INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CAROLYN COMAN AND ILLUSTRATOR ROB SHEPPERSON

KN: The concept of a memory bank implies that memories are valuable. Please expand on that idea.

CC: Beyond valuable, memory and dreams are incredibly delicious phenomena, the richest territory in the universe for an author and artist to mine. I felt like I’d fallen into a tub of butter getting to imagine the places and workings of memories and dreams and forgetting and remembering. Entering The Memory Bank was like an extended journey to the back of my brain, where practically all of the good stuff resides.

RS: Wow. This question stumps me. Isn’t reading experiencing memory?


KN: Abandonment is one of human kind's deepest fears. How did you decide that Honey would be abandoned?

CC: Very little is decided consciously, at least in the beginning of creating a story. Ideas and images present themselves, and often come as a surprise. We understood, at some level, that our main characters, Hope and Honey, were up against a tough situation. And we needed something striking to jumpstart the story and get them on the road to the Memory Bank (and Dump). More than anything we played with options. When this notion of abandoned-by-the-side-of-the-road came to us, we knew we knew we had gone a little (too) far, sailed right over the top. We more or less dared ourselves to pull it off.

RS: Children feel abandoned everyday, dontcha think? A mother that we know has such trouble when dropping her daughter off at preschool that she brought an alarm clock. The mother would set the alarm for 1 minute, explaining to her daughter that she had to leave when the bell rang. I wonder what the daughter thinks now (she must be 20) whenever own clock goes off in the morning…
But that doesn’t answer your question does it? We didn’t ‘decide’ as much as follow the story.


KN: Carolyn, please talk about your creative process. Do you use outlines, or other aides? If so, how and when?

CC: The Memory Bank was my first book of true collaboration/co-creation. Rob and I made it together simultaneously, and our creative process developed and unfolded along with the book. We flew by the seat of our pants for the most part, trusted our instincts and didn’t analyze a partnership that was clearly working. The story grew out of an on-going conversation conducted in words and pictures—thousands of emails sent over a period of about 18 months. Sometimes Rob started the conversation with a picture, sometimes I did with a snippet of text or a question. Then we proceeded back and forth, building on anything that caught our fancy, that made us laugh or seemed to have juice. Bit by bit characters emerged, the places and workings of the Bank became clear. Later, editorial help from Stephen Roxburgh and Arthur Levine helped us refine the fundamental narrative drive of the story, the separation and reunion of the two sisters. Probably our main aides were the working dummies we created (with the help of ace Art Director Helen Robinson) so that we could see how the pictures and text were flowing together. Another aide for me was coffee. Rob and I tended to work at night.


KN: Rob, please talk about your creative process. Do you experiment with materials, perspective, and/or other artistic elements?

I didn't experiment so much with materials, as with layout and perspective, with the Memory Bank building dictating where to place the "viewer". Generally, I considered the page a stage and followed the text’s stage directions, although I used quick pencil sketches for the Memory Bank because Carolyn and I were having an avalanche of story. When we were working, there were three in the room: Carolyn, me, and the Bank.


KN: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

CC: Creating this book was the most fun and best time I’ve ever had making a book. I’m forever spoiled by having had simultaneous visual expression in the creation and unfolding of a story.

RS: What Carolyn wrote.

THE MEMORY BANK

BY Carolyn Coman and Rob Shepperson
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-545-21066-9

FROM THE FLAP: The Clean Slate Gang and The World Wide Memory Bank Are At War.

Lollipops have been found clogging the great machines that take in and store all the memories being formed in the world. Bonfires have been set. Practical jokes are gumming up the works. And the mischief is getting more serious.

Caught in the middle is Hope Scroggins, who’s been summoned to the bank for failing to record New Memories. And THAT’S because her hideously awful parents told her to FORGET her beloved little sister, Honey, who is out there somewhere, needing her.

Somehow Hope figures out that the World Wide Memory Bank holds the key to finding Honey, and maybe even a chance at happiness! But can she find it in time, before the Clean Slate Gang takes away her last, best shot at finding her sister?

KATE’S TAKE: A Roald Dahl-like fantasy that will make you cry, laugh, and yearn for more.

DREAM JOURNALS Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Intrapersonal

Have students fold an 11 by 18 sheet of white paper in half and fill it with seven sheets of lined paper. Ask them to decorate the cover. Then, have them take it home and record their dreams for a week. Next, ask students to use of of their dreams as a story starter in writers’ workshop.

GRAPHIC STORIES Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal

Ask students to take a story they have written and depict the five plot points: the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution graphically. Then, pair students up. Ask one student to hold up his or her graphic story, and ask the partner to verbally retell the story based on the pictures.

LOLLIPOP FRACTIONS Visual/Spatial, Logical/Mathematical, Interpersonal

Divide students into groups of three, and give each student an eight-by-eight inch circle. Some groups of three will work with 1/8, ¼, and ½ while the other groups of three will work with 1/6, 1/3 and ½. Each student decorates their lollipop. After they decorate their lollipop, they must cut it into one of the above mentioned fractions. Each person in each group is assigned a different fraction. Then, each student must trade lollipop sections with each person in his or her threesome to create a whole lollipop with three different designs.

MEMIE BOXES Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Intrapersonal

Ask each student to write down his or her first memory, a memie. Then, show students how to fold origami boxes, and have him place his or her memory inside the box. You can find an origami diagram for a box here: http://en.origami-club.com/rectangular/long-box/long-box/index.html These make great parent gifts. Thanks to Carolyn Coman for this activity.

SUCROSE MOLECULES Visual/Spatial, Interpersonal, Naturalistic

Working in groups of three, have students create a 3-D model of a sucrose molecule. Give one student twenty-two small Styrofoam balls, give another student eleven medium-sized Styrofoam balls, and the third student twelve medium-sized Styrofoam balls. The student with the eleven medium-sized balls should paint them pink, while the student with the twelve medium-sized balls paints his purple. The third student can help the other two students paint their Styrofoam balls. Then, using toothpicks and the diagram at http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar.html each student should assemble a 3-D diagram of a sucrose molecule.

BOOK BUDDIES
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Writing Stories: Ideas, Exercises, and Encouragement for Teachers and Writers of All Ages by Carolyn Coman

THE PINSTRIPE GHOST

By David A. Kelly
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 978-0-375-86704-0

FROM THE FLAP: What’s the most famous ballpark in America? Yankee Stadium! And Mike and Kate are going there for three whole days. But even before the first pitch, the cousins hear a strange rumor—Babe Ruth’s ghost is haunting the new stadium. Chilly air comes blasting down a service hallway before every home game. The gusts are followed by a series of thumps and bumps. Is it the Babe searching for his missing locker?

