School Age Storytime: Look Again–Art, Artists, and Imagination

K-2nd Grade Storytime utilizing the new Keith Haring picture book biography and encouraging kids to embrace art and creativity in themselves and all around.

Opened by sharing Here a Face, There a Face by Arlene Alda (photographs of “found faces” in buildings and objects – book opens with a tribute to John Lennon’s “Imagine”)

Asked if anyone had ever played the drawing game – taking turns adding lines to each other’s drawing – a game Keith Haring played with his father.)

Read: Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing by Kay Haring (Keith’s brother)  (Inspiring picture book biography of this generous-hearted artist who created art often in unused or ugly public spaces – suggested teachers might want to get mural paper and have kids do something similar.)

Read: Changes by Anthony Browne (The objects in a boy’s house morph around him in this intriguing book that pays homage to surrealism…)

Dinner at Magritte’s by Michael Garland(great lead in to the art of Rene Magritte – can share pages from Now You See It—Now You Don’t: Rene Magritte (J759.9493 WEN), The Mad, Mad, World of Salvador Dali (759.6 WEN) both by Angela Wenzel, Salvador Dali and the Surrealists – their life & ideas + 21 activities by Michael Ross (J759.6 ROS) and/or Google: “Rene Magritte paintings” and “Salvador Dali paintings”.)

Mentioned  life-like statues of J. Seward Johnson – many available to view at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ – an incredible place to visit.

Action break inspired by stone parents in above book – “statues” game aka “freeze dance” – sing or play tunes as students dance, then stop the music and “freeze”

Another incredibly imaginative artist M.C.Escher “Ascending and Descending” and “Relativity” (above) inspired:

Read: Palazzo Inverso by D.B. Johnson (book imagines “master’s” apprentice changing the drawing simply by turning it around – book goes forward then returns backwards (upside down) to the place where it starts!) – also have the kids notice the fish/bird end-papers.

Return to Keith Haring who famously said “It’s your job to decide [what my pictures mean]. I only do the drawing!’  Show his pictures from: Keith Haring: I Wish I Didn’t Have to Sleep (J 709.2 HAR), read excerpts and have kids supply their own interpretations.

Finish with:

 

 

Book: If… by Sarah Perry (imagine if cats could fly, leaves were fish, mice were hair, caterpillars were toothpaste, toes were teeth, or frogs ate rainbows…ends with “If this is the end…then dream up some more! – encouraged kids to create their own book of imaginative ideas!) 

Related programs:

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/03/picture-this-keith-haring-characters-at.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/08/picture-this-art-exploration-for-kids.html
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/05/school-age-storytimeimagine.html

Related books:

Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Illusion by Al Seckel
Imagine a Place (also Day, Night) by Sarah Thompson, Art by Rob Gonsalves

Bedm 1/2/17

School Age Storytime: Stepping Out (of Your Comfort Zone)

A K-4 storytime celebrating curiosity and a willingness to try new things -- with a nod to books and reading, the beauty of this country and the world around us, and the power of possibilities....

The Book of Gold by Bob Staake Isaac Gutenberg isn’t interested in anything, until an old bookseller tells him the legend of a book of gold which contains answers to everything and, when opened, turns into solid gold.  Eager for riches, he opens every book he finds – and gradually starts reading what is inside…he’ll need patience and fortitude…and eventually finds them both at the NY Public Library.

On this Spot: An Expedition Back Through Time by Susan E. Goodman (J974.71 GOO)  (Non-Fiction – uncommon core!) --  A brilliant tour-de-force tracing NYC from the present back in time 540 million years…lots of mathematical comparisons (e.g.if all the 8 million people in NYC today were laid end to end would reach to California and back, 350 years ago New Amsterdam had 1500 people = about the population of 3 schools today), fascinating historical trivia (e.g. pigs and chickens roamed NYC streets 175 years ago, the Lenape path to winter grounds is now today’s Broadway) and scientific information (the rise and fall of mammoths, ice age glaciers*, dinosaurs, lakes, mountains, and seas).   Text is long so I point out highlights.)  *mentioned our gorgeous local Buck Garden was carved by a mile high glacier.

