 Today my little readers amazed me with how well they understood and remembered the entire story. They walked me through from the beginning to the end naming all the characters and remembering so many details! The two other Aunties assisting kept on say "Wow! Really good!", "I can't believe they remembered all that!" I have to admit I questioned myself last night...should I have read the entire story on the first day? This morning the children demonstrated that they are just as awesome as I expected! They LOVE being read to and even when they seem to be distracted they are listening to every word! After my short quiz I read chapter 3 to the children as this was the chapter in which we met the Cheshire Cat! After the reading the children did learning exercises which varied from colouring the Cheshire Cat to answering some simple multiple choice questions. During our Crafty Me session we did a craft inspired by Alice's words " ...I've seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat!" So we set out to make a grin without a cat! Take a look! Tomorrow we focus on the Queen of Hearts and the activities in her garden and at the trial.
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 What a lively bunch of children attending camp this term. The first question I asked, after introductions, was how many children had ever heard the story Alice in Wonderland. Not many raised their hands but a few indicated that they had seen the movie. I knew today would be challenging because my audience was young and even the abridged version of this story is quite lengthy. As we read I paused intermittently to ensure my young readers were still engaged. Alice followed a rabbit got smaller, bigger, incy wincy and was drowning in her tears! Then we met the caterpillar sitting on a mushroom smoking a pipe. Alice then went into that crazy house with the cat that was smiling and then there was a tea party with the "Mad Man" ....( to quote a few children who could not remember his name ) and finally we met the Queen of Hearts! Thank God it was all just a dream! The purpose of reading the entire story today was for the children to be able to grasp the concept of the sequence of events or at the very least the sequence of the characters. I believe this was accomplished as most of my readers were able to tell me the order in which Alice met the characters and most importantly that the story was all about things that happened to Alice! I made the learning exercise fun by using stickers for the children to sequence the characters. At craft time we made finger puppets. I had the children match the picture of the character to their names to make very simple oval shaped finger puppets. Here are some of the pictures I managed to capture! Tomorrow we focus on the Cheshire Cat! :)  This Dr. Seuss classic is such a delight! Some of the children were familiar with this story as they had seen the movie. They knew it had a happy ending and that the grumpy Grinch would find the spirit of Christmas! The Grinch lived on top a hill which looked down on the town of Whoville! The Whos loved Christmas and every year for the last 53 years the Grinch cringed every time the season came around. “Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea” He decided that he would take Christmas away. He would dress up like Santa and instead of delivering presents he would go down the chimney and remove all things "Christmas" from every house in Whoville! "And the one speck of food that he left in the house was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse. Then he did the same thing to the other Whos' houses: leaving crumbs much too small for the other Whos' mouses! " But alas, even though the Grinch had taken everything Christmas away he found that the Whos still had their cheer. "But this... this sound wasn't sad. Why... this sound sounded glad. Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing, without *any* presents at all! He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming, it *came*! Somehow or other... it came just the same." The story ends with the great lesson that "Maybe Christmas...doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps... means a little bit more!" The children loved hearing about the Grinch's change of heart. They were excited to know that the Grinch would finally enjoy Christmas. After story time we did our learning is fun exercise, went outside for a little play and then went straight to pizza and a movie! Of course we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon version) and Horton Hears a Who! The children were then treated to face painting while I put their learning exercises together in a little keepsake book. Each child received a hard covered copy of the book Oh the Things You Can Think by Dr. Seuss. I cannot end these series of posts without giving thanks to Aunty Christianna and Aunty Summer for all their hard work and assistance during this last week! They were simply awesome! Thank You! Thank You also to all the parents who chose The Reading Garden to entertain their children for the week! ALL the children were exceptional and I enjoyed every one of them! Here are some pictures.  This book is perhaps my favourite Dr. Seuss book! The lesson is repeated over and over “A person's a person no matter how small!" Some of the children had seen the movie for this book and so they were very familiar with the story. They already knew which parts they did not like and best of all they knew that Horton would save Whoville! While splashing in a pool Horton, the elephant, hears a tiny yelp for help! He is not sure where it came from but because he is a kind and gentle soul he ensures that he finds the source. He soon discovers that the voice is coming from a tiny speck of dust. On top the speck of dust in a village called Whoville. The mayor of Whoville speaks to Horton asking him to protect the tiny village. Horton happily agrees! Unfortunately, protecting Whoville will not be an easy task as all the animals in the jungle seem to think that Horton is crazy! The sour Kangaroo and her baby, the Wickersham brothers (three monkeys) and Vlad Vladikoff the vulture make Horton's job of protecting Whoville a very difficult one. Eventually the animals decide that Horton is crazy and they should lock Horton away and throw the clover in boiling Beezelnut oil. Horton pleads with the Mayor of Whoville to let their voices be heard. The entire village makes noise hoping to be heard by the other animals but no luck! Finally the Mayor makes a check and discovers that one young Who is not making a contribution to the noise. The Mayor demands that he make his contribution and his tiny YOPP makes all the difference! The other animals hear the Whos and decide to join Horton in protecting Whoville. The children seemed fascinated by the idea of a tiny village that could exist on something as small as a speck of dust and they clearly heard the message of "A person's a person no matter how small!” After story time we did our usual Learning is Fun exercise and then on to Crafty Me! I was very proud of the older girls today. The craft was a little tedious for them as they had to build their message from printed letters. It took them a little while but they did it and they were proud! Take a look! Tomorrow is the last day and I can't wait to put together the Christmas with Dr. Seuss books and let the children enjoy a well-deserved treat!  "UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better. It's not!" The children really enjoyed this story and followed it quite well. The Lorax tells the tale of the Once-ler who discovers new land that is beautiful and fertile. He builds a beautiful house and cuts down one Truffula tree to make a Thneed (an article of clothing that can be used as anything). He promises the Lorax that it will only be one tree but after successfully selling the Thneed he calls his family and they begin to mass produce Thneeds. There are grave repercussions! All the native creatures are now unable to survive because there are not many trees left and the Thneed factory is polluting the air and water! The Lorax speaks for the trees! He pleads with the Once-ler to stop but the Once-ler doesn't care! He is only concerned about "Biggering"! Eventually ALL the Truffula trees are cut down and the Thneed factory closes. All that is left is a smog filled, barren land and a stone with the word UNLESS written on it. The Once-ler never understood why the Lorax wrote the word UNLESS on the stone before leaving. It is only after telling the story that the Once-ler understands that "UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing is going to get better. It's not!" With that realization the Once-ler gives the last Truffula seed to the little boy to whom he is telling the story and the reader is left with the hope that the land will thrive again! The children had so many things to say: "The Once-ler doesn't have Jesus in him!" "He is greedy and only thinking about money!" "If he tried to sell me a Thneed I would NOT buy it!" "They have to plant more trees!" "He loves money...he promised only one tree and then he cut all!" "We need trees, they make clean air!" I LOVE when children "get it"! I LOVE when they are engaged! I LOVE complex lessons that are simplified! I LOVE Dr. Seuss! We quickly moved to our Learning is Fun session followed by our Crafty Me session. Today we made the Lorax!  "From here to there, from there to here funny things are everywhere!" I have to admit that this book got a bit confusing for some of the little ones. I mean...what kinds of things are these? A Mike, A Wump, A Yink that drinks pink ink! lol....As we got further into the book I decided to get the kids back by asking them to complete the sentences, after all it is a book of rhymes. I have to say they quite enjoyed their ability to predict Dr. Seuss' next word! The ease with which the children were able to predict the next word, if they are listening, is one of the reasons I love Dr. Seuss. He makes writing seem so simple...and every book can easily be danced to! :) The children then sat to do learning exercises of varying difficulty, depending on their age. Some coloured a fish and some created a graph with fish they chose from the fish envelope! You will see those on Friday! In the afternoon we did a fish craft! Presenting the amazing moveable paper fish!!  "The Cat in the Hat should not be here at all!" This book is all about Dr. Seuss' most famous character The Cat in the Hat! The children enjoyed listening to this rhythmic story during story time under the Truffula trees. The Cat in the Hat is a stranger who visits two children who were having a really dreary day. He attempts to entertain the children by doing crazy things and ends up making a huge mess. All the while the fish in the bowl is protesting, telling the children that their mother would NOT like the Cat in the Hat in the house while she is out. When mother arrives the cat quickly cleans his mess and disappears but the children wonder should they tell their mother that the cat was there? After the story I asked the children if they should let strangers in the house..."NO!!" Then I asked each of them "Would you tell your mother that the cat was there?" Most of them said yes...a few said no. Then one little girl said "If you don't tell mommy you will get in MORE trouble!" lol :)...you HAVE to love kids! We then did a simple rhyming exercise. The children wrote 5 words that rhyme on a hat and coulred it. At craft time we made the cat in the hat! You have to wait until Friday to see their Christmas with Dr. Seuss book but here is a peak at their craft and mine :). Today we continued crafting the My Country accordion book. The older Imaginators had lots of writing to do as they copied some facts about each of the national symbols they stuck in their book on Tuesday. Most of the Imaginators finished their entire Reading Garden project today! Take a look at a sample of the great work done by these amazing children. Tomorrow we will do a short story time. What book will we read!?
