Just curious to hear what your school or district is doing for you this week? At my school we are being served breakfast, lunch, a surprise, dessert, and lunch again. We love to eat in the south!
Books and Activities for Poetry Month: National Haiku Day
Happy Haiku Day!
As we celebrate National Poetry Month, we’re focusing this week on haiku. This is a great format to use with students because it’s so accessible, plus it lends itself well to student writing. To quote from the lovely author’s note in the back of Dogku, the first book listed below, “Ever feel like there are so, so many words? And how could I ever put some together and make a poem? That’s when a haiku can seem like a lifeboat.”
These are some of the books from my library collection that I’m using. Click the book title to look inside and/or purchase. As an Amazon associate I earn a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you.
Dogku by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Tim Bowers
This book is a great way to introduce the format of haiku to students because the poems work together to tell a narrative of a stray dog (Mooch) who is adopted by a loving family. You can read the book and enjoy the story at face value, and then go back and examine the elements of haiku in each poem. Nominated for the S.C. Book Award
- Have students write a pet-ku about a pet they own or wish they owned
- Have students research various breeds of dogs and write a dogku that highlights facts about the animal
One Leaf Rides the Wind: Counting in a Japanese Garden by Celeste Davidson Mannis, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartrung
As the title suggests, this book pays homage both to the Japanese origin of haiku and to the traditional nature themes. Each page features our protagonist enjoying a beautiful Japanese garden and includes both a haiku and a paragraph of background information to help readers understand the cultural importance of each element. The counting theme is an added bonus for younger students. Copyright 2002, starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly
- Have students explore an outdoor area (during the school day or at home) and choose something from nature to write about. Use this Haiku Lesson Plan from ReadWriteThink
- Brainstorm other outdoor areas (amusement park, campground, beach, etc) and choose one as the subject for a haiku counting book. Let each student contribute a poem and an illustration for the book.
Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Merce Lopez
Haiku meet riddles with students having the opportunity to guess the object of each poem. This book is richly yet delicately illustrated, and the large format makes it a good choice to read aloud to a group. An answer key is provided for those who need it. Copyright 2019, starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.
- View the book trailer here to see samples of the poems and illustrations
- The author’s note includes tips to help students write their own riddle-ku poems
- Have students research zoo animals and then use this brainstorming worksheet from the author to help students create Zoo-ku riddles of their own
Guess Who, Haiku by Deanna Caswell, illustrated by Bob Shea
More haiku riddles, this time for younger readers. Each poem is a clue to a common animal, but there’s a twist: The author’s note includes the information that the hai in haiku means “to make light of” or “to make a joke of” so she highlights that element of play by constructing the poems so that the middle line of each can be covered up and the meaning can still be understood. An explanation of what a syllable is and how to determine how many are in a line is also provided. Copyright 2016, starred review from Kirkus
- Have students write new middle lines for the poems
- As you read each haiku, allow students to draw a picture of the animal they think is being described
Read, Recite, and Write Haiku by JoAnn Early Macken
Part of the Poet’s Workshop series, this book is an excellent how-to resource for teachers and students who want to do a deep dive into writing haikus. It’s packed with instructions, tips, and activities to help students develop their poetry writing and performing skills. Copyright 2015, starred review from School Library Journal
Also, check out these additional online haiku resources:
Teaching Kids Haiku with Kwame Alexander – this YouTube video is a great introductory lesson to writing haiku, and Newbery-award-winning author Kwame Alexander knows exactly how to talk to students and hold their attention. You may also want to get his book The Write Thing which teaches you how to move students step-by-step from ideas, to drafts, to finished works.
Haiku Poem Interactive from ReadWriteThink – provides space for students to brainstorm, write, and add an image to their haiku
Haiku Lesson Plan from Edsitement – a complete lesson plan, including common core standards
Four Tips for Teaching Haiku Poetry from The Butterfly Teacher – lots of good advice plus a free Google Slides Haiku Activity when you subscribe to her newsletter (Note: the printable haiku resources shared on her site are paid items from her TPT store.)
What are your favorite books and resources for exploring haiku with students? Tell us in the comments!
Online Drawing and Art Tools for Students
Fun Friday Websites: Let’s Draw!
Each month I like to add some “learning is fun” links to my Student Resource page that capture the imagination and encourage exploration. Here’s a roundup of some favorite online resources to use with students that allow them to get creative and make some art!
