We Are Writers and Illustrators!

How to Write a Best-Seller in Three Easy Lessons

     The Extended Day yeledim love stories of all kinds.  Almost every afternoon, the Morahs share a book, or two, or three.  Right now, fiction is our favorite.  We decided to try writing a story (or two, or three) of our own.

     Enjoy our photo gallery.  The children are hard at work illustrating their original Extended Day books.  So far, we have written and illustrated two books by working together.

How do we write a book?

     1.  First, we dictated an original story to the Morah.  We worked in pairs and small groups to do this.
     2.  Then the Morah typed up the story.  We took turns illustrating each "scene."
     3.  Now the Morahs share our completed stories during snack.  Soon we will leave our collection out on a table so we can experience each story independently.

  (Noticing the process, left:  our booklet, before the illustration.  Above, after the children illustrate the pages.)

And here's the text of our two books:

The Night the Pipes Broke

     There was a boy named Shimmy.  He is 5 years old.  He lived in the city on a block with a lot of houses and a lot of trees.
     One night the whole family got in their pajamas and went to bed.
     Shimmy has a lot of brothers and sisters.  The baby went to sleep in his brig brother's bed.  Then the big brother carried the baby back to the Mommy and Daddy's bed.
     Then the children were reading their favorite books in their beds.
     All of a sudden they heard a big crash!  Boooshhhh!
     The mother and the father and the baby and Shimmy and the big brother jumped out of bed.  Everyone jumps out of bed!
     Five pipes were broken and there was water everywhere.  (That means 2 pipes and 3 more!)  There's water  in the house!
     The father and the mother and the baby and Shimmy and the big brother made a bridge to jump over the water!
     Then they all went back to sleep on the floor because their beds were broken.

The End

(The Morah's notes about the above story:  we helped the children pick the name "Shimmy."  We didn't want the children to think the story was about a particular child at IJP, so "Shimmy" worked for us--we don't have a Shimmy!) 

     What we love-love-love about this story is the warmth and closeness of this fictional family.  The children in this family know that mommy and daddy will provide safety, either the emotional safety of climbing into their bed or the physical safety of the bridge construction.  

     What we also love is the use of a sound word, Boooshhhh, (otherwise known as onomatopoeia in fancy-shmancy educator language).  There's a clear beginning-middle-end to this story, and there is a resolution of a problem.  The inclusion of a math concept (Five pipes, that means 2 pipes and 3 more!) shows the children's growing understanding of addition.  The fictional children's appreciation of books (and the fact that they bring books to bed), tells us that our IJPers value reading. Who wrote this story?  A few of the children from Kitah Bet, and it beautifully reflects their interests and skills.)

Next up, our second book, written mostly by the Kitah Gimmel children along with the KDH children.  Here's their text:

The Kids in the Forest

   

     Once upon a time there were a bunch of kids in the forest.  When they were hungry they ate pasta and cheese and snack.  It was a sunny day.  When they were thirsty they drank water and lemonade and ate oranges.
     They went back to their house and ate broccoli.
     Then they went to a different city and ate at a different person's house.  It was a gingerbread house.  (Gingerbread is like a brown cookie.)
     Then a stinky cheese man and a cookie man came to the house.  Then the house got stinky.
     Then people came to wash the house.  Now the house is good.
     Yeah, yeah, yeah--and there are blocks in the house!
     The children build a castle and a house with the blocks.

     The End

    What have we noticed about this second story?  As the IJPers told us the story, they began to include bits and pieces of other stories, particularly the Stinky Cheese Man and Hansel and Gretel.  Could it be that the more stories you know, the more you can synthesize what you know into something new?  Perhaps so!     

     We began a new story today.  Who are the characters?  An apple, an avocado and a talking crocodile!  The plot?  There's danger and a boo-boo.  The resolution?  A bandaid!  Oh, the drama!  It's a perfect story, designed by some of the Kitah Gimmel children, with additions by the KDH children.

     A few of the children told us that they several stories in their heads.  We believe them.  We'll continue to write down some of their thoughts and ask the children to create their illustrations.  Hooray for books!

