Sometimes a picture is a great prompt for writing. Even cooler, I think, is when you can create the picture yourself. FlauntR is an online photo editor with lots of great effects. It has fancy fonts and stamps, too, the sort of bling that might inspire your young writer and artist to create. They offer a few free photos (that's where I found the duck at left) or you can get pictures from your own computer, or Flickr, Picasa etc.
When I generated this picture, I really appreciated TextR, the feature that allowed me to add a short caption. Being me, I had to try to use FlauntR to tell a story, and I think this would make a simple and fun activity to do with your kids.
They could make a fun FlauntR just by playing, then use it as a prompt for some writing. Help out if necessary by asking questions: What might happen if ducks had brakes? Or when they don't? Do ducks need wheels? What other animals might get involved in a duck crash? Should ducks be speed-limited? How fast should a duck go anyway? What might make a duck go very fast, or very slow indeed?
The interface is user-friendly and basically it's a matter of playing around to try different tools. If you or your kids love to play with words and images, I suggest you check out FlauntR.
{Coming soon: Literacy Lava 6, a free zine for parents, teachers and all who are passionate about children's literacy and learning. You can get a taste of it in this video preview.}
I've confessed before that I love words, love playing with them and messing about with them. I read a quote the other day that I thought explained my fascination very nicely:
A word is the smallest free form in a language. The beginning of the explanation of an idea. The building block for sentences, leading to paragraphs, and great works of thinking. A word is like a neuron, or an atom, or a single lego block from which great things are made. ~ Daniel Donahoo
And today I found a new place online to play with words. It's called Save the Words. Sadly, hundreds of words are dropped from the English language each year. How long since you used pamphagous or magistricide in a chat?
Old words, wise words, hard-working words. Words that once led meaningful lives but now lie unused, unloved and unwanted.
The site encourages us to find room for these older but interesting words in our conversation and other communication. It even has suggestions for ways to bring words back into fashion, although I must admit I eschew skywriting as a possible method!
If you click on adopt-a-word, you get to choose a word you can adopt. I deliberated and chose pullarian as the most appropriate. (Book Chook Feather of Approval to the first commenter to tell me what it means!)
Best of all, the home page brings us a wonderful collage of words, all of which are crying out to be chosen - "me, pick me!" You can move a window over these words and scroll across your screen. When you click on a word, it gives you its definition. You can also sign up to get a word a day, and even have a word printed on a t-shirt if you live in Malaysia or Singapore.
How cool is that!
{Don't forget, Literacy Lava 6 will be published September 1!} (Cartoon made by BookChook at ToonDoo)
This children's picture book is a classic, and has just been re-released for its 30th Anniversary. Thirty years of delighting children is an amazing record, and I believe Hippo will be as loved by today's generation as he was in 1980.
There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake was written by Hazel Edwards, illustrated by Deborah Niland and this edition was published by Penguin Group Australia, 2010. It's a beautiful hardback book with a sparkly textured hippo on the cover, but the original story and illustrations are just the same, just as charming.
Why has this book been such a success? It's always been one children love to hear read aloud, or learn to read themselves. Edwards' story is simple and puts us squarely in the viewpoint of the young narrator. It reads well, with lots of repetition, and situations like a ladder-climbing hippo to make us giggle. But above all, I think it's that children relate to Hippo as a character who can do what he likes. Who wouldn't love an enormous cake-eating friend who gets to watch TV when he wants, ride a bike anywhere, and work at the zoo, watching people? Even with the busy life he leads, Hippo is always a mate, offering sympathy in times of trouble.
Niland's illustrations are large, clear and strongly coloured. Characters' expressions are unambiguous so that children relate to them instantly. There isn't a lot of detail - just enough to support the story and intrigue the viewer.
Books like There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake give confidence to young readers. The simple repeated patterns never sound stilted, but make it easy for beginning readers to predict and read. Mums and dads will enjoy reading it aloud, and enjoy the humour on a different level to that perceived by their children. This 30th Anniversary edition would make a great choice as a gift to begin a toddler's library of excellent literature, or as a robust addition to school or local libraries.
