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Celebrate National Poetry Month

Barbara Gowan — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 05:10:53 GMT

April is National Poetry Month. There are so many fun activities from Poem in Your Pocket Day to creating student poetry books. I visited Annunciation Catholic School in Cave Creek to work with grades 2, 4 & 5 to write poetry. We worked on two different poetry styles - a puzzler rhyme like in my book, Little Arizona, and a (modified) cinquain or 5-line nature poem.

The day started with a trip to the ocean. We listened to the crashing ocean waves and the squawking sea gulls (via an ocean CD) as I read tide-pool poems from Stephen Swinburne's Ocean Soup.

The first entry in our word bank were sound words. Kids described the ocean waves as splashing, crashing and booming.

Students built a bank of sensory words by smelling, touching, and looking at objects.

"It smells like spaghetti...it smells like pizza," "Ooh, this leaf smells like lemons" were some of the responses from the kids as they sniffed fresh oregano, cilantro, rosemary, sage and lemon balm.

Sight words can be shape words and nature is filled with shapes. Jane Yolen's book, Shape Me a Rhyme, gave excellent examples.

The kids explored shells, feathers, pine cones, seed pods and desert blooms through a hand lens.

I shared Frank Serafini's book, Looking Closely Across the Desert, to encourage the kids to think "outside the box." His close-up photographs are accompanied by imaginative ideas. "Is it a pincushion? Is it monster skin" when viewing a close-up image of a prickly pear cactus fruit.

I challenged the kids to use their imaginations and they did. One boy exclaimed that the shed skin of a rattlesnake looked like bubble wrap.

Our five-line poem starts with the name of the object but with a twist and is followed by two lines of sensory words describing the object. Line 4 is a personal statement followed by the last line naming the object. Here are some nature poems written by the fourth graders.

Ocean Treasure

Swirly, smooth, hard, pearly

Scent of fresh rain, color like butter

I like the ocean breeze on a warm summer day.

Sea Shell

by Emma

Skeleton

Hard with holes, brown and white

Stick-like and broken

I like to hang out under the hot blazing sun.

Cholla wood

by Louis

Home of Ocean

Beige, cone-shaped, football in the sand

Stiff runway, spirally around and circling and circling

I like cool, watery beaches on a summer day.

A seashell

by Natalina

The older kids tackled the puzzler rhyme. Key words that give important clues about their animal are written in a four line rhyme. Students were given a brown bag with a beanie baby animal inside. Following research in books and online, the kids chose key words to describe the critter, found rhyming words and clapped out the rhythm of their poem.

Can you guess these animals?

It has giant claws.

and lives in the sea.

Colored brown and red,

it's a delicasy.

(lobster)

Rough, hard shell

Lays eggs in the moonlight

On the beach

Crunching leaves day and night.

(turtle)

by Avery and Natalina

Students were proud of their poems and had fun sharing them with their classmates. Writing nature poems is an excellent way to celebrate Earth Day, April 22, along with National Poetry Month. Please share YOUR students' poems with me so that I can add them to my collection.

Authors for Earth Day 2013

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:04:50 GMT

This Earth Day on April 22, I will be traveling to Tucson to visit two schools - Quail Run Elementary and Thornydale Elementary in the Marana School District - for my Authors for Earth Day visits. It will be an exciting opportunity for classes to enjoy my presentation of the book Desert Digits and also to learn about conservation agencies that help Arizona wildlife.

A Gila monster visiting my backyard enjoys my book Desert Digits!

I have selected five conservation agencies and the students will have the opportunity to learn about how they are helping Arizona wildlife. Each student will vote on the organization that they want me to donate a percentage of my Authors for Earth Day (A4ED) speaker's fee to. I chose projects that have a direct impact on wildlife especially in southern Arizona.

Tucson Audubon Society

The Mason Center naturalists offer school field trips in the protected saguaro-ironwood habitat. Tucson Audubon also sponsors bird walks and family nature activities in southern Arizona. My A4ED donation would help purchase supplies for these activities.

Wild at Heart

Did you read the children's book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen? Then you know about burrowing owls and how their habitat is being destroyed. Wild at Heart builds artificial burrows and relocates owls to their new homes across Arizona. My A4ED donation would help build burrows.

Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center

Last year, the Authors for Earth Day students at Kiva Elementary voted on Southwest Wildlife and together we started a campaign to collect peanut butter for the bears. The resident black bears get a snack of PB&J sandwiches daily but peanut butter is expensive. The A4ED donation would purchase this tasty and healthy treat. Creamy peanut butter is their favorite!

Phoenix Zoo Native Conservation Project

The black-footed ferret and the Mount Graham red squirrel are an important part of the native species conservation program at the Phoenix Zoo. The zoo is one of only six facilities world-wide that breeds the endangered black-footed ferret for release to the wild. These critters often get bored in their cages so the A4ED donation would be used to purchase toys for behavioral enrichment.

Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society

The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society is working with the Arizona Game and Fish wildlife managers to reintroduce the desert bighorn into the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. They plan to release the sheep in November 2013. The A4ED donation would help make this possible.

Authors for Earth Day supports conservation through literacy. Check out my previous blog posts to learn about Liberty Wildlife and Southwest Wildlife, Authors for Earth Day recipients in 2010 and 2012.

