The Underneath and Supplemental Free Activities!

My name is Carolyn Wilhelm and I am so glad to be a guest blogger for Ann Marie Smith's Innovative Connections blog today.  I write for my own K-2 blog, but I guest blog on other blogs, as well.  I have taught mostly primary classrooms, but have also taught grades 4 and 5 and loved teaching units about novels.  Guest posting gives me a chance to blog about a novel.

I recently read THE UNDERNEATH by Kathi Appelt, a book suggested for ages 10 and up.  This narrative deals with tough realities of life for some animals who take turns telling the story.  The harsh conditions of living in the bayou are revealed through wonderful writing which helps the reader feel empathy and concern, as the animals struggle with their living conditions.  At different points in the story a single animal could be freed from the cruelty, but instead tries to help the others.  

Interwoven with the story of the animals is a mysterious tale of a lamia (Grandmother Moccasin), based on the local folklore of the bayou.  The magic snake also has some conflicts and problems. The story is remarkable and has a satisfying ending. 

So, what is the underneath, for which the book is named?  It is the space beneath a house that is built above the ground.  The human character is a rough hermit back-woods type of character who has become very mean from his difficult life.  Gar-Face (because of his scars) mostly stays away from people.  He gets a dog, Ranger, which disappoints him so much on their first hunting trip, that he chains dog beneath the house and barely gives him enough food.  A calico cat about to have kittens finds the space, and together they make a little family.  The two kittens are Puck and Sabine, and all is well when they are too small to venture out into the open.  The dog and three cats make a perfect family until the kitten, Puck, breaks the rule and goes to the open, setting off a series of suspenseful events. Students who love complex stories about animals will not want to put this book down.  The way Kathi Appelt writes engages the reader to want to read until the story is resolved.  

The questions at the end of the book deal with anthropomorphism, lamia (half-serpent and half-human), promises made by characters in the novel kept and at what cost, music's big role in the book, the theme of loss, learning from mistakes, the role of the hummingbird, and true friendships demonstrated in the story. Teachers will find the set of questions very helpful for using this book as a novel study.

For the independent reader or small group, here is my free PDF (with an answer key) to accompany the book. 

Thanks for reading, 

Carolyn

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Thanks to Carolyn for guest blogging today! This is a fabulous, valuable post, and it's such a bonus for her to include this fantastic freebie! Teachers, you can download this free pdf instantly! No logging in anywhere! I encourage you to visit Carolyn's Wise Owl Factory Book a Day Blog! She's got UBER awesome posts on books with supplemental materials! Click on her blog button to check it out! Don't forget to download your free pdf docs to accompany THE UNDERNEATH!!

Have a beautiful day!
Ann Marie

Hand On, Not Hands Off!

Guest Post by: The Lesson Lady of One Less Headache  

Have you ever had a student in class that couldn’t keep his or her hands to themselves and wanted to touch everything all the time? What about the student who can’t sit still and fidgets during class? Hands on projects will help you meet the needs of these students and more.

I am a little biased being an art teacher, but hands on projects can be an important and great way to help both you and your students. Kinesthetic learners will love doing hands on projects in class and learn well. Hands on lessons are also great ways to have students reach higher levels of learning from the top levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. You can also teach problem solving skills and creative thinking through the use of hands on projects.

Here are some suggestions of ways to use hands-on projects in a variety of subjects.

Language Arts

·      Billboard or Ad Design – Have students create an ad or billboard for a book that they read. What would they show and why?

·      Mandala – Have students create a mandala with different levels about different aspects about the book, its time period, and culture.

·      Board Game – Have students design and play a board game based on terms or reading passages.

Math

·      Ratios – Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing “The Vetruvian Man” is created out of ideal ratios and is called the Golden Ratio. Students can find the Golden Ratio in his work or trace their body and find their own ratio.

·      Binary Numbers – The South Korean flag is related to binary numbers. Have students create their own design or flag using their birthday binary numbers.

·      Origami – Have students create origami and ask questions such as how many folds were symmetrical or perpendicular. Unfold the origami when finished and see the patterns on the paper. Estimate or measure each angle the paper folds, determine if the paper is symmetrical each fold, use fractions when speaking about how to fold the paper.

Science

·      Optical Illusions – Use optical illusions to see how they trick the eye.

·      Classification – Classify animals and varied life forms viewed in different paintings.

·      Prehistoric Era – View cave paintings and determine what this says about the people, animals, or social ideals of this time. Could also work for Social Studies.

Social Studies

·      Class or Small Group Mural – Particularly in Mexico many artists created mural about Mexico’s history. Students could view the mural and discuss how it relates to Mexico’s history and create a mural either as a class or in a small group on a large paper that describes the history of a selected time period.

·      Time Period Review – Show students a variety of works of art from time periods they have studied. Can they tell which art is from what time?

·      Values – View artwork from different time periods to tell what is valued during each time period. What does the art say about each time period?

Social Awareness & Team Building

• Symbolic Portrait – Use a light and have students trace their profile. Inside the profile have them draw things that represent themselves or collage items that represent themselves. To add another dimension to this, have students do things that represent how others view them outside the profile. Giuseppe Arcimboldo does some unusual portraits like this.

·     Story Quilt – Create a class paper quilt like those of Faith Ringgold. Have each student tell a story on their paper quilt square. Attach them together to form a big class quilt that tells a story. You can also have students write a story to go with the image.

The Lesson Lady

TpT Store 

KA-POW!

Did you grow up reading comic books or the Sunday funnies? I did. My personal favorites were Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield. They are funny and kids can relate to them. Even super hero comics managed to find their way into my hands when I was young. I enjoyed the illustrations so much and the sound effects of the characters.I've discovered that struggling readers like comic books for a couple of reasons. The text isn't intimidating. The pictures catch their eyes. They don't seem as long as a book. When I introduce my struggling readers to Calvin and Hobbes, they fall in love with it. {So Do I} It's a fun and friendly text they relate to. Calvin and Hobbes have all kinds of imagination adventures in everyday situations. I especially like Calvin and Hobbes because the author and illustrator Bill Watterson uses language that is above where my students are. But because it's a comic book, they are willing to jump in and try those insanely big words. My 3rd grade student took a stab at the word "dictatorial impunity". The other plus is all of the grunts and groans and yells that require the student to access their phonics when they yell out, "WAARRGH!" If you have a student that continues to struggle with reading, consider getting some comic books into their hands. It just may change the way they feel about reading. Writing this blog post got me so excited about comics that I decided to make a freebie to share with all of you at Innovative Connections. It's got comic resources to help you find some great reads to share and a mini lesson where the students get to make their own comic strip. I can see the smiles now coming across your faces.... click here to download it right now. Adrianne Meldrum has a degree in Elementary Education. She currently tutors struggling readers and middle school math students. She is the author of Kidscogworks.com and creator of Brain Tower . Adrianne is the wife of an engineer and a mother to three very handsome boys.