Inspiral – If you’ve played with a spirograph, you know how exciting – and sometimes frustrating! – it is to create those magical designs. (Fun Fact: I can remember when the set came with pushpins to hold the plastic disks to your paper! Now they come with a wad of putty, a safer option that doesn’t leave holes in your paper.) The online version can be just as much fun, and this is one of the best versions I’ve found, especially since it allows you to download your creation for printing.
Quick Draw – this offering from Google allows you to play a guessing game with the computer, similar to the old Win Lose or Draw. You’re shown a word (envelope, trombone, laptop) on the screen, and then given a blank drawing area. The computer has 20 seconds to correctly guess what you’ve drawn. You hear the computer guesses out loud, but you have to read the word yourself (a definite drawback for younger players).
AutoDraw – another Google game, this one allows you to turn your amateur drawings into professional doodles as you work. When you draw an object onscreen, a menu of related objects appears at the top of your paper. You can click on any one of them to transform your drawing. Tools include a color palette, shapes, and a text option.
Tate Paint – from the Tate Museum’s website, Tate Paint is one of several art activities provided by them for kids. Users are given a choice of canvases and a selection of art supplies that changes based on the type of background chosen. Students can also get inspiration from paintings that are part of the gallery’s collection. This site allows you to download your artwork, or submit it to the Tate Kids Gallery online.
Scribbles and Ink – the companion website to the PBS show of the same name, Scribbles and Ink are two artists that couldn’t be more different; one is a cat and one is a mouse; one likes clean pencil lines and one likes splattered paint; together they make beautiful art. Students are given a choice of themes, and an animated video tells a story and provides drawing prompts. Once a drawing is completed, it’s incorporated into the next video segment of the story.
What are your favorite online drawing resources for students? Please let us know in the comments!
Solar Eclipse Choice Boards and Resources for Students
Hi, just popping in to share this Wakelet collection of Solar Eclipse resources to use with students. Are you having in-person classes on April 8, or an eLearning day? We are on campus all day, and will experience 85% totality right around student dismissal time!
Do you have other eclipse resources you plan to use? Tell us about them in the comments!
Books and Activities to Celebrate Spring Gardens
Spring Gardens!
Nothing screams SPRING like vegetable and flower gardens sprouting and blooming and calling us outdoors! Here in the south we don’t watch for snow to melt; we watch for tiny shoots and buds to appear as the nights shorten and the days lengthen and the sun sends its newly warming rays over the earth.
Here are some books from my library collection that I like to use with students that celebrate gardens, whether real, imaginary, or metaphorical. Click on the book titles to look inside and/or purchase. As an Amazon associate I earn a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you.
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Mr. McGreely is so pleased with his vegetable garden, but pleasure turns to dismay, then frustration, then fury when three determined bunnies start stealing his crops. How far will he go to thwart the energetic bunnies, and how many ways can they find to outwit him? This book is an absolute favorite of mine, and it never fails to get a positive reaction during story time. Students will enjoy reciting the cumulative refrain with you as you read. Sequels include Tippy, Tippy, Tippy, Hide and Tippy, Tippy, Tippy Splash. Copyright 2002, starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal
- Classroom Guide from the author
- Activity Guide
- Have students brainstorm other ways the farmer could keep the bunnies out of the garden and then draw their designs as blueprints or illustrations
- Pair this title with Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin, which chronicles Old Man Fookwire’s desperate efforts to keep the squirrels out of his birdfeeders
In a Garden by Tim McCanna, illustrated by Aimee Sicuro
Rhyming books can be hit or miss, and this one is definitely a hit! McCanna includes dozens of insects and plants in his text, and the soft watercolor illustrations allow the reader to see what the narrator does not. The author’s note discusses the history of gardening. Copyright 2020, starred review from School Library Journal
- Enjoy this video of the author reading the book aloud, visiting a real garden, and singing
- Have students research the animals mentioned in the text and write “fun facts” on sticky notes to place in the book
Have You Ever Seen a Flower? by Shawn Harris
This book goes far beyond a surface examination of a flower and takes readers on a journey involving all five senses, and pushes them to explore a deeper experience beyond what they can see with their eyes. From the publisher: “Looking at a flower teaches us to look at everything around us, to expand our perception, and to question what it means to see and be.” Copyright 2021, Caldecott Honor Book, starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.