To learn more about the conservation agencies for my Authors for Earth Day 2013 visit, check out these sites: Tucson Audubon Society, Wild at Heart, Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, Phoenix Zoo Native Conservation Project and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society. I'll report on the winner as soon as it is chosen!

Arizona Game and Fish Youth Expo Contest

Barbara Gowan — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:56:26 GMT

It was a great day at the Arizona Game and Fish Youth Expo where kids, parents and teachers had the opportunity to see Arizona wildlife up close. Aren't these kestrels beautiful?

Wildlife experts answered questions about everything from bats and bobcats to rattlesnakes and gila monsters. Kids tried their skill at archery, shooting, fishing and even catching crayfish.

I love the message on this sign.

I was at the storytelling center sharing the rhymes and riddles from my book Little Arizona.

We investigated the tools in a writer's toolbox and the process of writing a rhyming riddle with well chosen descriptive words. After the reading, the kids were challenged to write their own rhyming riddle about an Arizona critter and submit it to my contest. So here are the rules!

You can enter up to 5 rhyming riddles about different Arizona critters. (It's so much fun to write them that you may want to write more than one!)

Make sure that you research and learn about the animal's habitat and physical appearance. Don't make up anything about the animal. If you're not sure, look it up. Remember how I had misinformation in my first draft of the bat poem where I said "brown furry wings" when they aren't furry at all!

Choose your words carefully. Remember sensory descriptive words and the fewer the better.

Try clapping out each syllable in the words to make sure that the riddle has good rhythm.

You can send the final draft to my email, bgowan54@cox.net, or leave it as a comment on this site. Make sure that you include your name, school (or homeschool) and age. Deadline is April 1.

A winning riddle will be chosen by members of the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council and the poet will receive a copy of one of my books. Good luck.

Here are a few rhyming riddles to get you thinking...

Eight legs

Silk spinner

Sticky web

traps dinner

a spider

Big round eyes

Silent flight

Hunting mice

by moonlight

an owl

Brown leathery wings

flying at night

Eating mosquitos

by moonlight.

a bat

Be an Advocate for Literacy and Join the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council

Barbara Gowan — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:21:19 GMT

If you believe that every child should be a lifelong reader, you are an advocate of literacy. The Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council, an affiliate of the Arizona Reading Association (ARA) and the International Reading Association (IRA), needs your support through membership.

For over twenty years, the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council (GPVRC)

has supported literacy activities locally and around the world. Your membership in this professional organization is vital if we are to continue this work. Please consider joining the GPVRC as an active member or as a literacy advocate. Either way your membership dues support education, service and advocacy including...

ü GPVRC professional development seminars (Sept through May) and online Teachers as Readers discussion groups

ü Community service projects –

the Lake Titicaca Literacy Project, founded by Barbara Gowan - GPVRC officer, builds libraries on Amantani Island and provides an IRA membership to a Peruvian educator while the Pajama Program provides books and new pjs to homeless children in the valley

ü Professional growth opportunities at literacy events throughout Arizona including the ARA Institute on November 3, 2012 featuring Ralph Fletcher and “Writing Strategies that Work”

ü Opportunities for scholarships and grants including the $1000 Graduate School program from ARA and $300 Teacher Literacy Grants provided by the Phoenix West Reading Council

ü Networking with literacy professionals at events and on the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council facebook page

ü Sharing your voice in advocacy and legislation that affects literacy

ü GPVRC membership enrolls you in the Arizona Reading Assn. and you will receive the Arizona Reading Journal providing the latest information about literacy education

___ $30 annual dues – ACTIVE MEMBER

___ $30 – LITERACY ADVOCATE MEMBER

___ $15 – RETIRED OR STUDENT MEMBER

___ Yes, I’d like to donate $5 to the Lake Titicaca Literacy Project

NAME:

ADDRESS:

CITY, STATE, ZIP:

HOME PHONE: EMAIL:

SCHOOL: POSITION:

Make check payable to Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council

MAIL TO: GPVRC c/o Sigrid Kuster, 6134 E. Calle del Paisano, Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Build a Book Workshop at Annunciation School - brainstorm, research, write and revise

Barbara Gowan — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:30:42 GMT

The young authors in the 4th grade at Annunciation Catholic School in Cave Creek, AZ are approaching the final stretch of creating their classroom alphabet book. Following the writing process that I used to create my alphabet books, these students began the project with brainstorming or

selecting a topic about Arizona for each letter in the alphabet from Ancient People to Zane Grey along with Desert Tortoise, Four Corners, Barry Goldwater, Valentine's Day and more. Then it was on to research and collecting information by being detectives searching for answers to their specific questions.

I loaned the class books about Arizona's history, geography, people and natural history.

Students are encouraged to look first in the books and follow it up at trusted sites on the internet. Some are interviewing experts, watching movies and even visiting a plant nursery for a closeup look at a yucca.

To help the students think more creatively about their writing (and to not be tempted to erase), thin-point markers and oversized white paper is used for the rough draft. Four specific strategies for topic sentences were taught and used as hooks to get the reader to want to read more.