Catch all the Ballpark Mysteries!

KATE’S TAKE: The Yankees and ghosts! This autumn dynamic duo is a must have for the primary classroom.

GHOST STORIES Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial

During writer’s workshop, ask students to craft their own ghost story. When they’re finished ask them to make an illustration for their story.

HOMER HITTERS Logical/Mathematical and Visual Spatial

Ask students to make a graph of how many home runs five of the Yankee’s starters hit in 2010. Then find the maximum, minimum, range, mean, median, and mode.

Robinson Cano 29
Curtis Granderson 24
Alex Rodriguez 30
Nick Swisher 29
Mark Teixeira 33

PINSTRIPE MAKE-A-WORD Verbal/Linguistic

At one of your reading stations, give students the letters that make the word, “pinstripe.” Challenge them to make as many words as possible by mixing up the letters. Then ask them to sort the words into two groups, those with the short i sound, and those with the long i sound.

PINSTRIPE PATTERNS Visual/Spatial and Logical/Mathematical

Ask each student to draw a picture of him or herself wearing a pinstripe shirt. Challenge them to use complex patterns such as ABBA, ABBB, or ABBC.

VENDOR MATH Logical/Mathematical and Interpersonal

For one of your reading stations, have students pretend to be running a hot dog stand. They’ll need to decide what items are for sale and how much they cost. In order to keep the activity accessible for all students, set a price limit such as $5. Then, give each student money and have them buy items from the stand. Give them challenges such as buy as many items as possible, spend exactly $4.50, save a dollar and so on.

BOOK BUDDIES

-The Astro Outlaw by David A. Kelly
-Babe & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan Gutman
-Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse by David A. Kelly
-The L.A. Dodger by David A. Kelly
-The Fenway Foul-Up by David A. Kelly

INTERVIEW WITH NANCY BO FLOOD

KN: How did this story come to you?

NBF: I lived on Saipan for about ten years, teaching and working with students, especially guiding their own writing about their island. I also worked with the man, Filipe Ruak, who survived hiding in the caves with this family during the war and then "saved the dances." His dance group was make of young men who danced the traditional dances, an important part of their culture. Dancing is part prayer, part being physically fit, part community connections.

Filipe Ruak shared many stories about his childhood. When I said I was interested in writing a novel about the story of his people and how they survived the war, he asked me to do that. Filipe Ruak and his courage to tell his people's story is the reason I wrote Warriors in the Crossfire.

KN: Is Suicide Cliff a national monument?

NBF: Yes, Suicide Cliff is a national monument. You can stand at that cliff's edge, look straight down nearly a thousand feet, see the ocean crash against volcanic boulders and imagine. Slender white birds, fairy terns, swoop and circle the face of the cliff. Islanders believe they are the spirits of the people who died there.

KN: How did you decide which Japanese characters to include in you chapter headings?

NBF: The Japanese characters, the kanji, that begin each chapter were carefully selected. I wanted each character to reflect the heart, the theme, of each chapter. Sometimes I think of the nesting dolls in which one fits into another. The kanji character fits into the "little beginning poem" which fits within the chapter.

KN: How did you develop the father/son theme?

NBF: The father-son relationship seemed essential to Joseph's learning about the deeper meaning of being a warrior. Joseph needed to understand the wisdom of his father and his Japanese teacher, Sensei, to let grow from being a boy and becoming a man.

KN: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

NBF: I did indeed swim with the turtles and sharks. I wanted to have the courage to hold onto a turtle by its shell and RIDE. I didn't have the courage to do that but I did paddle my kayak over the reef and wait for the sharks to come near (out of curiosity not hunger!). I put on my mask and snorkel and felt the terror of being in the deep dark water with a shark swimming beneath me.

WARRIORS IN THE CROSSFIRE

By Nancy Bo Flood

Publisher: Front Street

ISBN: 978-1-59078-661-1

FROM THE FLAP: Where could they hide? The Japanese would shoot anyone in the caves. The Americans would eat the children. Who could they trust? Joseph didn’t know. There was no one left to ask. The explosions kept coming closer.

In the final months of WWII, the tiny South Pacific island of Saipan provided a vital buffer between Japan and the advancing American forces. Japan vowed to defend these islands to the last man. One of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific war ensued—more than 30,000 Japanese and Americans lost their lives. These numbers do not include the natives who were killed—the Chamorro, Rafalawash, and Rapaganor—all caught in the crossfire.

Based on historical events, this story unfolds through the eyes of Joseph and his half-Japanese cousin, Kento. These clear-voiced characters move convincingly through war and mounting pressure to take unimaginable horrors of Suicide Cliff, they discover, within themselves, what it means to become warriors. One boy’s journey through this little-known chapter of history illuminates the rich texture and culture of the island.

KATE’S TAKE: A harrowing WWII journey that celebrates family, friendship, and honor.

BOATS THAT FLOAT Visual/Spatial Logical/Mathematical

Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a 12 by 12 inch piece of aluminum foil, ten tongue depressors, and a glue stick. Ask each pair to design a boat. Place each boat in a tub of water and see how many pennies each boat holds. If you want, have students graph the results and calculate the mean, medium, mode, maximum, minimum and range of pennies held by each pair’s boat.

IMPRESSIONISTIC POEMS Verbal/Linguistic Interpersonal Intrapersonal

Write a brief poem modeled after the poems that lead into each chapter. Have students read their poems to the class. Although Ms. Flood’s poems are free-form, haiku and diamante poems work well with this activity, too.

KANJI CHARACTERS Visual/Spatial

Give students a paper, brush, and black ink. Ask them to choose a Kanji character that speaks to them. They may choose one from the book, or pick one on line at http://www.japanese-symbols.org/popular-japanese-symbols . Then, ask them to paint the symbol.

TURTLE AND SHARK ORIGAMI Visual/Spatial Verbal/Linguistic

Rewrite chapter two, Turtle and Shark, from the turtle or shark’s point of view. Then, fold an origami shark or turtle to accompany your story. http://en.origami-club.com/sea/index.html

WIND IN THE WILLOWS Musical Interpersonal Intrapersonal

Gather the class in a circle and ask one member to step forward and name a song, musician, or type of music that the individual likes. Anyone else who likes the named song, person, or music steps into the circle. Repeat until everyone has had a turn. No one may step into the middle and repeat something that has been said before.

