Summer Bucket List: Make Eric Carle-style Collage Art

We all enjoyed looking at Eric Carle books. If your kids are small, they might be currently looking at them, but I find even older kids enjoy making Eric Carle-style collage art.

Remember the marbled paper we made?

Well now you can put it to some use with this project.
 Just pick up any Eric Carle book and look at his unique collage style.

 Then begin cutting...

and let the gluing begin.

Here are the results of my kids!
The marbled paper became maps of enchanted lands, giraffes munching on lunch, lobsters, fire breathing dragons, birds tucked in the holes of trees, lions stretching in the Savannah sun...

Alex's lobster

almost as if by magic.

Originally published Jul 6, 2012

DIY Zombie- Apocalyptic Summer Learning Camp, Summer Reading List

Have your student pick from the various classic apocalyptic novels. Some of our story is drawn from these books, but it won't ruin, nor particularly gain anything from the books to influence the scenario. The goal is to immerse them in the beginning of the genre and give the student some things to think about.

The Last Man, Mary Shelley Written by the same author as Frankenstein, this book is often called the first of the apocalyptic genre. It is also often considered a tribute to Lord Byron, who had died when he became ill during a military expedition and Percy Shelley, who drowned in a storm in a schooner. The novel's first 200 or so pages describe in the Romantic era tradition the ups and downs of the lives of the main characters, which follow many of the things that happened in Byron's and Percy Shelley's lives through romantic-era goggles. It has many passages for thought, however, as the last man on earth thinks about life and mankind. Because it is a difficult read for the modern audience, I would save this just for high school students.

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley or 1984, George Orwell Both of these novels are not apocalyptic in the sense of zombies and the like, but speak to the political end-of the world. Both appropriate for high school students. 1984 is of a middle school reading level, so a mature middle school student could read it.

The Island of Dr. Moreau, H.G. Wells This novel is the narration from Edward Prendick, who became shipwrecked and is left on the island of Dr. Moreau by a passing boat. Prendick discovers that Dr Moreau is creating Human-Animal hybrids by vivisection. Lots of discussion on ethics and morality can come from reading this book.

Animal Farm, George Orwell Although allegorical, the book does bring up the issues of the differences between man and beast and our responsibilities as ethical men.

The Machine Stops, Graham Greene A short story that addresses the issues of man's connection to the natural world.

I am Legend, Richard Matheson Considered the book that inspired the development of the zombie-vampire genre of fiction. Influential in popularizing the concept of a worldwide apocalypse due to disease. Was adapted into several movies.

Between the Wars with Robert McCloskey

Between the Wars with Robert McCloskey

Picture Books and Art
We studied the time between World War I and World War II by looking at some picture books by Robert McCloskey that were written during that time period.

"The mayor gave the signal to play but (they couldn't play) because their lips were all puckered up."

We read Lentil, which is about a boy who saves the day with his harmonica playing when the band cannot play after watching a lemon being eaten.

"Look out!" squawked Mrs. Mallard, all of a dither. "You'll get run over! And when she got her breath she added: "This is no place for babies, with all those horrid things rushing about. We'll have to look somewhere else."

We also read Make Way for Ducklings. First published in 1941, the book tells the story of a pair of mallard ducks who decide to raise their family on an island in the lagoon in Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. 

"They made such a noise that Michael came running, waving his arms and blowing his whistle."

Mrs. Mallard leads the ducklings ashore and straight to the highway in hopes of crossing to reach the Garden, but she has trouble crossing as the cars will not yield to her. Michael, the policeman who fed peanuts to the Mallards, stops traffic for the family to cross.
They both are lovely stories that show the simplicity of life and the values of the time period. Sometimes using picture books with older children can be a nice change of pace.

The illustrations are worthy of imitating. We got our charcoal and drawing pencils, which are new art materials for us to work with.

 Using the tutorial at Hodgepodge, we drew pictures of Lentil, focusing on facial expressions.

Patriotism and the 1940's
Lentil shows a lot about how patriotic Americans were in the 1940's. 

This led us to listening to Patriotic songs, and to learning how to fold a flag. I printed out this image of a flag and had him fold this image as if it was a real flag.

"Then everybody sang and they all marched down Main Street behind the colonel's car."