Lessons on writing with sensory details and wiping out wimpy words and writing with wow words help the young authors write so the reader feels like they are at the scene of the action. And of course, after the sloppy copy or rough draft comes re-writing, re-writing and revising.

Once the manuscript is complete, students will participate in peer editing. Then it's on to illustrating or showcasing their topic in bright colors. Publishing will occur at a local copy store. This workshop started in mid-February followed by four more visits.

We concluded with a Celebrate Writing party where the children received their books.

The classroom was buzzing with excitement as I walked in with the published book. I shared positive comments about each person's writing - from their choice of "wow words" to their clear, concise explanations of science concepts to their use of sensory descriptions to their interesting biographical research to their power-punched ending sentences. Everyone was very proud of their book.

It was difficult to single out one writer for the Awesome Writer Award.

Emily's page - H is for Havasupai - was filled with sensory detail. Here's an excerpt - "Just imagine waking up in the morning and feeling the refreshing spray of the falls and catching the fragrance of the cool, crisp air evaporating from them. You can hear the rushing water plunging into the turquoise pools."

You feel like you've witnessed the gunfight at the OK Corral when you read Zack's words -
"Boom! Another cowboy drops, Frank McLaury dead from a stomach wound from Wyatt Earp's gun...
Tom McLaury dead from a blast of Holliday's shotgun...
Billy Clanton dying from a shot in the chest...
Morgan Earp hit in the shoulder and Virgin Earp and Dog Holliday wounded, and Wyatt Earp left untouched.
The fight lasted about 30 seconds on a Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 1881."

Anna and Erin worked together on Z is for Zane Grey and their first sentence sounds like the setting in one of Grey's famous Western novels - "A golden sun disappears behind the jagged Sonoran Desert peaks as a lone cowboy on his wild mustang gallops across the sand."

Some letters are more challenging than others. Hadley wrote Q is for Queen Butterfly. "Who do
you think the Queen Butterfly is named after? Alfred Meeks named the butterfly after Queen Elizabeth I because Elizabeth fought off all the men who wanted to marry her because she did not want to share her crown. The Queen butterfly is a fighter, too, and she fiercely fights off predators who want to eat her."

Alec used the topic sentence strategy of starting his writing with interesting information - "Sandra Day O'Connor made history in 1981 when Ronald Reagan appointed her as the first woman Supreme Court Justice."

William wanted his readers to feel like they were at the scene. Here's how he began his writing for P is for Petrified Forest - "Picture 750 million years ago, feel the humid and moist forest where dinosaurs as large as a school bus roamed. Now picture that the forest turned to stone. How did that happen?"

Erin had a power-packed ending to her writing about Padre Kino. "When he saw Bac for the first time with the delegation from Tucson, Padre Kino imagined a brilliant white church rising against the turquoise blue sky and the sandy, brown mountains and shining in the distance like a sparkling jewel on the desert floor. He built it as he imagined it. It is there still, shining in the desert."

Those were just a few examples. I could show each page and you'd see excellent writing.
I am so proud of these kids. They worked hard to create an awesome class alphabet book.

4th grade AUTHORS at Annunciation Catholic School in Cave Creek, AZ

If you are interested in the Build a Book Workshop for your students, check out the post on School Author Visits for Kids and contact bgowan54@cox.net for details. I am on the roster of teaching artists for the Arizona Commission on the Arts and you may be able to apply for a grant to help bring this program to your school.

Play charades with kids' books featuring food in the titles

Barbara Gowan — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:57:22 GMT

The last meeting of the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council was filled with fun AND food. Members were encouraged to bring a food item that corresponded to a children's book. Many had the name of the food in the title or as in Heidi, crusty white rolls played a memorable role in the story. Not only did we eat tamales, blueberries, popcorn and cookies (and more!), but a game of charades made everyone think about old favorites including 1946 Newbery award winner Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClosky (Caldecott Honor 1949) and Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola (Caldecott Honor 1976).

This idea would work well at a meeting of librarians, book clubs, children's book lovers, and in a college kidlit class. Have fun and enjoy the bibliography compiled by the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council.
It's a start...which book would you add?

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle

Barney Bear’s Pizza Shop by Lawrence Di Fiori

Beans on Toast by Paul Dowling

Big Moon Tortilla by Joy Cowley

Black Potatoes – the Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by S.C. Bartoletti

Blueberries for Sal by R. McCloskey

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

Bread Bread Bread by Ann Morris

Burro’s Tortillas by Terri Fields

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

Cookies: Bite-size Lessons by Amy Rosenthal

Corn is Maize by Aliki

Curious George Makes Pancakes by Margaret and H.A. Rey

Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley

Give Me My Yam! by Jan Blake

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Handa’s Surprise by Ellen Browne

Heidi Johanna Spiry

How My Family Lives in America by Susan Kuklin

How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world by Marjorie Priceman

How to Make a Cherry Pie and see the USA by Marjorie Priceman

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie de Paola

Lentil by R. McCloskey

Little Red Hen – traditional tale

My Mom Loves Me More than Sushi by Filomena Gomes

Pancakes, Pancakes by Eric Carle

Potluck by Ann Shelby

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Scarlette Beane by Karen Wallace

Stone Soup by M. Brown

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

Strega Nona by Tomie de Paola

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan & Jan B.