Catch a teaser trailer of the forthcoming movie release of There's a Hippoptamus on Our Roof Eating Cake at Pocket Bonfire. Or read more about Hazel Edwards, her awards and amazing career as a writer, on her website.
Here are a couple of websites that allow you and your kids to add text to images, generating a new image that contains the text, that you can then download to your computer.
At hetemeel.com, you can generate an image with your own text superimposed on a picture of Einstein writing on a blackboard, an Uncle Sam poster, a dictionary entry and more. (The dictionary one allows you to upload an image as in my Book Chook entry far below.)
If you're looking for online places that encourage kids to do some quick writing and generates a savable image, give these two a try. The image could be sent to friends or family as an email attachment, or printed out. As always, parental guidance is recommended with any of these unmoderated sites.
And if you need to generate a quick image to advertise a cause dear to your heart, or a blog post, or an event in your classroom, you might find what you need there too.
Since many of my readers live in the USA, and some have children starting school soon, I thought it might be timely to reprint a 2009 letter to the Book Chook and my answer.
Letter to the Book Chook - Getting Ready for School
Dear Chook,
My son is going to start school soon. What things does he need to know for school? I want to help him get ready. I don't want him behind the other kids.
from Jaden's Mother
Dear Jaden's Mother,
It's an exciting time for you and Jaden, and a little scary too. Jaden will meet lots of new people, make new friends, have new experiences, and continue along the pathway of learning that began when he was born. He'll be away from you for many hours each day - that can be a wrench, and take some getting used to.
Going to "big" school is usually the start of more formal learning for our children, and naturally we want the very best for them. Many schools have programs that help ease the transition between home or preschool, and "big" school. This allows Kindergarten teachers to get to know you and your child. More importantly, it allows you and Jaden to become comfortable in this new environment. If your school doesn't have such a program, it would be a great idea to go to the school, meet his teacher-to-be, and ask if you can look around. While there, I would make sure Jaden sees the boy's bathroom, and knows how to use it, turn the tap on and off to wash his hands etc.
Maybe that sounds overly practical, but many of the problems I saw as a Kindergarten teacher were just that. There were kids who didn't know how to take off their shoes, or sweaters, nor where to put them when they did. There were kids who couldn't handle the lunch they'd been given eg how to take a cheese slice out of its wrapper, or take the lid off a drink bottle. Some mums had gone to a lot of trouble to pack cute snacks, but forgot that they'd always done the unwrapping until now. So my first advice is just to think through the sorts of things that will likely happen, or could possibly happen, in Jaden's day, and make plans for them. Things like labeling his belongings, and making sure he knows how to get to and from school may very well prevent hassles and heart-ache.
I don't believe in "teaching" kids before they go to school. I do passionately believe in reading, playing, discussing, singing, creating, experimenting and experiencing together. If Jaden's been lucky enough to attend a great pre-school, he has probably learnt so much already, through structured play. If he hasn't, he's probably learnt so much from watching you, seeing what you do, copying it, trying it for himself. Encourage him to be independent. Can he take responsibility for some chores? Can he use use scissors sensibly? Does he know how to curb his impulses, and wait his turn? Those skills will help him adjust to school life.
When you visit Jaden's new school, talk to his teacher. Ask her what she would expect of Jaden when he starts school. Look around the classroom, and have a friendly chat with her. This will give you some idea of what the school expects. Remember, you have choices. If you don't think Jaden's needs will be met in that school/classroom, there are alternatives. Just because children are a certain chronological age, doesn't meant they are ready for school. Homeschooling is an option, or another year in preschool, or a different education system. Find out as much as you can about all of them, so you can make an informed choice.
Once Jaden does start school, I wouldn't worry too much about comparisons with other kids. Children reach a developmental stage when they are ready to read, and that's when they start reading. Keep in contact with Jaden's teacher, listen to Jaden, have his friends over to your house so you can get to know them. And keep going with reading, playing, discussing, singing etc. Because in this Book Chook's opinion, you are the very best person to help your child learn in this way!
