Take Home The Velveteen Rabbit This Holiday!

The Velveteen Rabbit is a classic children's tale about a boy and his beloved rabbit.  The team at Ruckus Media has recreated the magic in their adaptation for portable media devices.  With narration by Meryl Streep, illustrations by Dave Jorgensen, and music by George Winston, children of all ages will love to curl up with this tale during this holiday season.  For Thanksgiving Week only (Nov. 25th-Nov. 29th), Ruckus Media will be offering it FREE through Apple's iTunes App Store.

Ruckus Media is focused on bringing wholesome entertainment into the lives of families and classrooms.  This is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to explore the many ideas associated with this story.  I have included teaching suggestions to accompany a literature study of this timeless favorite.

• Vocabulary Study: While enjoying the story, explore the suggested vocabulary words and discuss their meanings.  Word Central is a great, online student dictionary.  Feel free to add to the Google Doc I have started.  That will be a fun learning experience itself!
• Wordle: Create a wordle of everyone's favorite stuffed animals.  You will quickly see the popular choices because their "names" will appear larger in the finished piece of art.
• Using Scriblink, record student responses to the question "What does it mean to be 'real'?"
• Math Connection: Poll students on their favorite stuffed animal.  Record your findings in a tally chart and have students create a bar chart of their results.  Create-a-Graph is a great online tool!
• Have students write a story about their favorite stuffed animal coming to life.  Use Google Docs to type their final draft.  If you are feeling adventurous, children could write a play based upon their favorite stuffed animal.  This would be a great way to surprise families at a school holiday party or during a family holiday gathering.
• The toys in The Velveteen Rabbit move, communicate, and have feelings.  Explore the idea of personification and how writers use this type of figurative language to enhance their writing.  Brainstorm other books, tv shows, or movies that use personification.  Post stickies on Wallwisher to record your findings.
• What is scarlet fever?  Explore this and other contagious diseases.  Use this as an opportunity to discuss ways to prevent spreading germs and other healthy habits.  Create a newsletter to send home to your parents to showcase your findings.  Again, Google Docs is a great tool!

As you can see, there are many exciting learning opportunities available to teachers.  I would love to hear further suggestions and will be happy to add them to this list.  Thank you Ruckus Media for providing this wonderful opportunity to families and classrooms as we all kick-off the holiday season.

Demi-Gods, Mount Olympus & Technology Fun!

Who doesn't enjoy Greek Mythology?  Our children were hooked last year after studying Story of the World: Ancient History.  Rick Riordan's series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, has continued to fuel the fire around our house.  We were all counting down the days until the big movie premier of The Lightning Thief.  For me, I was trying to think of a way to merge "the big screen," literature, writing and technology because I knew there would much enthusiasm for a "Percy Project."  After all, he is one of the coolest demi-gods around this century!

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4th Grade Project

After reading The Lightning Thief (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and watching the movie, create "bios" of the main characters.  In addition, write a movie review highlighting any differences between the movie and the book.  You may use any medium to create your project.  Above all, be creative and have fun!

2nd Grade Project

After reading The Lightning Thief (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and watching the movie, write a movie review highlighting your favorite parts.  Use Google Docs to create your finished report.  Also, try to find an image of the movie poster to include.  When finished, use skitch to capture an image of your report to include on our website. Again, have fun!

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As always, I am amazed at the mind of a child! This was a great lesson in bringing popular culture into our every day learning.  Our children really enjoyed working on their projects and expressing their creativity.  I may be biased, however, I think their work is worthy of "Olympus-style" praise.

Happy Learning!

George's Secret Keys: Follow-Up

We started reading George's Secret Key to the Universe this week as a means to ease into our school year (set to officially begin 9/1/09).  So far, it has been a great experience!  As mentioned in an early post, there is a comprehensive study guide included at the back of the book.  Our plan has been to read aloud three chapters, discuss vocabulary, and finish with the corresponding discussion questions.  Then, the next day, I supplement the reading with an experiment (also recommended in the study guide) or with activities from BrainPOP.  It amazes me how much the kids remember from last year as well as how much they are learning.

The first three chapters (as usual) set the stage for the book and introduces you to all of the characters.  Without giving anything away, George's family basically is anti-science and chooses to shed all modern conveniences.  George, however, is a dreamer and a scientist at heart.  He meets Annie and her dad, Eric, and he is introduced to a world where making messes is okay and asking questions is even encouraged.  Thus begins an adventure of a lifetime for George. 

For our family, we continue our own adventure into the vast unknown.  Along with George, we have reviewed the life cycle of stars.  I am proud to say that even our five year old knows that all stars pass through to the red giant phase and at that point their fate is linked to their mass.  Of course, everyone's favorite are the stars that supernova and become black holes.  We have had many artistic interpretations of this event and reenactmetns of what would potentially happen if you passed beyond the event horizon. 