By the Readers and Writers of Extended Day, and their Morahs

We're Big, We've Got This

We're Big, We've Got This

     So, we've been here before.  We're the Kitah Vav-Zayin-Ches group.  We're certainly older than the campers in Kitah Alef, Bet, and Gimmel. We're even older than Dalet/Hey, traditionally the oldest group at Intown Jewish Preschool.  This is why the IJP Administration calls us "The Older Division."  It's a badge of pride.  It comes with extra responsibilities, as well as a certain amount of figuring out where exactly do we fit in and what would we like to do.  

     Some things never change; we know we like to play in the mud every now and then. (above, Pearl and Dovid join in with some of the younger children.)

     We also know that we like games with rules and strategies. We bring out games every Monday during Arrival Time and we try to squeeze in board games whenever we have a free moment during the rest of the week.  We're familiar with chess, Mastermind,  Hedbanz, Mancala and quite a few other games.  The Morah taught us Chinese Checkers.  (She thought she knew this game as a child, and then very recently, she actually learned the real rules.)       

     Our artwork shows our skills.  We know how to read and write.  We design our own bags, independent of a Morah.  (Above, Chana and Levi work on their bags.  Below, some of the results.)

     Now this was fascinating, from the point of view of a Morah.  We headed out to the Beltline on our scooters, ready for a good time of racing about, people-watching, and then cooling off at Chabad Center.  Pearl wanted to know, "Why is there a truck on the Beltline?"  Before a Morah could respond, the group read the words, Trees Atlanta!  The truck was there for, "Growing, Protecting, Educating."  Yep, we know that.

     Books have more meaning for us.  We can read a lot words.  (Above, Henia and Chana share a book about the White House, one of our Fourth of July themes.)

     We write, too.  When we shared Fourth of July concepts, we wrote some of our thoughts on our group mobile.  Chana wrote about being free to be a Jew in the United States.

     There are so many Junior Counselors on the playground!  Some of us went around and interviewed the new staff, asking them about their favorite foods, books, etc.  We wanted to learn a few facts about them.  What do they like to do in their spare time?  We wrote down their responses.

     Then, we started preparing for our Puppet Show.  It will be an original story, and we're still working on it.  Something about Mr. Banana Pants, and something about this and something about that.  After much discussion, we're ready to work on the script.  

     We decided that we must, must have tickets for the puppet show and that they must be numbered.  We're using our writing and math skills to get this job done.  Junior Counselor Yulie took us around to all the other groups so we could figure out how many tickets we would need.  Our conclusion:  we need an additional five.  We have to get to work on this.

     We build on our art skills, too.  Last summer, we learned how to paper mache using newspaper, glue and water. We make bigger bowls this time around, with a plan to use them to collect our tickets during the show.

     So it's all coming together for us.  We're using all our abilities as the oldest "bunk" to organize ourselves in our work and play.  (And, just in case we give the impression that we're only about literacy and math, here are a few pics where we're all about moving and fun!  Enjoy!)

Have a Happy Fourth!

Morah Susan, and the campers and junior counselors of Kitah Vav-Zayin-Ches

Monday morning in KDH

As a Reggio inspired classroom we fill our centers with materials to support child directed learning. We also are open to unexpected opportunities. This past Monday morning was a paradigm of what can be accomplished with this approach.  

The children came in and noticed paint, cardboard, lucite and magnets out on the table. What could we do with that? First we experimented to see if the magnets would attract and repel through the lucite and cardboard to move around bolts and bottle caps.  That worked so we taped on paper and put the bolts with paint on the paper on the lucite and cardboard. We tried to moved the bolts and caps and spread the paint. That did not work so well, so we tried paper plates. Voila! Magnetic art. One of the children remarked that magnets are all about attraction.

Parents and children were still trickling in. Gabi came in with his mother holding a large book.They asked if they could be surprise readers. Hurray! We all sat down to hear about Gabi's upcoming trip to Chile, a visit to his grandparents. It is summertime in the southern hemisphere now. Chile has the most sleeping volcanoes in the world. Chile is a long country with deserts in the north. Gabi will be in the center of the country, in Santiago. The boy in the book traveled across Chile.

After a few minutes of reading, we all returned to our play and work around the room. Emmett, Logan, Shayan and Avraham Chaim built ABC letters with the large blocks. Emmett invited us over to see the letters. Literacy and cooperative play.