Mapping the Neighborhood
Make Way for Ducklings talks about all the places in Boston, Massachusetts, and Lentil has many pictures of the town he lives in. 

We decided that we should look at a map of our neighborhood, too.

We looked at it and pointed out the different places around town.

"He just sat on a park bench and whittled and grumbling."

Handicrafts: Whittling
Quentin has been interested in whittling for some time now, so this was a good time to focus on this handicraft. Here are some easy instructions for whittling a whale from Ivory soap.

from Ivory Soap Products

"There sat Old Sneep, sucking on a lemon."

Lemons
Lemons are such a feature in Lentil, that we felt we must do something related to them.

We divided them into fractional parts and compared them to musical notes. They made up their own musical pieces.

We reviewed how we had experimented with them when we learned about acids and bases.

 James made pink lemonade cupcakes for a Book Club teatime.

I found these adorable cupcake liners for them.

 Quentin entertained us by first playing the role of Old Sneep...

and then the role of the musicians.

"His favorite place to practice was in the bathtub, because there the tone was improved one hundred per cent."

Harmonicas and Acoustics

We talked about why Lentil found that the tone of the harmonica he played was "improved one hundred per cent" when he played in the bathtub.  The hard, smooth surface of the bathtub absorbs very little sound, so the sound would reflect back and forth before eventually dying a way, boosting the harmonica's sound intensity. With many reflected sound waves bouncing around in the bathtub, some sound waves wind up traveling farther than others before finally arriving at your ear, making the sound seem to hang in the air long after each note is made. This would result in a richer and fuller sound.

We made our own homemade harmonicas, well, actually they are more like kazoos.

It has a reed made out of a piece of paper.

from Musicians Webstore

As you can see, the harmonica is a bit more complicated, but it does give the idea of how the vibration of the reeds work.

If you would like to make a 
Popsicle Stick Harmonica/Kazoo
you will need:

2 Popsicle Sticks (we used the wide ones)

2 Rubber Bands (you could also use string)

A strip of paper the same size as the Popsicle Stick

2 toothpicks cut the width or just wider than the Popsicle Stick

Sandwich the paper strip in between the two Popsicle sticks. Wrap a rubber band around one end until it is snug. Slide a toothpick to the inside of the rubber band. Sandwich the last toothpick at the other end of the Popsicle sticks, and wrap with a rubber band.  To play, simply blow or suck air into the harmonica. If you pinch the Popsicle sticks together at different parts along the harmonica, you can create different sounds.

1940's Cooking: Mock Apple Pie

We also made a Mock Apple Pie, which uses Ritz crackers instead of apples. Born of the thrifty ingenuity of the 1930's, the pie grew in popularity during World War II when apples were expensive and in short supply. The pie is quite similar in texture to a soft and tender apple pie.

Mock Apple Pie

Using Ritz Crackers

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups water

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Zest and 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

36 Ritz crackers, coarsely broken 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425°F. Break Ritz crackers into large pieces and put them in your bottom pie crust. We used store-bought frozen pie crusts, but you can make your favorite pie crust recipe instead. 

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, water and cream of tartar, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Bring mixture to boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 15 minutes or until mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Stir in zest, juice and vanilla. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes.

Pour syrup over crackers and dot with pieces of butter then sprinkle evenly with cinnamon. Place top crust over pie. Seal and flute the edges. Cut several small slits into the top crust to vent the steam. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and serve. 

sources and inspiration:

• Hodgepodge: FIVE IN A ROW ART IN FIVE MINUTES
• Housing a Forest: Popsicle Stick Harmonica
• Flag Printable at Laura's Midi Heaven
• How to Fold a Flag at US Flag
• The Attached Mama: FIAR Lentil by Robert McCloskey
• Our Homeschool Fun: Lentil, FIAR
• Homegrown Learners: FIVE IN A ROW BOOK PARTY - LENTIL
• Delightful Learning: Lentil {FI♥AR}

The Importance of Reading Aloud

I began homeschooling 18 years ago and, after a fumbling around year, trying to find my footing, I found Sonlight curriculum. That was a perfect fit for us in many ways. One of the best things it taught me was the importance of "Read-Alouds." We had read to Katie, our first born, since she was an infant. Sleepless nights were filled with reading her stories from the Red or Blue Fairy Tale books, not that she understood them yet, but hearing our voice comforted her and we were instilling from the beginning the importance of books. When she became old enough to understand the stories, in addition to the engaging picture books, we also read her books far above the level that most people would consider appropriate. She might not have understood every word, but she did understand much and the skills of learning vocabulary through context was just beginning.