The Carrot Seed by R. Knauss

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

The Gingerbread Man – traditional story

The Jellybeans & the Big Book Bonanza by Laura Numeroff

The Little Mouse, the Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry by Audrey Wood

The Pie and the Patty Pan by Beatrix Potter

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willem

The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola

The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen

The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens

Tortilla Factory by Gary Paulson

Where in the World is my Bagel? By Frances and Ginger Park

Peanut Butter for the Bears

Barbara Gowan — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:44:09 GMT

You're probably wondering what a children's author and a campaign to collect peanut butter have in common. Last month, the students at Kiva Elementary School in Paradise Valley, AZ voted on the conservation agency that would receive a donation from me as part of my Authors for Earth Day visit (see previous post).

They voted for Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center (www.southwestwildlife.org), a wildlife rescue and rehab facility specializing in native mammals - fox, javelina, coyote, mountain lion and BEAR. While touring the rehab center, educator Kim Carr introduced me to Tahoe, Griz and Igasho, 3-year old youngsters, who stole my heart. (70% of the animals at the center are rehabilitated and released back into the wild but that can't happen with these black bears.)

In the wild, black bears search out roots, berries, insects, mice and other small mammals, fish, garbage and NUTS. Although they wouldn't find peanuts in Arizona, they do love their afternoon treat of peanut butter. Kim smears the peanut butter on the fence post and they lick away!

Not only do the bears enjoy their afternoon snack, the five bears (Cinnamon and Berry are adults) EACH eat a loaf of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner in addition to their other food.
That's a LOT of peanut butter!

You can help stock the pantry at Southwest Wildlife by collecting jars of peanut butter (they prefer the creamy style) and grape jelly and honey. It's a great service project for a classroom, club or school. Contact Kim (education@southwestwildlife.org) for information on delivery. You can easily bring the jars to the conservation center when you come for a visit to tour the facility or attend a program.

The bears may offer you a "high five" as a thank you for your help but don't smack back. Just look at those claws. They are capable of shredding tents, destroying coolers and tearing apart logs. During a recent educational program about the bears held at the center, they did just that!

You can learn more about the black bear, Ursus americanus, at the Arizona Game & Fish Department website - http://www.azgfd.gov/h_f/game_bear.shtml

Check out these books produced in cooperation with the North American Bear Center and are particularly error free. Both are available in the online store at http://www.bear.org/website/books.html .

Bears For Kids (2007) by Jeff Fair was updated and republished in 2007 and is perhaps the most authoritative children's book on black bears. Photos and text emphasize northeastern Minnesota.

Discovering Black Bears (2007) by Margaret Anderson, Nancy Field, and Karen Stephenson.

Read Your Way through the Arizona Centennial book list

Barbara Gowan — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:40:16 GMT

Arizona celebrated its 100th anniversary of statehood on February 14, 2012 and it's an event that needs to be celebrated all year long. In case you missed the opportunity to attend my professional development seminars on reading AND writing your way through the centennial (sponsored by the Greater Paradise Valley & Phoenix West Reading Councils, Gardner's Book Service and ASU School of Education),
I've added the list of books presented at the end of this post.

Using my book, G is for Grand Canyon - an Arizona Alphabet, I selected additional books that complemented the topic for the different alphabet letters. As an example, in my book E is for the Early People so I offer Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs and When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor as books that fit this topic. This hands-on workshop showcased books by using folders prepared for each title with the front and back cover of the book pasted on the front and back of the folder. Inside the folder could be a copy of the first page of the novel, interviews with the author, reviews and lesson plans for the book, etc. This idea comes from the expert on children's literature, Peggy Sharp. I just modified it a bit and the teachers loved it. It also makes it easier for me since I'm not lugging all the bulky chapter books to the workshop.

Paradise Valley Christian Prep teachers Marty Noland and Laura Wilkinson
at the workshop sponsored by the Phoenix West Reading Council

In addition to investigating Arizona-themed books, writing ideas were shown. How many words have AZ in them? Like amAZing, dAZzling, trailblAZer. Over 700 words have AZ in them. Using the word amAZing, teachers (and students) were encouraged to look through my books, G is for Grand Canyon and Desert Digits - an Arizona Number book for amAZing facts to share. My new board book, Little Arizona is a great writing model for rhyming riddles (see previous post).

Finally, alphabet books written by students using the writing process that I used to write my books as taught in the Build a Book Workshop (see previous post) were examined by the teachers. In fact, teacher Marty Noland commented that her students that participated in the Build a Book Workshop were recognized as the best writers in the school as they progressed through the grades

And now the booklist...
Note the icons refer to websites for lesson plans.
Enjoy! Remember that Gardner's Book Service, www.gbsbooks.com, has many of these books in stock and offers a discount to book lovers

Read your way to the Arizona centennial

A Boy Named Beckoning: The True Story of Dr. Carlos Montezuma by Gina Capaldi
vArizona Way Out West & Wacky by Conrad Storad and Lynda Exley

Around One Cactus by Anthony D. Fredericks

Barry Goldwater by Marilyn Myrick Watson (also Raul Castro and Rose Mofford)

Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry

Cactus Café: A Story of the Sonoran Desert by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z. Guiberson

Celebrate Arizona! by Joan Sandin
vCode Talker – a novel about the Navajo marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac

Condor Spirit of the Canyon by Robert Mesta

uCoyote School News by Joan Sandin

vDanger in the Desert by T.S. Fields

Desert Digits – an Arizona numbers book by Barbara Gowan

Desert Giant by Barbara Bash

uDesert is Theirs by Byrd Baylor

uDown the Colorado: John Wesley Powell, One Armed Explorer by Deborah Kogan Ray

Down the Great Unknown by Edward Dolnick

Downriver and its sequel River Thunder by Will Hobbs

G is for Grand Canyon – an Arizona alphabet by Barbara Gowan

Geronimo – a novel by Joseph Bruchac

uGoat in the Rug by Geraldine as told to Charles L. Blood and Martin Link

uGrand Canyon – Exploring a Natural Wonder by Wendell Minor

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull

Here is the Southwestern Desert by Madeleine Dunphy

vHip, Hip, Hooray, It’s Monsoon Day!/Ajua, Ya Llego el Chubasco by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford

Kokopelli’s Flute by Will Hobbs

Lazy B -Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest by Sandra Day 0'Connor, H A Day

Little Arizona by Barbara Gowan

Navajo Year, Walk Through Many Seasons by Nancy Bo Flood

Saguaro Moon: A Desert Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
uSeed and the Giant Saguaro by Jennifer Ward
These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner also Sarah’s Quilt and The Star Garden

vuThree Little Javelinas/Los Tres Pequenos Jabalies by Susan Lowell

uUnbreakable Code by Sara Hoagland Hunter
Way Out in the Desert by Marsh, T.J. and Jennifer Ward

vWeedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

When Clay Sings by Byrd Baylor

uArizona Geographic Alliance Legacy Project

v OneBook AZ for Kids winners www.onebookaz.org/kids

Kiva kids vote for Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center during my Authors for Earth Day 2012 visit

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:32:52 GMT

This year, my Authors for Earth Day visit (see www.AuthorsforEarthDay.org) was to Kiva Elementary School in Paradise Valley, AZ. Known as the Kiva Cougars, it wasn't a surprise when the wildlife and rehab center specializing in native mammals, Southwest Wildlilfe Conservation Center (www.southwestwildlife.org), came out tops in the vote. Students researched and then voted for which conservation agency they wanted me to donate my author visit fee. The five agencies that I chose were - Phoenix Herpetological Society, Liberty Wildlife & Rehab Center (they received my donation previously), the Desert Awareness Committee, Southwest Wildlife and the Rio Salado Audubon Center. Every student vote counted and Southwest Wildlife garnered almost half of the school's votes.

I headed out to the conservation center located off of Dynamite Rd and 156 Street in north Scottsdale to meet educator Kim Carr...and some of the critters, too.

This desert tortoise was out for its first spring walk since spending the winter burrowed underground in its den.

Armed with bananas, mouse-sickles (yep, frozen white mice) and a jar of peanut butter, we were off to see if we could entice some of the critters to come out. These particular animals were formally people's pets (so sad!) and cannot be sent back to the wild. They are used for education programs. 70% of the animals rehabilitated at Southwest Wildlife are released back into their habitat.

A cousin to the raccoon, check out the coati's long nails and nose!

The javelina munched on bananas while the bobcat and Mexican gray wolf preferred mouse-sickles.

Southwest Wildlilfe is a vital partner in the recovery of the endangered Mexican gray wolf.

Did you know that a mountain lion doesn't roar but is a purring cat?

Next door to the mountain lion enclosure live the

black bear.
And they are hungry for their afternoon snack of peanut butter.

Griz, Tahoe and Igasho, 3-year old youngsters, along with Cinnamon and Berry love peanut butter. They each eat a whole loaf of pb&j sandwiches every night as part of their dinner. You can help keep their pantry stocked by participating in Peanut Butter for the Bears. It's an idea that I came up with while watching these bears. Encourage your class, club or family to donate jars of peanut butter (they prefer creamy and like grape jelly and honey also) to Southwest Wildlife.

Contact Kim at education@southwestwildlife.org for details on delivery. You could bring it on your visit to this amazing rehabilitation center. Check their website for information on tours, special events, and educational outreach programs. A special thanks to the Kiva Elementary students for voting on Southwest Wildlife to be the recipient of my Authors for Earth Day donation. I had a great visit to Kiva and to Southwest Wildlife.

Writing nature poetry - a family literacy night activity

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:53:31 GMT

To culminate the Earth Day celebration at Kiva Elementary School in Paradise Valley, AZ, I facilitated a family literacy night focusing on writing nature poetry. "Do not be afraid to touch the earth and let it touch you" has been my motto since high school and today's children rarely have the opportunity to get in touch with nature. (Read the national bestseller, Last Child in the Woods - Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv for more on that topic.) By bringing nature into the classroom, we can change that. So I brought the desert, ocean and forest to Kiva Elementary! Well sort of, I brought in desert plants, sea shells, pine cones, feathers, rocks and more, for the families to explore.