Check out how the Imaginators painted and staged their Ole Time Houses at Arty Pants Studio This week we are building national pride! We started off the morning with the question What is folklore? Some of the answers were very creative and humorous. Take a look!  After explaining that folklore is the traditional beliefs or stories of a community, that are passed through the generations by word of mouth and that folklore sometimes attempts to provide explanations for things that we otherwise may not be able explain, I read the story Papa Bois and Monkey Trouble. As I got further into the story some of the children recalled that they had already heard this story while some were perhaps a bit too young to fully grasp some of the complexities of the story. In the end, I believe my summary cleared up some of the confusion surrounding Monkey receiving a wild dog in a bag from the baker! LOL! I decided that since we are building national pride we should create a national book! We crafted a simple accordion book with all things Trinidad and Tobago! This process is likely to take two sessions as the younger Imaginators will engage in decorating the book while the older Imaginators will write facts about all the national symbols in their books. Here is a look at some of the preliminary work on our "My Country" accordion book! Check out the exciting project the Imaginators are working on with Arty Pants Studio!
If I said that today was a bed of roses I would not be telling the truth! Today was certainly a challenge, for both the kids and I, but we made it! Authors and Illustrators is meant to bring out the creativity in our Imaginators by tapping into both their writing and artistic skills. It really is what Camp Imaginators is all about..Literature and Art joining forces to create magic! The younger Imaginators (5 to 7 years) are writing a book entitled "All about Me". They are simply spelling their names and naming one thing they like which begins with each letter in their name. The older Imaginators, in the 5 to 7 years age group, are writing more of an autobiography. Their name, date of birth, what they like to do, nick names etc. I started the day by discussing the task at hand and then, with the assistance of Aunty Olivia, each child was helped with naming something they liked beginning with each letter in their name or writing a short autobiography. They children then used stencils to write one letter of their name per page and then it was off to Arty Pants Studio for illustration. My older Imaginators were challenged to put their imagination and creative writing skills to the test. Aunty Natalia gave a good jump start by discussing the parts of a book and having the children list the genres of books they like to read. I took a quick walk over to the art room to explain the difference between Fiction and Non-Fiction and assist the children in creating the titles for their books. I explained that readers are drawn to interesting titles. "What title will make a reader grab your book off the shelf?" Here are some of the interesting titles they came up with:
...tomorrow...we continue to WRITE and ILLUSTRATE!   This morning my little readers listened to The Bear Hug by Nicholas Oldland. This story narrates the life of a very loving bear who hugged everything he saw, even things bears usually eat! The bear loved hugging trees most of all and when he saw a woodcutter chop the oldest tree in the forest he became full of anger. As the bear was about the bite the woodcutter he decided he would hug him instead. Of course, the woodcutter was not accustomed being hugged by bears and so after the bear let him go he ran away leaving the bear to hug the chopped tree. The children eagerly answered all the questions posed to them about the book! We discussed why trees are important and then moved on to a simple exercise. Since we planted on Monday I decided I would let the kids make a toy robot..... from recycled materials of course!  The journey of a plastic grocery bag from the landfill to a small store is mapped out in Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser. This book was a little longer than the other books we read at camp thus far but the children were eager to read it! These older imaginators are really eager to read out loud and even asked my opinion on their reading skills. I gave them some tips about intonation and using the right pauses when they encountered various punctuation marks. My readers were eager to try out the tips I gave them and their effort alone made me very proud. After reading the book we moved on to a simple worksheet. The girls were excited to write...the boys well...lol! The important thing is that they all completed the exercise! My older readers insisted that they wanted to make something other than robots....lol...so I handed them empty water bottles, pipe cleaners, foil, glue, beady eyes and let them use their imagination! The results were interesting! They have to complete their creative toy tomorrow, Fun, Fix It Friday! Check out what was done at Arty Pants Studio.  