Sonlight was a perfect fit for us when she became old enough for formal schooling because of its literature-rich philosophy. They always had a list of books for each grade level -good, thought-provoking literature that was always a bit ahead of the reading level for that grade. They were meant to be read by the parents, not the child. There were other books, on their reading level for them to read, but these books opened new doors for Katie, and then later, her brothers, as well. While they were still struggling over the simple language of beginning readers, their minds were opened to rich literature and vocabulary, which created a thirst for more books. I continued to read aloud to my children well beyond when they could read whatever they wanted to themselves, not because they needed me to read to them as they did in the early years, but because it was a beautiful time of sharing, that was so much deeper and richer than watching a movie together. Now my older kids sometimes want to share that experience with their younger siblings and will read books to them with joy. Every night we read just one chapter from two or three books. At just one chapter a night, they take a while to complete, but it is a wonderful, looked-forward to time. Sometimes they don't like the book right away, but usually, as they stick with it, they begin to appreciate why these books were chosen. I do take the time to choose the books carefully, and the best loved ones have been read to each of them as the came along. As they were brought out for each new child, often the older ones would get this nostalgic look and say, "Oh, that one!" as if greeting an old friend. Sometimes they sit in on it when I read to the younger ones just so they can hear it again.

My 12-year old has a lot of difficulty with listening skills. His mind wanders between sentences and he often looses track of what it being read. At first we stopped and filled him in every time he became lost, but soon he was stopping us every few sentences and the situation was getting worse instead of better, so we stopped filling him in. He has learned that when his mind has wandered, he needs to listen with more attention again and he soon picks up the context to the story. We have found that if he builds with Legos or Citiblocks while we read, this can occupy his mind enough to actually keep him more focused on the story instead of less. This was a surprising discovery as I thought it would distract him even more so.

This month we have been reading The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks and The All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor. Sometimes I add it a short picture-style book, like last night I added in Music for Alice, Allen Say because it talks about the interment camps of World War II, which we will be studying soon.

At teatime I sometimes read poetry, but lately the younger boys and I have been reading the Magic Tree House series together as part of their reading time. The two boys have been slow to learning to read and making this time special with a small snack or cuddling time on the sofa has taken the edge off what could otherwise be an upsetting time. Taking turns reading helps with this as well. Then it is more like they are beginning to participate in the reading of books to others than it is the stumbling through a difficult subject.
Be sure to check out the Reading Aloud Challenge at Footprints in the Butter.
Here are books from the bookshelf this week:

• DK World War I
• The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks
• The All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
• Dinosaurs Before Dark, Mary Pope Osborne
• The Devil's Arithmetic, Jane Yolen
• Saving Strawberry Farm, Deborah Hopkinson
• Island of Hope: the story of Ellis Island and the Journey to America, Martin Sandler
• DK Human Body Encyclopedia
• The Miracuous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
• When Europe Went Mad: a brief history of the first World War, Terrence Finn

Medieval Literature, part 5: Medieval Poetry and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Previous post: Brittany, Marie de France and Bisclavret.



Silence I ask of the sacred folk,
Silence of the kith and kin of Heimdal:
At your will, Valfather, I shall well relate
The old songs of men I remember best.

Most people today think of poetry as rhyming -repeating sounds at the ends of a word or line. That wasn't always the case, historically, however The Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons rarely used rhyme to connect lines or important words in a poem. Instead of repeating sounds at the end of a word, they repeated sounds at the beginning (or at least at the first accented syllable of a word.) This is called alliteration. Can you pick out the four letter sounds that are alliterated in the section of poetry above?

