Summer SAVY 2016 (Session 2, Day 3) – Playing with Words

Posted by hallep on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 in Grade K, SAVY.

We had a special treat today, learning about writing from Jessica Young, Nashville children’s author. 

We are learning about the various purposes of author’s writings [persuade, inform, entertain]. Ms. Young helped us stretch our perspectives of simple things, such as colors. In discussing her book, My Blue is Happy, we considered the various emotions that colors might represent and why. They created wonderful color designations and similes. Ms. Young also shared her book, Spy Guy. We found many rhymes and onomatopoeia. She helped us understand ways to develop characters and conflict in our stories. We are beginning to understand how figurative language can help us create new images and connections in our minds. 

It is so delightful learning with your young authors. Today we began by writing similes about ourselves. At this level, we are defining simile as figurative language that compares 2 SIMILar things, using like or as. They are having such fun spotting these. Owl Moon – This lovely book provided a catalyst for wonderful discussion and discovery of extraordinary language. We read it just for the joy of it and to note extraordinary use of figurative language. This rich book contains similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia, and idioms! We also became acquainted with the author, Jane Yolen, by visiting her website. The story of Owl Moon  is a story of her husband and daughter’s owling adventure. http://janeyolen.com/for-kids/

 In transitioning to exploring metaphors, groups analyzed and presented 3 different poems about the moon: The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Moon by Emily Dickinson, The Moon’s the North Wind’s Cookie by Vachel Lindsay. These young authors are becoming more confident sharing their ideas and engaging with each other. Metaphors compare 2 things, saying one thing IS another. We saw the moon as a cookie, face / chin of gold, and clock face. 

Just-for-fun highlights of our color exploration were the Press Here and Mix It Up books.

As much as educators are committed to your student, parents are the ultimate teachers. The following ideas may be useful as your child grows in playing with words:

* Read the books and poetry your child is reading. Discuss the key ideas and the use of language to paint a picture in our minds.

* Play word games to enhance vocabulary and language usage.

* Encourage your child to write every day in a diary or journal. Look for opportunities for your child to write encouraging notes, emails, letters to others.

* Watch shows interactively together. As with books, help them see text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text connections.