- Use these additional resources with the book
- Follow the steps in this art activity for students to create collage garden art of their own (Although I would use crayons instead of paint!)
- Take students outside with sidewalk chalk to create their own gardens
- Share this video of the author reading the book aloud and then demonstrating how to make stencils to create art
The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher
When Poppa has to move to an apartment, he and his granddaughter Theo miss the garden they used to tend together. His balcony is unfortunately too windy for real flowers but he has a solution: an imaginary garden. The two happily use paint and brushes to create an imaginative mural bursting with bold, bright colors (in stark contrast to the spare pen-and-ink look of the apartment building). This book is much a celebration of intergenerational relationships as it is of gardens. Copyright 2020, starred reviews from Booklist and Book Links.
- Use these Storytime Suggestions
- Tape a large piece of bulletin board paper to the wall and allow students to add their own garden elements to it using markers, crayons, or paint
- Pair this book with Caldecott Honor Book The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, another tale of a child creating a garden in a limited apartment space
If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson
Let me say up front that Kadir Nelson is one of my favorite illustrators, so any book by him is likely going to appeal to me. In this lush picture book, he uses the garden as a metaphor for “reaping what you sow” in terms of the way you treat others. The rabbit and mouse plant their vegetable seeds and delight in their harvest, but turn selfish when various hungry birds want to partake. In a happy ending, the animals choose to cooperate with kindness to create a bigger garden, with food for all. Copyright 2015, starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.
- Download this book guide
- Use these additional resources
- Try one of these follow-up activities
- Pair this book with Bader’s Perfect Garden by Marsha Diane Arnold to compare and contrast how friends can encourage and support one another through a shared activity like gardening
Rabbit and Squirrel: a Tale of War and Peas by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon
Silliness abounds when rabbit and squirrel begin accusing each other (falsely, as the reader can see) of stealing vegetables from the other’s garden. The squabble escalates into full-on war, until both are banished to the woods. The open ending is a nice starting point for a discussion on misunderstandings, and making peace after a disagreement.
What are your favorite spring garden books? Please share in the comments!
Books and Activities to Celebrate the Arrival of Spring
Welcome Spring!
As we approach spring break, my thoughts are turning to the way the earth slowly wakes up from her long winter’s nap each year. Are you as ready for it as I am? What better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than by enjoying some books that take us through that lovely process!
Here are some books from my library collection that I like to use with students that beautifully capture the transition from winter to spring. Click on the book titles to look inside and/or purchase. As an Amazon associate I earn a small commission on your purchase at no additional cost to you.
On a Snow-Melting Day : Seeking Signs of Spring by Buffy Silverman
This lively rhyming book is a poetic ode to the passing of winter. It’s illustrated with an array of colorful photographs, and the end notes include facts about the plants, animals, habitats, and weather events mentioned in the text. Take a look at On a Gold-Blooming Day and On a Flake-Flying Day as well. Copyright 202, starred review from Kirkus
- Use this poetry-writing lesson plan – written by the author – with your students
- Allow students to identify and discuss the many types of figurative language the author uses
- Pair this nonfiction title with the fictional William Wakes Up by Laura Ashman, another rhyming book which shows little boy William and his animal friends waking up from a long winter nap and seeing signs of spring
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
Not gonna lie, I love all Messner’s Over and Under books, and this is probably my favorite in the series. It’s a nonfiction title, but it reads like a narrative. From the publisher: Up in the garden, the world is full of green–leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world–earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow–populated by all the animals that make a garden their home.” Neal’s illustrations are full of fabulous details for the reader to pick out. Copyright 2015, starred review from Library Media Connection
- Download a reading guide for the book
- Have students draw their own garden illustrations showing what’s growing on top and what’s happening underneath
- Download the Kate Messner “Over and Under” series author study guide
- Pair this nonfiction title with the fictional Caldecott Honor Book Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, a trickster tale involving Hare getting the best of Bear each season as he plants crops that ensure him a bountiful harvest while Bear is left with the useless stalks, roots, and tops of the vegetables
Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Micha Archer
Salas is known for her innovative approach to writing nonfiction books, and title cleverly features a playful math equation on each page as math meets metaphor with a sprinkling of science to explain each of the signs of spring. The tissue-paper collage illustrations are a bonus (y’all know I love collage art!), depicting children reveling in a glorious spring world. Copyright 2019