In the book, the dynamic Hawking team introduce the readers to the speed of light (300,000 km/sec).  It only takes light about 1.3 seconds to travel from the Earth to the Moon.  It takes light form the sun about 8 1/2 minutes to reach Earth.  So far so good, right?  Our kids were thrown into deep thought, though, when I told them that when they observe the night sky, they are actually looking at the past.  The closest star, after the sun, is Proxima Centauri.  It takes light just over 4 years to reach earth.  The light from all of the other stars we see can take hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years before it reaches us.  So, if you take a look outside tonight and find your favorite star, it may have actually already reached supernova or died.  It is impossible for us to know because the light from the explosion has not reached us yet.  Mind boggling!  As an adult, I even have a hard time realizing the vastness of space.

On a completely different note, Cosmos, the resident supercomputer, literally provides a window to the universe.  Besides passing information to you, this mighty machine can actually create a window to the universe.  How cool would that be if your personal computer was actually a portal to outer space!  Anyway, I am side-tracked.  Cosmos also introduced us to matter.  We had a lively discussion about atoms and elementary particles.  We learned that atoms are actually not elementary particles because they have electrons orbiting their nucleus.  Our oldest daughter, Abby, enjoyed exploring the structure of an atom through an interactive website found in the DK Online Science Encyclopediaatom builder she figured out that if two up quarks and one down quark make a proton, then two down quarks and one up quark must make a neutron.  She also realized that some elements may become ionized and you can stabilize them by balancing the number of electrons and protons.  Beryllium was fun to explore.  She learned that Beryllium 8 is highly radioactive, but by adding an extra neutron you can stabilize it.  Pretty cool!  They were actually able to shock their daddy today when he came home for lunch.  He is a physicist so this made him really happy!

Now back to the book...  When we left George and Annie today, they were on the bright-side of the head of a comet flying through the solar system.  I have a feeling we are about to take a tour of the planets.  At least, I hope so!  I know I keep plugging BrainPOP (No, I am not on their payroll. Ha! Ha!), but they have excellent movies and resources to supplement your curriculum.  As far as our class discussion, we are going to explore temperature and look at a design created by Galileo (another perk of having a husband as a physicist).  Then, we will have a brief discussion about mass and introduce a famous guy named Einstein.  As a fun art/computer project, I thought the kids could create a newsletter explaining why Pluto is a dwarf planet.  Wow!  It looks like we have a busy week and are off to many adventures.  Please come back and check out our own out-of-this world adventures as we explore Space, The Final Frontier...

The Tale of Despereaux

After morning swim lessons a couple of weeks ago, we decided to head over to the summer movie camp offered by our local theater. I have to admit I had no idea what we were even going to see. I just thought it would be a fun, spontaneous activity. When we arrived (5 minutes late, of course!), we found that the feature film was The Tale of Despereaux.

I know this movie got mixed reviews. From many, I heard it was in need of editing, the story line was too confusing or that it simply lost its charm. After watching the movie, however, I have to say that it was delightful. It was perfect for a lazy, summer morning. As with all movies that are adaptations of books, some things were different. Despereaux Tilling, the main character, does come across more as a mouse who was born brave rather than one whom had to summon up his courage. Nevertheless, the central themes of forgiveness and the struggle between light and dark are prevalent throughout the movie. In addition, the "journey" through the highs and lows of life and the struggles each character must face leaves much to be discussed as you pull out of the theater parking lot.

All in all, the movie was enjoyable (even without popcorn!) and everyone had a great morning. As with most things, I am a firm believer that the book is always much better!! However, this would be a good "treat" after completing an unit study about the charming, brave gentleman named Despereaux Tilling.

Curriculum Ideas: I included The Tale of Despereaux in a novel study last year with our oldest daughter, Abby. She read this during the last half of second grade. While I know this was large undertaking, I approached it with the idea of concentrating on one main element- the symbolism of light and dark. Remember, we are all Star Wars geeks, so we have a basic idea of what "going to the dark side" means. So, I thought it would be a great place to start. I really love Kate DiCamillo and plan to use this work along with some of her others as part of an author study in fifth grade. Anyway, I found the teacher's guide by Candlewick Press to be a great resource to assist in this novel study.

Horton Hears a Who

I recently bought our kids the "Horton Hears a Who" game made by I Can Do That games. The game is based on the classic book by Dr. Seuss and brings to life in a fun way the story of Horton. Easily played in about 15 minutes, children have to work together to find all of the clovers that have previously been placed around the house. To make things more entertaining, the person looking for the clover has to wear a Horton mask in which they have to use the trunk (not their hands) to pick the clover. Our children, ages 3-9, had a great time playing this game. Another added benefit is the game can be played without a great deal of parent involvement. Just a note: I love playing games with our children, but I also love to find games they can play autonomously. If you are interested in purchasing this game, check it out on amazon.com.

Inspired by the game, I decided to develop a novel study to accompany this classic children's book. As always, I try to find ways to make the activity span various subjects areas as well as promote critical thinking. I have provided a basic outline, but left it up to you as to how you would have the children report their findings. In our house, we are computer geeks. Our projects often include Scratch programs, KidPix movies, slideshows, digital posters and wordles.  Again, the final product is totally up to you!!

