four&twenty

Our Facebook Page

Remember, our Facebook page is going strong! Click over and follow along to keep updated and inspired!

Mom’s Day Blossom Cards

I have to say, I'm always a little proud of myself when I can scrap together a cute and do-able art project for my 5 year-old with materials I already have on hand. And since I'm not a huge fan of pre-printed drug store cards I decided to make some springtime blossom cards inspired by the Bougainvillea growing in our backyard.

First I gathered some random envelopes and card stock in lovely spring colors. I think I've literally had these envelopes for over ten years. Today their destiny has been fulfilled!

Next I prepped the paint. I love craft paint. I'd buy every color if I could! I picked three colors for the blossoms, and for the stems I watered down a few drops of green paint in a small bowl.

For our "paintbrush" I used a cotton ball and clothespin to help keep little fingers cleaner. I decided to cut the cotton ball down to make it a bit more manageable and discovered a perfect blossom pattern hiding inside. I love happy accidents!

Time to make art! I puddled some of the watered down green paint at the bottom of the card and gave my boy a straw that I had cut in half. I encouraged him to blow the puddle around to create the stem and branches. It helped for me to rotate the card as he was doing this to spread the design out a bit. I have seen this techinque many times throughout my blog surfing adventures and I was thrilled to be able to finally try it out.

Next came the blossoms themselves. I squirted three small blobs onto a plate to mimic the colors of the Bougainvillia blossoms. Very little paint is required, depending on how many cards you want to make.

Taking the cottonball brush, my boy then added the blossoms. I encouraged him to "plant" them at the end of each stem. I have to say he did a pretty good job with that. Don't worry, should your young artist go on a wild dabbing-spree, the result will be just as perfect and adorable.

Once the cards dried we added a simple, heart-melting message to the inside.

This was such an easy, quick and fun crafting session with awesome results. And we've still got a day to get some of these into the mail for grandmas.

Honestly, even though I know what's coming, I'm so excited to open my own card come Sunday!

HAPPY MOM'S DAY and blessings to all of you amazing mothers out there! What you do is important!

Biodiversity and Our Children, A Dialog

This is an excerpt from Kim and Sara's forthcoming book, Habits of Being: Nuts and Bolts of the Guild, the "how-to" follow up to Habits of Being: Artifacts from the Classroom Guild.

Kim: I read a book once about a farmer struggling to save a peach from extinction. I bought it because the title intrigued me. Can’t judge a book by its cover? There are exceptions to every rule.

David Mas Masumoto’s Epitaph for a Peach is a case in point. I must admit that I bought this little gem solely based on its cover. The title is pure poetry. But I was pleased to discover that, as I entered the drama, an extended metaphor began to emerge.

The problem with Masumoto's peach? It’s seasonal and delicate.

Back in the Little House days it was a treat to get an orange for Christmas. Peaches were summer fruit. But we won’t stand for that nonsense in the 21st century. We want our peaches and we want them now!

In my neck of the woods, genetically engineered peaches sneer back at me year round. For every dozen I purchase, three or so can actually be classified as peaches. Sure they look like a peach on the outside, but beneath the surface is a flavorless pithy flesh that often rots before it ripens.

Is being able to buy a pseudo-peach better than having no peach at all?

Even Masumoto’s descriptions of the dark side of nature—the inevitable invasion of weeds and bugs—pales in comparison to the threat market demand poses.

Masumoto is a man who believes in preserving all that a peach can be.

Sara: …results guaranteed! Each ear of corn is the same—looks the same, tastes the same. Harvests can be predicted and guaranteed. Barbara Kingsglover is all over this one, beware bred vegetable varieties and mechanized harvest!

“Heirloom vegetables are irresistible, not just for the poetry in their names but because these titles stand for real stories.”

The conflict between corporate agriculture and local sustainable farming is not that far removed from the issues we face as educators.

Kim: Institutionalized education limits the development of individuality by forcing children through a prescribed course of study.

Sara: Individuality tended in the garden is delicious like heirloom fruits and vegetables. Let’s face it, institution destroys diversity.