This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, Paintings by Kathy Jakobsen (J782.42 GUT)

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (also DVD)-- The Caldecott-winning evocation of Phillippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the world trade towers.

The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan  -- Dodsworth leads a very dull life until a rusty old refrigerator filled with different supplies each day opens his eyes to amazing new possibilities.

See also:

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/10/school-age-storytime-on-this-spot-new.html 

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/05/school-age-storytimeimagine.html

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/school-age-storytime-earth-day-heroes.html

 

Bedm 10/2017

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank (1929-1945)

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” ~ Helen Keller

"The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day." ~ Gloria Steinem

"I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one."~ Calamity Jane (1852-1903), American frontierswoman

Wet and Wacky Stories–SRC Outreach

K-5th group – opened with Reader's Theater / puppets - No Bath Tonight by Jane Yolen --note typo in the author's name - it is by Jane Yolen http://web.archive.org/web/20050306114522/http://hometown.aol.com/rcswallow/NoBathTonight.html

Book: The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems (kids loved this -- and noticed the one switched picture on the back end-paper!)

Song: I'm Gonna Wash that Dirt Right Out of my Hair (based on the song “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of my Hair” from South Pacific)

I’m gonna wash that dirt right out of my hair (3x)…and send it on its way. 
Continue with ears, toes, belly button...
last verse: I’m gonna rinse that soap right out of my eyes! (3x)...and go outside to play!

Another reluctant bather:
Book: To Bathe a Boa by C. Imbior Kudrna (amusing rhyming tale of a kid trying every possible ruse to bathe his snake, until ultimately both get wet!) If not available, use: Big Red Tub by Julia Jarman

Action Song (Snake Puppet): "I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor" (phonemic awareness, rhyming clues to parts of the body -- we do this twice, the first time with me and the puppet; the second time through they use their arm & hand as the boa and swallow their own toes etc.)

I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor, a boa constrictor,
I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor -- and I don't like it very very much!

Oh no, he's swallowed my toe!
Oh rankle, he's up to my ankle!
Oh fee, he's reached my knee!
Oh sigh, he's up to my thigh!
Oh fiddle, he's reached my middle!
Oh heck, he's up to my neck!
Oh dread, he's swallowed my (gulp!)

Flannel: Pet Wash based on the book by Dayle Ann Dodds

Step right up! Get in line. We’ll wash your pets and make them shine.
We’ll rub. We’ll scrub. We’re Wally and Gene.
There’s not a pet that we can’t clean.

Wash your Cat? We can do that! Spic and span in no time flat.
Wash your Bear? With loving care. We’ll even style and curl his hair.
Wash your Eel? It’s no big deal. We’ll dry him on our eel-mobile.
Wash your Raccoon? He’ll shine like the moon.
Wash your Kangaroo? With mint shampoo.
Wash your Crocodile? With a smile.
Wash your Tiny Ant? Who says we can’t?
Wash your Seal? It’s a deal.
Wash your Rhino? That will be fine-o.
Wash your Hippo? We can do that in a zippo!
Big or small or in between, nothing’s too hard for Wally and Gene.
Excuse me! Can you wash my…Baby Brother? (Remove Wally & Gene)
Sorry! We’re Closed!

Great lead in to:
Max's Bath by Rosemary Wells (In this delightful board book, Max needs a bath because, as his sister Ruby points out, his lunch is all over him...but Max has the last laugh in the surprise ending.)

"Who has little sisters, brothers, cousins? Can you tell what they've eaten by what they're wearing?!"

Action Song: "Ravioli" (traditional camp song-- tune:  Alouette)--great movement song

Ravioli, ravi, ravioli-- Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your pants?   -  Yes I have it on my pants.
On your pants?  On my pants.  Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Ravioli, ravi, ravioli-- Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your sleeve? -- Yes I have it on my sleeve.
On your sleeve?  On my sleeve.
On your pants?  On my pants.  Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli-- Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it in your lap? on your shoe?…  (chin, hair, ears, etc. )

Even more mess:
Singable/Chantable Book: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More – Karen Beaumont & David Catrow (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)

Song: "Wash Your Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (same as original except add washing motions)

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!)

Interactive Song/Flannel or Puppets:  “Deep in the Jungle” from Joe Scrugg’s album by the same name. (clever variation on the 3 little monkeys teasing the crocodile rhyme, I have child volunteers handle the monkey puppets/flannels, I handle the croc.) http://www.hellojoe.com/lyrics-ditj.html

 

World traveler: Pop-Up Book: Bathtime Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox (piggy's imagination takes him from his bath to around the world adventures!)

King Bidgood loves his bath and won’t get out!
Book: King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood (Caldecott Honor Book -- Big Book available -- allows kids to see the wonderful detailed silliness!)

Song: "Take me Out of the Bathtub" from book by the same name by Alan Katz

4-5's didn’t want me to stop – added:

 

Book:  Casey in the Bath by Cynthia DeFelice (magical bath bubble creatures delight a reluctant bath-taker)

Chalk – Bill Thomson (Three children find a bag of magical chalk on a rainy day…and everything they draw comes to life – including a T-Rex!)

Book: If by Sarah Perry (Celebration of Imagination – had kids brainstorm for other ideas)

Promoted “Build a Better World” Summer Reading Club at the library then ended with:
Singable Book: What a Wonderful World – George David Weiss & Bob Thiele (several good illustrated versions of this song made famous by Louis Armstrong).

7.17 Crème de La Crème outreach, 2 groups 4s&5s, K-5th

School Age Program: Play with Poetry

 
This was a program to encourage kids to play with poetry then write some of their own.  (K-5 at Bridgewater, K-2 at Bedminster School)

Poetry Program – You’re a Poet though You May Not Know It  “Today we’re going to write some poems of our own -- but first we’re going to hear some poems to get our own creative ideas flowing and get some tips about poetry-writing…”

.2017: Order varied in some groups

• Opened with Prelutsky’s “I Told the Wizard to His Face” from Monday’s Troll (skipped at Bedminster, book unavailable, instead opened with short poems “The Tickle Rhyme,” “Glowworm,” & “Bugs” (p.13-14) from Sunflakes)
• Talked about different kinds of poetry – asked what made a poem (sometimes rhyme & rhythm, form, imaginative language).
• Played “Yankee Doodle” rhyming game --  Newfangled Yankee Doodle Poems http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryfun/newfangledfib.html
• Shared these tips from Jack Prelutsky Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry – anyone know of him (show his books) –keeps writing notebook (used page numbers below)
  
  Write about something that really happened (ok to exaggerate though!):
  Ø p.5 “I Wonder Why Dad is so Thoroughly Mad”
  Ø p.18 “My Mother’s Rules”
  Ø another poem about his mom’s rules: p.23 “Deep in Our Refrigerator”
  
  Brothers, Sisters, Pets, Friends and Toys make good subjects:
  Ø p.30 “My Baby Brother” (also “Brother” p. 65 in Sunflakes selected by Lilian Moore)
  Ø p.58 “Oh, Teddy Bear”
  Ø p.64 “My Brother Shaved His Teddy Bear”
  
  Poems don’t have to be long:
  Ø p.33 “Oysters”
  Ø (also “The Tickle Poem” p.14 in Sunflakes )
  
  Images can inspire poems:
  Ø p.65 “Spring Is” in Sunflakes selected by Lilian Moore)
  Ø p.43 “We’re Fearless Flying Hot Dogs”  (skipped some of these, no time)
  Ø p.39 “Forty Performing Bananas” (re-writing playing with language – read section),
  Ø p.53 “I’m Building a Bridge of Bananas”
  Ø p.74 “The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven”
• Poems can inspire images:
  Ø Show Shape/Concrete Poems from Doodle Dandies (First Burst of Spring, Giraffe, Butterfly) by J. Patrick Lewis & A Poke in the Eye (p.2,3,17,20,21,27), by Paul B. Janeczko
• Make up new verses to poem/song “Alligator Pie” from Dinosaur Dinner by Dennis Lee  (Judy Freeman put it to music -- feel free to give me a call if you want the tune), having kids select food, a rhyming consequence activity, a rhyming object and a non-rhyming related object, e.g.

