.
I see -- but it still looks like a horse in striped pajamas to me.
2. There's a bird in its tuxedo  …. penguin
3. There's a bird wearing a rainbow… parrot
4. There's a bird wearing eyeglasses….owl
5. There's a mouse with great big wings on…bat
6. There's a bird with his umbrella… peacock
7. There’s a fish wearing great big whiskers … walrus
8. There’s a teddy with two black eyes … panda

Guessing Game Book: What is This? -- Antje Damm (share selections & have kids imagine possibilities)...great lead-in to show a few pages from: Leaf Man -- Lois Ehlert  (leaf pictures), Here a Face, There a Face -- Arlene Alda (quick book showing photographs of  "found faces" in nature and in man-made objects.)

Booktalk/Alternates: Not a Box or  Not a Stick -- both by Antoinette Portis (everyday objects imaginatively transformed), any of Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers personified food books: Food for Thought, How are You Peeling? Dog Food, Fast Food.

Book: The Story of Fish & Snail - Deborah Freedman.  (A story of friendship and moving beyond your comfort zone.  Snail is reluctant to leave the comfort of his familiar book to explore a new story with his friend Fish.)

for PreSchools: Flannel (based on the book by Frank Asch): Monkey Face  (On the way home from school, all of monkey's friends suggest alterations to his painting of his mother.   -- Script below.  Email me for patterns.)

Book: how to -- Julie Morstad (splendid new book whimsically explores creative ways of doing things)

Close with exuberant Singable/Chantable Book: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More -- Karen Osborne (A child paints every part of her body – page turn before each body part name, pause and have children guess -- great for phonemic awareness - rhyming)


Video: Reading Rainbow: Llang and the Magic Paintbrush

Optional Song: Just Use Imagination (tune: "Yankee Doodle") – omitted 2014
Reading can be lots of fun
Just use imagination,
I'm jumping with a parachute
I'm king of all creation!
I'm swimming cross the ocean wide
I'm riding on a turtle,
I'm flying high with butterflies
I'm jumping o'er a hurdle.
I'm dancing with a million stars
I'm painting my own rainbow;
I'm playing music on a harp,
A fiddle, and a banjo.
Reading can be lots of fun
Just use imagination,
I'm up in a hot air balloon
I'm king of all creation! 


Closing Music/Hand Stamping: "Neverland Medley" track 2 on Kenny Loggins' Return to Pooh Corner.


Display:
extra copies of all above (and related titles by the authors) plus:
Imagine a Day / Imagine a Night / Imagine a Place -- all by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah Thomson

Margritte's Marvelous Hat -- D.B. Johnson
The Day the Crayons Quit -- Drew Daywalt
If - Sarah Perry
Little Green -- Keith Baker
Palazzo Inverso -- D.B. Johnson


 

Flannelboard Script: Monkey Face by Frank Asch

(lots of cute versions on the web if you do an image search)

One day at school, monkey painted a PICTURE (white felt with simple monkey outline) of his mother.
On his way home, he stopped to show it to his friend, OWL.
“Nice picture,” said Owl, “but you made her EYES too small.”
“How’s that? (place felt eyes atop felt picture) asked Monkey.
“Much better,” said Owl.
When Monkey saw RABBIT sunning herself, he held up the picture for her to see.
“Looks just like her,” said Rabbit, “except the EARS are a bit short.”
“How’s that? (place ears) asked Monkey.
“Big Improvement,” said Rabbit.
At the river bank, Monkey found ALLIGATOR and showed the picture to her.
“Pretty,” said Alligator, “but she hasn’t got much of a mouth.”
“How’s that? (place mouth)   asked Monkey.
“Beautiful,” said Alligator.
As he walked on, Monkey met ELEPHANT and showed him the picture.
“Good likeness,” said Elephant.  “But her nose is almost invisible.”
“How’s that? (place trunk)   asked Monkey.
“Unforgetable,” said Elephant.
Monkey couldn’t wait for LION to see his picture.
“You’re a born artist,” said Lion, “except for one thing – you’ve forgotten her fluffy mane.”
“How’s that? (place mane)   asked Monkey.
“Most becoming,” said Lion.
When he was almost home, Mondey saw GIRAFFE and let him look at the picture.
“Nearly perfect,” said Giraffe, “but her neck needs to be a little longer.”
“How’s that? (place neck)   asked Monkey.
“Truly elevating,” said Giraffe.
Monkey ran the rest of the way.
His lunch was all ready and his MOTHER was waiting for him.
“Look what I made in school today,” said Monkey.  “A picture of you.”
“I love it!” said his mother.
“Just the way it is?” asked Monkey.
“Just the way it is,” said his mother.  And she hung it on the refrigerator for everyone to see.   (place Monkey/mother hug)


BWL 5/2014
Bedm. 5/2014