BOOK BUDDIES (These are all listed in the back of Ms. Flood’s book)
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
House of the Red Fish by Graham Salisbury
Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury

A PLACE FOR FISH

By Melissa Stewart
Publisher: Peachtree
ISBN: 978-1-56145-562-1

FROM THE FLAP: Fish make our world a better place. But sometimes people do things that make it hard for them to live and grow.

In simple yet informative language, A Place For Fish introduces young readers to ways human action or inaction can affect fish populations and open kids’ minds to a wide range of environmental issues. Describing various examples—from Florida’s spotted trunkfish to the Atlantic salmon—the text provides an intriguing look at fish, at the ecosystems that support their survival, and at the efforts of some of the people to save them.

In the back of the book, the author offers readers a list of things they can do to help protect these special creatures in their own communities.

Artist Higgins Bond’s glorious full-color illustrations vividly and accurately depict their fish and their surroundings.

KATE’S TAKE: Splash into summer with Melissa Stewart’s, A Place for Fish. Stewart’s dual-level text is perfect for book buddy programs or classrooms with a large spread in ability levels.

CATCH BASIN LABELING PROGRAMS Naturalist and Interpersonal
Are you looking for a low cost field trip for the end of the year? Participate in your town’s catch basin label program or have your class start one in your community. Storm drains do not flow into a city’s water treatment plant, they flow directly into the surrounding bodies of water. So help your city spray paint, “No dumping. Drains to lake/creek/river,” signs on your town’s catch basins. Check out Santa Rosa’s city site for more details: http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/DEPARTMENTS/UTILITIES/STORMWATERCREEKS/OUTREACH/HOMEPOLLUTE/Pages/CB_Labeling.aspx

FISH LIFE CYCLE DIAGRAMS Naturalist, Visual/Spatial, and Linguistic
Have students diagram a fish’s life cycle. The University of Michigan has an excellent link for intermediate teachers that includes worksheets: http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/flow/pdf/U3/FLOW-U3-L3-MICHU-08-403.pdf

MAP IT OUT Visual/Spatial and Interpersonal
Divide your class into partners. Give each group a photocopied map of North America. Assign each pair of partners a fish that is in Ms. Stewart’s book. Next, have each group shade in the area on their map where their assigned fish lives. If a group finishes early, have them research some basic facts about their fish.

ORIGAMI FISH Visual/Spatial
Check out this step-by-step engaging video to show your students how to fold origami fish: http://www.activitytv.com/751-goldfish
Be sure and use origami paper. Regular paper is too thick.

SHARK BAR GRAPHS Logical/Mathematical and Visual/Spatial
Give students a sheet of graph paper. Have them title their graph Shark Population Decline in the Atlantic Ocean since the 1990’s. Then have them label the side with numbers from 0 to 100%. I find that using 5% increments works well. On the bottom of the graph, ask them to make a column for each of the following sharks: blues, great whites, hammerheads, threshers, and tigers. Ask them to record the following information:

Blue Sharks: 60% population decline
Great White Sharks: 79% population decline
Hammerhead Sharks: 89% population decline
Thresher Sharks: 80% population decline
Tiger Sharks: 65% population decline

BOOK BUDDIES:
-A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart
-A Place for Frogs by Melissa Stewart
-Project Seahorse by Pamela S. Turner
-Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion by Loree Griffin Burns
-Trout, Trout, Trout: A Fish Chant by April Pulley Sayre

THE CANDYMAKERS

By Wendy Mass
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 978-0-316-00258-5

FROM THE FLAP: In the town of Spring Haven, four children have been selected to compete in the national candymaking contest of a lifetime. Who will make a candy more delicious than the Oozing Crunchorama or the Neon Yellow Lightning Chew?

Logan, the candymaker’s son, who can detect the color of chocolate by feel alone?

Miles, the boy allergic to rowboats and the color pink?

Daisy, the cheerful girl who can lift a fifty-pound lump of taffy as if it were a feather?

Philip, the suit-and-tie-wearing boy who’s always scribbling in a secret notebook?
The contestants face off in a battle of wits and sugar, but soon they realize that things are not what they seem, and they find themselves in a candy-filled world of surprises, suspense, and mouthwatering creations.

In this charming and cleverly crafted story, award-winning author Wendy mass cooks up a delectable concoction of mystery, friendship, and juicy revelations.

KATE’S TAKE: A sweet treat(couldn’t help myself)for middle grade novel enthusiasts just in time for Easter!

CANDY OF THE CENTURY: Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Ask students to write an essay describing their candy of the century—be sure to include a creative and original name. Then, give them white model magic so they can build and decorate their masterpieces.

CRACK THE CODE: Verbal/Linguistic
Miles often speaks backwards. Spice up some comprehension questions by writing them out backwards. Students have to decipher them before answering them in complete sentences. I’ve made an example you’re free to use. I’ve posted it after the Book Buddies section.

GRATITUDE NOTEBOOKS: Intrapersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
Give each student a small notebook and sometime during the day, have them write down five things they’re grateful for just like Logan lists five things he’s grateful for every night before bed. This is a good activity to do right before or right after a transition.

MUSICAL MOMENTS: Musical and Interpersonal
Philip constantly writes melodies down in his notebook. Working in pairs, have students write four measures of music. Then, they can play their compositions on a glockenspiel or a xylophone.

OBSTACLE COURSE: Interpersonal and Bodily Kinesthetic
Since Daisy is a spy, she has to do lots of physical training, but she’s not used to working with teammates. But in order to win the contest, she ends up having to work together with the other contestants. In the gymnasium, divide the class into two groups. Have props spread out from one end of the of the gym to the other, a few hula hoops, jump ropes, exercise rings, a scooter per team, and put a large exercise mat in the center of the gym. Students have to work with their teammates to get the whole team from one end of the gym to the other. They may not step on the floor unless they are inside a hula hoop, and the hula hoops can’t move. If someone steps on the floor, the whole team goes back to the start.

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
-My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald
-The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler
-The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

CRACK THE CODE QUESTIONS
1. Ohw si rouy etirovaf retcarahc dna yhw?
2. Dlouw uoy tnaw ot eb a yps ekli ysiaD, yhw ro yhw ton?
3. Fi uoy dlouc yalp yna tnemurtsni sa llew sa pilihP hcihw eno dlouw uoy yalp dna yhw?
4. Yhw seod seliM kniht tuoba eht efilvetfa?
5. Od uoy kniht nagoL lliw esoohc ot evah niks shparg enod to ega 41, yhw ro yhw ton?