Alligator CHEESE, Alligator CHEESE
If I don’t get some, I guess I’m gonna SNEEZE.
Take away my GARDEN, Take away my BEES,
But don’t take away my Alligator CHEESE!

• Shared two pet poems (p. 19 & 14)  from Who Swallowed Harold by Susan Pearson then read the mixed-up menagerie poems from Cock-a-Doodle Moooo! by Keith DuQuette and showed example of acrostic & blackout poems. 
• Kids then created poems of their choice – combo animal poems, shape poems, blackout poems, alligator pie new verses, rhyming poems or acrostic poems. 
• Surprise ending fun:
  from Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Diggory Shields
  p. 16 "School Daze Rap"
  p. 35 "Clock Watching"
  
  Hands on – Writing our Own Poems – Options:
  
  o Using what we just discussed, write a poem
  o If you need ideas, try: “I am” poem (handout below, more at: http://www.pinterest.com/teaching101/writing/)
  o Poetry Starter (source unknown): “Every day when I go out, I fill my shoes with sauerkraut…. (supply a page with these two lines as the starter )
  o Acrostic Poem (Handout below)
  o How to Write an "I Can't Write a Poem" Poem (Handout http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/cantwrite.htm)
  o Write a Structured Poem – ideas from the book “A Kick in the Head”
  
  
  

 
 
o Write a Shape Poem|

This and many more here: https://www.pinterest.com/ginger9892/concrete-poetry/
o Write a Blackout Poem

from: http://learningparade.typepad.co.uk/learning_parade/2011/07/newspaper-blackout-poems.html

Handouts:

Acrostic Poem  (I wrote these instructions out for the kids)
An Acrostic Poem is a poem that uses a name or a word to begin each line in a poem. Write your name or a word vertically down the left side of this sheet of paper. Begin each line of the poem with each letter of your name and write about yourself. After you are finished, decorate the page with your favorite things. (If you would like to get your poem back, please write your name & phone number on the back.)


 

4.2017 Bridgewater:

Additional Resources:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/poetry/index.htm  Jack Prelutsky and others
www.hmhbooks.com/poetrykit/  lots of poetry ideas based on HMH books
http://www.gigglepoetry.com Bruce Lansky’s poems, contests, ideas
www.poetry4kids.com poems, contests, ideas + a rhyming dictionary
www.poetryzone.ndirect.co.uk/index2.htm place for kids to publish their own
www.teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/jack_home.htm (jack prelutsky’s writer’s workshop)

Display books: Imagine a Day …Night… Place – Sarah Thomson & Rob Gonsalves,  A River of Words JB Williams, Sad Underwear Judith Viorst, lots of other poetry books… New  in 2016 Daniel Finds a Poem – Micha Archer

School Age Storytime–Imagine the Possibilities!

A storytime for K-4th grade celebrating creativity and imagination, with suggestions for art projects, art-inspired story-starters and a brief introduction (with further suggestions) for the artists Rene Magritte and Rob Gonsalves.

Book: That’s Good, That’s Bad by Marjorie Cuyler (used with some classes as kids were arriving – kids loved to chorus “No that’s bad/good!”)

Book: The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan (Dodsworth leads a very dull life until a rusty old refrigerator filled with different supplies each day opens his eyes to amazing new possibilities.)

Book: Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D. B. Johnson or  Dinner at Magritte’s by Michael Garland (great lead in to the art of Rene Magritte – can share pages from Now You See It—Now You Don’t: Rene Magritte (J759.9493 WEN and/or Google: “Rene Magritte paintings.)