I just found this website via Angela Maiers blog and wanted to share it with you.
Iconscrabble converts words (maximum of eighteen characters) to icon images. You'll see "Book Chook" above. Once you enter your word, it generates that word in icons. Then you get the chance to download it as a png file to your computer, tweet it, share it via a gazillion sites, or create a new one. I also tried it with words and spaces. So long as the total wasn't over 18 characters, it worked fine.
There isn't much room for narrative on a site like this, BUT I think it would make a fun way to generate a story title or heading for a written report. If your kids need to practise their spelling words for school, they could enter them here and generate icon pictures to "see" the word in a different way.
Spell with Flickr is similar to Iconscrabble, and another great way to involve your kids in playing with words.
One of my favourite tools, as both teacher and parent, is a timer. Timers are brilliant for adding another dimension to an activity. From times tables drills to putting away sports equipment, teachers have been using timers as a motivator for years. I found it worked well for some family problems too, as well as added fun to games. Not for reading though - in my book, literature should be savoured, mulled over, dreamt upon.
Are your kids dragging their feet over tidying up? My suggestion is to show them by example first of all, but also bring out the stopwatch. Announce that the Guinness Book Of Records time for tidying is 3 minutes 57 seconds (or some other time you pull from your frazzled brain) and suggest they try to beat it. Often kids will respond to the element of competition in this idea. Record the time they managed and see if they can beat it next time.
Is your youngest a world-class procrastinator, making every morning into a chore and a rush for the school bus? Discuss the problem with her and make sure she understands how it affects everyone. Introduce this plan. She is going to see if she can improve ie be quicker to get ready in the mornings. Time her on the first day, and each day after. Set up a chart or graph or record of some kind where she can see her times, and give her gold stars or some other reward when she improves her time. You don't need to stand around with a stopwatch either. Maybe there is a timer she can start and stop herself, making her more responsible for her own behaviour. This idea won't work for every child, of course, but some kids respond to it.
If you're teaching or coaching kids in sport drills, adding a timer can motivate kids to improve on the time taken for lots of activities. One of the games my Year Six kids adored was MoonBall, although it's not so much a timed game. The idea is not to compete against each other, but to co-operate and try to beat the World Record number of hits. (Yes, you got it, I invented the World Record too. Sneaky!) You need a beach ball, a nice big one, and a group of kids. Announce that the World Record for the number of times the ball can be passed to someone else without touching the floor is 15 (or 9 or 20). Throw the ball up and the kids start passing it to each other with a one or two-handed up-throw (like volleyball), while you count aloud the hits. At first, they do silly stuff like slamming the ball so nobody can get it, but gradually they realise it's about working together with no slam stars. Maybe it's not the best game for cardio-vascular efficiency, but kids really learn about co-operation. It also makes a great pool game for adults and kids.
Another idea is to have your students/children invent or play games with time as a factor. Board games like Scattergories are such fun, or you could use the same idea to make a family game. Record some categories on paper or even a digital document or powerpoint slide, then have your child (or pairs or teams) name/write five items in that category in 20 - 30 seconds (shorter for older kids). If the category is flowers, they must quickly scribble down examples like : rose, daisies, iris, violet, snapdragon. Keep adding to categories as you think of them, with obvious ones like metals, countries and vegetables, but maybe movie characters, birthday presents, things that make me laugh could be good too. If you're teaching time, a good game is to estimate how much time has passed. One way is to ask kids to standup/clap/move when they think ten/thirty/sixty seconds has passed.
As for the timer itself, a stopwatch is great, but an egg timer or kitchen timer is good too. If you need an online timer, try Class Tools or Fiery Ideas. Both have music you can set to accompany your designated countdown. Find other timers at E.gg Timer, or Class Timer, and here's a timer you can put on your blog or website.