Kids of all ages (and the parents too) had fun.

To encourage sensory exploration, I picked herbs from my garden for all to smell. We had pizza (oregano), salsa (cilantro), lemon (lemon balm) and even chocolate (chocolate mint). And then we smelled rain...yes, crushing the leaves of the creosote bush makes you think of the desert after a shower.

Now it was time to translate this nature exploration into writing poetry. A large piece of paper was folded into thirds and then in half resulting in six areas. A picture of an eye, nose, hands, mouth and ear were drawn at the top of 5 areas. Families worked together writing sensory words trying to find words for each area. They were encouraged to use "just like" words. It feels just like...

They were busy building their word bank but an area was still blank.

A drawing of an eye behind a hand lens was added to their word bank sheet.

Everyone was given a hand lens with directions on how to use it properly - hold the lens close to your eye and bring the nature object into focus.

The room was abuzz with discovery.

More sensory words were added completing their word bank.

And now it was time to write the poem.
There are many different kinds (and shapes) of poems. I shared Jane Yolen's book, Shape Me a Rhyme - Nature's Forms in Poetry, as an example. Ours would be a 5-line poem (a modified cinquain, for you poetry buffs) filled with sensory descriptions.

First line - name the item but don't tell us what it is. Be tricky, a bit puzzling.
SQUIRREL FOOD is the example that I used.

Second line - describe it using sensory words from your word bank.
BROWN, EGG-SHAPED HOLDER OF TINY SEEDS is my example.

Third line - more description. Paint a picture with your words.
STIFF, STICKY PETALS GO ROUND AND ROUND

4th line - Write a statement using the word "I" showing how you relate to that object or how you feel about it.
I LIKE TO SIT IN THE COOL SHADE OF THE FOREST.

5th line - Name the object. Tell us what it is!

Here's the poem model that we used.

Squirrel food.
Brown, egg-shaped holder of tiny seeds.
Stiff, sticky petals go round and round.
I like to sit in the cool shade of the forest.
Pine cone.

Sharing time was great fun as families took to the stage and read their poems to the audience.

The poems written by the Kiva families along with photos of the nature objects and the event will be published in a book for their school library. Special thanks to principal Nick Noonan, 3rd grade teacher and literacy night co-ordinator Mary Martine and photographer Lori Noonan. I developed this activity after attending the Highlights Foundation Writing from Nature workshop in Honesdale, PA where I returned to my "naturalist" roots and finally learned how to use a hand lens properly!

Writing Nature Poetry makes a great family literacy night event and can also be presented in individual classrooms or as an afterschool or library activity.

And now for a few of the poems...

Ocean Jewel
Hard, sharp, smooth, hollow, yellowish, with holes and ridges
It's a thing I like to fill with sandy water.
I hold it to my ear to hear the ocean's blue waves.
It is a seashell!
The Cox family

Arizona's Cloud
Dirty, dusty, fluffy, white
No smell, no sound, not heavy;
Hairy plant we should not taste; grows in bunches I'd like to pick
Our thing we'd like to tell you now - COTTON - that's what we had.
The Bunde family

Looking for Treasure
Heavy, bumpy, and hard too
Green with gold square sparkles glean.
Found in a river where I like to swim.
I'm a sparkly rock!
The Hart Family

Top Ten of what I learned about writing for children's magazines

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:06:52 GMT

In case you missed the seminar on writing for the children's magazine market that I presented at the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council last month, I've included a recap of the information that I received at the Highlights Foundation workshop at the Chautauqua Institute in 2010. It is worth reading because it has resulted in magazine articles and photoessays purchased by Highlights, Odyssey and Appleseeds magazines including "The nose knows" in the April 2012 issue.

1. Write in the present tense. Fiction for younger audiences works best in present tense so the reader can fit into the story. Switching tenses may confuse the reader.

2. Look for the UNUSUAL slant on a usual topic. Take a different approach. Be fresh and original.

3. There is a story line in non-fiction with drama, action and conflict. Facts will appear naturally and everything that does not support the story line is left out. Those facts can become sidebars or back matter. Setting is true to research.

4. Get to know your audience. Kids today are different than when we grew up. Be an observer. Listen to their language. Read the “Dear Editor” and reader submissions in children’s magazines.

5. Choose a story that you are passionate about so that you can find your voice. Give yourself permission to let go of the story that is within you.

6. Tell me something that I don’t know. Seek out elusive details when doing your research. Get
personal when researching for a biography. Look for uniqueness and anecdotes. Research is key.

7. There are limits of space. Everything in a good piece of writing must be CHOSEN into it.

8. Put kids into the mix with either real or historical characters.

9. Study magazines, at least a year’s worth, and editorial needs. Analyze the content. Obtain writer’s guidelines online. Create a drawer of magazines so you are ready to send your story to the proper magazine.

10. Most magazine editors welcome new writers because of their new ideas, voices and passion.

You’ve all got it inside you. Do something with it!

Advice from a saguaro cactus on Earth Day

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:59:11 GMT

Stand tall.
Reach for the sky.

Be patient through the dry spells.

Stay sharp.

Conserve your resources.
Think long term.

Wait for your time to bloom.

Found these wise words on a t-shirt - of all places!

My first spotting of a saguaro blossom this year was on Thursday, April 19, in the Cave Creek foothills area. Now to keep an eye out for the white-winged dove and the Mexican long-nosed bat, important pollinators of the creamy white blossoms.

The first image of the crestate form of the saguaro cactus was taken at the Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park, Phoenix. The unusual growth pattern is quite rare. Other photos were taken at Spur Cross Recreation Area in Cave Creek and on Rocking Chair Rd. in Carefree.

Storytime at Desert Foothills Library

Barbara Gowan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:25:57 GMT

What happens when you combine preschoolers and puppets?

You get a fun storytime at the library.

My new board book, Little Arizona, is filled with rhyming riddles about Arizona. To help the kids guess the riddles, we first look carefully at the puppets. Who has a bushy tail? or a stubby tail? Who throws its head back to howl? Who has a strong beak and feet?

We had a "howling good time" at the Desert Foothills Library in Cave Creek, Arizona.

You, too, can write for the children's magazine market

Barbara Gowan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:45:06 GMT

A great way to start your journey of writing for children is to learn about the children's magazine market. I will be presenting a session for the Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council
and you are invited to attend.

Mark your calendar for Thursday, March 29 and come to the
Paradise Valley Unified School District Office, room DAC-West - 15002 N. 32 St, Phoenix

3:30-4:00 networking 4:00-6:00 meeting

Free to GPVRC members, $5 for guests

Exploring the Children’s Magazine Market

Get to know why we should love kids’ magazines as we discover the variety available including online sites and how to use them in your classroom. Children’s book and magazine author Barbara Gowan will share the inside scoop to getting published in this market.

Sneak peak at D is for Desert - a World Desert Alphabet book

Barbara Gowan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:26:37 GMT

We're in the home stretch as every day I check my inbox for copy edits and sketches.
My fifth book, D is for Desert - a World Desert Alphabet,

is on schedule for an August release from Sleeping Bear Press. This book was challenging to write and so rewarding as I learned about hot and cold deserts around the world including the polar deserts of Antarctica, the Sahara and the Gobi and the fascinating wildlife and people that inhabit them. I strongly believe in first-hand experiences for research but that was a bit difficult for deserts on the other side of the globe so instead I watched the movie Lawrence of Arabia and many segments of Planet Earth. I drank prickly pear juice and ate mesquite scones. My stack of books on the desert grew and grew. The Desert Botanical Garden became a favorite hangout. For just shy of four weeks, I brainstormed, researched and wrote about 26 desert related topics from A is for Arid to Z is for Zion National Park. Any ideas what Q is for? or O? or X or Y?

Here are two rhymes from D is for Desert.

J is for the Joshua tree,
with flower clusters of greenish white.
They sit atop its arm-like branches
and create an unusual sight.

L is for a lizard

basking in the desert sun.

Until its body gets too hot,

then to the shade it runs.

I am very excited about the illustrator for D is for Desert. Although I haven't met Gijsbert (Nick) van Frankenhuyzen (rarely do authors ever meet their illustrators), I am very familiar with his work. Nick is the former Art Director for the Michigan Natural Resources Magazine and has illustrated more than 26 books for Sleeping Bear Press including S is for Smithsonian, W is for Woof and the popular Hazel Ridge Farm series. To learn more about Nick's work, visit www.hazelridgefarm.com. I did send Nick some of my favorite desert shots to help with his photo research.

Prickly pear cactus blossoms

Barrel cactus spines

Sonoran Desert in the springtime; hillside covered with brittlebush
Bartlett Lake

"Monster" saguaro from Spur Cross Recreation Area in Cave Creek
You may see this image show up on the C page!

My work isn't quite finished. Today, I was asked to verify information about the Couch's spadefoot, a toad-like amphibian that surfaces after the monsoon rains. (You'll need to read the F is for Flash flood page for all the details.) My email to the US Fish and Wildlife expert got returned so I turned to the author of one of my reference books, Seasons in the Desert - a naturalist notebook. Susan Tweit responded quickly to my questions and my text was approved. Oh, the joys of instant communication via the internet!

I'll keep you updated on the progress of the book...and you'll be the first to know when it is officially released. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this "sneak peak" at D is for Desert.

Celebrate Dia! - Children's Day/Book Day

Barbara Gowan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:36:38 GMT

El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), is a celebration every day of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

As celebrated by libraries and librarians, Día is an enhancement of Children’s Day, a celebration which took hold in 1925 following the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland as a day to bring attention to the importance and well-being of children. Each country selected its own day for the celebration with Mexico and many other Latin American countries choosing April 30.

Eager to point out that the importance of literacy, books and reading should not be relegated to a single day, promoters of Día adopted the motto “Día! Today and Every Day of the Year.” The celebration has grown up around the April 30 events, with many libraries conducting programs and events for much of April and May, as well as throughout the year.

In preparation for 2012 Día celebrations, ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) added additional content and reorganized the Día website, with additional support from Dollar General Literacy Foundation, and continues to sponsor Día-related webinars. We hope you'll take a few minutes to explore the resources available here and support Día and its ideals.
Information provided by the ALA, American Library Association.

