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Pop Art Apples

It looks simple. It is. But what makes it read “apple” is the fact that it began with observation. The most important thing that observation teaches, is that apples are not perfect spheres.

One fun way to observe is to observe a black and white photograph. Here’s how:

  1. Take a phot of a single apple or a group of apples on your phone. Edit the photo to black and white.
  2. Turn on the edit option and choose a color of your choice.
  3. Choose an apple color for the pen tool. Have your student scribble-trace the apple contour with an Apple Pen or finger.

Now get to know artist Roy Lichtenstein. Read about him here. This is work, Two Apples, was created back in 1972. Take some time to observe. Here are some things to notice:

  1. It is horizontally oriented, divided into two unequal parts, the bottom being larger than the top.
  2. We see: Red, blue, black, and white.
  3. The apples shape is created by a strong, single outline that creates a beautiful organic shape.
  4. The stem is a single stroke of paint.
  5. The upper background is dotted.

Now you try!

  1. Begin with very light pencil drawing. Divide the horizontal space. Fill the space with two large apples.
  2. Choose colors (we recommend using gouache or acrylic paint on smooth Bristol paper) . Limit the palette to two colors, plus black and white.
  3. Paint the sold background at the bottom of the painting. Next paint the apples. Let this dry thoroughly.
  4. Next paint the dots in the upper background. This should be done slowly. Let the paint dry.
  5. Use white paint to pop a highlight onto the apple if you like (our students did not create the highlight).
  6. The very last step is to outline the apples and the horizon line with black.

When it come to apples, the possibilities are limitless! This is what the pop artist reminds us:

“Pop art looks out into the world. It doesnt look like a painting of something, it looks like the thing itself.”

There is no doubt in the viewer’s mind that these pop art apples look like the form of the real thing! This is because the artists began with observation.

 

~Kimberly

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Pumpkin! Pumpkin!

Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year! Time to harvest, right? Following are three ideas to help you “switch it up” with pumpkin activities that will surely keep the fall mood stirring!

ONE.

Read (or listen to) a pumpkin story, or two! How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, is a wonderful story that integrates math and inquiry.  We love this story so much that weve included it in our Hatchling for Kindergarten Collection! Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson, photographs by Shumel Thaler, is a terrific book that takes the reader on a beautiful book through the life cycle of the pumpkin. Continue the pumpkin science by observing two different pumpkins from various perspectives. Discuss discoveries. Talk about color. You might even compare colors to paint chips from the hardware store! Count the lines. Compare weight. Observe the stem and the bottom of the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkins open. Count the seeds. You might even pick up a sugar pumpkin and make a pie or some muffins! The possibilities are endless.

TWO.

Stitch a pumpkin. This one was made years ago for little hands to learn the running stitch. The pumpkin is a simple drawing cut onto fabric fused with Wonder Under, a material that allows the design to stick with heat to the background fabric. The outer frame, the bordering crooked strips of fabric, are optional. Without these, no sewing machine is necessary. Of course, if you have access to a sewing machine, by all means create a border!

Begin like this:

  1. Have your child look at and draw a pumpkin.
  2. Trace elements of drawing to the select fabrics prepared with Wonder Under—stem, body, inner shapes.
  3. Cut out the shapes, place on the background, and heat with an iron to adhere to the background.
  4. If you have a sewing machine, run a stitch around the pumpkin to add strength. If not, run a stitch by hand.
  5. Provide your child with a needle and embroidery floss in bright coordinating or contrasting colors to decorate.=

THREE.

Try to yarn bomb a pumpkin! Several years ago, I bought a white pumpkin and a skein of orange yarn. I set out scissors, glue, and the yarn in a basket next to the pumpkin. Together with my four elementary and middle school aged children we created this fun activity, one length of yarn at a time. Pant the pumpkin with glue, cut a length of yarn to reach from the stem to the underneath of the pumpkin, and attach, one by one. This slow, contemplative work is a terrific activity to set up during October!

 

~Kimberly

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Speaking of Apples

Cézanne said: “Everything is about to disappear. You’ve got to hurry up if you still want to see things.”

What does he mean?

I think he means: “LOOK!”