THE DANGER BOX

By Blue Balliet
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 978-0-439-85209-8

FROM THE FLAP: A boy in a small town who has a different way of seeing. A curious girl who doesn’t belong. A mysterious notebook. A missing father. A fire. A stranger. A death. These are some of the things you’ll find within the danger box, the new mystery from Blue Balliet. Open with care.

KATE’S TAKE: This mystery pulls readers in and doesn’t let go until the last page.

CODE CRACKERS Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, and Interpersonal

Ask each student to write a question about a story element in the book. Then, have each pupil rewrite the question using the code on page thirty-eight of the book. After the questions are rewritten in code, ask students to exchange questions and have them crack the code and answer the questions.

DARWIN DIORAMAS Visual/Spatial

Ask students to create a diorama of Darwin’s trip to the Galapagos Islands based on information found in the book.

GAS GAZETTES Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Verbal/Linguistic

Ask each student to write a “Gas Gazette” about him or herself at the beginning of the school year. When you send home your newsletter, include one of the “Gas Gazettes” with each newsletter. This is a great way to introduce the “star of the week” if you implement Responsive Classroom techniques.

HOMETOWN HOTSPOTS Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial, and Interpersonal

Ask pairs of children to build a scale cardboard model of a famous town or state landmark. When all the models are built, students can take a walking tour of the town or state. Special thanks to Derek O’Riorden for this great end of the year activity.

LIKELY LISTS Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal

Next time you study biographies, ask each student to make up a list of words that describes their famous person. After students have presented their biography book reports, number the lists and post them around the room. Ask students to write down the name of the famous person that each list describes.

BOOK BUDDIES
-Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
-Masterpiece by Elise Broach
-The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
-The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
-The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

INTERVIEW WITH KIM NORMAN, AUTHOR OF TEN ON THE SLED

1. I love the alliterative action that occurs when each animal escapes the sled. Would you please talk about why you chose to use alliterative phrases when each animal exits the sled?

I confess, I'm a sucker for alliteration. If I'd been a 1950s movie star, I'd definitely have been one of the alliteration queens like Marilyn Monroe or Diana Dors. Also, I knew this would be a way to strengthen the educational opportunities within the text, which already has several lesson-friendly elements such as numbers (counting-down) and science (arctic animals.)

I never make education the main focus of any of my books; it's always about simply creating a fun book, at the start. But once I've gotten down the bones, I do try to think in terms of educational possibilities. Choosing alliterative verbs serves several functions. First, it adds to the quality of language. To me, sounds are as important in language as meaning, especially because I mostly write picture books, which are meant to be read aloud.

Secondly, I think of verbs as the engine of any sentence. The stronger the engine, the farther the "car" (the sentence) will take me. I always tell older elementary students during author school visits that I'd rather use a single strong verb than a weak verb propped up by an adverb. And, of course, choosing a different verb for each animal also stretches the vocabulary in the book. Even if it's a verb with which the young reader is unfamiliar, LIza Woodruff's marvelous (and hilarious!) illustrations make it clear to the reader exactly what's happening in each scene.


2. In addition to alliteration, each spread uses different action words that rhyme. Would you please talk about one rhyming action pair that was particularly challenging or one rhyming action pair that you thought of immediately?

That wasn't too hard, although it might have become a bigger challenge if I'd had to write more than ten stanzas. Some couplets were easy because certain words about a sled race, (snowing/going, riding/gliding) were easy to rhyme. Two couplets that were hardest to come up with were,

"Great thunder! Duck under!" (where Liza shows the sledders ducking under fir trees)

and "We're lighter! Hold tighter!" (immediately after the heavy walrus has "whirled out.")

Reading the words now, paired with Liza's illustrations, those couplets seem very organic to the story. But the words came long before the illustrations were drawn, so it wasn't as obvious back then. I had to think in terms of visual scenes, asking myself, "What else could happen during this race?" In picture book writing, the author always has to come up with visual variety in the actions so that the illustrator isn't just drawing the same scene over and over again.

3. How did you come up with the idea of having the snowball race the sled?

I wish I could take the credit, but it's all thanks to my lovely critique group, which includes clever Joe Kulka (www.joekulka.com) an illustrator in my group. The first draft I submitted to the group was much more stagnant and true to its inspiration, "Ten in the Bed." I had everyone falling off the sled, but not much else happening. Joe read the manuscript and said, "This is fine, but let's remember this is a sled, a much more dynamic setting than a bed." Then he described how he would illustrate the story; that he'd show the ejected animals collecting into a big snowball which begins to race with the sled. I quickly rewrote, based on Joe's brilliant suggestion. I think it was at that point that I came up with the alliterative "falling-off" verbs, but I can't remember exactly. Perhaps I had already employed that device in the first draft.

4. I know you live in Virginia, but have you ever been sledding?

Not often, I confess. I like to brag that we have the best sledding hill in town, right behind our house. That's true, but since we live in a town on a relatively flat, tidal plain, it's pretty anemic in comparison to magnificent Alaskan mountains. Coincidentally, as I write this, there are sledders behind my house, since we had a little snowfall last night. That's another reason I don't often get to enjoy sledding, since snow is not as common here in southeastern Virginia as in Maine, where many of my relatives live.

5. Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Just that I'm pleased to be featured on your blog, Kate, and really grateful for the clever lessons you created to go with my book! Thank you so much!

It's my pleasure. Thank you, Kim, for the fantastic book!

BECAUSE OF MR. TERUPT

By Rob Buyea
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 978-0-385-73882-8

FROM THE FLAP: It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s Jessica, the new girl, smart, perceptive, who’s having a hard time trying to fit in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school.

Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much… until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything—and everyone.

Rob Buyea’s engaging first novel features seven narrators, each with a unique story, and each with a different perspective on what makes their teacher special.

KATE’S TAKE: This book is a must read because it’s heartbreaking, heartwarming, and inspirational in every way.

COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM COMMUNITY Interpersonal and Intrapersonal
Mr. Terupt’s students read The Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars, and then they regularly visit their school’s collaborative classroom in small groups. This is a great way to develop community, enhance self-esteem, increase communication, and eradicate stereotypes.

