April Pulley Sayre Children's Book Author » geography & biomes

Gordon School Shines: Shadow Puppet Plays

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:01:28 +0000

I just returned from four days as the Karla Harry Visiting Author at the Gordon School, in Providence, RI. The time at Gordon was one of the highlights of my career.Here are some of the shadow plays the kindergarten and 3rd graders did. The teachers and librarians collaborated to create this exciting exploration of light, shadow, and literature. They did Trout Are Made of Trees, Vulture View, and Honk, Honk, Goose.

I love this school. The scientific inquiry. The diversity. The joy of learning. It felt like the most wonderful educational family I have encountered and I miss them already! Extraordinary librarian Suzanne Fox, who I’d met when she worked at another school, invited me. I also had the pleasure of making friends with librarian Frances Martindale. Her reading style is fantastic. If I were doing an audio book, I’d call her to do the voice. Head of School Ralph Wales was so supportive and welcoming. This private school is serious about their mandate to bring racial and cultural diversity into their school. They have faculty and students of many backgrounds. Their library books and major projects are chosen to open children’s eyes to the possibilities for themselves and the world. They embrace science even at the youngest ages. The Kindergarteners, preschoolers, and I had some brain-expanding science talks. I just want to hang out at Gordon. The atmosphere is that joyful and stimulating.

Continent Studies: Picture Books for K, 1, 2

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:28:48 +0000

Great picture books to tie in with studies of continents

Australian Picture Books Everyone Should Read

10 Children’s Books About South America

My young continent series books, with two levels of text include:

http://www.aprilsayre.com/2002/08/05/our-amazing-continents-series/

Liberty Union-Thurston Elementary’s Creativity

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:50:14 +0000

I am excited to share with you a few of the creative educational activities at Liberty Union-Thurston Elementary School in Baltimore, Ohio. These projects were done in relationship to my books in advance of my 2-day visit to their schools. They’ve had some great authors, including Ron Hirschi, who did stream walks with them some years ago. (In DECEMBER, they said. Cold toes but worth it.) It seems they have an ongoing nature and stream study in this school. Hooray! Kids will learn so much from seeing nature and science in action.

Ah, the halls were festooned with beautiful bumblebees and flowers. A shiny paper mirror said “Look here to see the author.” How wonderful for each student to see a young author in themselves. We had some of the first art celebration of He’s a Howler: a howler paper quilt. Beautiful!

Many of the students were studying geography. They had done drawings and short writing pieces about the features of continents to go with my continent books.

One classroom did a hilarious counting riff on One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab. They did counting by eyes.

One class analyzed and classified the information in Bumblebee Queen.

Another class created new versions of the fish chant but with ocean fish. They created fish cutouts, wrote reports about features and behavior. Then they drew a fanciful sea/town scene where the fish swam. It was nonfiction with a visual fiction twist, in the spirit of Trout, Trout, Trout. Hooray!

One of my favorites was the bird poetry written by the fourth graders. Using Vulture View as a model, the teacher had created a form with key words and phrases from Vulture View. Students each drew a bird species and filled in what that bird would or would not eat and how it would move. Brilliant.

A highlight of my visit was two small sessions with young authors and illustrators. I will never forget my discussions with them! I hope that Reading Rainbow Book entry goes well.

This is a fine school with energetic educators and students that are excited to learn. The students were well prepared for my visit and worked well together in the assembly setting. The faculty welcomed me. Students and staff have much to be proud of; together they have made an environment for learning. As an author, it was a pleasure to visit.

Thank you, librarian Ms. Brown, for bringing me in to share this joyful place with you.

Author Visit Grant and Paperwork Help: Curriculum Standards

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:13:32 +0000

Do you need to write a grant, justify author visit costs, or explain the value of my visit to an administrator?Below is a list of the standards that most schools apply during studies of my books in preparation for a visit, the actual talks I give to students, and follow-up work that flows naturally from my visits.

April Pulley Sayre

Grades K-8, Writing structure, skills, and creative nonfiction

(NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills; NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies; NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge; NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data; NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills, NL-Eng.K-12.11 Participating in Society; NL-ENG.k-12.12 Applying Language Skills)

Ecosystems, life cycles, environments, and science in the field

(NS.K-4.3 Life Science; NS.K-4.4 Earth and Space Science; NSK-4.6 Personal and Social Perspectives; NS.5-8.1 Science as Inquiry; NS.5-8.3 Life Science)

Geography (NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions; NSS-G.K-12.3 Physical Systems;

NSS-G.K-12.5)

Igloo at Indian Hill Elementary in Ohio?

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:59:02 +0000

Look at the igloo that Joan Welsh dreamed up and created from copy paper boxes, paper, cotten and shelving. The kids answered questions and competed for the chance to come read in the igloo. They were curled up in this book nook. It was to celebrate my book about Antarctica.

Another thing that set the tone in this school was the welcome boards outside each room. Something about having that personal note, right at the door, seemed even more welcoming than the usual note on the blackboard in the classroom. The kids pause, see what’s up for the day, and enter the classroom in a more focused way. Plus, the signs lets other faculty/staff know a bit of what’s happening in each room.

Continents Activities at Nappanee Elementary

admin — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:03:06 +0000

Wow, do they know how to dig into a subject! Look at what Nappanee Elementary did with the continents theme.

Continents Activities

admin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:54:04 +0000

The first of these is from Wea Ridge Elementary School. But most of these great activities come from Harrison School in South Bend. Wow, what an enthusiastic school!