This little painting by 9th grader, Kingsley, was accomplished during Session 1 of Pages online live! Under the expert tutelage of Mr. Taylor,  inspired by the colorful still life paintings of Paul Cézanne, in five happy, peaceful hours over the course of five weeks, this student painting took shape.

How did she accomplish this beautiful feat?

By engaging in the slow work of observation.

The skill of observation enables us to recognize, slow down, perceive, decide, appreciate, and ultimately, to know.  Observation engages all the senses. Yes, we can see with our hands. And it is through the senses, that we will make sense of the world. But don’t take my word for it, Da Vinci, master of observation says it with eloquence:  “All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.”

Art making is academic.

 

~Kimberly

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Three Ideas with Fall Leaves

It’s fall! Leaves are turning. Following are three ideas to help you “switch it up” with fall leaf activities! While reading the following ideas, listen to Vivaldi, Autumn from The Four Seasons performed by the Netherlands Bach Society. This will surely get the fall mood stirring!

One.

Listen to a fall leaf story, Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is amazing place to begin! This one is also a fall leaf favorite.

Read a fall poem.

October by Robert Frost
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with a
methyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

Two.

Stitch a leaf. These leaves began with a leaf walk. Grab a basket and collect some freshly fallen leaves. Look up and, if possible, pluck a a few fresh leaves too. Once home, observe the different shapes you collected. Trace your favorite onto a piece of felt. Felt squares can be found at your local craft store. The felt we used was purchased on Etsy from an artisan who dyes beautiful colors with natural materials. Once the leaf shape is drawn on the felt, cut out the leaf. Now stitch the veins with matching embroidery floss using a simple running stitch.

This project is a really fun throwback to a classic that my sister-in-law, Tracey, beautified with unexpected bright fall colors and simple organic shapes! These leaves, once cut, are unfolded and embellished with a hole punch (all terrific fine motor for little ones), then veins are drawn with colored pencils. String these paper leaves for a decorative fall garland. Collect them in a little basket. You might even use these leaves as a little greeting card!

Three.

Haiku are the little powerhouses of the poetry world! They are a fun challenge involving the best of word play, mixed with a little finger counting to get the syllables just right! Here’s a brief “Haiku 101” to help you get started:

1. Haiku poems consist of a three-line stanza that has a total of 17 syllables written in the following pattern:

Line 1: 5 syllables
Line 2: 7 syllables
Line 3: 5 syllables

*Slight variations in syllabication is appropriate as this helps the poet maintain the “one thought in three lines” rule.

2. Haiku poems are observations of nature, often making reference to the seasons.

3. Haiku poems are like photographs, which capture moments in time. A  “haiku moment” describes a scene that leads the reader to a feeling.

4. Haiku poems were originally written as introductions to longer works of poetry and should be written as one thought in three lines.

Consider this simple, but lovely, fall haiku written by the Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho:

In the autumn night,

 Breaking into

A pleasant chat.

Ready to write? Try crafting a leaf haiku. Use photos in this post to inspire.

~Kimberly

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Three Ideas with Apples

It’s apple picking time! Apples are quintessentially fall. Following are three ideas with apples to help you “switch it up” with activities to enjoy those fall feelings…

One.

Listen to an apple story (this one was a favorite in our house).

Another favorite is How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman.

Read an apple poem:

A Drop Fell on the Apple Tree (794) by Emily Dickinson

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree —
Another – on the Roof —
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves —
And made the Gables laugh —

A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea —
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls —
What Necklaces could be —

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads —
The Birds jocoser sung —
The Sunshine threw his Hat away —
The Bushes – spangles flung —

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes —
And bathed them in the Glee —
The Orient showed a single Flag,
And signed the fête away —

Two.