Kim: Masumoto believes in preserving all that his peach can be and celebrates the chaos of nature.

“Most of my peaches and grapes are grown without herbicides. As a result, I’ve learned a lot about weeds and can identify most of them by name. I have developed a friendship with some while others continue to fool me. Most I no longer consider weeds. I call them “indigenous growth” (it sounds more scientific than “natural grasses”) and try to ignore them.”

If Masumoto were a teacher, he’d be one of us for sure.

Sara: Grass root efforts change mindsets one individual at a time. Think about the “Who's Your Farmer?” movement… Maybe we’re spear heading, “Who's your teacher?"

When Evelyn was five, I thought, “Why would I turn my kid over to some stranger?” I remember thinking, is the teacher going to care about who Evelyn is at her core as much as I do?

Kim: Longing to be deeply known is a common desire. My greatest tool as a mother and a teacher is affirmation. But protecting and promoting the biodiversity of children is no easy task. When I consider the creative chaos involved in true academic individualization, I can relate to Masumoto:

“During moments of insecurity I still have occasional anxiety attacks and threaten to call the bulldozer and regain order, to rid myself of these tumultuous peaches that just taste too damned good. I can’t hide my experiments and failures. Neighbors drive past watch my progress, and talk with my wife while my weeds grow seemingly out of control. They ask if something has happened to me. My farm looks as if the farmer has died.”

Masumoto is competing with a peach model that has been redefined according to a seller's model. Mass marketing has a singular goal: A peach in every pocket.

Sara: My dad grew tomatoes. Tomatoes in the markets today are a mass of flavorless clones with a dangerous grappling hook lurking beneath their core so they won’t fall from the vine. Homegrown tomatoes are flavorful, complex in color and scent­––brandy wine to orange and yellow-green, even white. Variety. Diversity. Human beings are the same. 

Kim: Peaches are supposed to come dripping sweetness in summer. With the concept of compromise for the sake of marketability, a peach is no longer a peach at all.

Priorities are askew.

Sara: Each child has the unique potential of a tasty tomato. 

Kim: …and a juicy peach.

Sugar Cube Construction

I have vivid and happy memories from my elementary school years of building my California mission out of sugar cubes. Being that my brother is five years older than me, I was lucky to always have a preview of what was to come for various school projects. Willie was (and is) a master builder, inventor, and maker of all things cool and mechanical and as a faithful little sister, I basically worshipped him, and everything he did and made. His creations were my inspiration and although I never quite matched him in precision and craftsmanship, I am grateful for what he showed me was possible.

Sugar cubes aren't quite as common at the supermarket anymore but if you come across them, snatch up a box or two for a "sweet" construction session. They provide a great exercise in self-control...and hold magical potential for architects of all ages with their sharp edges, sparkly whiteness, and grainy texture. After all the hard work, don't forget to reward your young builder with the thrill of crunching through one perfect cube of 100% pure sugary goodness!

– Tracey

Individuality

Too bad this photo is blurry, the moment was lucid ...

One day at lunch Andrew and Hunter were hanging in the classroom. Andrew kept crafting and solving problems, over and over again (for fun). He would fill the entire whiteboard, erase, then start the process again. Hunter sat by amazed, longing to grab the nearest math book and tear it apart one page at a time for origami, or a possible bonfire.

Some students possess math genius, some are comedians!

The world needs both.

It was a dark and stormy night...

And so begins Madeleine L’Engle’s most memorable classic tale, A Wrinkle In Time. A story about the life-changing journey of three children, their epic battle against darkness and the cosmic power of love.

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Wrinkle. Interestingly, we might have never heard of Meg Murray or Charles Wallace as L’Engle’s manuscript was initially rejected by 26 publishers before editors at Farrar, Straus & Giroux read it and enthusiastically accepted it. It went on to win the John Newbery Medal as the best children’s book of 1963 and has so far sold eight million copies. It is now in its 69th printing. Now that's a lesson in perseverance!

As the author of over sixty books, Madeleine L’Engle’s rich legacy includes poetry, plays, writings on faith and four additional stories about the Murray’s adventures. “Why does anybody tell a story?” she once asked, even though she knew the answer. “It does indeed have something to do with faith,” she said, “faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.”