I've described Hink Pink previously in The Book Chook Bag of Tricks. It's such a great game for kids who like riddles and are learning to rhyme, but I still enjoy it as an adult as a game to while away long car trips.
Recently I discovered Scholastic have an online way of playing this game which they call Annie's Rhyme Time. You get a clue - what I call a Hink Pink or Hinky Pinky, depending on how many syllables the answer has - and you must type in the two word rhyming answer. Kids can also submit riddles.
It's a neat idea, but the problem is in both the browsers I used, some longer clues are cut off. If you want some to try with your kids, rather than clicking through to the next one each time, you can try the riddle index to see which ones are not truncated. If you're not thoroughly confused, here are some Book Chook riddles which you can answer in comments if you like.
Hink Pink (2, one syllable words) overfed feline gathering of crocodiles what Mary got when her bonnet was run over by a steamroller
Hinky Pinky (2, two syllable words) very naughty bug guy who thought he was a butterfly what we got when we fixed the table's wobbly leg
Games like this are a wonderful way to introduce kids to crossword puzzle clues, particularly cryptic clues. They tap into children's love of rhyme and fun with words, and give them an opportunity for some creative thinking. Win-win-win!
Here's some online reading and viewing I think you and your children will enjoy, and learn from:
A website full of animated movies, interactive tutorials and instructional videos, all free for you to view and to embed in your website. Simply select an animated explanation and follow the instructions to integrate it in your site.
The website is called Animated Explanations. With titles like What is migraine? What is ADHD? How to create an attractive presentation in Powerpoint 2007? the short films use animations, slides, graphs, text and voice to explain subjects simply and clearly. I've chosen to embed an infographic on The Human Heart, which you can interact with by sliding the scroll bar to show the blood flow, or choosing to show valves or chambers inside the heart, and rolling over the diagram with your mouse.
So far, the three subject areas are Health, Technology and Work, but I'm sure the company behind it (Instruxion) will continue to add titles and more subjects as they expand.
Sometimes we find a work so exquisite, so meaningful, it makes our hearts sing. That's how I feel about Mirror, by Jeannie Baker, published by Walker Books, 2010. It's a wordless picture book, with introductions and author's notes in Arabic and English.
There are two boys and two families in this book.
One family lives in a city in Australia
and one lives in Morocco in North Africa.
The lives of the two boys and their families
look very different from each other
and they are different.
But some things connect them ...
just as some things are the same for all families
no matter where they live.
I haven't seen a picture book design quite like this before. The book's binding allows us to open it in the middle, so we can view the two families mirrored side-by-side. We can also read each story separately. Or we can consider only one page at a time. There is such a wealth of material in this book - to look at, discuss and appreciate - I can see it contributing to visual literacy lessons in schools across grades and months! As we gaze and absorb, we become aware that despite all the differences between the two families, their lives revolve around the same routines and needs we all share. Despite the differences, when we really get to know other families, it's like looking into a mirror and seeing ourselves.
As with other Jeannie Baker books, the illustrations are collages, crafted in exquisite detail. There's so much to appreciate - the painstaking lengths Baker went to to duplicate the look and feel of Moroccan desert, the textures of both urban and desert environments, the differently formatted pages showing cameos of daily life. Each page is a new delight - food for thought, discussion, and our souls.
I've been a fan of Baker's work since way back when I shared Where the Forest Meets the Sea with a class of five-year-olds. One little fellow reached out with a look of wonder in his eyes, and gently touched the picture with the very tips of his stubby fingers. I think he expressed the way we all feel when we become engrossed in Baker's books. Mirror will produce that same look of wonder, and inspire that same love of books and reading. The world needs books like this, books that break down barriers between people. I urge you to seek it out.
