Ok, everybody. I shared a few weeks back about our topic for this year's Author's Fair book project, Our Big Backyard. Now I'm excited to tell you that I have settled on the writing style for the book--riddles!
So each child/family who would like to participate in the project will come up with a topic--like redwoods, or sea stars, or the Sierra Nevadas, or constellations, whatever they are interested in or whatever you are already learning about as a family--and then they will write a riddle "poem" to accompany it.
Best of all, I found a great interactive online that will help in the riddle-writing process!
ReadWriteThink riddle interactive
Write your riddles using the interactive, and you will be set!
More details on the size of the art and how you should format your writing for the book will come in later posts. : )
Questions? Please leave them here in the comments so that everyone may benefit from the discussion.
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
And now the Vintage Homeschool Kids' Book Project 2013: Our Big Backyard
If you read the last posts, you know we are starting the annual book project for 2014 a little early. But that does not mean we are not doing a project for this year! No, so many of you told me how much you and your kids enjoy this annual tradition of making a collaborative project and presenting it at the Author's Fair in May that I got up the gumption to do it again. ; ) (Seriously, though--thanks ladies for your encouragement. It is nice to know you are not just joining in the book projects because you feel like you would be a bad friend if you didn't, or because you would feel guilty or something. No one ever has to participate, but I'm glad to know those of you who do actually are glad to do so. : )
So here's the project for this year, to be completed in Feb and March and presented at the Author's Fair in May:
Our Big Backyard
The theme of this book will be God's grand creation. The world is our classroom! And it is also our big backyard, so your child can write about anything at all in nature--with one caveat: the child must be able to engage with that thing with his or her senses. So, this means your child probably should not choose to write about the Sahara desert. . . but of course he could write about Death Valley if he's been there recently and can remember it well. And exotic animals like Golden Lion Tamarins would not be the best topic. . . unless your family gets to observe them at a zoo. The best topics will be those that your children can experience as fully as possible, with as many of their senses as possible--tide pools, or banana slugs, or erosion, or mushrooms, or Salinas valley farms, or babies, or weather. . . you have so much room here to be creative with your topic, and choose a subject that fits your child's interests and experiences and your family's recent homeschool studies.
You can choose something you want to learn about with your kids for this project, or you can piggy-back this project with something you are already studying. Make the project fit with whatever works for your family and your homeschool schedule.
This year we will not do the art all together, so you and your child can decide what medium best suits his/her topic.
I'll write more on the specifics of the project later--this was just the heads up to get you all thinking about possible topics for your child's page.
But in the meantime, here are the important deadlines for the project, so you can figure those into your planning:
April 22, noon - 2:30: All pages complete, bring to Old School Monday gathering for binding party
May 4 : Author's Fair at Capitola Mall
Our Vintage Homeschool FAMILY Book Project 2014--A Book of Months
Some of you remember that I was brewing up a book project for the annual Author's Fair that could be completed by families or individual kids, but would not be a collective project as we have done in the past. Well, I have finally figured out how we can do it and make it logical, easy, a great learning exercise for the kids, and potentially a great keepsake! (Even a great Christmas present for a family member!)
Our project is a Book of Months. The idea is for your child/children to capture the rhythm of a year in your family. Each month will have one page describing what your family traditionally does in that month, with one page of illustration (or your child can make more than one page for eventful months--that part is completely up to them/you). Some things that could be included are holidays, birthdays or other annual family celebrations, typical weather, favorite activities for that season, whatever you and your child(ren) think best captures your year.
Since we are just now starting the new year, and have completed our first month, this is the perfect time to begin this project. So anyone interested can make a time in the next week or so to talk about January and what they did as a family that month, what is special about that month, etc. Then have your children write/draw about it while the memories and sensory elements are fresh. Then at the end of each month, look back and do the pages for that past month. If we all do a little at a time, the project should not really impact our other schooling, and the kids will have time to get as involved with the writing/illustration as they would like. Ideally, the project itself will end up being part of the rhythm of this year!