Horton Hears a Who
Novel Study
Grades: elementary

Suggested Vocabulary

yelp	search	speck	disturb
alarm	swift	breeze	grateful
racket	holler	faint	rushed
trunk	repair	nonsense	kettle
fear	clover	protect	gang

Vocabulary Activities

• Make vocabulary “flash cards.” Write the word on the unlined side of an index card and its definition on the lined side of a different index card. You will have two cards per word.
• Using your flashcards, place the words in alphabetical order. As you lay down each card, try to spell the word and use it in a sentence.
• Identify the part of speech and synonyms or antonyms for each of your words and write it on the word’s index card.
• Take your two sets of cards and divide them into “words” and “definitions.” Mix them up well and give yourself plenty of room! Lay your “words” face down in a column on the table or floor and do the same for the “definitions.” Set a timer and see how quickly you can match the word to its definition.
• Using as many words from your vocabulary list as possible, write a short story or poem about Horton. Have fun with this!

Animal Research
Throughout Horton Hears a Who, there are many animals running through the Jungle of Nool. Choose one of the following animals to explore.

• elephant
• monkey
• kangaroo
• eagle

1. Create a drawing of your animal.
2. Research your animal’s habitat and discover where your animal lives.
3. Is your animal a carnivore or herbivore? The hunter or the hunted? Research your animal’s main diet and what, if anything, might be eating your animal. Yikes!
4. Present your findings including any interesting facts about your animal that most people may not know. Be creative!!! Use your imagination!!!

Internet Resources:

• National Geographic Creature Feature
• San Diego Zoo Animal Bytes
• Cyber Sleuth
• Sea World Animal Info

Questions for Discussion
Who knew the children's book, Horton Hears a Who, could possess the power to make us ponder the nature and theory of knowledge. Philosophers have been addressing the nature of human knowledge throughout history. What is human intuition? What is knowledge? Why are we steadfast in our beliefs? Marissa Cooke addresses these philosophical questions in her online article Teaching Children Philosophy. Here, she poses great questions for discussion that introduce young students to philosophy providing them opportunities to think critically. I have included her questions in this resource.

As teachers, we are always looking for ways to challenge our students. Instead of taking the common path of posing basic questions to check for reading comprehension, I chose to take the “road less traveled.” I stumbled across Marissa’s page and found it refreshing. I thought this would be a great way to develop critical thinking as well as introduce students to philosophy. Clearly, if students can participate in a discussion initiated by these questions, they have a firm grasp on the content in this book.

I hope this activity provides you with new insight into a children’s classic.

When Horton hears the voice on the dust speak, he reasons that there must exist a person, too small to be seen, but who is definitely there. But, the other animals don’t believe him.

1. How does Horton know that this voice means there is a person on the speck?
2. Why doesn’t the kangaroo believe Horton? What justifies her belief that a person could not be on the dust speck?
3. How does Horton try to convince the kangaroo of the existence of a person on the dust speck? If you were Horton what would you say to convince the kangaroo?
4. If they didn’t believe you, what would you do?

The Wickersham brothers show up and take action to stop Horton’s nonsense.

1. Why do they consider Horton to be foolish? Is what Horton knows really nonsense?
2. What reasons do the animals have for thinking that Horton is just speaking nonsense?
3. Horton knows the truth, but how come the monkeys can’t know?
4. What do the animals think will happen if they hid the dust speck so Horton can’t find it?
5. Will that prove that to Horton that his belief is not true?

The animals have had quite enough and decide they are going to boil the speck and tie Horton up. Horton says that the Who’s can prove they are there.

1. What do the animals think they will accomplish by roping and caging Horton?
2. Why does Horton say he can do to get them to believe him that there are persons on the speck?
3. When you know something, how do you prove it to someone else? Do you have to prove to know it’s true?
4. How can the Whos prove their existence?

The Who’s try to make themselves heard but the kangaroo denies hearing anything. Finally, the Who’s try again and they are heard!

1. Why does the kangaroo tell Horton that she didn’t hear any voices and he didn’t either? Why does she think he didn’t hear any voices?
2. Just because you think you know something, does that mean everyone else has to know the agree? How do you know if somebody knows what you know?
3. The Whos are finally heard. Is hearing believing? Do you have to hear, or see, or feel something to believe it or know it’s true?
4. Give an example of something you know but that you can’t justify with your senses? How did you come to know that thing?

Extension Activities

Activity 1

The Human Ear vs the Elephant Ear
Explore the similarities and differences between a human ear and an elephant’s ear.

Resources for the human ear:

• Enchanted Learning
• The Physics Classroom
• Britannica Online

Resources for the elephant ear:

• Elephant Information Repository
• Crayola
• Animal Corner

Activity 2

The Phenomenon of Sound: Surf the Waves!
Explore how sound waves travel and understand that sound is a form of energy.

Resources:

• Discovery Education
• PBS Kids
• Bright Hub

Activity 3

Make a big bowl of popcorn and watch Horton Hears a Who. Wait a minute! Which version? Why not watch both and discuss which one captures the essence of the book.

I welcome any suggestions or feedback concerning this activity.   Remeber, “a persons a person no matter how small!”