Back to School Basics Week of Giveaways and Freebies

My sweet friend, Cheryl from Primary Graffiti is hosting an awesome week of giveaways and freebies!

Click on the picture above to check it out.

In Pictures and In Words: Chapter 10 Tone

Chapter 10 is about Tone. You know the expression, "It's not what you say, it is how you say it."  Tone is an important part of composing. Katie Wood Ray says, "...tone refers to the overall blend and intensity of color, light, and shade in a picture, all of which evolve an emotional response."

She goes on to say, "When speaking, people use the tools of volume, pitch, gesture, and intonation to set the tone."  Illustrators and writers must be able to set the tone visually.

Carl's Nose is a funny story of a dog who has a nose for the trouble.   His village is at the base of an ominous mountain.  The villagers rely on Carl to alert them when dangerous weather is coming. However, the weather become uncharacteristically clear and sunny and Carl seems to question his value to the community.

This book is filled with great illustrative techniques, so I added some "flashbacks" from previous chapters.

Towering mountain and thunderous clouds... ohhh... shiver!

Clouds moving , nose sniffing

#4:  You can see the two sides of this physical space.
#34:  They background colors have an impact on the tone.   Happy outside... sad inside.
#36   His distance from the town's people sets the tone of isolation.

Doesn't the forest just look like danger is lurking?

This book is HIL-AR-I-OUS!

Why are dinosaurs extinct?  Dinosaurs Love Underpants will tell you.   

This next page says

"When T. rex saw Man's undies,

He roared with deafening rants,

"I don't want to eat you up,

I want your underpants!"

Now it is your turn.   Link up with your reflections from Chapter 10.  

One winner will be selected from the blog link ups and one winner will be selected from their reflective comments.

Sale Extended

Due to technical problems with TPT the sale on seasonal items has been extended through midnight tomorrow. Thank you for your patience!

Postcard Exchange

We can't pack our kids up and go on a field trip to visit other states,  but thanks to Primary Graffiti we get to do the next best thing!  My sweeties will be so excited to be a part of Primary Graffiti's Annual Postcard Exchange this year!  It will be so much fun to learn about the different states and locate them  on a map. This is also  a wonderful opportunity to teach them about letter writing and research.  Thanks so much for doing this Cheryl!

Click on over to Cheryl's blog and see if there is still a slot for your state! 

Christmas in July Sale!

When it is hot and humid outside, sometimes you have to think cold!

So here is the deal:  Seasonal items have been placed on sale for JUST ONE DAY!  Grab some Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's fun!

Please NOTE:  This sale is ONLY for seasonal items.  :)

A huge thank you to Babbling Abby for making this adorable picture!

Babbling Abby	Michelle Oakes	Erica Bohrer	Cara Carroll
Anna Brantley	Amanda Nickerson	Kim Adsit	Deanna Jump
The Teacher Wife	Kathleen Pedersen	Deedee Wills	Rachelle Smith
Natalie Crockett	Amy Lemons	Hope King	Cheryl Saoud
Sarah Cooley

InLinkz.com

NOTE:  Teachers Pay Teachers will be off line on Wednesday until 9am, so sadly there will be no early birds...

Do you want to participate?  Quickly link up over at Blog Hoppin and let everyone know!

First Day Puzzle Freebie!

I can't believe it is already time to start talking about First Day of school activities.  Mercy!  The summer flew by! If you are a mamma stuck at home in the house with littles who love the phrase, "I'm bored!"  it probably crawled by!  But, for me it seems like it is almost over before it even got started!  Handprint puzzles are a great activity to do on the first day of school.
One of my favorite things to do on the first day of school are these handprint puzzles (Thank you to Little Giraffes website for the original idea).  The puzzles serve two purposes....1) They make a great keepsake and 2) They give parents and children a reason to sit down and talk about the first day of school.  You can either use paint to make these or you can use the big stamp pads from Lakeshore Learning.  In the free download I included a girl/boy version of the poem as well as a Kindergarten and First Grade version.  Click on the picture to download the freebie from my TPT store.

Common Core Standards Organization

I've had a lot of questions about how I organize my Common Core Standards 

and Essential Questions.

I display them on posters which are hot glued to ribbon.  The standards are attached with velcro so that they are easy to change in and out.  (Please excuse the bad picture above.  The standards shown are from the 1st grade set.  Notice that the clipart images match the standard and that the essential question clipart also matches.  This helps the little ones who can't read understand the standard by using the picture clue).  THESE ARE AVAILABLE AS WE CAN AND I CAN STATEMENTS SO THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE WHICH ONES TO PRINT AND DISPLAY.

To store the standards I have them organized in a plastic container. The Standards and Questions are stored together so that I can easily grab the ones I need.  I cut colored cardstock to separate them by strand.  Click HERE to download the labels for free.  I just glued them to the front of the cardstock.  

Above you can see the label for the exact container I used.  I bought it at Target and the standards fit perfectly.

Don't have the posters?  Click on the links below to read what others are saying about them.

  They are available for Kindergarten and First Grade.

Click HERE for Kindergarten.
Click HERE for First Grade.

Essential Questions Posters.
Click HERE for Kindergarten.
Click Here for First Grade.

Vegas!

 C

Book Study Chapter 8

Chapter 8 is about noticing "precision and detail" in writing (illustrations).  Katie describes the way Bob Graham illustrated his characters with such detail that the "scenes seem authentic..."  Even the details of the mother in his book, Let's Get A Pup include the mother's tattoo and nose ring.  In this way Bob Graham included "memorable small and unusual details that readers would not necessarily know or even imagine."(p 132)

Katie states that being precise in the detail is the key.  Additionally, the selection of detail is important because it is not the quantity of the detail in the writing, but the quality.

I have selected this practically wordless version of The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.  This book is gor-ge-ous and it received the Caldecott Medal for the illustrations.  It is filled with illustrations that fit right into the study.

Without backtracking too much.  This illustration is a great example of Technique#2 -Crafting with Positioning Perspective

Technique # 13 Crafting Details of Expression and Gesture

and

Technique # 21 Crafting the Illustrations of Sound with Details

Technique #13 Crafting Details of Expression and Gesture

Technique # 21 Crafting the Illustrations of Sound with Details

Technique #20 Creating the Illusion of Motions with Detail.

Thank you Kathleen for hosting this week's chapter.  

P.S.  It's almost time for Vegas!  We have over 100 people signed up for the meet up.  If you haven't signed up yet it isn't too late!  See ya soon!