Of course this project does not have to be done so systematically. There is absolutely no reason why you can't just do it whenever you remember, when you have room in your school schedule, etc. I could even see someone doing this project in two weeks--completing one month every day. So I am just setting out the project the way it could most organically be done, and those of you who want to participate can do the pages and art however/whenever you see fit.
My gift to you will be a reminder here on this blog at the beginning of each new month to look back on the past month and write about it while the memories are fresh. : ) The final goal will be for all the books to be completed this same time next year, and we will have a binding party at one of our Vintage Homeschool gatherings!
Since each family will be doing this project on their own, but we hope to show them all together at the Author's Fair in May of 2014, there will be certain simple parameters we will use to give overall cohesion to the project.
--Each child's writing and illustrations should be completed on 8 1/2 x 11 inch white typing paper.
--Only use one side of each piece of paper.
--The text and its illustration will be on separate pieces of paper.
--I strongly urge you to figure out in advance if your child(ren) wants to have the pages horizontal or vertical--we have learned already from experience with this project the sadness that occurs when some illustrations are one way and some are the other! Your author(s) can choose which they want--either is completely fine for this project, as long as their whole book is done the same way.
--The text will be typed out in black ink (unless of course your child believes there is a need for colored text). You can choose the font, but the size should be 14 pt (as long as that fits well on your page--of course you can change it if you think the text length warrants it).
--The text for each page will be centered on the page (both L to R and top to bottom).
--The style of illustration used is entirely up to you and your child as well. You could even practice different mediums on different pages, if you choose; however, I would recommend you choose one style and use it for the entire book, to keep the months having the same visual "weight." So if your child chooses watercolor, encourage them to use watercolor throughout the book.
--You may choose to make the book as a family and have different children do different aspects of the project, or each child may do his/her own book. This too is up to you and your children.
--Be sure to have a safe place to store this project over the year, so the pages are not bent and damaged. Our family started this project about 8 months ago, and some of the pages that the kids were storing themselves have been creased, a little wrinkled. . . not really a big deal, but if this ends up being a beautiful "keeper" book, then in the long run they may be sorry.
Remember, you should not worry about binding the book--we will do that all together next March or April.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments below. I hope you are as excited about this project as I am!
Happy Writing, all!
Our project is a Book of Months. The idea is for your child/children to capture the rhythm of a year in your family. Each month will have one page describing what your family traditionally does in that month, with one page of illustration (or your child can make more than one page for eventful months--that part is completely up to them/you). Some things that could be included are holidays, birthdays or other annual family celebrations, typical weather, favorite activities for that season, whatever you and your child(ren) think best captures your year.
Since we are just now starting the new year, and have completed our first month, this is the perfect time to begin this project. So anyone interested can make a time in the next week or so to talk about January and what they did as a family that month, what is special about that month, etc. Then have your children write/draw about it while the memories and sensory elements are fresh. Then at the end of each month, look back and do the pages for that past month. If we all do a little at a time, the project should not really impact our other schooling, and the kids will have time to get as involved with the writing/illustration as they would like. Ideally, the project itself will end up being part of the rhythm of this year!
Of course this project does not have to be done so systematically. There is absolutely no reason why you can't just do it whenever you remember, when you have room in your school schedule, etc. I could even see someone doing this project in two weeks--completing one month every day. So I am just setting out the project the way it could most organically be done, and those of you who want to participate can do the pages and art however/whenever you see fit.
My gift to you will be a reminder here on this blog at the beginning of each new month to look back on the past month and write about it while the memories are fresh. : ) The final goal will be for all the books to be completed this same time next year, and we will have a binding party at one of our Vintage Homeschool gatherings!
Since each family will be doing this project on their own, but we hope to show them all together at the Author's Fair in May of 2014, there will be certain simple parameters we will use to give overall cohesion to the project.
--Each child's writing and illustrations should be completed on 8 1/2 x 11 inch white typing paper.
--Only use one side of each piece of paper.
--The text and its illustration will be on separate pieces of paper.
