four&twenty

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

Home Ec: Fall Gardening

I was thinking today as I was working in my garden that I take mentoring pretty seriously when it comes to gardening. I am such a “wanna-be” gardener even though it looks like I have it down. Well I don’t at all.

I am constantly calling my friends who have horticulture degrees or just lots more experience than I. And I know they call people who have more experience than them. So I benefit from the trickle down of knowledge. Throw in a healthy dose of the, “How hard can it be?” mentality and, shebang!  I have a decent garden.

But I am constantly doubting what I know and have many failures. I also do stupid things like shoveling mushy compost with my white gym shoes!

Well I attempted to photograph myself gardening this weekend. Practically impossible to hold a shovel and a camera at the same time! I finally got a bin full of compost to actually turn into dirt. It took forever because I had added WAY to much green stuff and not enough leaves (I was too lazy to go hunt up leaves.) Therefore my compost spent months in the anaerobic state rather than the optimal aerobic state. But never fear, I finally added enough dry stuff that it degraded into rich dirt. I found a cute frog in my bin and you know, they say amphibians are the first to go if their environment is bad sooo... it must be okay!

I also have been feeling so unmotivated to start fall planting. So with winter on my heels, I am at last into action.

I love the idea that a gentle rain will keep my seeds wet so I don’t have too. So I dove in on Sunday afternoon. First, I harvested all my remaining carrots and beets. I took a shovel and turned the bed, and then I tossed in my compost and turned that in. Then came decision time, what to plant? And then it dawned on me that it says right on the seed package whether or not it’s a cool or warm season vegetable! So I quickly weeded through my seed stash taking out only cool season seeds. I use the Square Foot Gardening approach by Mel Bartholomew. Except he does a professional job and I just wing it using some old bamboo sticks, to temporarily grid off the sq. feet. Oh to be Mel…

In the process, I discovered that I had neglected to support my eggplant all summer and it was a mess, so I gingerly staked it up and discovered a bunch of fruit under the pile! Even when I mess up things still grow and produce! Here’s to Eggplant! A good source of Vitamin K ,Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium, Manganese and a very good source of fiber, not to mention, a good source of an antioxidant called Chlorogenic Acid, among the most potent plant-based free radical scavengers ever discovered!

– Sara

Eggplant Dip
from Dr Andrew Weil MD

- 1 eggplant
- ½ med onion, grated or finely chopped
- 2 T capers
- 2 T fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup EVO
- ½ t dried oregano
- ½ t salt
- ¾ t fresh ground pepper
- 1 T  red wine vinegar
- 4 pitas
- 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, diced
- 1 T chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Set eggplant on a baking sheet or dish and pierce it a few times with a knife. Bake until soft, 30 mins.
It should pierce easily with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Peel off skin, put flesh in a blender or processor. Add onions, capers, lemon juice. Turn on the machine, then gradually add the EVO. Continue to blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl, stir in oregano, salt, pepper, and vinegar.

Warm pitas briefly on a baking sheet, then cut each into 8 wedges. Arrange on a plate. Just before serving, stir the tomato and parsley into the dip.

Lexicon for Advent

This year we are collecting words.

My high school literature workshop began with an eight-week close reading and explored a kaleidoscope of Shakespeare’s words.

This past Monday, as the curtain closed on The Tempest, and culminating essays were handed in, I had an idea, “Open your lexicons, I have a word for you.” We pulled out the dictionaries (old school and iTouch) and raced for the definition.

ADVENT
L. adentus "arrival"
The coming or arrival, especially of something important.

One thing led to another, and by the end of the spontaneous lexicon activity, “wait” and “anticipate” and “expect” and “hope” all led to another idea.

As we wait, anticipate, expect, and hope during the month of December, we’ll create a collaborative collection, one word and one image per day. In January we’ll craft a poem from the verbal and visual advent lexicon as a reminder that waiting, anticipating, expecting, and hoping remind us to marvel in joy, in peace.

We’ll be posting what we gather on our Facebook page. We’d love for you to join us!

Boys and Books

Q: What do readers like best about Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder?
A: The FOOD!

Last week I celebrated the end of an era, read the last pages of Farmer Boy with my youngest son, Søren and his literature circle buddies. This was the second time that I read the book with an all boy group, the second time I was surprised by the level of boy-enthusiasm for the reading. These boys were fascinated by the history, intrigued by the real responsibilities that Almanzo tackled each day, but mostly, they were amazed by how much Almanzo could eat!

The group enjoyed sharing their projects inspired by the book during a culminating feast of Almanzo's favorites—apples and onions, cornbread, ham, and, of course, stacked pancakes!

"Ten pancakes cooked on the smoking griddle, and as fast as they were done Mother added another cake to each stack and buttered it lavishly and covered it with maple sugar. Butter and sugar melted together and soaked the fluffly pancakes and dripped all down their crisp edges. That was stacked pancakes. Almanzo liked them better than any other kind of pancakes."

A Little Inspiration

There is always hope, or so they say.

I went out to check on my garden after being gone on vacation. I had asked my teens to water while I was away and for the most part they got it right. But alas, they missed the beautiful pot of mint that I had finally gotten to grow back after a long rainy winter.

It looked really dead but I watered it anyway thinking that maybe, just maybe, there might be life below the surface. There was! A week later a sprout appeared and I marveled. I just stood there thinking (always dangerous) about it and this led to my feeling hopeful about a lot of things.

Life isn’t always as it seems. It can look very bleak and discouraging, but there is often a turn ahead.

How many times have our children gone through a difficult stage where we think, how in the world is this going to work itself out?

The good news is that there are seeds of growth deep inside our children and they are moments away from erupting into change, into new life. There may be steps backwards, sure, but truly momentum is going forward.

Love and patience are like water, they can bring a miracle.