DOLLAR WORDS Logical/Mathematical and Verbal/Linguistic
Mr. Terupt assigns each letter a value, and challenges his students to make as many dollar words as possible. Here’s a sheet you can copy and paste, to have a ready-made activity for your class:

Name: ________________________________ Date: ___________
DOLLAR WORDS
Each letter of the alphabet is worth a certain amount of cents. A is worth one cent, B is worth 2 cents, C is worth three cents and so on. First, fill in the value of each letter. Then, create as many dollar words as you can. Who will be the first person to find a dollar word? Who will create the most dollar words? All words need to be spelled correctly and be school appropriate.
A=1 B=2 C=3 D=__ E=__ F=__ G=__ H=__ I=__ J=__ K=__ L=__ M=__
N=__ O=__ P=__ Q=__ R=__ S=__ T=__ U=__ V=__ W=__ X=__ Y=__ Z=__
DOLLAR WORDS
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This activity comes from Rob Buyea’s novel, Because of Mr. Terupt.

PLANT POWER Naturalist
Mr. Terupt’s students learn about phototropism, the direction of plant growth is determined by light source, geotropism, roots grow downward and plants grow upward even if a plant is turned sideways or upside down, and then concocted their own mixtures to see which ones would make their plants grow best. Pair up your kids in partners, and make sure you have a class control plant, one that gets to sit on the windowsill, right side up, and receives water every day. Each pair can plant a seed. Then, to study phototropism, put the plant in a box and punch a hole in the box. How does the plant grow? For geotropism, have students place their plants on their sides and watch what happens. As for students creating their own concoctions, ask them to bring in a list of ingredients they plan to use, a few days ahead of time. That way you won’t end up with a visit from the fire department. Poor Mr. Terupt!

SHAPE POEMS Visual/Spatial and Verbal/Linguistic
Because of Mr. Terupt celebrates each child’s individuality, and so does this activity. Have students sketch a full-body, self-portrait of themselves, on an 8x11 sheet of white paper. Next, ask each student to brainstorm twenty descriptive words that describe themselves and write them around their silhouette. After you’ve checked the spelling in pencil, have them trace their work with a Sharpie.

WORRY DOLLS Visual/Spatial
Some of the students make worry dolls in Mr. Buyea’s book, and your students can too, with these easy directions: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/worrydoll.html

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
-Rules by Cynthia Lord
-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
-The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
-Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

THE RABBIT PROBLEM

By Emily Gravett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1255-2

FROM THE FLAP: This book is based on a problem that was solved in the 13th century by the Mathematician Fibonacci, but it is NOT (I repeat NOT) a book about math. It’s a book about rabbits… Lots of rabbits!

KATE'S TAKE: Creative, challenging and fun. How long will it take your students to crack the code?

CLASS COOKBOOK Verbal/Linguistic, Interpersonal, and Visual/Spatial
Ask students to bring in a copy of their favorite recipe. Have them type up their recipe and decorate their page with a border.

CLASS NEWSLETTER Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal
During the month of July the rabbits in Fibonacci’s Field publish a newspaper. Have each student write a short blurb for a class newsletter.

CRACKING THE CODE Logical/Mathematical
Students love cracking Fibonacci’s code. Give them the book and the following worksheet and let them go at it!

FIBONACCI’S CODE

Fibonacci, an Italian man who lived in 1202, discovered a mathematical code and presented it to western scholars. Indian scholars studied this code as early as 200 B.C. With the help of Emily Gravett’s book, The Rabbit Problem, you can crack Fibonacci’s Code.

Look at the book. At the top of each calendar page, she lists the rabbit population. Copy each month’s population below:
January ____
February ____
March ____
April ____
May ____
June ____
July ____
August ____
September ____
October ____
November ____
December ____ (Put the first number here, not zero.)
Now, if all the rabbits stayed, what would the next month’s population be?
January ____
How did you crack Fibonacci’s Code?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
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FAMILY TREE Intrapersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
When the rabbits have their first babies in March, they create a family tree. Ask each student to bring in the names of their relatives and ancestors to create their own personal family tree.

PLANT GRAPHS Naturalist and Logical/Mathematical
During the month of June, the rabbits plant lettuce and carrot seeds. Have some students plant three pots of lettuce seeds while other students plant three pots of carrot seeds. Give one pot light and water, and another pot water but not light, and the last pot light but not water. Ask students to chart the growth of each pot. Compare and contrast the growth of the three pots and the growth of the lettuce to the carrots.

BOOK BUDDIES
-Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert
-Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry by Cindy Neuschwander
-The Lion’s Share by Matt McElligot
-The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
-The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures by Malba Tahan

By: Kim Norman
Publisher: Sterling Books
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7076

FROM THE FLAP: Join ten adventurous friends as they speed down a snowy slope on their giant toboggan. How many of them will end up together at the bottom of the hill? With plenty of slipping and sliding, gliding and riding, this raucous race promises to have a very bumpy ending.

KATE’S TAKE: Kim Norman takes readers on a whimsical, rollicking, winter ride.

ALLITERATION PARTNERS Interpersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
Write the name of each animal on ten separate index cards. Then write each animal’s action on ten other index cards. Give ten children animal cards and ask them to find their action partner whose card will start with the same first letter as their animal does.

Seal and spilled, hare and hopped, sheep and shot, walrus and whirled, fox and flipped, squirrel and squeezed, wolf and wiped, moose and muddled, bear and bailed, reindeer and running

POPSICLE STICK SLEDS Visual/Spatial
Each child will need six Popsicle sticks and a 3x5 index card. Before you give the children the Popsicle sticks, you should make these adjustments: cut the ends off at forty-five degree angles from two of the sticks and cut one stick in half. Three of the sticks will remain unaltered. Ask the students to paint all of their sticks red. Then have them place one of the short sticks on the bottom of their index card, and one short stick at the top of the index card. Next ask them to glue the three unaltered long sticks on top of the two short sticks. After the top of the sled has dried, students can glue the runners(the sticks cut at 45% angles to the bottom of the sled.

TEN ON THE SLED BOOKS Visual/Spatial and Verbal/Linguistic
Give each child a ten-page mini book with the simple sentence: There were ____________ on the sled. Have the children write in the missing number words 10-1 and illustrate each page. On the last page the sentence should look like this: There _________ _____________ on the sled. Students can write in the word was on the last page.