Alliteration

Most words that begin with the same letter do alliterate, but what counts is the pronunciation, or the sound and not the spelling of a word. Whereas sun and shine do not alliterate even though they both begin with s, sure and shine do alliterate because they both begin with the same sound. The combinations sk, sp and st are considered sounds in their own right and they can't alliterate with a plain s or with s and some other consonant.
Alliteration always falls on a stressed syllable, or the syllable that gets the most emphasis when saying a word out loud. In the example at the top, men and remember begin with different letters, but they still count as alliterating because the mem portion of remember is a stressed syllable. On the other hand, remember would not have matched relate, if the two had been used in the same line. 
Vowels are treated as wild card sounds in that any vowel counts as alliterating with another vowel, even if the two are different. In fact, Norsemen actually thought that using different vowels in alliterating lines was artistically better. This is different that the cousin poetic devise, assonance, which is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming. For example, the use of vowels within alliteration can be seen in this piece.

Arm rings and necklaces, Odhinn, you gave me
To learn my lore, to learn my magic
Odhinn, I know where you eye is concealed, 
Hidden away in the well of Mimir.

Arm and Eye and Odhinn don't begin with the same sound, but the are considered to alliterate according to Norse poetic rules.
The combinations sk, sp and st are considered sounds in their own right and they can't alliterate with a plain s or with s and some other consonant.

Alliteration in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Exercise 1: Below is a section from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Can you pick out the alliteration principles discussed above?

467    thagh Arther the hende kyng at hert hade wonder, 
468    He let no semblaunt be sene, bot sayde ful hyghe 
469    To the comlych quene wyth cortays speche, 
470    `Dere dame, to-day demay yow neuer; 
471    Wel bycommes such craft vpon Cristmasse, 
472    Laykyng of enterludez, to laghe and to syng, 
473    Among thise kynde caroles of knyghtez and ladyez. 
474    Neuer the lece to my mete I may me wel dres, 
475    For I haf sen a selly, I may not forsake.' 
476    He glent vpon Sir Gawen, and gaynly he sayde, 
477    `Now, sir, heng vp thyn ax, that hatz innogh hewen'; 
478    And hit watz don abof the dece on doser to henge, 
479    ther alle men for meruayl myght on hit loke, 
480    And bi trwe tytel therof to telle the wonder. 
481    thenne thay boghed to a borde thise burnes togeder, 
482    the kyng and the gode knyght, and kene men hem serued 
483    Of alle dayntyez double, as derrest myght falle; 
484    Wyth alle maner of mete and mynstralcie bothe, 
485    Wyth wele walt thday, til worthed an ende 
486             in londe. 
487      Now thenk wel, Sir Gawan, 
488      For wothe that thou ne wonde 
489      this auenture for to frayn 
490      that thou hatz tan on honde. 

(portion of Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyght, {Tolkien and Gordon, eds. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967}. Found here.)

Exercise 2: Modern Translation: Read over the Middle English version and then the Modern version and then back to the Middle English version. Is it starting to make more sense to you?

Although inwardly Arthur was deeply astonished,

He let no sign of this appear, bu loudly remarked.

To the beautiful queen with courteous speech,

'Dear lady, let nothing distress you today.

Such strange goings-on are fitting at Christmas,

Putting on interludes, laughing and singing,

Mixed with courtly dances of ladies and knights.

None the less, I can certainly go to my food,

For I have seen something wondrous, I cannot deny.'

He glanced at Sir Gawain, and aptly he said,

'Now sir, hang your axe up, for it has severed enough.'

And it was hung above the dais, on a piece of tapestry,

Where everyone might gaze on it as a wonder,

And the living proof of this marvelous tale.

Then these two men together walked to a table,

The kind and the good knight, and were dutifully served

With delicious double helpings befitting their rank.

With every kind of food and minstrelsy

They spent that day joyfully, until daylight ended 

                   on earth.

           Now take good care, Gawain

           Lest fear hold you back

           From leaving on the quest

           You have sworn to undertake.

Now, read a copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. We love Michael Morpurgo's version for the younger readers. For older readers, we like JRR Tolkien's version.

The last story we are going to be reading is Robin Hood. 

Medieval Literature, part 4: Brittany, Marie de France and Bisclavret

Previous post: Spanish Literature and Le Cid.

Marie de France from an illuminated manuscript

Since I'm making lais, Bisclavret

Is one I don't want to forget.

In Breton, "Bisclavret"'s the name;

"Garwolf" in Norman means the same.

Long ago you heard the tale told--

And it used to happen, in days of old--

Quite a few men became garwolves,

And set up housekeeping in the woods.

