Read Across America & Dr. Seuss's Birthday Celebration

March 2nd, 2008

To get in the spirit of Dr. Seuss' birthday, this year's theme was winter

and a variety of literature types were used

such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and folklore.

The book, The Mitten Tree, by Candice Christiansen, gave us the idea for a winter attire tree.  Actually, Mrs. DeYoung thought of it.

Dr. Orr decided it could be a Student Council project in conjunction with this lesson.
Every family was encouraged to donate either a pair of mittens, a scarf, a pair of socks or hat to needy children.

Two books of Seuss’ tied in with this winter theme:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
&
Fox in Socks

In the book, Apple Tree Christmas, by Trinka Hakes Noble, the children in the story warm their hands in the wool of the sheep.
One Little Lamb, by Elaine Greenstein, was read aloud,

and it simply explained how wool is cut from a sheep and all the steps it takes to make yarn.
Skeins of yarn and a blue hand-knitted wool scarf were passed around so kids could stick their fingers in it and feel the warmth.
I pointed out scarves, socks, hats, and mittens hanging by the windows that I bought to donate.
Then we looked at Doug Florian’s illustration for the poem, Winter Wool, from his book, Winter Eyes,

where sheep are wearing wool clothing.

By the wide screen TV, we got in a very cold, wintry mood

by viewing parts of the Reading Rainbow show entitled Snowy Day: Stories and Poems.
Levar Burton walked in snowshoes, Lena Horn read the poem, Winter Morning by Ogden Nash, Levar went sledding down a steep mountain, and a young girl recited the poem, Snow, by Carla Cushkin. 

It ended by Levar building and naming three snowmen/women with different winter attire.

(Older students also watched and listened to the part about the Iditorad sled race.)

Back in Poetry Pond I showed the globe of our world with a yellow ball for the sun.

Then I demonstrated how some parts of the world have seasons and other parts are either just hot or just cold.
The kids found it unbelievable that many people in the world have never seen real snow.
I showed how 1 inch of rain equals 10 inches of snow.

Since our winter season was unusually warm, we had very little snow,

but we could have had in excess of 120 inches if the weather were colder.

In Poetry Pond, I shared the nonfiction book, Living in a World of White - Where Survival Means Blending In showing pictures of animals camouflaged in white to blend in with their surroundings in either the North or South Pole regions.  They saw Arctic Wolves, Snowy Owls, Harp Seals, Snowshoe Hares, Arctic Foxes, Gentoo Penguins, Polar Bears, Rock Ptarmigans, Dall Sheep, and Snowy Sheathbills.

The next story I read aloud consisted only of words that described sounds.

It was called Snow Sounds - An Onomatopoetic Story by David A. Johnson.

Afterwards, I showed the students the ice skating skirt I used to wear when I was little.
Then I read aloud the poem, Figure 8, from Winter Eyes.

Younger students used precut square shapes (6”, 4”, and 3”) and folded them and cut them

to make 3 snowflakes which were taped together to make a snow person.

Children then walked around the tables to see that no two snowflakes were the same.

-Older students viewed the Internet site - www.weather.com

to see how the weather in Wyckoff or any other place could be accessed immediately.

They learned that weather services work around the clock, 24/7, all year.

In Poetry I explained that on Sunday, March 11, 1888, the weather service was closed - it was always closed on Sundays.
For days before, the weather was in the 50’s before the great blizzard.
I shared facts from the story City of Snow - The Great Blizzard of 1888 by Linda Oatman High.

Younger students told a story together as they viewed the video of a wordless book, The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs.

Children in grades 4 & 5 heard a Japanese folklore story from Snowy Day - Stories and Poems edited by Caroline Feller Bauerson.

To complete this study of different types of literature about winter,

I read aloud the last haiku in the book called Today and Today - Haikus by Issa.

As simple as that-
Spring has finally arrived
With a pale blue sky

We did have our 9th annual Sing Along on Friday, March 29th.

Ms. Vesque found a wonderful song about winter which the entire school sang

along with Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss,

Take Me Out to the Bookstore (lyrics written by Jeremy S.),

and Dr. Seuss, We Love You.

Read Across America & Dr. Seuss's Birthday Celebration

March 2nd, 2007

PLEASE HELP OUR EARTH

With

Environmentally Friendly Lunches

Dear Parents of Grade 1 - 5 students,

              On Dr. Seuss’s birthday and in preparation for the PTO theme day, “Earth Matters”, your child became aware about the importance of recycling, composting, and the differences in garbage thrown out each day by Lincoln School students during lunchtime.