Paint some apples. This painting is a “study” (a copycat!). Pick up a canvas, some brushes, and a few tubes of acrylic paint. Before you begin, do some research. Do you know Paul Cézanne? Listen to a story about his apple paintings. Now study the apple painting by Paul Cézanne that inspired the copycat above! The first step of a painting is to prepare the canvas. Create a light brown to wash all over the canvas. This will dry quickly and once it does, use a pencil to sketch the apples—four on the top, and six on the bottom. Notice how each apple has a beautiful organic shape? There are zero perfect circles here! The next step is to add your big brush strokes of color—red and yellow and green. Can you mimic the colors? Here’s a hint: never paint straight out of a tube. To get a Cézanne red, you must mix a tiny drop of green into a quarter-sized blob of the red. To get a Cézanne yellow, you must mix a tiny drop of purple into a quarter-sized blob of the yellow. To get a Cézanne green, you must mix a tiny drop of red into a quarter-sized blob of the green. Mixing with complimentary colors (colors opposite each other on the color wheel) make beautiful complex hues! Practice mixing colors until you have colors that are similar to Cézanne. The dark blue-black outline work is the very last step.

Three.

Draw an apple and write an apple poem! Following are two photographs to inspire a small poem.  Fall is the time of year when we enjoy back-to-school. The leaves are changing and there may even be a scrumptious apple pie baking in the oven! Fall is the perfect season to write our ideas! What better way to capture a wonderful fall feeling than to craft a haiku for a change in season!

 

~Kimberly

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October-Focus-on-ELA-fest

It’s October.

Fall is here and we are, most of us, 6 to 8 weeks into the 2023/24 school year.

What now?

First, please CONGRATULATE yourself for completing the first cycle of CORE Integrated Reading & Writing units, and likely introducing APPLICATION materials such as Calendar of Days, Operation Lexicon, One True Sentence, or Tools of Style. Be encouraged! Take heart!

“A power of Butterfly must be –
The Aptitude to fly
Meadows of Majesty concedes
And easy Sweeps of Sky —”

~Emily Dickinson

This butterfly, a California Buckeye, was spotted this week when I took a moment to enjoy a lovely fall day in the garden. And I thought of Emily Dickinson’s  amazing observation of the butterfly’s aptitude to fly.
And this got me to thinking of education and childhood.

A power of Childhood must be –
The Aptitude to fly—

It’s October.
Your students are stretching their wings.
You are likely getting ready to add Earlybird Introduction to Animals or your first Research People of the year or one of the Research Science units on top of the second CORE unit. And you might be a bit overwhelmed. You are not alone!
Sometimes, after the delightful anticipation and early days of back-to-school fades, fatigue sets in.
You may be experiencing that oh-so-familiar desire to countdown to the holidays!

We say: Not yet!!!

Don’t give up!

Take a moment in the garden. Enjoy the sights of fall.

Now is the time to take a breath and join hands with the teacher built in to your materials!

Let October-Focus-on-ELA-fest begin!!!

Here’s how:

1. Look back on your student’s first completed CORE unit. Make note of the small steps of progress.
2. Read about the 5-Minute Conference in preparation for the second CORE unit of the year.
3. Read (again) through the “How to Use this Guide” in the front of the student workbooks.

Primary (Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade)

At the primary level, foundational skills are introduced and reviewed, and put into practice. This is where students learn to delight in the joy of stories and the taming of ideas begins. Watch the Professional development for parents and teachers from August session for inspiration this October.

Elementary (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade)

Elementary readers and writers are becoming confident with grammar, mechanics, and form—sentences and paragraphs—and style! Writing at this level involves learning to craft an amazing Hook and working through the process of crafting an idea the happy way. Watch the Professional development for parents and teachers from our August session for inspiration this October.

Middle School (6th, 7th, and 8th grade)

and

High School (9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade)

The goal is for middle and high school writers to transfer their creativity and courageous ability to write an idea to more advanced forms—poems, literary, descriptive, and persuasive essays, and longer research. Watch the Professional development for parents and teachers from our August session for inspiration this October.
During the months of October, watch for weekly festive posts to boost you on toward November!

Your students will take flight!

 

~Kimberly

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How to Encourage Middle and High School Writers

Students using our Middle School ELA Grade Level Collections will be exploring essay form, enhancing vocabulary, and being introduced to advanced rhetoric in addition to the CORE units. Students at this level have developed confidence in the expanded form of idea-making, are crafting clever Hook openings with unique voicing, and are moving into the territory of unencumbered idea making!