You can learn more about how to celebrate Dia! at www.dia.ala.org

Writing from Nature - a Highlights Foundation Workshop

Barbara Gowan — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:11:43 GMT

It was like summer camp for adults only it took place in late April at Boyds Mill, the homestead of Highlights magazine founders Caroline and Garry Myers, in Honesdale, PA.

Attended by nine "renaissance women" including a former NASA scientist, college professor and two Alaska gals, the five-day workshop was filled with nature activities led by Mark Baldwin of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (www.rtpi.org) in Jamestown, NY (see my post on the Highlights Writers Workshop in Chautauqua), journalling activities facilitated by Andy Boyles, science editor of Highlights magazine, and a photography seminar led by Sarah Campbell,

author/photographer of the award-winning Wolfsnail book. Officially the workshop is called Writing from Nature - Blazing a Trail from Field Journal to Publication. You could add Living in Nature to the title as accomodations are rustic cabins, well-furnished with a bookshelf of treasures and a rocking chair on the porch.

We learned how to make a toolkit for personal discovery and the importance of keeping a field journal. I was shocked to discover that I didn't know the proper way to use a hand lens. OOPS! Now I hold the lens close to my dominant eye and bring the object close to the lens until it pops into focus.

As Rachel Carson puts it in my favorite book, The Sense of Wonder,
"a lens-aided view into a patch of moss reveals a dense tropical jungle, in which insects as large as tigers prowl amid strangely formed, luxuriant trees."

We spent time outside searching for signs of spring. Many of the trees had swollen buds ready to burst into flower and leaf.

There were fuzzy fiddleheads popping up through the leaf litter, spring beauties and violets reaching for the sun and the Stinking Benjamin Trillium (Trillium erectum) growing along the creek's edge. I can attest to the fact that the cranberry blossom smells like a wet dog! Its foul odor attracts flies for pollination.

Sound mapping, smell mapping, all kinds of maps were added to our nature journals. Hannah Hinchman in her book, A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place, introduces the Event Map. "It's a simple mixing of words, images and symbols on a page, but it achieves things that drawing alone, or writing alone, seem to fall short of. As maps go, it's more like the fifteenth-century map-pa mundi, produced in the early stages of world exploration, heavily illustrated, with detailed insets of particular regions. Its purpose is to create a trail of encounters as you, the explorer, move through a particular place, at a particular moment, asking, 'What's going on here?'"

Hiking through the woods with a forester, exploring Caulkins Creek

with dippers and nets searching for larvae (we found caddisfly, stonefly and the predatory dobson fly hellgramite), fish, frogs and salamanders - who could ask for more?

Reminds me of my favorite saying - "Do not be afraid to touch the earth and let it touch you."
Participating in this nature writing workshop helped me return to my naturalist roots. It had been over twenty years since I had experienced the arrival of spring in a deciduous forest. I missed it and my soul needed to be nourished... and it was.

I realized that now, more than ever, our children need to have these same kinds of outdoor experiences but unfortunately, many kids are suffering from nature deprivation. Check out the bestseller, Last Child in the Woods - saving our children from nature-deficit disorder, by Richard Louv. Louv brings together cutting-edge studies that point to direct exposure to nature as essential for a child's healthy physical and emotional development. It's also essential for the health of our planet. Children need to be aware of nature so that an understanding and appreciation can build. Ultimately, that leads to conservation. "The study of natural history should be the primary avenue for creating environmentalists" said Roger Tory Peterson, the author of the Field Guide to Birds, one of the 100 most important books of the twentieth century as determined by the New York Public Library.

So how can you make children aware of nature? Take them for a walk in the woods or the desert, explore your backyard, listen for nature's sounds. Vacation at a national park instead of a theme park. Choose a nature book to read together. There are beautifully illustrated (and well-written) picture books that can serve as an introduction to nature. Sadly many schools have eliminated environmental education. I created a workshop for teachers called Sharing Nature through Picture Books (see my post on professional development opportunities for teachers) which encourages the exploration of a wonder bucket of nature objects in the classroom, writing nature poetry and exploring nature themes with award-winning books. Email me, bgowan54@cox.net, for my bibliography of favorite nature picture books especially if you have not yet met Miss Rumphius!

The Writing from Nature workshop sponsored by the Highlights Foundation, www.HighlightsFoundation.org, is being offered again this year. Treat yourself to a wonderful experience.

I'm on the roster of teaching artists for the Arizona Commission on the Arts

Barbara Gowan — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:17:03 GMT

The Arizona Commission on the Arts is pleased to introduce the 2011-2012 Arizona Teaching Artist Roster, an online, juried directory of professional artists with expertise in engaging schools and communities in meaningful arts learning experiences.

The Teaching Artist Roster promotes quality Arizona artists with the skills and sensibilities of educators, ready to meet the challenges of working in 21^st century learning environments. Artists are able to lead collaborations with communities and schools, to work with a variety of populations through lectures, demonstrations, workshops, residencies, performances, readings and more.

I am thrilled to be on the roster listed under Education Based - Literary Arts. Check it out at http://roster.azarts.gov/index.a4d?action=search.profilePage&id=6562&page=1

Consider writing a grant to bring my Build a Book Workshop to the students at your school.