              The children learned that even though they are young, they can do their part, and every little bit helps.  Visually, it was brought to their attention that of our entire earth, only 1/4 of it is land; the rest is water.  Humans live on earth, and we must take care of it.

              There are several things you can do at home that will help your child bring in environmentally friendly lunches and snacks each school day.

              -Use a lunch box.

-Brown bags are also good as long as they are used over and over until it needs to be recycled from home.

-For beverages, use a thermos or a recyclable container (a #1 or #2 is in the triangle on the bottom.)

                            -Aluminum cans are also acceptable.

                            -Juice boxes cannot be recycled.

-Put each lunch item in its own plastic container, which can be washed in the dishwasher and used again the next day.

-Stop using plastic bags, plastic wrap, and aluminum foil, which cannot be recycled.  Waxed paper, however, is biodegradable.

-Stop buying individually wrapped snacks - purchase large packages of snacks and make individual servings packed in a plastic container.

-Consider composting.

-If your child brings in a piece of fruit, the outer coating or core can be composted at home.

              On our celebration of Earth Day, Friday, April 20th, (the national celebration is April 22nd but we’ll be on a much needed vacation), we are going to encourage each child to bring in an environmentally friendly lunch.  We will do this again on the PTO’s Earth Day, June 1st.  Please note that luncheon treats will not be offered either of these days.  Prior to these days, the amount of garbage on a typical lunch day will be photographed.  Another photograph will be taken on our “Earth Days”.  Hopefully, the amount of garbage will be significantly lower.

              It is our wish, however, that you try to make positive changes right away.  I would not ask you to do this if I didn’t do it myself.  As a matter of fact, since I researched and prepared the lesson, I learned new things and have made positive changes in my own recycling habits.  We all need to preserve the one earth we have.  Please help your child do his or her part to help out.

                                                                                                                Mrs. Witte

During our Dr. Seuss lesson, we focused on our earth since the PTO theme day was "Earth Matters".

First, the children saw a globe.

To demonstrate how much land and how much water we have on this earth, I cut an orange into quarters.

One quarter of the earth is land, and three quarters of the earth is water.

Since we live on land, we better take good care of it.

Then we talked about littering.  If one student were to have a piece of gum and throw the wrapper on the ground, that little piece of paper would not seem like too much littering.  But what if every student in Lincoln School were to do that on one day.  Four hundred pieces of paper would be on the ground.  And what if all the students in Washington School, Coolidge School, Sicomac School and Eisenhower School were to do the same,

there would be an incredible amount of garbage on the ground.

We must do everything we can to take care of the earth, the land.

Even though we each are just one person, we can make a positive difference.

Then groups of students went to four different stations to explore the topic more thoroughly.

One station had materials used for composting such as dirt, orange peels, coffee grinds and filter, lint, leaves, and eggshells in a glass container so they could try to guess what was in there.

It was explained that these items would decompose over time and turn into fertile soil.

The large wooden box is an example of what they could use to get started

on their own composting area at home in the yard.

Below, children reviewed what items are recycled in Wyckoff and put out by the curb every two weeks.

They learned that plastic with a #1 or #2 printed on the bottom is recyclable.

They read about what new things plastic, metal cans, newspaper, cardboard, and glass are turned into.

Students tried to think of different ways to use socks before throwing them away.

In a dump, it takes years for cotton socks to decompose.

At this stations, nine items were labeled:

glass bottle, leather belt, aluminum can, socks, plastic bag, nylon stockings, cigarette butts, and orange peels.

The children had to match a blue card to each item.

Printed on the blue cards were different lengths of time from 2 - 5 weeks up to 1,000,000 years.

Students were able to check to see how many answers they got correct.

Finally, students investigated an environmentally friendly lunch vs. an environmentally unfriendly one.

The Barbie lunch box contained a thermos of juice, a sandwich and popcorn in plastic containers, and a banana.

The only part of this lunch that needed to be thrown away was the peel of the fruit,

but could be taken home to a compost.

The brown bag lunch contained a juice box, a sandwich in a plastic bag, a pre-packaged container of oranges and chocolate chip cookies, and a spoon.  The only items that could be used again were the bag and spoon.  the juice box and straw, plastic bag, container holding fruit and bag holding cookies would need to be thrown away.

Then the children were asked to think of their own lunch.

How environmentally friendly was it?

What could they do to help the environment?

Back in Poetry Pond, we discussed the different stations.

Then they heard the story, Dear Children of the Earth - A Letter From Home,

by Schim Schimmel, looked at the unique illustrations, and reflected on the words.

Explain that Dr. Seuss wrote a story that has to do about taking care of the environment, The Lorax.

The movie was shown in the classrooms during an indoor recess.