A garwolf is a savage beast,

While the fury's on it, at least:

Eats men, wreaks evil, does no good,

Living and roaming in the deep wood.

Now I'll leave this topic set.

I want to tell you about Bisclavret. -translation of Bisclavret

Bisclavret, or The Werewolf is one of the twelve Lais of Marie de France written in the 12th century. Originally written in French, it tells the story of a werewolf who is trapped in lupine form by the treachery of his wife. The tale is thought to be referenced in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Marie de France heard them performed in the Breton (of Brittany) language and translated this lay, as well as the eleven others. The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe. A lay is a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance. Marie de France is known for using a marvel as a plot device. A marvel is a strange, exotic, sometimes magical, element upon which the story hinges.

We read this translation, which I found free online, which is simple enough for the younger readers. Older readers may prefer to read from Robert Hanning's translation, The Lais of Marie de France. Both abandon the original's octosyllabic couplets for free verse so that the brevity and simplicity of the verse are preserved.

sources:

• I used this study years ago with my daughter, who graduated a few years ago. Because of this, I am not sure if I made this unit up entirely myself or if I found some of it on the internet. If you know if any of this has come from a source I have not credited, please let me know, and I will make the appropriate corrections.

Our next lesson will be about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Medieval Literature, part 3; Spanish Literature and The Cid

Previous post: The Norman Conquest and Middle English.

City of Toledo, Spain

Early Beginnings

Under the Moors, Spain became a cultural center, where Arab, Hebrew and Christian scholars translated important words of Islamic and ancient Greek culture into Latin. Most were not literature, however, but were math and science related. With the Christian reconquest of the peninsula began in the 11th Century, Alfonso VI, the king of Castile, a descendant of the Visigoths, captured the city of Toledo, Spain and the Spanish dialects of northern Spain became dominant. These dialects slowly replaced Arabic and Mozarabic, a Romance language with many Arabic words, as spoken languages. Writing in these dialects became standard during the 12th and 13th century. The works of this time period were varied according to status and social structure. Uneducated but highly entertaining bards sang stories of the Christian heroes. Scholars wrote and translated works of monarchs. The monks, clerics and priests composed poetry about the natural and spiritual world. 

The first works were jarchas, first appearing as short stanzas at the end of a muwassaha, a kind of poem written in the second half of the 11th century in Arabic and Hebrew. 

The Earliest Spanish Literature: Love Poems and Songs

The first works that could be considered truly Spanish were the jarchas written in dialects as the reconquest spread. These were most often from the point of view of a woman in love who seeks solace and advise and later developed into love songs in the oral tradition of the 12-early 14th centuries. 

The Troubadour Style and the Epic

The first great works of Spanish oral tradition were composed by troubadours, medieval poets who sand for the people in the village squares and for the nobility in castles and royal courts. They flourished as a result of pilgrimages to the burial place of Saint James, the patron saint of Christian Spain. The troubadours entertained the pilgrims with songs and long narrative poems called epics, which were about the deeds of Christian heroes. Most were 12-16 syllables long with a caesura (pause) in the middle. The rhyme scheme was one in which the last accented vowel in a line, and any vowels after it in that line, were repeated in the lines that followed.

The Spanish epic tradition differs from other European epic traditions in its focus on social and political issues. They also lacked the exaggeration, supernatural forces and fantasy that other European works tended to have. 

Statue of El Cid

Prince of Valencia

Statue of El Cid

Prince of Valencia

The Cid

One of the most celebrated works in Spanish literature, The Song of the Cid, is a poem in the troubadour style and was composed around 1140. It is about Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (1043–1099), a Castilian nobleman and military leader. He was called El Cid (the Lord) by the Moors and El Campeador (the Champion) by Christians. He is the national hero of Spain. The nearly 4,000 verses describes a lifetime of armed conflict and celebrates steadfast loyalty to family, vassals and king.

We read the version of The Tale of The Cid by Andrew Lang, the author of the colorful Fairy Tale books.

For older students, I suggest The Song of the Cid (Penguin Classics) A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text.

sources:

• I used this study years ago with my daughter, who graduated a few years ago. Because of this, I am not sure if I made this unit up entirely myself or if I found some of it on the internet. If you know if any of this has come from a source I have not credited, please let me know, and I will make the appropriate corrections.

Our next lesson will be on Brittany and Bisclavret