Sunday, May 19, 2013
My chant books are a celebration of words, rhythm, rhyme, and biodiversity. To celebrate my upcoming (June 16th, 2011) vegetable chant, I’ve assembled sound samples to help in teaching and understanding these books. (more…)
Oh boy, bok choy! Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant is out in stores. (Go, Go, Grapes: a Fruit Chant will follow in May 2012.) My thanks to all of you who encouraged me to keep pursuing a home for the veggie book. I hope it encourages kids to taste delicious vegetable words and the vegetables, too.
It is going to take me quite a while to process all the great teaching techniques I witnessed at Indian Hill Elementary and Indian Hill Primary, two schools in Cincinnati. Just look at what Mrs. Bauer and her class were doing with nonfiction. This is a classroom full of words. You can see their process on the walls. (more…)
These are from Hamilton Traditional School in Indiana.
This amazing teacher worked with her students to put together a Thanksgiving-appropriate story using the structure of Crocodile Listens. See what happens when turkey listens!
They also created a turkey chant using the chant books as a structural element. Mrs Schwartz is clearly an extraordinary teacher.
Turkey Chant Using Breeds of Turkeys!
In Nov, 2008 I had a wonderful visit to Hamilton Traditional School in South Bend, IN. Curriculum leader Marcia LaBelle brought me in. The school was decked with creative art and writing related to my books. Classrooms I visited were doing in-depth writing, using some of my books as structural models. (more…)
| Sayre’s Books As Models For Teaching The 6 + Traits of Writing |
| Ideas | (details, development, focus) | Trout Are Made of Trees
Stars Beneath Your Bed: the Surprising Story of Dust Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls of Whales, Elephants, and Birds Ocean, Coral Reef, and other in the “Exploring Earth’s Biomes” series |
| Organization | (internal structure) | Vulture View
Trout Are Made of Trees Home At Last: a Song of Migration Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls of Whales, Elephants, and Birds Ocean, Coral Reef, and other in the “Exploring Earth’s Biomes” series |
| Voice | (tone, style, purpose, audience) | Trout Are Made of Trees
The Bumblebee Queen If You Should Hear a Honey Guide Army Ant Parade Dig, Wait, Listen: a Desert Toad’s Tale |
| Word Choice | (precise language and phrasing) | Vulture View
The Bumblebee Queen Stars Beneath Your Bed Dig, Wait, Listen: a Desert Toad’s Tale Shadows Secrets of Sound: Studying the Calls of Whales, Elephants, and Birds |
| Sentence Fluency | (rhythm, cadence) | Vulture View
Bird, Bird, Bird: a Chirping Chant Home At Last: a Song of Migration Trout, Trout, Trout: a Fish Chant Ant, Ant, Ant: An Insect Chant Shadows |
| Conventions | (mechanical correctness) | any |
| Presentation | (handwriting, formatting, layout) | The Bumblebee QueenTrout, Trout, Trout: a Fish Chant
One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab (Great for pagination.) |
Wow, Knox County, OH schools had fun with my books!. What extraordinary teachers and students. The countryside near there is beautiful, too.
Vulture View, a Theodor Geisel Honor Book, American Library Association. I am so excited about this book! It explores the life of vultures, surely some of the most underappreciated cleaners in the world. It also teaches kids about warm air rising and cooling air sinking. (more…)
April Pulley Sayre is an award-winning children’s book author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.
© Copyright 1994-2009 April Pulley Sayre. All rights reserved.
All trademarks (registered or otherwise) appearing on AprilSayre.com are the property of their respective owners.
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