Sometimes, the best way to learn something is to start from what it isn't. We have a laugh at the outrageousness of text or other media, then move on to analyse where they went wrong, and hopefully we come up with the truth. One website that's an example of this is The Endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, part of the Kelvinic University branch of the Wild Haggis Conservation Society. It's a brilliant resource to use when you want to discuss reputable sources with your kids. Kids could follow up by creating their own website or blog to provide information about a fictitious creature of their choice. (I'm seriously tempted to make one about Chookus biblio!) There are so many details that make the website look believable - listing them would be an excellent basis for some real learning. Fake Science is another excellent example. Here you'll find posters done in a retro style, offering such silly science as an explanation for double rainbows - everyone stops to photograph the first rainbow, and the light from all those flash bulbs refracts into another rainbow. Or that your part is the seam that holds your hair on your head, and when the stitches fall out, your hair does too. Discussing what is incorrect in each poster is an excellent focus for real science education. I love how information is presented in different ways in the posters, and really appreciate the effort that's gone into their creation. I think kids would enjoy the opportunities at Fake Science for reading and interpreting visual information in the form of infographics. This makes the website a great place to start when you want to have kids look at ways of presenting information visually. An idea for follow up on exploring the posters is to encourage kids to create one of their own, either independently or in class groups. Making a fake science poster actually requires a deal of research into the real science, and then into almost believable fake science. Children could use a word-processing or graphics program, or draw/paint a poster on paper.
If it's video you need, show your kids this wonderful movie, Monstrous Wildlife, about Graboids, on Vimeo. I had to resist the urge to actually look them up to check if they were real or not!
Shaun Tan? Enough said really. I LOVE his books but haven't managed to get my hands on The Lost Thing yet. Take a look at the trailer below (or on Youtube) and tell me if you can understand why I really, really, really want to.
As parents, we know the single most important thing we can do to help our children become literate is to read to them every day. We know that reading and writing in front of them is important too, sharing with them our enthusiasm for the written word, and our joy in story. But there's something else we can do to help them, and it's so powerful.
We can assume our kids are readers and writers. We can treat them as if they are fellow readers and writers, sharing a little about books we're enjoying, or asking their opinion about a story we've read together, We can read aloud a snippet from something we're writing and ask them to do the same, or exclaim over a lovely piece of description in a poem they've written.
We can actually call them readers and writers. This is just as important at home as it is at school, I believe. Naming is incredibly powerful. It reinforces a child's self-concept. I think it tends to make the name come to pass, akin to what some people call self-fulfilling prophecy. What does a reader do? A reader reads. What does a writer do? A writer writes.
And we can support them as readers and writers. If they enjoy a book we've shared and express interest in reading more by that author, we can take steps to help it happen. That might mean showing them how to put in a request at the library. It might mean taking them to the library, making sure they have and value a borrower's card. It could also entail locating the books at an out-of-the-way book shop, and driving there. If our child has the opportunity to attend a writing conference, or a talk by an author, we can support and encourage them to attend, because they'll meet others there who value reading and writing, and value them as readers and writers.
We can also take an interest in what they write, however small, and value it. If they have an interesting start to a story, we can point it out. If we can understand a word they're trying to spell, we can applaud their efforts. When they bring stories home from school, we can take a moment to read them, show interest and take note of their progress as writers. Whether their writing is an email full of typos or labels on a treasure map, it is valuable and the product of a writer.
Traci Gardner at NCTE INBOX says calling students writers is "... the simplest and most effective thing teachers (and families) can do. From the beginning, we need to recognize students as writers. Not "student writers," and certainly not just "students." They are writers, no matter how much they write or how polished their writing may be. When people believe they are writers, a whole world of possibilities opens up."
This is such fun for little kids, and those who are young at heart!
CBeebies is part of the BBC website, and full of great learning activities for kids. You can see all of them in an a-z list, check out the games it considers its top picks, or choose by theme. I chose to look only at Art games today.
One of my favourites is Get Squiggling Magic Paintbox. It reminds me of KidPix in its variety and ease of use. There are lots of lovely things to paint with, stamps galore, your very own coach on the sidelines to encourage you, and pattern makers too. When you're done, you can watch a video of how you made the picture, or print it out. If children choose picture stories instead, they can interact with a story by decorating part of it.