--I strongly urge you to figure out in advance if your child(ren) wants to have the pages horizontal or vertical--we have learned already from experience with this project the sadness that occurs when some illustrations are one way and some are the other! Your author(s) can choose which they want--either is completely fine for this project, as long as their whole book is done the same way.
--The text will be typed out in black ink (unless of course your child believes there is a need for colored text). You can choose the font, but the size should be 14 pt (as long as that fits well on your page--of course you can change it if you think the text length warrants it).
--The text for each page will be centered on the page (both L to R and top to bottom).
--The style of illustration used is entirely up to you and your child as well. You could even practice different mediums on different pages, if you choose; however, I would recommend you choose one style and use it for the entire book, to keep the months having the same visual "weight." So if your child chooses watercolor, encourage them to use watercolor throughout the book.
--You may choose to make the book as a family and have different children do different aspects of the project, or each child may do his/her own book. This too is up to you and your children.
--Be sure to have a safe place to store this project over the year, so the pages are not bent and damaged. Our family started this project about 8 months ago, and some of the pages that the kids were storing themselves have been creased, a little wrinkled. . . not really a big deal, but if this ends up being a beautiful "keeper" book, then in the long run they may be sorry.
Remember, you should not worry about binding the book--we will do that all together next March or April.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments below. I hope you are as excited about this project as I am!
Happy Writing, all!
Friday, June 17, 2011
and a wee little tool for remembering a couple of letters
I don't have a rhyme for remembering how to write the letters of the whole alphabet, but most kids don't need it. But some letters, like b and d and p and q are tricky. Usually if my early readers come to a letter and they don't remember what it is, we just pause on that letter and sing the alphabet song while tapping on the letter until we get to the right one. They get to the point where they can do it themselves when they get stuck, and stop when they recognize the correct letter.
It is hard for the little ones to remember which of those four letters face which way, so I did come up with a little mnemonic device to help with remembering b and d:
You have to look at the alphabet in a line to understand this:
a b c d e
You see,
b is for baby
and c is for cookie
and d is for daddy.
The baby and the daddy are sharing the cookie,
and daddy has taken a big bite!
; )
I mean, it's not like a poem or anything, so if you just explain it however you think conveys the idea most clearly to your child.
Any of you moms have little tricks and tools to share? Please do!
lisa
It is hard for the little ones to remember which of those four letters face which way, so I did come up with a little mnemonic device to help with remembering b and d:
You have to look at the alphabet in a line to understand this:
a b c d e
You see,
b is for baby
and c is for cookie
and d is for daddy.
The baby and the daddy are sharing the cookie,
and daddy has taken a big bite!
; )
I mean, it's not like a poem or anything, so if you just explain it however you think conveys the idea most clearly to your child.
Any of you moms have little tricks and tools to share? Please do!
lisa
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Special Old School Monday--THIS MONDAY
Hello Vintage Moms!
We are quickly approaching the 2011 Author's Fair (I'll give all the info I know in a following post), and so all those interested in being a part of our community book project, please come! We will meet in our normal classroom this upcoming Monday, April 4 from 12-2.
Just like we did last year, we are going to put togther a book with a common theme, but each child/family can tailor their page(s) to their abilities and what they have been studying in their homeschool time.
The theme of the book is "What's Above, What's Beneath." I'll explain more about this theme on Monday, and we will brainstorm ideas and even make practice pages, so the kids (and moms!) get a feel for what the final product will be. Each child's page will feature his/her artistic response to something he/she is learning. Each page will also have a poetry component, and we will talk about this on Monday as well, and write some practice poems!
So we will start the project on this Monday, each family will take their pages home and complete them, and then bring them back to our official Old School Monday on April 25, where we will assemble them into the final book. The Author's Fair will be the Saturday of that week, and I hope we can schedule a time for us all to be there to present our book like we did last year.
I hope a lot of you are able to make it on Monday, and share in the beginnings of this fun project! If you can't come on Monday but still want to be part of the book project, please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll give you the info you need.