TEN ON THE SLED MATH Logical/Mathematical
Now that the kids each have their own sled, you can use teddy bear math manipulatives to have the students tell addition and subtraction stories. For example, there were ten bears on the sled and four fell off. How many are left? Kids reenact the stories with their bears and write the algorithms on their white boards.

TEN ON THE SLED SING-A-LONG Musical and Kinesthetic
Have ten kids sit one behind the other on the rug. Ask the whole class to sing the words to the book and ask kids to roll off the sled.

BOOK BUDDIES
-Christopher Counting by Valeri Gorbachev
-Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
-Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera
-The Baker’s Dozen: A Counting Book by Dan Andreasen
-Who Invited You by Candace Fleming

HAPPY SNOW DAY NEW ENGLAND! I'M OFF TO JOIN THE SNOWBALL FIGHT RAGING IN MY YARD.

MAX

By Bob Graham
Publisher: Candlewick
ISBN: 0-7636-1138-7

KATE’S TAKE: A fun take on what it truly means to be a superhero.

FROM THE FLAP: As the son of legendary heroes Captain Lightning and Madam Thunderbolt, Max is destined to be a superhero one day too—that is, once he learns to fly. But despite his parents’ valiant coaching and encouragement, Max can’t seem to get off the ground. Will Max ever learn to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Or will he be doomed forever to life on land?
Bob Graham has created a book for anyone who knows the highs—and lows—of learning to do something for the first time.

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Ask students to draw a picture of something that they want to learn how to do on the white side of a piece of origami paper. Then, fold this piece of a paper into a bird shape. Make a mobile with the class birds. http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-twirling-bird.html

BIRDS IN A BUSH MATH Logical/Mathematical
Give each student a mat with a green circle on it. The circle represents the bush. Then, give each student ten manipulatives. Ask students to place the manipulatives on the bush. Next, ask students to remove a certain number of birds from the bush. Write the subtraction algorithm on the board and ask students to copy the problem down on their white boards.

CARTOON SEQUENCING Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Fold a piece of 8 x 11 paper into six rectangles. Leave one square blank. Write one of these five sentences in each of the blank squares: 1) Max is born, 2) Max walks and talks, 3) Max can’t fly, 4) Max goes to school, 5) Max flies and saves the bird. Give each student a copy of the paper and ask them to cut out the five rectangles and sequence them. Then ask students to illustrate each scene.

HEROIC DEEDS CLASS BOOK Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Give each student an 8x11 piece of paper with this sentence starter, “I did something heroic when ________________________________________________________________________________.”
Have them write a kind, small, deed they did that helped someone. Ask them to illustrate their sentence and bind the papers into a class book.

MAGIC CARPET COOPERATIVE RACE Interpersonal and Kinesthetic
Divide the class into teams of four kids. Give each team three large squares of cardboard. Set up a start and a finish line. Each team has to use their magic carpets to “fly” from the start to the finish. Everyone must always be on a magic carpet square, or their team will return to the starting line.

BOOK BUDDIES
-Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
-Mighty Max by Harriet Ziefert
-The Featherless Chicken by Chih-Yuan Chen
-The Lion and the Mouse by Gail Herman
-Tiger on a Tree by Anushka Ravishankar

GUINEA PIGS ADD UP

By Margery Cuyler
Publisher: Walker and Company, Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9795-7

FROM THE FLAP: Mr. Gilbert tells our class that soon we’ll have a pet. A garter snake? A hermit crab? We wonder what we’ll get.
What starts as an innocent search for the perfect classroom pet turns into a furry fiasco when one guinea pig turns into two, then five, then twenty! The students love their newfound friends, but how can Mr. Gilbert stop the guinea pigs from taking over the classroom.

KATE’S TAKE: A humorous way to spice up a math lesson.

CLASSROOM PET BOOKS: Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Give each student an 8x11 sheet of paper with this sentence starter: If I could have any pet, I’d get _________________. Have them complete the sentence and illustrate the pet. Bound the pages together into a classroom book, and send it home with each child to read.

MATH MADNESS: Logical/Mathematical
This story lends itself to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Show the students how to do each type of number story. Then, ask each student to write a pet number story.

PET STORE: Visual/Spatial, Logical/Mathematical, and Interpersonal
Give each student a dollar in paper coins. Mark each coin with a q for quarter, d for dime, n for nickel and p for penny. Ask them to draw a picture of their ideal pet, or use color copies from the classroom book activity. Have each student label their pet with a price under a dollar. Display all the pictures on the chalkboard and ask students to come to the store and purchase a pet. One of the students can be the shopkeeper and be responsible for making the correct change. Special thanks to Mr. Hacket for this activity.

PET CHARADES: Kinesthetic and Interpersonal
Ask students to sit in a circle on the rug. Give each student a chance to come to the middle of the rug and imitate an animal without speaking or making noises. The rest of the students can guess which animal the student is impersonating.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP: Verbal/Linguistic
At the end of the book, the author hints at another pet problem. Ask students to write a sequel to this book and make sure their characters solve the new problem.

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell
-I Love Guinea-Pigs by Dick King-Smith
-Oh, Theodore! Guinea Pig Poems by Susan Katz
-Princess Justina Albertina: A Cautionary Tale by Ellen Dee Davidson
-Sammy: The Classroom Guinea Pig by Alex Berenzy

CLARICE BEAN, DON'T LOOK NOW

By Lauren Child
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3536-7

FROM THE FLAP: Always remember: It’s the worry you haven’t even thought to worry about that should worry you the most.

That’s what Clarice Bean’s copy of the Ruby Redfort Survival Handbook says, anyway—it’s crammed with useful information about getting out of tricky situations, like “How to Deal with Alien Life Forms” (give them the slip and run like crazy).

Clarice Bean has quite a few worries of her own, such as Worry No. 19: Robert Granger—will he ever leave her alone? Or Worry No. 9: largish spiders. But lately, she’s been more concerned with things like Worry No. 3: change, and how it sometimes comes along when you least expect it.

KATE’S TAKE: Lauren Child’s outstanding voice and her tongue-in-cheek humor make for an engaging, fun read.

DON’T LOSE SLEEP OVER IT, KID CLASSROOM BOOKS: Verbal/Linguistic, Intrapersonal, and Visual/Spatial
Give each student an 8x11 sheet of paper that has a lined bottom half, and a space for a picture at the top. Have each student write about their worst worry and end his or her entry with Ruby Redfort’s advice, Don’t lose sleep over it, kid. Send the book home with each student to share with her family and/or guardians.

