April Pulley Sayre's Blog, page 12
August 3, 2011
August Sounds!
Now listen to the night time insect sounds of an insect that has perfect green leafy camouflage. These were also recorded in our Indiana yard, later at night than the July sounds.
To find their name and more information on them, click here. Then celebrate by reading Ant, Ant, Ant: an Insect Chant!
July Sound Picture
This insect calls during the day. Sometimes it emerges in great numbers after many years. These were in our yard.
To hear them, click here: Aug 22011SBendearlyev
You can also hear some other insects in the background. (See next month's sound.)
What are these creatures ? For the answer, click here.
June Animal Spouts!
We just returned from seeing these creatures, the second longest whales in the world, in the St. Lawrence Seaway, near Tadoussac, Quebec. Their common name has three letters and is also part of a fish. Answer here.
July 6, 2011
Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant Resources
For links to vegetable posts check this link. http://www.aprilsayre.com/category/vegetables-2/
Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant received a starred review in Kirkus! It's impressive what they considered and packed into the witty review. Rather loved that they called the book a 'crunch fest for parents and caregivers" and "A winning recipe blending crispy verse and photography." For the rest, read Kirkus issue May 15, 2011.
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/childrens-books/april-pulley-sayre/rah-rah-radishes/
July 5, 2011
Rah, Rah, Radishes Activities
Shirley Duke, author/educator/speaker/writer of the Simply Science blog, shared with me extension activities for Rah, Rah, Radishes. See below for these activities. See her site for more goodies, about many books!
Activities
1. Make a list of all the vegetables named in the book. Then categorize those veggies by color or by which part of the plant they may be. This might include leaf, root, fruit, or stem.
2. Look up the food groups. The food pyramid has become a plate! Find out what other kinds of food make a healthy meal.
3. Ask the kids to bring one vegetable to school. Identify them and then demonstrate how to clean them. Make a soup to share.
4. For older students, choose a vegetable and look up recipes for ways it can be cooked or combined with other foods.
5. Identify the rhyming words. List some other words that rhyme with them.
6. At Halloween, carve a pumpkin and plant the seeds. Each child takes home a cup with the planted seed.
7. Learn the word sprout. For each child, give them three radish seeds, three corn seeds, and three bean seeds. Wet a paper towel and fold it. Put it in a zip lock bag. Lay the seeds in a row. Watch for them to sprout. Add water if the towel dries out. Look at how the different seeds begin to grow.
8. Make a chart of one of the vegetables to show the life cycle from seed to fruit.
9. Look up the temperature zones and learn what they are. Identify your own zone and find out the average frost dates for planting.
10. Make a face salad. Cut a slice of bread into a circle and add cut veggies to make eyes, nose, hair, ears, and mouth. Cucumbers slices would make eyes, radish slices lined up make a mouth, zucchini for ears, curly lettuce for hair, etc.
11. Choose a vegetable and create a PowerPoint group project or class display that provides information about the vegetables. Include facts about the veggie, a picture, nutrition information, recipes, etc.
12. Make a list of the veggies in the book and alphabetize them.
13. Create a vegetable book. Have each child choose a vegetable and create a page about that vegetable. The pages might include poems they write, facts, art, or anything else they want to create.
14. Look up the veggies that didn't get in the book from the author's website. Learn more about them and see if you could write a short sentence in the book's style.
15. Keep a week-long record of what vegetables you eat. Lead a group discussion and list ways you can add more vegetables in meals.
National Science Standards: characteristics of organisms; personal health
Bloggers Lovin' Radishes
Back from steamy, sparkly ALA in New Orleans to find that some awesome bloggers are lovin' Rah, Rah, Radishes. See what A Year of Reading has to say; they always direct me to good books so I'm proud to be on their blog. Shirley Duke, author, fellow panel member, and blogger about science was full of great extension activities. She posted them here: Simply Science Blog. Last but not least, author/speaker/wonderwoman Katie Davis brought Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant along with two other books to discuss them in her segment on Good Morning, CT. Link to come when they post that video. Back to photographing fruit for Go, Go, Grapes: a Fruit Chant, which is out next year. Mangosteen, anyone?
June 29, 2011
June 21, 2011
American Library Association Annual Conf
Come see me in New Orleans! I'll be with 9 other nonfiction authors speaking at the Nonfiction Book Blast Sunday Morning at 8am-10am. I'm also doing signings for Greenwillow/Harpercollins, Holt, Beach Lane/S&S, and Charlesbridge. Info on the session and signings schedule for all of us is on the Nonfiction Book Blast site.
June 10, 2011
Need Activities for If You're Hoppy and Rah, Rah, Radishes
To kick start resources for my two new books, I'm looking to stock up on activities.
Flannel Friday got me started on this idea. Would love some flannel but other things okay, too.
As a thank you I'll send you a package of four signed hardback picture books. Trout, Trout, Trout: a Fish Chant and Stars Beneath Your Bed will be among those books.
Email me through my site. I'll just need four creative librarians/storytime gurus.
Of course you can post your activities wherever you want, including your blog. I just want to link to them or share them on my site.
Thanks.
April
May 29, 2011
Quiet Little Vegetable Celebrations
Recent random veggie yumminess in my life
10: 30 a.m. Hungry. Pick arugula from garden. Pour last summer's Brandywine canned tomatoes into favorite bumblebee bowl. Open up snow pea pods that look weary and toss their little tiny peas into soup . Eat. Yum!
Next up are a photos from Easter at my amother-in-law's house. She's artful in her tables and reads recipes from magazines. (She's a philosopher, professor, and artist.)
See what she does with radishes? I don't know which magazine inspired it. They had some delicious spread underneath and were tasty. Maybe I should make some for the Rah, Rah, Radish launch party!
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