In fact, if you are planning on coming and participating in the project on Monday, would you please leave a comment and let me know? Thanks!
lisa c.
We are quickly approaching the 2011 Author's Fair (I'll give all the info I know in a following post), and so all those interested in being a part of our community book project, please come! We will meet in our normal classroom this upcoming Monday, April 4 from 12-2.
Just like we did last year, we are going to put togther a book with a common theme, but each child/family can tailor their page(s) to their abilities and what they have been studying in their homeschool time.
The theme of the book is "What's Above, What's Beneath." I'll explain more about this theme on Monday, and we will brainstorm ideas and even make practice pages, so the kids (and moms!) get a feel for what the final product will be. Each child's page will feature his/her artistic response to something he/she is learning. Each page will also have a poetry component, and we will talk about this on Monday as well, and write some practice poems!
So we will start the project on this Monday, each family will take their pages home and complete them, and then bring them back to our official Old School Monday on April 25, where we will assemble them into the final book. The Author's Fair will be the Saturday of that week, and I hope we can schedule a time for us all to be there to present our book like we did last year.
I hope a lot of you are able to make it on Monday, and share in the beginnings of this fun project! If you can't come on Monday but still want to be part of the book project, please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll give you the info you need.
In fact, if you are planning on coming and participating in the project on Monday, would you please leave a comment and let me know? Thanks!
lisa c.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Grammar Resources
While stopping by the blog of an old friend I found that some of her commenters were recommending grammar resources--and what better way to research such tools than to start with recommendations by other homeschool parents! This first one, called Shurley English sounds really good. The second is called Winston Grammar and also got good reviews.
(Be sure to read the Shurley English review for a mind-blowing tip on math--I am going to start that ASAP!)
I have been feeling the need to start formal grammar lessons, and so these two resource tips are very timely!
Let me know if any of you are currently using something you love.
lisa c.
(Be sure to read the Shurley English review for a mind-blowing tip on math--I am going to start that ASAP!)
I have been feeling the need to start formal grammar lessons, and so these two resource tips are very timely!
Let me know if any of you are currently using something you love.
lisa c.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
our very own Becky is offering (amazing sounding) classes!
Hi local homeschool Moms--
Becky Kimball and her sister Jenny have started a new venture together: LitWits! Please check out their beautiful website to see what I am SO excited about. The fall semester workshops are on such great but often overlooked classics--we are really looking forward to seeing how Becky and Jenny bring them alive. (Knowing Becky, it will be magical. ; )
And best of all, LitWits Workshops is an Ocean Grove vendor-whoo-hoo!!!!
The workshops begin Sept 29, so don't wait to look at what they are offering--esp. because they are doing The Secret Garden first!
Becky Kimball and her sister Jenny have started a new venture together: LitWits! Please check out their beautiful website to see what I am SO excited about. The fall semester workshops are on such great but often overlooked classics--we are really looking forward to seeing how Becky and Jenny bring them alive. (Knowing Becky, it will be magical. ; )
And best of all, LitWits Workshops is an Ocean Grove vendor-whoo-hoo!!!!
The workshops begin Sept 29, so don't wait to look at what they are offering--esp. because they are doing The Secret Garden first!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Must. Read.
If you have ever considered sponsoring a Compassion child, if you already do, or *if you are looking for a motivation for your child to practice writing*--please read this blog entry I stumbled upon this evening. It is so, so, so good. And important.
Maybe I should have titled this post Must. Write.
love,
lisa
Maybe I should have titled this post Must. Write.
love,
lisa
Monday, August 30, 2010
Storytelling with Jim Weiss!
Hello Moms!
I am here tosell you on tell you about an amazing upcoming event! I am sure a lot of you are familiar with Jim Weiss, who is one of the top story tellers in America today and is the voice behind The Story of the World books.
Well, from what I have learned from my wonderful E.S. Terry Cleary:
Diane Bokulich and Mary Ann Shapiro worked to bring Jim Weiss to Capitola to teach your kids about storytelling!