The thing about fantasy literature is that it has the ability to inspire our imaginations and our souls to believe in that which seems impossible. We all want to know that there is a bigger purpose to our lives. We want to see that those who are “regular” can overcome their ordinariness and achieve greatness, make a difference—even save the universe!

To explore more, visit: www.madeleinelengle.com

In addition to A Wrinkle In Time, the following fantasy guides are available from Blackbird & Company:
Level 1 - The Iron Giant & My Father's Dragon
Level 2 - City of Ember, Half Magic, The Magician's Nephew, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
Level 3 - The White Mountains & The Thief Lord

Handprint Valentines

I'm in charge of preparing the craft activity each week for my son's adorable little Wednesday morning preschool group. My first click is almost always The Crafty Crow, followed closely by Pinterest. I never come up empty-handed, in fact it usually comes down to having to eliminate ideas and decide on just one. So hard to do sometimes.

Truth be told, I'm a sucker for handprint crafts, especialy for this age group. (Although I have seen teenagers gleefully line up to create these fun snowman ornaments.) There is just something so cute and magical about using little hands to make art...it's a creative and whimsical way to record the growth stages of our precious wee ones. And who can resist those paint-laden, pudgy little fingers!

So here's a last minute Valentine's Day idea that requires very little in terms of supplies. They come together quickly and are perfect for mass production. You might even be able to get a few in the mail today!

A huge "heartfelt" thanks to Rosy-Posy for the original inspiration! We modified things a bit, using colored paper and outlining the heart with glitter! You can find the complete step-by-step post here, and click around her blog for many other great ideas and musings!

Happy Hearts Day!

– Tracey

Writing Chocolate Cake

Teaching a child to write and to value their imagination go hand in hand. Writing for real begins when children believe that their ideas are important enough to do the work of shaping words on a page that will communicate that idea.

You could begin to teach a child to write like this:

“A paragraph consists of one or more sentences focusing on a single idea within a specific structure that enables a reader to understand the idea.”

Or, you could begin like this:

“Let’s write a chocolate cake!”

In my experience, the second option is nearly groan free.

Set out paper and pencil for later. Begin with discovery. You might bake a cake from scratch or assemble a cake with pre-baked cakes, pre-made frosting, and a variety of decorations. You might try several chocolate cake recipes and have a taste test. Either way, as you are exploring chocolate cake, discuss the process of discovery along the way. Once the discovery session is complete, encourage your writer to pick up their paper and pencil to begin the process of communicating what they discovered to someone else. Remind them that their writing is a gift twice as delicious as chocolate cake.

Walking writers through the process of crafting a paragraph about chocolate cake is easy as 1, 2, 3… I promise!

1.  Hook: The first sentence in a paragraph outlines the idea that will be presented. But more importantly, this is the sentence that grabs the reader’s attention, first impressions matter. This sentence can be a statement, a command, a question, or even an exclamation. The goal is simply to entice the reader to read on. Honestly, once writers have crafted the Hook, words flow until they hit the Clincher.

Ask the writer, “For our paragraph about chocolate cake do we want a flavorless, bland topic sentence like this…?”

I am now going to tell you about chocolate cake.

Of course the resounding response will be, “NO!”

At this point remind them that the bland sentence is not wrong, but it’s not original, not creative, and it certainly will not inspire the reader. Now, together try playing with the sentence to make it grab the reader’s attention.

Craft a small sentence in collaboration and focus on finding just the right adjective to describe chocolate cake. Here “mouthwatering” can be exchanged with a variety of great words and phrases: tasty, lip smacking, scrumptious. Begin the list making until the writer come up with their own words to fill in the blank. Add the word and the hook is their own.

Chocolate cake is a mouthwatering treat.

Or...

Provide a few facts about chocolate and encourage them to choose one that they find amazing and then, encourage them to write it in their own words.

Did you know that a long time ago, chocolate cake wasn’t chocolate, but a spiced cake more like gingerbread made to eat with a cup of hot chocolate?

Or...