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS OH MY! (Kinesthetic and Interpersonal)
Ruby Redfort’s Survival Guide has lots of tongue in cheek “useful” advice about how to avoid large predators such as lions and bears. Play charades and ask the students to act out various predators and have the rest of the class guess which animal each student is impersonating.

PEN PALS: Interpersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
Clarice Bean and her classmates visit elderly people in a nursing home. Ask a local nursing home for the names of residents who might like to participate in a pen pal program. Have students pick a name from the list and write a letter to that individual.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Interpersonal
On page 21 in the book, there’s an illustration of different facial expressions and what they actually mean. Compare and contrast two photos of people’s facial expressions and have students talk about the emotions each person is feeling. Then, ask them to share about a situation where they felt one way about an event that was happening and a friend or a sibling felt a different way about the same feeling. Here’s a link if you’re interested in finding out more about the Second Step program http://www.cfchildren.org/programs/pbis/

SCENE SNIPPETS: Interpersonal and Verbal/Linguistic
Clarice Bean and her friend participate in acting class. In small groups of four or five students, have kids act out various scenes from the book. Afterward, have the whole class sequence the scenes from the beginning to the end of the book.

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Clarice Bean Spells Trouble by Lauren Child
-Lilly and the Pirates by Phyllis Root
-School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari
-The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
-Utterly Me, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child

BY THE WAY:
I apologize for last week's missed post. An illness knocked my family and I off of our feet. Thanks for your understanding.

CLEVER JACK TAKES THE CAKE

Written by Candace Fleming
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 978-0-375-84979-4

FROM THE FLAP: What would you do if you were invited to the princess’s tenth birthday party but didn’t have money for a gift?

Well, clever Jack decides to bake the princess a cake.

Now he just has to get it to the castle in one piece.

What could possibly go wrong?

Here’s a deliciously fresh and funny picture book by the creators of the bestselling Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!

KATE’S TAKE: Sometimes a book makes me want to jump for joy, which is exactly what I did after I read this book.

FRACTION CAKES: Interpersonal and Logical/Mathematical
Cut out several different colored, large circles. Cut each one into different fractions such as: ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/5. Give each child a slice of cake. Then ask them to walk around the room and find the rest of their cake. When all the cakes are whole, ask them to line up in order from the smallest piece of cake to the largest piece of cake. Point out how with fractions the larger the number in the denominator, the smaller the fraction or the slice of cake is.

READER’S THEATER: Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal
If you’re looking for a story to act out as a class, this is a great pick. There’s a role for everyone and the dialogue is short and snappy.

STORY ELEMENTS LAYER CAKE: Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Give each child four strips of lined paper. Each strip of paper should have one of four story element headings: main character, setting, problem, and solution. Ask the children to write the appropriate information onto each strip of paper. Then, have them arrange these strips, the cake layers, in order from top to bottom on a piece of construction paper. With their pencils, they can outline each cake layer and top it off with a strawberry. Finally, they can outline their cakes with black markers.

THE TROLL’S BRIDGE: Interpersonal, Kinesthetic, Logical/Mathematical
Jack has to pay the troll, half of his cake, to cross the bridge. Set-up a small balance beam or a line of duck tape that crosses the classroom rug. Ask one student to be the troll. Give other students play coins that add up to a dollar. If you don’t have enough play coins, you can make them out of construction paper and write Q for quarter, D for dime, P for penny, and N for nickel, on each coin. Then have each student ask the troll how much money he or she needs to pay to cross the bridge. After the student pays the troll and the troll returns the correct amount of change, the student may cross the bridge.

WALTZING WITH BEARS: Kinesthetic, Musical, and Interpersonal
When Jack stops to dance with a bear, he loses his gift for the princess—his cake. Usually though dancing is a cause for celebration, not mourning. Show students the basic waltz step and ask them to dance around the classroom, or better yet, the gymnasium, while playing Priscilla Herdman’s “Waltzing with Bears.” Here’s the musician’s site http://www.priscillaherdman.com

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss
-Jack and the Beanstalk by John Cech
-Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young by Jack Prelutsky
-The Three Billy Goats Gruff/Los Tres Chivitos by Carol Ottolenghi
-The Lion's Share by Matt McElligott

AN AWARD FOR CLASSROOM BOOK OF THE WEEK

Dear Readers,

When I opened my e-mail, I was thrilled to learn that Guide to Online School's list of the Top 50 Early Childhood Education blogs featured my blog. The list of all the winners can be found here: http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/tips-and-tools/early-childhood-blogs.

It's so refreshing to know that other people find the blog useful. Thank you all for your support.

Best wishes,
Kate

MAX'S WORDS

By Kate Banks
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
ISBN: 0-374-39949-2

FROM THE FLAP: Benjamin collects stamps. Karl collects coins. When their younger brother Max decides to collect words, one word leads to another until Max has a story worth telling. Now all he needs is pictures.

Enter Boris Kulikov in a brilliant collaboration with Kate Banks that attests to the wonder of words.

KATE'S TAKE: A fantastical tribute to imagination, collections, and a can-do attitude.

COIN COLLECTIONS: Logical/Mathematical and Visual/Spatial
Max’s brother collects coins. Give each student a dollar’s worth of cut-out paper coins. Label each coin with a Q for quarter, D for dime, N for nickel, and P for penny. Then ask them to draw a picture of their favorite pet and label it with a price under a dollar. Hang the pets up at the front of the classroom and ask students to come shopping at the pet store. In order to take their pet home with them, the students must give the proper amount of change to the cashier to pay for the pet. Many thanks to Andy Hacket for this activity. Check out his blog here http://www.mrhacket.blogspot.com


COLLAGE TALES: Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial
Word process words in different colors and cut out for kids. Ask students to choose ten cut-out words and create a sentence. Then, have them glue their sentence to the long side of a piece of 11x18 piece of construction paper. Last, ask them to illustrate their story.

COLLECTION BOOKS: Verbal/Linguistic, Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Visual/Spatial
Give students an 8x11 sheet of paper that has space for writing a sentence at the bottom of the sheet. Ask them to finish the following sentence: If I could collect anything in the world, I would collect_____________________ because____________________________________________.
Have them illustrate their sentence and bind the papers in a book to send home with students.