Here is the info from the database:
Classes will take place on Monday, Nov 8 from 9Am to 3PM. at ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC COMMUNITY- CAPITOLA, CALIFORNIA, 435 Monterey Avenue, Capitola CA 95010, 831-475-8211.
There will be no "drop-off" and there is no area for small children to play. Students should bring a sack lunch if they are staying for the whole day.
I interpret this last part to mean that there must be a parent attending the event with his/her child, and this will not be a good venue for little ones. But think about it this way--YOU get to attend the event for FREE! ; )
Cost is $95/student. BUT it turns out that the price will drop as more students sign up! If we have 10 students, the cost is $95 each. With 20 students it drops to $47.50. This event is covered fully by your Ocean Grove funds, BUT let's still see if we can't get enough interested parents/kids to bring the cost down!
Sarah Frank will be taking Hannah while her husband watches the boys. She has generously offered to "parent" Gwynneth so she can attend and I can be here with my little ones! I am sure us Vintage Ocean Grove moms can together work out child care help for those of us who could not do it otherwise, so if you are interested, leave a comment below and we will see what we can do!
And be sure to sign-up for the event with your Ocean Grove E.S.!
I am here to
Well, from what I have learned from my wonderful E.S. Terry Cleary:
Diane Bokulich and Mary Ann Shapiro worked to bring Jim Weiss to Capitola to teach your kids about storytelling!
Here is the info from the database:
Classes will take place on Monday, Nov 8 from 9Am to 3PM. at ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC COMMUNITY- CAPITOLA, CALIFORNIA, 435 Monterey Avenue, Capitola CA 95010, 831-475-8211.
There will be no "drop-off" and there is no area for small children to play. Students should bring a sack lunch if they are staying for the whole day.
I interpret this last part to mean that there must be a parent attending the event with his/her child, and this will not be a good venue for little ones. But think about it this way--YOU get to attend the event for FREE! ; )
Cost is $95/student. BUT it turns out that the price will drop as more students sign up! If we have 10 students, the cost is $95 each. With 20 students it drops to $47.50. This event is covered fully by your Ocean Grove funds, BUT let's still see if we can't get enough interested parents/kids to bring the cost down!
Sarah Frank will be taking Hannah while her husband watches the boys. She has generously offered to "parent" Gwynneth so she can attend and I can be here with my little ones! I am sure us Vintage Ocean Grove moms can together work out child care help for those of us who could not do it otherwise, so if you are interested, leave a comment below and we will see what we can do!
And be sure to sign-up for the event with your Ocean Grove E.S.!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Quoting The Bard All the Live Long Day
Have you used any of these words recently?
Check out this amazing article for other words Shakespeare "invented" that are still commonly used today--and this article for common phrases.
The whole site looks like an amazing resource for all things Shakespeare.
- bump
- control (as a noun)
- critical
- eventful
- frugal
- hurry
- lonely
- road
Check out this amazing article for other words Shakespeare "invented" that are still commonly used today--and this article for common phrases.
The whole site looks like an amazing resource for all things Shakespeare.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Grammar links
From the Ocean Grove newsletter:
FREE GRAMMAR WEBSITES
Have you ever wished you could have your child brush up on a grammar rule that he/she may have forgotten, but you don’t want to purchase an
entire grammar program? Then check out these websites:
-Guide to Grammar and Writing, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
-Grammar Slammer, http://englishplus.com/grammar/ , provides instruction and examples for practically every aspect of grammar. Over 440 free grammar lessons, covering parts of speech, to prepositional phrases to, noun clauses and verb participles.
-Daily Grammar, http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml
FREE GRAMMAR WEBSITES
Have you ever wished you could have your child brush up on a grammar rule that he/she may have forgotten, but you don’t want to purchase an
entire grammar program? Then check out these websites:
-Guide to Grammar and Writing, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
-Grammar Slammer, http://englishplus.com/grammar/ , provides instruction and examples for practically every aspect of grammar. Over 440 free grammar lessons, covering parts of speech, to prepositional phrases to, noun clauses and verb participles.
-Daily Grammar, http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml
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