Book: Where’s Walrus by Stephen Savage

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

Read selections from: Imagine a Place by Rob Gonsalves and Sarah Thomson (also showed Imagine a Day and Imagine a Night).  Sarah Thomson used Gonsalves’ paintings as “story starters” for her short pieces – your kids can too: www.boredpanda.com/magic-realism-paintings-rob-gonsalves (Google image search “Rob Gonsalves” if you want more.)  David Wiesner’s book Free Fall  is a wordless book that uses similar magic realism.

Nonsense/surreal poem: One fine day in the middle of the night / Two dead boys got up to fight / Back to back they faced each other / Drew their swords and shot each other / A deaf policeman heard the noise / Came up and shot those two dead boys / If you don’t believe this tale is true / Ask the blind man, he saw it too!

Book: Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat (Caldecott winning author illustrator of The Adventures of Beekle: An Unimaginary Friend) (A boy in the backseat of a car takes the road trip of a lifetime in this book that encourages kids to savor the moment!)  Kids can see similar page turn-around magic in D.B. Johnson’s Palazzo Inverso inspired by the amazing lithographs of M.C. Escher. (Lots of images if you Google: “Escher”)

Book: If… by Sarah Perry (imagine if cats could fly, leaves were fish, mice were hair, caterpillars were toothpaste, toes were teeth, or frogs ate rainbows…)   Similar titles: Guessing Game Book: What is This? by Antje Damm (have kids imagine possibilities) Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert  (leaf pictures), Here a Face, There a Face by Arlene Alda (quick book showing photographs of  "found faces" in nature and in man-made objects), Rain Fish by Lois Elhert (wonderful “fish” created from found objects.)

Book: Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg (mistakes can be inspiration!)

Close: What a Wonderful World singable book by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele, illustrated by Ashley Bryan

Encouraged kids to explore possibilities of their own …this afternoon, weekend, month, year and throughout their lives!
5.16 Bedm

6.16 Bedminster – continued theme with “Dream On”:

Appelemando’s Dreams by Patricia Polacco (Because he spends his time dreaming, the villagers are convinced that Appelemando will never amount to much but in time his dreams change the village and all the people in it.) Booktalked: Frederick by Leo Lionni.

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont (Fun chanting book about an irrepressible and incorrigible artist!)

H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball & Imagination by Christopher Myers (Two kids create an out-of-this-world game…)  Mentioned this year’s summer reading theme – On Your Mark, Get Set, Read! – encouraged them to sign up at Clarence Dillon Library (& come see me at Bridgewater Library)

The Bear Report by Thyra Heder (related to their animal reports this year – a child’s boring school report on a polar bear gets significantly more interesting when the subject shows up in her living room!)

Elephants Can Paint Too! by Katya Arnold (Asked whether previous title was fiction or non-fiction, then asked about this one – showed true book: 599.67 ARN)…fabulous facts and photos of these amazing creatures – who knew they had 150,000 muscles in their trunks (humans have 639 in their whole bodies!) or that baby elephants suck their trunks like human infants suck their thumbs…or that an elephant can swim the distance between Bedminster and Newark airport without resting! – Cool stuff all!)

Puppets/Song – Deep in the Jungle (left over from Rainforest story time last week – promised the kids we’d do this – lyrics here: http://www.hellojoe.com/lyrics-ditj.html)

Perfect Square by Michael Hall (A perfectly happy square with four matching corners & four equal sides discovers the possibilities of change and realizes stasis isn’t as alluring as he first thought! (also nice reinforcement of the days of the week))

Encouraged kids to follow their own dreams this weekend & all summer long!
6.16 Bedm

Display? Some Things I’ve Lost by Cybele Young (objects morph then change entirely)

 

Harold and the Purple Crayon inspired craft – squiggle pictures. (draw a squiggle then have kids “finish” the picture):

5.14 Bedm used:Andrew Draws -- David McPhail
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
Froodle -- Antoinette Portis
Call Me Gorgeous -- Giles and Alexandra Milton