Today was a day that filled my heart with joy! It is really heart warming when children are eager to read out loud and today two of my little male readers really made me smile as they kept on volunteering to read page after page! One little reader even pronounced the word polymerization with absolutely NO hesitation...at just 6 he made Aunty Ari exclaim..."that was really good!" ahhhhh...we had a reading moment. The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, written by Alison Inches, takes the young reader on a wonderful journey from crude oil to a synthetic fleece sweater! A plastic bottle really does have an adventurous life! After reading we did some writing. Some of my readers were not impressed! "Miss this is vacation...we don't have to write". I had to let them know that the only way they would become better at writing is through practice and that 10 minutes of writing for the day was so little for so much gain. They all completed an assignment suitable for their age and then we had some fun! We used empty chubby bottles to make sensory bottles. The children chose their own colour glitter and water and they added stars. I honestly thought they would be only slightly impressed but they were so excited to make their very own "snow globes". Check out what they did at Arty Pants Stutio TT.  A Drop Around the World takes the reader on an exciting journey through the water cycle. It was therefore no surprise that my readers were all eager to read out loud and made sure that they each got several turns to read. They were quite amazed that a tiny drop of water could make a journey from Spain to Australia and eventually travel to Japan and end up in England. They enjoyed finding "Drop" on every page and enjoyed his adventures on matador's capes and through the stomachs of animals. After reading, we discussed the water cycle and all the different forms of water. They then completed a very simple exercise. ( I'm buttering them up for Thursday ;)). Knowing that my older readers are into science I decided to walk them through making lava lamps with old bottles, water, food colouring and alka-seltzer. Sorry moms and dads your alka -seltzer will probably go missing as these recycling scientist try to keep their lava lamps bubbling! Check out what they did at Arty Pants Studio TT.  Working on the Trash (to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad") We've been working on RECYCLING all the trash we can, We've been working on recycling, It's a very simple plan, Separate your glass and paper, Separate your plastic and tin. Take the trash that you've recycled to your recycling bin! We've been working on REDUCING all the trash we can. We've been working on reducing it’s a very simple plan. Don't go wasting any products, Use just exactly what you need. Don't buy things in extra wrapping, Reduce and you'll succeed! We've been working on REUSING all the trash we can. We've been working on reusing, it’s a very simple plan. If it's a paper bag you're using, don’t use it once, use it twice! Give old clothes and toys to someone, to reuse them would be nice! Taken from: http://www.canteach.ca Our imaginators learned all about the three Rs today! I started both sessions with a discussion about the difference between REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE. I asked the imaginators for examples of each of the three Rs. They seemed to be very versed in the second R - REUSE! Parents are always reusing grocery bags and food jars and our children are watching and learning. I read the Working on the Trash poem for my younger imaginators which reinforced the three Rs and their differences. We then did a very simple exercise. The children were given pictures of different items and they were asked to stick each item under Recycle or Trash. They did this with ease. My older imaginators joined along as I read Why Should I Recycle by Jen Green. They seemed to really like the way this book was written because they were eager to volunteer to read a page..."Miss I will read page 22"...which set off the best trend... everyone insisted they read a page. I asked my older imaginators to create a simple worksheet with the three Rs using "flip-ups" to reveal their meanings. Both my younger and older imaginators were then tasked with planting a seedling ( bird pepper or grape tomatoes) to show the earth some love. They reused bean tins as plant pots. They will take care of these plants for the rest of the week and take them home on Friday! There is so much that can be done with the "trash" around the house. See what was done at Arty Pants Studio.