Students regularly engage in the process of writing, idea to draft to the re-read/edit loop that leads to a beautiful polished final work.

When students move to the high school level, each week, in addition to journaling observations character development, themes, symbols, and motifs, they are encouraged to craft a synopsis and a personal reflection to help them timk deeply about the story at hand in preparation for the crafting of a literary essay.

Crafting the synopsis and reflection within a constrained word count, challenges the writer to make each word matter!

Each culminating essay follows the same form introduced in middle school, so that the writer is now prepared to craft original observations and ideas tied to complex literature constrained to the particular literary form.

Click through to watch a recording of the August Professional Development sessions with Mrs. B & Ms. Clare:

How to Encourage Middle School and High Student Writing! 

 

~Kimberly

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How to Encourage Elementary Writers

 

How do students in 3rd Grade who are brand new to the paragraph form and still mastering foundational skills become unencumbered idea makers?

Incrementally and inspired by idea making, of course!

Writing is a creative habit that begins with an idea and ends with words on the page.

Over time, as students move into upper elementary (4th and 5th grade), with our CORE, they will become engaged in the work of learning to re-read their work, becoming friends with the red pen. Self-editing is courageous! Engaging in this process will bring shape to ideas which is precisely what enables them to press into and enjoy the process of writing.

And this habit, built over time, motivates students to write well!

Let’s explore how our CORE Integrated Literature and Writing units produce exceptional writers! Gain insight, tips, and encouragement.

Click through to watch a recording of the August Professional Development sessions with Mrs. B & Ms. Clare:

How to Edit Elementary Student Writing! 

 

~Kimberly

 

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How to Encourage Primary Writers

And the ability to tame an idea begins with some foundational skills introduced and practiced in the primary grades—Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd!

Our Grade Level Collections include everything you need to introduce and reinforce phonics for reading and writing, plus a multitude of creative opportunities for idea making to motivate students in this important work.

Click through to watch a recording of the August Professional Development session with Mrs. B. & Ms. Clare. Be inspired this fall:

How to Encourage Primary Student Writing! 

 

~Kimberly

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The 5-Minute Conference

Five minutes are not to be scoffed at! It is amazing what can be accomplished during a 5-minute one-on-one writing conference with a student writer. Here’s how:

  1. Have the student read the rough draft aloud. Your job is to protect and promote the student writer’s idea. This is accomplished by listening and caring! It was tempting to ask this CORE Level 2 student to add more details to this tiny paragraph, but in listening (and in knowing where this student was in the process of skill acquisition), I realized that this type of “ask” would certainly be discouraging. So, first and foremost, do everything to listen and encourage.
  2. Now choose your battles. I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to help students open their paragraphs with a sentence that will draw the reader into the idea. This paragraph needed a HOOK. Often students, once they begin flowing into an idea, will have a sentence that, with a little rearranging, is transformed into a terrific hook. This is the case with this Section 2 paragraph inspired by Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. While there is nothing wrong with the first sentence, it is certainly more intriguing to begin: We all lived together for a week.
  3. A simple skill that young writers can learn easily during the 5-Minute Conference is to leave space on the page—space between words, space between sentences, space at the margins. A trick I’ve learned is to remind students why space matters and I do this by demonstrating somewhere within the rough draft white space. As example I might say and write: “Do you mean ‘yummyapples’ or ‘yummy apples’ here?”
  4. There are no misspellings here, but there is an opportunity to add a comma in a sentence that is made up of a dependent and an independent clause. “The word ‘if’ is the clue, “I say to my student, “Can you hear where I pause after the word ‘me’ in this sentence?” And then I plop a red comma down, right where it should be: If I had to share a story about me, I would share about Utah.
  5. The twist at the end is set perfectly for a simple OMIT edit. I simply point out that the phrase “big family vacations” is used twice in this sentence and suggest omitting the last phrase and replacing it with a single word: one. The student loved this idea!

Not only were skills introduced, I guarantee these skills were mastered during this meaningful 5-Minute Conference.

[As an aside, just to prove my point, I read this student’s work and the above post aloud to myself. This took 3.5 minutes!

FIVE minutes, once a week will make all the difference in the world!

 

~Kimberly