CROCODILE AND ALLIGATOR SEE-SAW BOOKS: Verbal/Linguistic, Naturalist, and Visual/Spatial
Collate an eight-page book for each students, and ask them to fill in the blanks.
Page 1: Crocodiles and alligators hatch from __________________(eggs) but,
Page 2: crocodiles have a _______________(v-shaped) snout, and
Page 3: alligators have a _________________ (u-shaped) snout.
Page 4: A crocodile’s fourth tooth_____________( sticks out) when its mouth is closed, but
Page 5: an alligator’s fourth tooth is ___________ (hidden) when its mouth is closed.
Page 6: Most crocodiles live in ________________ (salt) water, but
Page 7: most alligators live in __________________ (fresh) water.
Page 8: Crocodiles and alligators are _________________(reptiles).
After they have filled in the blanks, ask students to illustrate the books.

FAMILY LETTERS: Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal
Ask students to write a letter to a family member or a friend who lives far away. Ask parents to send in an addressed envelope and give students a stamp to affix to their letter. Relatives are always thrilled to receive the kids’ letters.

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Alligator Tails and Crocodile Cakes by Nicola Moon
-Max’s Dragon by Kate Banks
-Snap! A Book About Alligators and Crocodiles by Melvin Berger
-The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Williams
-Word Wizard by Cathryn Falwell

FOLLOW THE LINE

By Laura Ljungkvist
Published by Viking
ISBN:0-670-06049-6

FROM THE FLAP: Follow the line on a journey from the city to the country, from the sky to the ocean, from morning till night. In this stunning counting storybook, Laura Ljungkvist uses her trademark continuous line to create an array of crisp, innovative, detail-packed pictures.

Each scene contains questions designed to get children counting, thinking, and observing. Young counters will enjoy following the very same line all the way through the book, from front to back.

KATE’S TAKE: Line up some fun activities with Laura Ljungkvist’s Follow The Line.

HOW MANY? MATH Logical/Mathematical and Visual Spatial
Ask children to solve these math problems which are based on spreads in the book, and ask them to draw a picture to illustrate each problem.

1. A house has two rows of windows. If there are three windows in each row, how many windows are there all together?

2. There are four blue fish in the ocean and three red fish, how many fish are there all together?

3. There were nine trees in the forest, two fell down. How many trees are standing in the forest?

4. There are three apple trees and twelve apples. If each tree has the same amount of apples, how many apples are on each tree?

LINE CLASSROOM BOOKS Visual/Spatial and Verbal/Linguistic
Draw one line on a sheet of 8x11 paper. Draw a different line for each child in your class: squiggly, jagged, curved, straight, vertical or horizontal. Ask them to turn the line into a picture. On the bottom have them finish the sentence starter: I turned my line into _______________________. Special thanks to Ingrid Holmes for this activity.

LINE DANCING Kinesthetic and Musical
Do a line dance with the kids. This site http://www.helenandnitalinedancing.com/Videos.html has a great line dancing video to the tune of Grand Old Flag.

LINE MIRRORS Kinesthetic and Interpersonal
Ask kids to stand in a line. Have a child step out of the line and face their peers. Ask the child to lead the class in simple movements such as tapping, patting, or stretching. Everyone in the line mirrors the leader’s actions. This is a great way to build confidence in the leader and classroom community.

LINE PATTERNS Logical/Mathematical and Visual/Spatial
Give the students small strips of paper of various colors. Ask them to form a pattern with the strips of paper. Students might choose to make a pattern out of straight lines, or they might choose to form shapes with the strips and make a pattern with shapes.

BOOK BUDDIES:
-Harold And The Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
-Ish by Peter H. Reynolds
-Follow The Line Around The World by Laura Ljungkvist
-Follow The Line Through The House by Laura Ljungkvist
-The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

ANNA MARIA'S GIFT

By Janice Shefelman
ISBN: 978-0-375-95881-6
Publisher: Random House

FROM THE FLAP: After her father’s death, Anna Maria is sent to the Pieta, an orphanage in Venice. She misses her father, but at least she will always have the violin he made for her. When she plays it, she hears his voice.

Luckily, the Pieta is not just any orphanage. It’s also a famous music school, and the teacher there is the great composer Antonio Vivaldi. Anna Maria quickly becomes his favorite student. But not everyone at the Pieta likes Anna Maria. Soon she has a rival—the talented, cruel Paolina, who throws Anna Maria’s violin into a canal. With the help of her beloved teacher, and new friends, Anna Maria searches Venice’s bridges, streets, and canals. Will Anna Maria find her father’s violin? Can she ever be happy in Venice without it.

Inspired by a real orphanage, this lyrical story by Janice Shefelman perfectly captures the beauty of Venice, the joy of music, and the way a little kindness can help make a scary new place feel like home.

KATE’S TAKE: Great characterization, and a peek inside Italy’s impressive musical culture.

FOUR SEASONS SKITS Musical, Intrapersonal, and Verbal/Linguistic

Divide the class into four groups, one for each season. Have each group listen to The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Then, ask each group to design a two to three minute skit that’s inspired by the music. If you have any musicians in the class, they might choose to play musical accompaniment for their group’s skit.

GREAT GONDOLAS: Visual/Spatial, Logical/Mathematical and Interpersonal

Ask students to work in pairs and give each pair a 10x10 sheet of aluminum foil. Ask them to construct boats out of the tinfoil. Then place pennies inside each boat to determine which boat is the strongest. Boats with the most surface area are able to hold the most pennies.

INSTRUMENT-SHAPED POEMS Verbal/Linguistic and Visual/Spatial

Have students write a poem about an orchestra instrument. Then have them outline the shape of the instrument on the paper. Next have them copy their poem along the outline of the instrument.

SILVIA OF THE CELLO PARAGRAPHS: Verbal/Linguistic and Intrapersonal

Author Janice Shefelman explains that most of the orphans did not have last names. So, they were given the last name of whatever instrument they played. Ask students to think about a talent or a hobby that best describes them. Ask them to write a paragraph explaining why they chose this last name.

VENICE VIEWS: Visual/Spatial

Anna Maria thinks the city of Venice floats on a lagoon, but her guardian informs her that Vienna stands on thousands of posts set on the bottom of the lagoon. Give each student a blue 11x18 sheet of construction paper. Ask them to cut out different shaped houses from various shades of construction paper and make views of Venice.

BOOK BUDDIES

-Gabriella’s Song by Candace Fleming
-I, Vivaldi by Janice Shefelman
-Mole Music by David McPhail
-Zin! ZIn! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss
-Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice by Claudia Mauner