Instead of venturing out on a field trip today we brought the fun to us by inviting the Mad Scientist to camp to share all his knowledge about dinosaurs! The children watched eagerly as he set the stage for a very interactive and informative session! First up a little lesson in paleontology! The kids unearthed dinosaur bones and put them back together! Next they made casts of huge dinosaur teeth and discussed at length, and with lots of demonstrations, how gigantic dinosaurs were! A great time was had by all! Of course we ended the day with some indoor and outdoor play. Tomorrow we get back to our regular day one session of Arty Pants Studio and one session of The Reading Garden....tomorrow's topic....well...be sure to check out our blogs tomorrow! :)  "Who knows what a baby frog is called?" "A TADPOLE" We are off to a great start! This fantastic book with lifelike images was a great way to teach my little ones about the life cycle of a frog. They learned so many things today! Gills are used to help animals breathe under water and lungs are used to breathe on land. One smart little reader even made a connection and said " so fish have gills!" I love those kind of moments! My readers were excited to rate this book and most of them gave it 3 stars!! The older children then labelled and coloured all the stages in the life cycle of a frog while my four year olds traced the letter F and the word Frog and coloured a picture of a frog. Now for the part they were most excited about! FROG PUPPETS! When I told my little ones they could not take the puppets home until Friday their little faces fell...so...the frogs went home today! Ribbit! Ribbit! Hop on over to see what Aunty Natalia did at Arty Pants Studio TT.  Whenever the Cat in the Hat explains something there is guaranteed excitement! This Cat in the Hat Learning Series book by Bonnie Worth explains so many things about a group of animals called cetaceans (sih-TAY-shunz). A word some of my little readers had some difficulty pronouncing initially but, by the end of the class most were able to pronounce and spell it without any assistance!  After reading the book I asked each reader what they learned. The picture on the right lists all the answers they gave me. We had a very lively discussion! Instead of asking my young readers write about everything they learned from the book I thought this book presented an excellent opportunity to speak to my readers about puns. "Miss...you mean P O N D??" "No P U N!" *confused looks... I then explained that a pun is a play on words and the title of this book was a good illustration! This is a story or a "tale" about whales...but if you look at the cover you see a whale tail....and of course one reader shouted...Miss...they are homonyms - tale and tail! ( *big smile)! We then liken a whale of a tale to a tall tale! I gave an example of a tall tale and set my readers to work to write tall tales of their own! Well...let's just say...superman has been to San Fernando Hill!! Take a look at the whales they drew at Arty Pants Studio. OH! I almost forgot! My 8 to 10 year olds WILL NOT accept that this as Science week unless we do an experiment! So I did a little demonstration....tomorrow we will see if our cup with water, oil and rubbing alcohol looks the same! I have to mention that when I asked why the liquids behaved they way they did when we poured them in the cup one little guy said..."different intensities" I LOVE KIDS! Don't worry moms and dads...now he knows its all about DENSITY!  The first day of camp got off to a great start! I was so excited to meet my imaginators this morning! This book by Helene Jordan takes the young reader through an experiment in growing a seed. After reading about different types of seeds and how long they take to grow I directed my readers to the chart on the wall which showed the parts of a seed. I asked my little ones: "what do you use a coat for?" "To keep warm" "Not to get wet" I then prompted them to think about the function of a seed coat. They quite correctly answered "to protect the seed". For each part of the seed I prompted my little ones to think about it's function and was pleasantly surprised that many of them were spot on with their answers. I then handed out work sheets on which they were required to rate the book and label and colour the seed. Of course....for our little ones the class is never complete until we go outside to play....how about some hop scotch?! Here are some samples of today's worksheets. You can see some of my little ones do not care to be realist....rainbow beans :). Of course I had to add a picture of the hopscotch fun!  I was so excited to read this book to my 8 to 10 year olds today. Eric Carle's The Tiny Seed takes the young reader on the journey of a tiny seed floating in the wind. Many of the other seeds traveling with the tiny seed do not make it to a place that is suitable for growth and even those that do, have their life cut short by children running and friend's picking flowers for each other but...the tiny seed survives it all and grows to be the tallest flower ever seen! These young readers were full of knowledge. We discussed pollination, the conditions needed for seeds to grow, the function of leaves and roots and so much more. They then moved on to a fun worksheet...no writing today just a little craft using a flower that opens up to reveal what a seed needs to grow. Next...what they were all waiting for...the experiment! Let us demonstrate one of the ways that water gets from the roots to the leaves...CAPILLARITY! How did we do this? Walking water! Check it out! The Reading Garden is getting ready for Camp! Camp Imaginators is a collaborative effort between The Reading Garden and Arty Pants Studio. It's so much fun the kids don't even realize they are learning! The excitement is building....are you ready? Stay tuned for more information.  |