- Download the activity guide for the book
- Visit the author’s website for more information and activity ideas
- Use this STEM lesson from the author to guide students to write their own science equations
- Pair this title with A Leaf Can Be, written by the same author, which depicts a leaf’s various purposes throughout the four seasons
When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek
The perfect pairing of words and illustrations, this book for slightly younger readers reminds us that we must be patient as we look at the bare trees and brown mud and sloshy snow and gray skies, because when spring comes (quickly or slowly, it changes its mind a lot) you will feel it, you will smell it, and you will hear it. Take a look at his other three “season” books, Summer Song, In the Middle of Fall and Winter is Here, for future story times. (Fun fact: Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek are husband and wife. No wonder the text and pictures are woven together so well!) Copyright 2016, starred reviews from Booklist, The Horn Book, and School Library Journal
- Use this Story Circle lesson with free printable pocket-chart cards
- Provide sidewalk chalk and allow students to go outside and draw spring pictures inspired by the book illustrations
- Pair this title with Bloom, Boom! by April Pulley Sayre, which is a stunning photographic look at the flowers of spring, described in rhyming couplets, that also contains an appendix with further information that allows it to work as a science resource as well as a read-aloud
Spectacular Spring: All Kinds of Spring Facts and Fun by Bruce Goldstone
Spectacular is right! I tend to prefer photos in nonfiction books, and these do not disappoint. This vibrant book is bursting with color, and each page layout is a pleasing mix of text and images. Topics include the usual plants, animals, and weather, but Goldstone also invites readers to appreciate the sounds, smells, textures, and emotions of spring. Instructions for 6 spring activities for students are included at the end of the book. And by the way, don’t miss the other books in the series: Super Summer, Awesome Autumn, and Wonderful Winter!
What are your favorite books about the anticipation of spring? Please share them in the comments!
Tips and Strategies for Using Readers Theater with Students in Your Classroom or Library
In my last blog post I shared a collection of readers theater scripts adapted from published picture books. Today I’m sharing resources to help you get started with readers theater, or to make your current experience even better.
Let’s start with things I’ve learned through trial and error:
- Students perform better when they have some familiarity with the script. Reading the picture book version of the story aloud first helps them understand the “big picture” and allows them to hear any unfamiliar words. Bonus points if they can see the words on the pages as you read! You can also use scripts from familiar tales.
- Even young readers can participate with the right script. They may require more preparation and more practice, but they enjoy the spotlight just as much as older students!
- Highlight each character’s lines on a separate script to make it easy for readers to know when to speak, and be sure the pages of your script are numbered so you can easily redirect students who become lost. You use less paper when you print scripts on the front and back of each page, but it can be easier for students to follow along if their lines are only printed on one side of the page.
- Your performance will go more smoothly when you have better readers performing the more difficult parts. This sounds obvious, but even the least adept readers will often beg for a starring role so try to be aware of who can handle voicing a main character and who can’t, and assign parts accordingly. Classmates quickly become frustrated with poor readings, and their comments and complaints can be hurtful and discouraging.
- Check with individual students after giving out the scripts to see if there are any words in their part they’re unfamiliar with. Asking a general question of the whole group (“Anyone need help with any words in your part?”) will NOT result in kids asking for help, whereas one-on-one conferencing will allow you to assist as needed before the performance.
- Encourage students to be LOUD, and to experiment with different voices and accents, by giving LOTS of praise to the kids who throw themselves into their role. Keep it fun!
- Don’t hesitate to give repeat performances throughout the year, or even during the same class period. Students who don’t get a part the first time around will appreciate the opportunity to switch from audience member to performer. And as they become more familiar with the script, they will be able to give a smoother reading.
- And speaking of audience members, prepare the students who don’t have a speaking part to participate appropriately. Lead a discussion about the characteristics of a good listener, be clear with your expectations for the audience, and provide a copy of the script for everyone to follow along.
Here are links to some articles with more readers theater advice:
- This article from Scholastic has a list of benefits of using readers theater, and suggestions for getting started
- This article from Reading Rockets has advice on choosing scripts
- And this additional article from Reading Rockets explains how to use readers theater across the curriculum
- This article from Book Cart Queens has tips for organizing scripts and for virtual performances
Now it’s your turn to share your favorite tips and resources for using readers theater. Please leave a comment and let us in on your secrets!
All images in this post created by Lori June using Canva
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