Suddenly, we heard Harper call out excitedly from the dramatic play area, "I made an experiment!" Harper held up a silver tray and was reflecting sunlight from it onto the ceiling. Harper gave the tray to the other children to try the experiment too. Science and sharing!

Sorting with manipulatives - math skills

                                       

At the table next to the magnetic painting, Rafi and Eli Lipskier drew a picture of two people. They called over all their classmates to choose a picture and sign their names next to the people
. Name recognition and fine motor activities.

A Monday morning in IJP filled with love, learning and laughter, initiated by the children.
Come in and play with us!

KDH Morahs

The Explorers of Intown Jewish Preschool

Columbus Day was introduced in KDH with a question, "What is an explorer?" Maddy answered, An explorer looks for clues." Gabi added, "He is looking for things." Menny and Eli Sollish went on, "He wants to find things." Christopher Columbus was then brought into the conversation. Avraham Chaim told us that Columbus sailed, looking for things. 

In 1492, a rhyming adaptation by Jean Marzollo, of this famous verse, added rhythm to our discussion, as the children gave us the rhyming word for each line and examined the vibrant pictures. The people in Columbus' time went exploring for new lands and places to find gold, spices and precious stones. Columbus' plan was to travel west to Asia but he actually came to the Bahamas. We followed Columbus' route on our globe.

Columbus was an explorer. Are there still explorers today? What is explored? We read a Scholastic magazine about explorations into the rain forest, outer space, Antarctica and the ocean.

That made us think. Are we explorers too?!  There was a class consensus that we are explorers! We like to experiment, experience and discover too.

What have some of our explorations been?

A visit with a bee keeper.

 Beading with colorful beads and the letters of our names and then measuring.

Drawing a Torah for a Simchat Torah flag. What shapes did we draw?

  Using Wikki sticks to make animals and to build.

  Gardening. Will we grow more tomatoes? What else can we plant?

Experiencing the Succah

 Hammering in nails for a rain stick.

 What was created each day?

Reading and exploring together.

Separating white light into rainbows

 Eli Lipskier took the  discussion a step further by telling us that he likes to explore penguins, ducks, and rainbows.

 That prompted everyone to contribute what they would like to explore. 

Avraham Chaim would like to know about pirates and their treasures.

Eli Sollish wants to explore firemen.

Gabi would like to find out more about light of all kinds.

Logan thinks we should explore outer space.

Rafi wants to look into jaguars and cheetahs.

Shayan loves building.

Menny and Sylvia are very interested in the treasures buried in the ocean.

Emmett's interest is in wild animals.

Eliza would like to study flowers.

Leah wants to study the Torah of Hashem. 

Dalia is interested in sticks, leaves, trees and rainbows. 

Annabel wants to explore the ocean. 

Maddy liked all the ideas expressed. 

This is a wide range of interests. Yet.... 

A few children had mentioned the oceans and treasures. Rafi said the best way to go deep is in a submarine. How about scuba diving?We had a model of a scuba diver with equipment and asked Morah Gail to tell us about scuba diving. The children were spellbound as Morah Gail held up the scuba diver miniature and explained the purpose of the gear he was wearing. Emmett said that scuba divers wear fins to swim faster. 

The children wanted to know about the tube that went into his mouth. Morah Gail explained how the oxygen entered his mouth and is regulated. Menny noticed that he was not wearing the mask that covers his face and allows him to see under water. What did Morah Gail see when she went scuba diving? She described the very colorful parrot fish with a parrot shaped mouth, the moray eel that looks like a big snake and the sea horses swimming around.

It is obvious that the children are explorers, excited to learn and experience new things. The class voted on giving ourselves a new name, The Explorers. Most of the children voted, "Yes!" Gabi suggested that we call ourselves,
The Explorers of IJP.

With that it was time to go outside and experiment with our imaginary ocean in a large plastic bin, and the sailboats. Could we make them move by blowing wind through straws? Would they sink or float? What would cause them to capsize?

Treasures are not just in far away places. Annabel found a beautiful treasure right in our backyard!

There are so many areas to explore with KDH. Thank goodness it is only October!

Morah Ruth

Morah Yael

Morah Gail

Morah Shoshi