Have them begin narrative style, “Tell a story that includes chocolate cake facts in a make-believe story.”

It all began on a dark and stormy night when I decided to bake a chocolate cake. 

2.  Body Sentences: This is the part of the paragraph that presents the details, facts, and examples that support the main idea. With reluctant writers, three sentences is a good place to begin, “Now write three more sentences that tell the reader something you discovered about chocolate cake.” As writers become more confident, not only will sentence count increase, but more specific details and more interesting language will begin to emerge. 

3. Twist: This last sentence of the paragraph should not only summarize the main idea of the paragraph but it should leave the reader with something to think about.

Ask the writers again, “For our paragraph about chocolate cake do we want to end with a flavorless, bland topic sentence like this…?”

That is all I know about chocolate cake.

And, again, the resounding response will be, “NO way!”

Remind them, “Bland sentences are not original, not creative, and certainly will not inspire the reader.” I begin by modeling ideas, allow them to use a phrase from my twist, and soon enough the writers come up with some pretty fantastic ideas of their own.

Chocolate cake reminds my taste buds to blast off!

Chocolate cake, even the smallest silken-spun morsel is just right any old time.             

Chocolate cake, like a well-crafted paragraph, is worth every single bite.

Jasper Johns Number Paintings

Jasper Johns was born in America, on May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia to be exact. As a boy, he knew he would be an artist one day. So when he grew up, he moved to New York and studied art. Jasper Johns became famous for painting ordinary things that people sometimes take for granted...

flags...

maps...

targets...

and numbers.

Using this last Jasper Johns painting as inspiration, our group of young artists learned how paint their ages! It was a great exercise in color, scale, form and composition!

To begin their paintings, each student was given a large 11 x 17 stretched canvas, a pencil, and examples of numbers in different typefaces. You can do this by typing a row a numbers on your computer, changing the font a few times and printing them out large for your children to draw from. Have them look at and observe the nuances of line and curve that different letterforms have.

Next, I demonstrated how to lay down a design first in pencil. Since the entire surface would be covered in multiple layers of paint, it was not so important to create perfect drawings but rather for students to concetrate on their compositions. I encouraged the use of the whole canvas, emphasising size and shape, and having students pay extra attention to white space.

"Make the numerals big so that the negative spaces around the image of your age are really interesting to look at." 

Then we talked about color. I reminded them that painters don't use color straight from the tube.

Using acrylics, I pre-mixed a palette of bright, complex colors to share so the artists could focus on design and painting technique. I explained how more interesting hues are created by combining a color with a bit of its complement—green has a dash of the red, blue has a dash of orange, yellow has a dash of  blue, and so on.

My students then helped me drape the table with a plastic drop cloth, I set out jars of water, and set paper towels at each place for blotting and drying brushes. Then the painting began!


This was a two session lesson, each session taking a little over an hour with a snack and stretch break in between. During the first session the artists drew their composition and blocked in their design, covering all the white canvas with paint.

During the second session the students built up their paint layers. In some of the negative spaces they experimented using dry brush techniques so that the under layers peeked through. And and in the positive spaces (the numbers), the artists experimented laying down wet thick paint onto the design.

The results were fantastic, gestural and bold—a friutful exercise in Abstract Expressionism! Mr. Johns would be proud!

To Hinder the Skill of Cramming

 

It’s the same every year. After the rush of December festivities there is that tiny six-day space to reflect upon the year passing and to anticipate the year ahead. In that small space there’s a certain stillness of mind, it’s brief, but wonderfully still and remarkably hopeful. 

I’m sure you know the place, the place where we breathe life to resolution.

But here I am, well into January 2012 head spinning, wondering how I missed the respite of that space. Was it the ordinary bustle that craves my attention like the stomach flu? Was it four transitions looming—a daughter entering her final university undergraduate semester, a son preparing to graduate high school, another son preparing to enter high school, and my youngest son moving on to conquer middle school? Was it the back-to-school dash? Lesson Planning? Grocery shopping? Dust? Laundry?

Faster! Faster! Faster! Is this what life is to be?

So even though the six-day window has passed, here it is, for 2012, my resolution is distilled to a single word: Balance.