Another is Butterfly Gallery. It has lovely animation and music to accompany your designing. Once children choose a butterfly shape, they are presented with half of it to decorate, because the symmetrical magic makes the other side work too. They can choose from stampers, markers and paint. Once done, their butterfly is cut out and liberated to fly around the garden, while Charlie and Lola fly by on a bee. Beautiful!
Doodle Maker is a place to draw, add stamps and play with colour. Like the others, it's simple to use, so long as kids have mouse skills.
Mister Maker Magic Paintbox offers drawing, and adds more unusual techniques, like drawing with foil, buttons and pasta. There's a chalky thing that has a little hand which lets you push and pull the shape you drew. You can paint with glue then sprinkle glitter, add paddlepop sticks, leaves, crumpled paper, and let yourself go wild with colour and pattern. Mister Maker's compliments on my work became wearing, so I muted him and we got along so much better.
Nothing will ever replace the squish and swirl of real paint and glue, but a digital version like what CBeebies offer is perfect for those times when you don't have the space or tools to hand, but your youngster wants to make some art. If kids enjoy books or shows like the Charlie and Lola series, or In the Night Garden, these activities are a great way to help them make creative connections with stories they love.
Read it. That may sound like a no-brainer, but lots of kids don't have newspapers in their lives. A newspaper may be just the kind of material Dad or Grandpa are comfortable sharing with a youngster. They might not want to read it aloud, but maybe they can share a cosy armchair and discuss pictures with a toddler. Older kids can be introduced to some of the regular features in a newspaper. You can discuss technical terms and roles like masthead, editorial, editor, journalist, advertisement, and consider their purpose and importance.
Use it as a model for your own newspaper. This is such a great way to involve kids in all sorts of reading, writing, photography, note-taking and headline-creating. Have a theme like The Nursery Rhyme Times, or present information about your family holiday in newspaper format.
Make hats from it. Most people know the Pirate hat, and how to make it. Are your kids/students up for a challenge? What other hats can they make from newspaper? Can they go one step further and design a whole outfit from newspaper? Can they create a hat/outfit in a limited time with only newspaper and sticky tape? Be sure to take photographs of the results!
Make games from it. Rolled newspapers make great bats. Here's a game I called balloon hockey that I used to play with my students: have two goals either end of a floor space -a polished wooden floor and socks on feet makes this game even more fun. I used to use masking tape strips on the floor to show a meter wide goal, that way there is no chair, bin or whatever to hurt people. Call out two names (or numbers if you have a group) and those two must run to grab their rolled newspaper bats, then start belting the balloon (from its position in the middle of the area) towards their goal. You'll find a picture of some cute kids having a fight with their bats and balloons on Be a Fun Mum blog.
You can also make a gigantic newspaper ball by stuffing crumpled newsprint into a plastic grocery bag, then tying the handles at the top. These are great for indoor ball games as they are not as destructive as the harder kind.
Another challenge is to see how many kids can stand on one sheet of newspaper. Or how small you can fold one sheet. Can your kids think of a way to build structures from rolled newspapers?
Make art and crafts. I love papier-mache. My thrifty nature enjoys taking something that would normally be thrown into the recycling bin and making something functional and/or beautiful from it. Papier-mache is a great craft to do with kids. They can get messy with that lovely gloopy paper, and they learn patience because it's important to let layers dry out in between applications. There are some great tutorials on The PapierMache Resource. Kids can practise lots of creative thinking and science skills by working out which recipe suits their project best, or if they want something faster, the Sally Cats look neat.
If your child loves to play with little vehicles, he might enjoy contributing to a papier-mache landscape where you use the paper to build up features like hills and mountains. Older children might like to make their own puppet head, or even use papier-mache to create bowls, a pinata or jewellery. You can find another papier-mache recipe and pinata directions on How Stuff Works.
If papier-mache is too big a project, you can make simple people and animals by stapling two paper shapes together except for one opening which you use to insert crumpled paper to give the figures a 3D quality.
What have I forgotten? What ideas do you have for getting the most from a newspaper?
