Picture Books and Writing (Isle of You)

Our next picture book also enticed me with the wonderful illustrations by Jaime Kim.  This book transported us to a beautiful landscape filled with imagination.  

Isle of You by David LaRochelle

We enjoyed the story of a child who was lonely but then used their imagination to travel to the Isle of You.  This Island was filled with all of the things the child loved.  I encouraged my kids to close their eyes and think about what would be on their Island.  Then they drew pictures to excite their imagination.  Finally they wrote all about their "Isle of you" and what would be there.

Picture Books and Writing

     This summer I wanted to do something fun with reading while also incorporating some writing.  As a former elementary school librarian I turned to picture books.  There are so many great picture books and they flow so well into art projects and writing projects.  They are also so versatile in age ranges.  I currently have a 10 and 7 year old.  They both enjoyed all of the books I found at our local library.

Our first picture book was more of a Christmas in July but I could not resist the beautiful pictures.  This is Wonder & Awe by Annie Herzig:

As the title suggests this book is filled with wonder and awe as each page fills you with so many emotions.  From happy, excited, to sad and lonely.

This picture book inspired us to go for a nature walk.  We wrote about all of the wonderful things we saw on our nature walk.  Then they painted a picture of their nature walk.  Simple yet filled with wonder and awe.  

Chimpanzee Choice Board

Here is another adventure with My Zoo Box.  This time we are exploring the Chimpanzee.  We also learned about Dr. Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees.  You could use this during women's history month!

Here is our choice board for Chimpanzee.  There are articles as well as videos to learn more about these amazing animals.

There is also a link to information about Dr. Jane Goodall.  

Here are several wonderful books about Dr. Jane Goodall's life that you can check out at your local library.

Black History Month Activities

One of the activities we did this year is Jacob Lawrence Inspired Art.  First we read some books about Jacob Lawrence.

Then we created an art project inspired by his work.  You can find the step by step details HERE .

My two children sat quietly for so long creating their Jacob Lawrence inspired art!  I was impressed.  They took their time and cut individual shapes out of construction paper.  They really loved this project.  Here are my two children's creations:

Arctic Fox Choice Board - My Zoo Box

 We have recently started the journey of My Zoo Box Subscription.  I will attach a link at the end to this subscription service.  My daughter is currently 6 and loves crafts, plushies, and animals.  So we decided to invest in this as part of our learning journey.  

Each box contains a plushy animal, a book about the animal, crafts, a postcard (picture of the animal), a habitat passport book and sticker to place, an anatomy poster, and some additional activities that don't have materials included.

We enjoyed our arctic fox.  She was extremely excited to learn about this animal.  We got additional books from the library about the animal, as well as, other arctic animals.  I even created a choice board for the arctic fox.

She was excited about the snow in a can but quickly lost interest and has not been excited to complete the craft in the box. 

My Zoo Box link - Click HERE

Gingerbread Activities

We had tons of fun with our gingerbread activities. First we read some gingerbread books:

Then we created our own gingerbread people.

     

    

This was our first time making gingerbread cookies.  My son has food allergies and as I grow and learn through this food adventure we find more and more products that he can eat.  Sweet Loren is a top 14 allergen free cookie that he can eat!  We were so excited to find this product and he loved them!

   

Finally we used a choice board from The Library Voice to do some fun activities.

Gingerbread Choice Board LINK

Native American History Month

Native American History Month has been observed since 1990, but what do we actually know.  Learning about Native Americans and their contribution to the United States is of paramount importance.  These people have suffered so much hardship throughout American history.  I was shocked to learn that my two children ages 6 and 9 did not know who Native American people are.

We started with a book called We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell.

We listened to an interview of Traci Sorell on Kid Lit TV, which began our learning journey.

Then we went to a library event where we learned about the Navajo Nation.

The kids learned about blankets woven by Native Americans.  Then they practiced a weaving technique using colored paper and patterns.

Finally, I gathered many books to explore this topic. Here are a few: