BBCo Blog – Page 33 – Blackbird and Company

Posted on December 14, 2011 by BBCo

At the Intersection of Math and Writing

I began the writing workshop with Cuisinare rods and colored pencils. My writers looked puzzled.

“Today you're going to make a Cuisinaire construction and then describe how you made the construction with words on paper so that a reader will be able to navigate through the paragraph to create an identical construction.”

This is my idea of a hands-on How To paragraph.

“Just like math, when writing instructions you have to show all your steps.”

Young writers need to practice working through the process of crafting words. It's challenging teaching young writers that words need to be wisely chosen and crafted carefully to accurately communicate a specific idea to an audience of readers. This is challenging because the task is a process that involves tremendous effort on the part of the writer and young writers want to skip steps. Participating in this work over time sets a foundation for the rhythm of the writer's routine to be established.

Before beginning, I challenged my writers to keep in mind the cardinal rule of our writing workshop:
“Words are scribbled on paper for a reader to read… your words are a gift.”

The young writers eagerly spent an hour an a half contentedly drafting rough drafts paragraph that they took home to self-conference and craft to final draft.

“Next week we will exchange final drafts and see if readers can make the construction.”

Begin all writing experiences by breaking the task at hand into steps. Remind writers that writing is a process. Getting young writers to engage in process is a tricky business that takes time to root, but truth be told, process alone takes the daunting out of writing.

We broke this specific project down as follows:

What's your big idea?
Make a construction with Cuisinaire rods. Map the construction on graph paper with colored pencils.

Write it down…!
Begin by use a topic wheel to outline each step involved in the construction. Craft a paragraph following the topic wheel outline. Be sure to introduce the topic with a sentence that hooks the reader into the big idea. The supporting sentences should include specific details that will allow the reader to navigate through the Cuisinaire construction without a hitch. Craft a single sentence at the end of the paragraph that will conclude the exercise and add an interesting clincher that makes idea of the paragraph echo in the mind of the reader.

Conference with yourself and someone else…
Now, re-read what you wrote and decide, as a reader, if you are accurately communicating your big idea. Use a red pen to make changes. Ask someone else to read your work and to add red marks when they find confusing areas, holes, or dead ends in your “How To” paragraph.

Revise
Make a final sweep with the red pen for common errors—spelling, punctuation, capitalization, tense, and so on.

Final Draft
Use your best handwriting or type up a final draft!

Posted on December 9, 2011 by BBCo

Mystery Solved

In all my years of teaching literature, I've never met a reader, regardless of reluctancy, who has not been drawn delightedly into the The Westing Game's intrigue. The plot is complex and captivating. Upper elementary and middle school readers enjoy every twist and turn. Beyond the fact that I am thrilled to have a mystery that is age appropriate for this audience, the theme of embracing true identity and resisting the urge to be what others want us to be, is an added bonus. In the story, characters often behave a certain way based on perceived expectations from other characters and situations, in the real world we call this peer pressure! And we all know, when peer pressure is present, appearances are deceiving. The Westing Game is a terrific reminder.

So the plot goes, one of 16 people will win Westing's $200 million fortune if they solve a mystery involving word clues. For the past three weeks, Søren and his literature buddies have been collecting clues as they read. Compounding the tension for this specific group is that all of the participants have older siblings who have read the book. Can you say, “Spoiler alert?”

Last night, just as the house was beginning to settle, I heard the roar of a surprise party, Liam and Søren were at it again! I marched to the scene where my two youngest boys were laughing hysterically. “What happened?” I asked.

The thing is, I can't tell you their response because it would spoil the mystery! What I can say is that I was completely taken aback. My boys had settled down for the evening, were reading quietly until Søren reached the end of the book where the mystery is solved. Both he and Liam delighted together at last.

In the end, like every great mystery, nothing is as it seems but all the pieces are in place!

– Kim

Posted on December 2, 2011 by BBCo

Lexicon for Advent

This year we are collecting words.

My high school literature workshop began with an eight-week close reading and explored a kaleidoscope of Shakespeare’s words.

This past Monday, as the curtain closed on The Tempest, and culminating essays were handed in, I had an idea, “Open your lexicons, I have a word for you.” We pulled out the dictionaries (old school and iTouch) and raced for the definition.

ADVENT
L. adentus "arrival"
The coming or arrival, especially of something important.

One thing led to another, and by the end of the spontaneous lexicon activity, “wait” and “anticipate” and “expect” and “hope” all led to another idea.

As we wait, anticipate, expect, and hope during the month of December, we’ll create a collaborative collection, one word and one image per day. In January we’ll craft a poem from the verbal and visual advent lexicon as a reminder that waiting, anticipating, expecting, and hoping remind us to marvel in joy, in peace.

We’ll be posting what we gather on our Facebook page. We’d love for you to join us!

Posted on November 30, 2011 by BBCo

Boys and Books

Q: What do readers like best about Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder?
A: The FOOD!

Last week I celebrated the end of an era, read the last pages of Farmer Boy with my youngest son, Søren and his literature circle buddies. This was the second time that I read the book with an all boy group, the second time I was surprised by the level of boy-enthusiasm for the reading. These boys were fascinated by the history, intrigued by the real responsibilities that Almanzo tackled each day, but mostly, they were amazed by how much Almanzo could eat!

The group enjoyed sharing their projects inspired by the book during a culminating feast of Almanzo's favorites—apples and onions, cornbread, ham, and, of course, stacked pancakes!

"Ten pancakes cooked on the smoking griddle, and as fast as they were done Mother added another cake to each stack and buttered it lavishly and covered it with maple sugar. Butter and sugar melted together and soaked the fluffly pancakes and dripped all down their crisp edges. That was stacked pancakes. Almanzo liked them better than any other kind of pancakes."

Posted on November 28, 2011September 6, 2020 by BBCo

A Little Inspiration

There is always hope, or so they say.

I went out to check on my garden after being gone on vacation. I had asked my teens to water while I was away and for the most part they got it right. But alas, they missed the beautiful pot of mint that I had finally gotten to grow back after a long rainy winter.

It looked really dead but I watered it anyway thinking that maybe, just maybe, there might be life below the surface. There was! A week later a sprout appeared and I marveled. I just stood there thinking (always dangerous) about it and this led to my feeling hopeful about a lot of things.

Life isn’t always as it seems. It can look very bleak and discouraging, but there is often a turn ahead.

How many times have our children gone through a difficult stage where we think, how in the world is this going to work itself out?

The good news is that there are seeds of growth deep inside our children and they are moments away from erupting into change, into new life. There may be steps backwards, sure, but truly momentum is going forward.

Love and patience are like water, they can bring a miracle.

Hope.

– Sara

Posted on November 23, 2011 by BBCo

Thanksgiving Making

Fall is cozy….and has to be the best season for making! We had so much fun this year getting creative ideas from many of you around the wonderful-wide-web! It's a blessing to be able to find inspiration at your fingertips and we're really grateful for the sharing that happens from blog to blog. Here are some of the projects we made…enjoy, and Thanksgiving blessings to you!

Fall Leaf Cutting Practice inspired by mmmCrafts

Leaf Lanterns inspired by …imagine childhood

Handprint Mayflower inspired by Fryman Four

Thanksgiving Story Bracelets inspired by My Montessori Journey

Paper Leaf/Feather Garland inspired by Chasing Fireflies

"Coneucopias" filled with gummy fish, caramel corn, candy-coated sunflower seeds, berry chews and Reeses Pieces inspired by Busy Bee

Turkey Handprint Cards (in process)

Pumkin Cookies

Our "First Thanksgiving" Feast shared and ejoyed by our little ones. We served beef jerkey, baby carrots, fishie crackers, nuts, dried green beans, dried blueberries, grapes, apples and cranberry juice.

Posted on November 21, 2011 by BBCo

Crafting a Poem of Thanksgiving

I shrink in the company of Sarcasm. I’m admittedly deficient, two steps behind when it comes to her volley of shrill phrases. When she enters the building, I chuckle a bit but rarely participate. I acknowledge that, on edge of her spectrum, chatter is light-hearted, friendly. Still, try as I might, I can’t quite squeak a giggle in the midst of her raucous presence.

Recently two students in my guild moved on to explore new education paths. Both students had been part of the guild for many years. My idea was to provide an opportunity for closure by challenging writers to craft a farewell phrase. I decided to incorporate this exercise into our regular writing workshop. What better way to put my “writing is a gift” motto into action?

So we began, “Let’s craft kind words to encourage our friends as they set out on a new adventure.” Sounds simple, right?

As I watched the card I provided move from writer to writer, I anticipated reading the messages before posting them the old fashioned way. But later that day, when I sat down with a cup of tea excited to read the phrases inscribed on the card, my heart sank. There she was, Sarcasm, smirking in all her glory, “Have fun wandering the halls,” and “Happy Easter (jk),” and “Yeah, whatever, thanks for leaving me behind,” and “Life is good (not),” …not a single kind word. There were careless spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors.

Decibels peaking, Sarcasm crossing over to the caustic zone, I wanted to shrink. At one point in the reading, I wanted to cry. Our guild is not a typical classroom where children come and go annually, most of these children have been learning together for many years. These children are respectful of and grateful for friendship. Still, not a single phrase in the card was crafted vulnerably. What in the world? I knew that this group would really miss their friends who had moved on. I knew this must be something else. Maybe they did not know how to craft vulnerable words.

Continue reading Crafting a Poem of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 17, 2011 by BBCo

Home Ec: The Science of Yeast

I LOVE bread. A tradition of making it from scratch is easy to establish. The aroma of this yeasty wonder baking is pure gratitude and a warm slice with butter is a one-of-a-kind head-nodding smile. But home baked bread is more than yummy, it's science! Of course yeast is the agent that makes bread rise and yeast is an interesting thing to study.

Yeast has several crucial roles in bread baking. Yeast is a single celled fungus. How can such a little fungus be so important? Well, yeast is the driving force behind fermentation that allows a big lump of dough to become well risen. Yeast is a living organism that works by consuming sugar and excreting carbon dioxide and alcohol. Fermentation helps to strengthen and develop gluten in dough and also contributes to incredible flavors in bread.

There are three essentials to any bread dough: flour, water, and yeast. As soon as these are stirred together, enzymes in the yeast and the flour cause large starch molecules to break down into simple sugars. The yeast then eats the sugars and exudes a liquid that releases carbon dioxide and alcohol into air bubbles in the dough. It’s just like blowing up bubblegum! The longer fermentation goes on the more it breaks down big molecules in proteins, starches, and fats into their building blocks, so the more flavorful the dough becomes.

There are two basic yeasts that we buy today: active dry yeast and quick rise, or instant yeast. You can use either in a recipe. You just need to mix the active dry yeast with warm, (not hot) water with a pinch of sugar to activate it. Instant yeast can be added directly to the flour with all the other ingredients. This recipe calls for instant yeast and I don’t happen to keep that on hand so I used my active dry, I just added it to the warm water and let it sit for a few minutes until bubbles formed on top which lets me know the yeast is alive. If bubbles don’t form it means your yeast is expired or you killed it with hot water! About 105 degrees is perfect for dissolving yeast.

Flour is an important ingredient in bread making. The higher the quality the better your bread will taste. It’s better to use bread flour rather that all-purpose. Here’s why. Bread flour is milled from hard red spring wheat. It has a higher protein content so it has more gluten and will rise higher. All- purpose flour is great for soft breads like muffins and banana bread. It will give a more tender crumb.

Water is the last basic ingredient so it should be pure as well. If it has too many chemicals in it, that can be hard on the yeast and doesn’t taste good either.

Today I went to my favorite site for bread recipes, King Arthur Flour and found just what I was looking for. It is quite easy…a yummy and satisfying, not to mention educational, Thanksgiving activity for the whole family!

Soft Rolls
4 1/2 plus 2/3 cup bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 large egg whites
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3 to 4 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Mix and kneed the dough ingredients-by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—to make a smooth dough.

2. Cover the dough and let rise until it’s noticeably puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, deflate it, and divide it into 12 pieces (about 3 1/4 ounces each). Shape into balls.

4. Dip the top half of each roll into water, then into the seeds. Place rolls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press gently to flatten.

5. Cover the rolls, and let them rise until puffy, 45 to 60 mins. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 400F.

6. Bake the rolls until they’re deep golden brown, 22 to 26 mins. Remove and cool on a rack.

– Sara

Posted on November 8, 2011 by BBCo

Look!

One week into the adventure, our errands accomplished, we were still in the van at twilight. Moving to the city was not what my husband and I had envisioned for our family, but food on the table is always a good thing! As we loaded our boxes into the U-haul we promised each other to look on the bright side of the concrete, but that particular night, after fighting traffic for 45 minutes, there was a shortage of positive thoughts. Rounding the corner into our brand new neighborhood I think it was Liam, then an animated three-year-old, who was first to spot them, “Mommy, look!” I slowed the van to a whispering tiptoe. In hushed tones, we watched as a mama raccoon and her kit crossed the street, “Wildlife in the city!” This was the moment we began to feel at home. From that day on we kept our eyes wide open, documenting our discoveries in the Observation Journal.

We’ve been city dwellers for nearly twelve years now. This past weekend our country folk friends ventured to the city to celebrate the beginning of fall. On Saturday, we were just about to begin breakfast when we heard a great commotion. We ran to the yard to find a murder of crows mobbing a Great Horned Owl snoozing in our tree. While I must admit this was an extravagant sighting, I was not surprised. My friends, on the other hand, were flabbergasted by this display of wildlife. Even the neighbors were drawn from their autonomous spaces, cameras and binoculars in hand, to observe the owl and her mortal enemies.

On Sunday morning Sara collected pellets from the base of the tree, “…a dissection opportunity for the Observation Journal.” And as you can see from the photos, the pellets provided a treasure trove of interesting material for scientific inquiry and discovery…not to mention a lot of ohhs and ahhhs.

The owl and the crows spent the weekend with us, then disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared.

Read more about starting an observation journal in the latest issue of Heart of the Matter's online magazine (see page 22).

Note: Should you not be so fortunate as to have a Great Horned Owl nesting nearby you can find owl pellets readily on the internet.

Posted on October 28, 2011 by BBCo — 1 Comment

Leaving Ticonderoga In the Dust

We use a whole-lotta-lead in our little cooperative school. This year I got wise, I go directly to Dixon for the goods! But sometimes, especially as young ones are honing their reading and writing skills, they need work that does not involve gripping a pencil. We call this type of work “Discovery” because it affords the opportunity for the primary student to make a choice, attend to the work involved in that choice, and ultimately, discover something in the process.

We dedicate shelf space and time in each day to this type of work. Discovery provides an opportunity to focus on an independent activity without dividing the effort between two skills, the academic task at hand and the developing fine motor, which is a task and a half for many children.

Discovery activities are usually hand made, or assembled from treasures found at the dollar store or at yard sales. We also mix in prepared materials designed for the Montessori and Waldorf style classroom. The possibilities are truly only limited by your imagination. Once the work is complete, the student has the work checked then attends to the task of placing the materials back in its place on the shelf until next time.

Here are some ideas from our little group, and as time goes by we'll be sharing additional activities. Please contribute your own ideas too in the comments section…learning from eachother is a gift!

Sock Paring Basket

Materials:
– medium size basket
– 8-10 pairs of colorful ankle socks (easier to fold together)

Instructions:
Mix up sock collection in basket. Child finds pairs and folds them together. Talk about what a pair is, count the pairs aloud together, talk about the colors and patterns, etc. When finished, child separates socks and places them back in basket.

Pom Pom Sorting

Pom poms are by definition fun and full of delight! Now something to do with that large bag from Michael's that was calling your name…

Materials:
– small basket
– muffin tin
– pom poms in various sizes and colors
– small tongs

Instructions:
Child builds fine motor skills by using tongs to sort pom poms into muffin cups. They can play with sorting by either size or color. When finished, child places pom poms back in basket.