The potential of the dandelion is inherent to its essence. So it is with our children.

A quality elementary and secondary education provides abundant opportunities for each child to master skills—phonics, grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, math facts, grammar, historical and scientific facts, and so on­— that will allow for deeper exploration. But when foundational skills become the central objective of education, we sacrifice the promotion and development of curiosity.

Curiosity is the gateway to the labyrinth of learning.

Education that has no room for curiosity, is not only disheartening, it’s dangerous. 

Curiosity and imagination are vital to the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual well being of the child. Stimulating the heart, mind, and soul is essential to a full academic experience.

I firmly believe that educating checklist style promotes the skill of cramming. 

Let’s face it. The skill of cramming is central to most academic pursuit.

Globed Potential

What did we do for New Year’s Eve? Movie night. Sure, we belong to Netfiix, but we also have an expansive old-school DVD collection.

I am happy to report that last night old school won, Between the Folds. 

If we are being honest most of us hold pretty low expectations for a sheet of paper. Scribble, scribe, crumple, and toss. But this film hyperbolically demonstrates the magnitude of paper’s underutilization. Truth is folding paper taps into paper’s latent potential. Work a single fold and the sheet of paper, and voila, the sheet of paper will never be the same.

This film takes us to the intersection of math and science and art and invites us to linger. 

When I shared this film with my science workshop last spring, I wrote a ridiculously complex equation for a hyperbolic paraboloid on the board.

Next I handed out large pre-cut squares of paper and told the students to do the math. They were to fold a single hyperbolic parabola. Well into the folding with the room quiet except for paper crinkling mathematically I reminded them to consider their own endowed potential, “Think about it, even paper has hidden potential that is realized with a bit of concentrated effort. Is your potential worth the work?”

This afternoon, on the very first day of 2012, my oldest son handed me a gift.

As you can see, it looks suspiciously like a Christmas ornament, but it’s not. 

Honestly, I am quite sure this is more than art. This is language, inspiration, translation, transposition.

Taylor took everything he gleaned from this film and globed it to haiku.

This is visual poetry at its best.

Watch the film and I think you will see what I mean.

Here’s to more critical creative thinking in 2012!

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas

“Mom, how many times have you seen A Charlie Brown Christmas?”

I was flooded with memories. Childhood had markers back then, and the Charlie Brown specials were on the top of the list.

“Um... thing is, when I was a little girl Charlie Brown was a treat regulated by television networks. There were no DVD players in the olden days.”

The little exchange triggered my husband to read this article to our family. 

It all began 46 years ago, and they say Charlie Brown is here to stay.

Tidings of joy!

Joy!

I bought these cookies at an after Christmas sale for $1 nearly 5 years ago.

I keep them tucked in a drawer with my poetry trinkets, take a peek every now and then when I need a reminder.

Much more than stale crumbs, joy is intrepid.

Gathering Descriptive Words

Taking notes is a foundational skill that will accompany your student throughout their entire educational journey, and beyond. Even though there is no “right” way of taking notes, it is important to learn how to extract relevant and pertinent information from a text in a neatly organized, concise manner. This takes practice. When students are encouraged to practice note taking, and engage in the work of capturing the most important facts from their reading, they will begin to recognize how all the parts of a story fit into a larger picture. Learning to take notes helps to lay the foundation for rich, clear, and organized writing.

When readers observe character development, trace a setting, and watch a plot thicken, they are learning more than just the skill of recording facts, they are actually beginning to realize the potential of storytelling. Teaching students to dig into a story, to do the “work” of reading for meaning, enables them to discover how language has the power to communicate significance.

Consider what is gained as students learn to infer abstract traits and values from literal details embedded in great stories.

curious, wise, boastful
shy, witty
arrogant, reliable,
courageous
devout, outlandish
stable, tricky, vain

List poem?

No! This list is a portion of the lexicon that develops over time as readers dig into the work of thinking deeply about fictional characters.

As students reach for just the right descriptive adjective to assign to a character's unique personality they simultaneously expand their vocabulary, recognize the profound specificity of language, engage with the story at hand on a deeper level, and  gain deep understanding of abstract real-life concepts from a make-believe situations.

The sample page above is student work in response to Leo Lionni's It's Mine, a simple fable about the blessings of sharing. Our Earlybird literature guides provide your youngest students with the opportunity to share classic read-alouds with you, while exploring simple literary concepts like characterization and plot. Find all of our Earlybird guides here!

At the Intersection of Math and Writing

I began the writing workshop with Cuisinare rods and colored pencils. My writers looked puzzled.

“Today you're going to make a Cuisinaire construction and then describe how you made the construction with words on paper so that a reader will be able to navigate through the paragraph to create an identical construction.”

This is my idea of a hands-on How To paragraph.

“Just like math, when writing instructions you have to show all your steps.”

Young writers need to practice working through the process of crafting words. It's challenging teaching young writers that words need to be wisely chosen and crafted carefully to accurately communicate a specific idea to an audience of readers. This is challenging because the task is a process that involves tremendous effort on the part of the writer and young writers want to skip steps. Participating in this work over time sets a foundation for the rhythm of the writer's routine to be established.

Before beginning, I  challenged my writers to keep in mind the cardinal rule of our writing workshop:
“Words are scribbled on paper for a reader to read... your words are a gift.”

The young writers eagerly spent an hour an a half contentedly drafting rough drafts paragraph that they took home to self-conference and craft to final draft.

“Next week we will exchange final drafts and see if readers can make the construction.” 

Begin all writing experiences by breaking the task at hand into steps. Remind writers that writing is a process. Getting young writers to engage in process is a tricky business that takes time to root, but truth be told, process alone takes the daunting out of writing.

We broke this specific project down as follows:

What's your big idea?
Make a construction with Cuisinaire rods. Map the construction on graph paper with colored pencils.

Write it down...!
Begin by use a topic wheel to outline each step involved in the construction. Craft a paragraph following the topic wheel outline. Be sure to introduce the topic with a sentence that hooks the reader into the big idea. The supporting sentences should include specific details that will allow the reader to navigate through the Cuisinaire construction without a hitch. Craft a single sentence at the end of the paragraph that will conclude the exercise and add an interesting clincher that makes idea of the paragraph echo in the mind of the reader.

Conference with yourself and someone else...
Now, re-read what you wrote and decide, as a reader, if you are accurately communicating your big idea. Use a red pen to make changes. Ask someone else to read your work and to add red marks when they find confusing areas, holes, or dead ends in your “How To” paragraph.
 
Revise
Make a final sweep with the red pen for common errors—spelling, punctuation, capitalization, tense, and so on.

Final Draft
Use your best handwriting or type up a final draft!

Mystery Solved

In all my years of teaching literature, I've never met a reader, regardless of reluctancy, who has not been drawn delightedly into the The Westing Game's intrigue. The plot is complex and captivating. Upper elementary and middle school readers enjoy every twist and turn. Beyond the fact that I am thrilled to have a mystery that is age appropriate for this audience, the theme of embracing true identity and resisting the urge to be what others want us to be, is an added bonus. In the story, characters often behave a certain way based on perceived expectations from other characters and situations, in the real world we call this peer pressure! And we all know, when peer pressure is present, appearances are deceiving. The Westing Game is a terrific reminder.

So the plot goes, one of 16 people will win Westing's $200 million fortune if they solve a mystery involving word clues. For the past three weeks, Søren and his literature buddies have been collecting clues as they read. Compounding the tension for this specific group is that all of the participants have older siblings who have read the book. Can you say, “Spoiler alert?”

Last night, just as the house was beginning to settle, I heard the roar of a surprise party, Liam and Søren were at it again! I marched to the scene where my two youngest boys were laughing hysterically. “What happened?” I asked.

The thing is, I can't tell you their response because it would spoil the mystery! What I can say is that I was completely taken aback. My boys had settled down for the evening, were reading quietly until Søren reached the end of the book where the mystery is solved. Both he and Liam delighted together at last.

In the end, like every great mystery, nothing is as it seems but all the pieces are in place!

– Kim