Author Fiesta

More Research Forms Uploaded

Several more research forms have been uploaded in this previous post.  They are All About Manatees, All About Turtles, All About Frogs, and All About Deer. Still working on more. Stay tuned.

Jim Arnosky for the Littlest

(This post was compiled by Joann over at Ten Kids and a Dog. It is being reprinted here with her permission.)

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While the older kids are enjoying the nature study that Jim Arnosky encourages, my littlest kids have been enjoying the many books written for our youngest students.Here is a list of Jim Arnosky's books that are suitable for the toddlers among us.

We have been enjoying Crinkleroot's Animals That Every Child Should Know books. Sadly, these books are out of print, but many library systems have them available.
To make this book a little more hands on for Luke and Kimberly, I searched through our animal bucket and found most of the animals featured in the book. We were missing a few of the animals, so I searched around the house and found pictures of the missing mammals.
We looked at the page and named the animal in the book and then looked for the matching animal among the pictures and toys I had set out. During this time we also made the animal's sound and crawled around and acted like the creature.
This also served as a good lesson in taking turns. Something that has to be learned, and learned, and learned. There is nothing worse than a 2 and 3 year old diving on top of each other as they moo like a cow!

"ALL ABOUT" Resources

A Jim Arnosky series we really enjoy is the "ALL ABOUT" books. They are well done with lots of details about the named class of animals in a nice condensed format and of course excellent and engaging illustrations.  As you read along and learn "About" these animals, you can complete a research form for your notebooks. I'll add more forms for the remaining books as they are completed.

All About Deer - Download all_about_deer.pdf
All About Frogs - Download all_about_frogs.pdf 
All About Manatees - Download all_about_manatees.pdf
All About Owls - Download all_about_owls.pdf
All About Rattlesnakes - Download all_about_rattlesnakes.pdf
All About Sharks - Download all_about_sharks.pdf
All About Turkeys - Download all_about_turkeys.pdf
All About Turtles - Download all_about_turtles.pdf

Crinkleroot, Your Nature Companion

Taking the Crinkleroot Guide concept one step further and also borrowing an idea from Flat Stanley, the famous paper traveler, how about having a paper Crinkleroot accompany your family on this month's nature adventures.

We printed an image from the internet (I wanted it bigger but it lost clarity as I enlarged). You could also enlarge a copy from one of the books. Cut it out (we put a construction paper backing on it to make it sturdier and added a popsicle stick handle) and he's ready to go along on nature walks and assist with the studies.  Here's where he went with us today.

Here's one printable image of Crinkleroot: http://jimarnosky.com/factpage.html

Joann's contribution: Crinkleroot w/ an added idea for older children

Your Guide, Crinkleroot

Undoubtedly, Jim Arnosky's most beloved character is Crinkleroot, the jovial woodsman who serves as a "nature guide" in a series of nature guides.  Here is your opportunity to take Crinkleroot along as your personal guide through this Author Fiesta study.  Joann's very talented daughter has created a wonderful coloring page of our good friend, Crinkleroot, for you to download, color, and add to your Author Fiesta notebook. Download crinkle_root.pdf

Speaking of Crinkleroot, have you ever wondered about the name? Well, crinkleroot is the common name for a woodland plant (Cardamine diphylla) of eastern North America, having fleshy rootstocks, trifoliolate leaves, and clusters of white or pinkish flowers.

September's Author/Illustrator

...is Jim Arnosky. 

His birthday was September 1st.

Let's hang on to that last bit of summer stretching into fall.  It's a great time for some nature study in our Author Fiesta.

Jim Arnosky is a self taught writer, artist, and naturalist.  He is a prolific author and illustrator, with well over a 130 books to his credit.  His outstanding work has received many honors and awards including the Christopher Medal, Orbis Pictus Honor, ALA Gordon Award, and Outstanding Science book awards from National Science Teachers Associations.

We  hope you will join us this month as we hone our naturalist skills and knowledge and share Jim's passion for nature through the books he has written and illustrated.

A great place to start is Jim Arnosky's website, which is full of nature facts, coloring pages, and book lists.

September Author????

As we step into a new season in September, well prepped by looking at the gentle transitions of the year with Tasha Tudor, we'll highlight a new author/illustrator.  Care to take a guess as to the identity of the September selection?

Christmas in August

Joann and her children are always so creative and fun with their Author Fiestas. They certainly bring life into this otherwise bookish author study.

Don't miss seeing how they celebrated Christmas in August. Such neat ideas. You might want to borrow the idea of decorating cookies for the Remembrance Day on August 28th.

Something I treated myself to this week was the new Victoria Magazine just out on newstands a few days ago. They have a special feature in the newest issue (Sept./Oct. '08) on Tasha Tudor.

Consider it an early Christmas gift to yourself, and en take joy!

I am grateful to Rachel for giving me the heads-up on this magazine offering. Thank you, Rachel.

Some Sparrow Post Craft Ideas

You need a place for the posts to be mailed from and delivered to. Crafting a Sparrow Post mailbox is fun and easy.  Be creative.  A variety of containers could serve the purpose and a recent visit to the craft store revealed several options just waiting to be turned into sparrow post boxes. This is by no means inclusive of all the possibilities.  Use your imagination and whatever materials you have available.

Possible materials (remember you can use whatever you have on hand):

• containers (boxes, baskets, wooden birdhouses)
• acrylic pain/brushes
• markers
• stickers & pictures
• silk or dried floral
• beads
• ribbon
• clips/clothes pins
• modge podge or glue
• accessories (wooden cutouts, fake bird)

Here are some samples of what we fashioned out of the above materials.

Off to send some messages!

Invitation - Tasha Tudor Style

Template for wording for your Tasha Tudor Remembrance Event invitation. Adapted from the text of one of the doll Christmas party invitations.  Some ideas for events include: story time, tea party, mariotte or puppet show.

Miss/Mr. _________________________

and

Miss/Mr. _________________________

request the pleasure of your company

at a

__________________________________

on September 28

at __________________________ o'clock

at the _____________________________