Hope.

– Sara

Thanksgiving Making

Fall is cozy....and has to be the best season for making! We had so much fun this year getting creative ideas from many of you around the wonderful-wide-web! It's a blessing to be able to find inspiration at your fingertips and we're really grateful for the sharing that happens from blog to blog. Here are some of the projects we made...enjoy, and Thanksgiving blessings to you!

Fall Leaf Cutting Practice inspired by mmmCrafts

Leaf Lanterns inspired by ...imagine childhood

Handprint Mayflower inspired by Fryman Four

Thanksgiving Story Bracelets inspired by My Montessori Journey

Paper Leaf/Feather Garland inspired by Chasing Fireflies

"Coneucopias" filled with gummy fish, caramel corn, candy-coated sunflower seeds, berry chews and Reeses Pieces inspired by Busy Bee

Turkey Handprint Cards (in process)

Pumkin Cookies

Our "First Thanksgiving" Feast shared and ejoyed by our little ones. We served beef jerkey, baby carrots, fishie crackers, nuts, dried green beans, dried blueberries, grapes, apples and cranberry juice.

Crafting a Poem of Thanksgiving

I shrink in the company of Sarcasm. I’m admittedly deficient, two steps behind when it comes to her volley of shrill phrases. When she enters the building, I chuckle a bit but rarely participate. I acknowledge that, on edge of her spectrum, chatter is light-hearted, friendly. Still, try as I might, I can’t quite squeak a giggle in the midst of her raucous presence.

Recently two students in my guild moved on to explore new education paths. Both students had been part of the guild for many years. My idea was to provide an opportunity for closure by challenging writers to craft a farewell phrase. I decided to incorporate this exercise into our regular writing workshop. What better way to put my “writing is a gift” motto into action?

So we began, “Let’s craft kind words to encourage our friends as they set out on a new adventure.” Sounds simple, right?

As I watched the card I provided move from writer to writer, I anticipated reading the messages before posting them the old fashioned way. But later that day, when I sat down with a cup of tea excited to read the phrases inscribed on the card, my heart sank. There she was, Sarcasm, smirking in all her glory, “Have fun wandering the halls,” and “Happy Easter (jk),” and “Yeah, whatever, thanks for leaving me behind,” and “Life is good (not),” …not a single kind word. There were careless spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Decibels peaking, Sarcasm crossing over to the caustic zone, I wanted to shrink. At one point in the reading, I wanted to cry. Our guild is not a typical classroom where children come and go annually, most of these children have been learning together for many years. These children are respectful of and grateful for friendship. Still, not a single phrase in the card was crafted vulnerably. What in the world? I knew that this group would really miss their friends who had moved on. I knew this must be something else. Maybe they did not know how to craft vulnerable words.

Home Ec: The Science of Yeast

I LOVE bread. A tradition of making it from scratch is easy to establish. The aroma of this yeasty wonder baking is pure gratitude and a warm slice with butter is a one-of-a-kind head-nodding smile. But home baked bread is more than yummy, it's science! Of course yeast is the agent that makes bread rise and yeast is an interesting thing to study.

Yeast has several crucial roles in bread baking. Yeast is a single celled fungus. How can such a little fungus be so important? Well, yeast is the driving force behind fermentation that allows a big lump of dough to become well risen. Yeast is a living organism that works by consuming sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol. Fermentation helps to strengthen and develop gluten in dough and also contributes to incredible flavors in bread.

There are three essentials to any bread dough: flour, water, and yeast. As soon as these are stirred together, enzymes in the yeast and the flour cause large starch molecules to break down into simple sugars. The yeast then eats the sugars and exudes a liquid that releases carbon dioxide and alcohol into air bubbles in the dough. It’s just like blowing up bubblegum! The longer fermentation goes on the more it breaks down big molecules in proteins, starches, and fats into their building blocks, so the more flavorful the dough becomes.

There are two basic yeasts that we buy today: active dry yeast and quick rise, or instant yeast. You can use either in a recipe. You just need to mix the active dry yeast with warm, (not hot) water with a pinch of sugar to activate it. Instant yeast can be added directly to the flour with all the other ingredients. This recipe calls for instant yeast and I don’t happen to keep that on hand so I used my active dry, I just added it to the warm water and let it sit for a few minutes until bubbles formed on top which lets me know the yeast is alive. If bubbles don’t form it means your yeast is expired or you killed it with hot water! About 105 degrees is perfect for dissolving yeast.

Flour is an important ingredient in bread making. The higher the quality the better your bread will taste. It’s better to use bread flour rather that all-purpose. Here’s why. Bread flour is milled from hard red spring wheat. It has a higher protein content so it has more gluten and will rise higher. All- purpose flour is great for soft breads like muffins and banana bread. It will give a more tender crumb.

Water is the last basic ingredient so it should be pure as well. If it has too many chemicals in it, that can be hard on the yeast and doesn’t taste good either.

Today I went to my favorite site for bread recipes, King Arthur Flour and found just what I was looking for. It is quite easy...a yummy and satisfying, not to mention educational, Thanksgiving activity for the whole family!






Soft Rolls
4 1/2 plus 2/3 cup bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 large egg whites
¼ cup vegetable oil   
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3 to 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
 
1. Mix and kneed the dough ingredients-by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—to make a smooth dough.
 
2. Cover the dough and let rise until it’s noticeably puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes.
 
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, deflate it, and divide it into 12 pieces (about 3 1/4 ounces each). Shape into balls.
 
4. Dip the top half of each roll into water, then into the seeds. Place rolls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press gently to flatten.
 
5. Cover the rolls, and let them rise until puffy, 45 to 60 mins. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400F.
 
6. Bake the rolls until they’re deep golden brown, 22 to 26 mins. Remove and cool on a rack.

– Sara