Lady Bugs

What Does a Ladybug Symbolize? Some people say that a lady bug represents Lady Luck. If a lady bug lands on you, make a wish and help it fly away!   

Here is a short show with information about about lady bugs:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/insects/ladybug/

As the insect leads a vibrant and colorful life, it influences you to experience the joys of living to the fullest.

ACTIVITY:  Make your own good luck Ladybug. Read the information above and then try to draw your own lady bug. The picture shows easy steps.

More ladybug activities will be posted soon!

Collage from Leaves and Seeds

Collage from Leaves and Seeds 

Now that everyone is back outside, there are many nature crafts you can make. 

ACTIVITY: While walking outdoors, pick up some leaves, seeds, pinecones, branches, berries, and acorns, or anything else from nature. Maybe you will be lucky enough to even find a feather!

Put these in a bag to take home.

You will need: Glue, paste, or a glue stick. (You can use a glue guy with adult supervision). 

Use your imagination about things in nature. Then try to create it using the materials you found outside. 

Can you make a tree, for instance? or a bird? or even a rhinoceros?

Here are some nature creations other people have made. Can you name each one?

What will YOU make?

TIP:  Move your pieces around on the paper BEFORE YOU ARE FINISHED. Only use the adhesive when you know where you want each piece to be.

Hold a family art show!

Host a Game Show

Host a Game Show - 

How would you like to be the host of a GAME show??

 

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/games/funny-fill-in/funny-fill-in-big-winner/

Fill in the blanks and see what happens?

Invite your family to play with you!

 

Reading - Poetry

Reading 

By Jacqueline Woodson

 

I am not my sister.
Words from the books curl around each other
make little sense
until
I read them again
and again, the story
settling into memory.  Too slow
the teacher says.
Read faster.
Too babyish, the teacher says.
Read older.
But I don’t want to read faster or older or
any way else that might
make the story disappear too quickly
from where it’s settling
inside my brain,
slowly becoming
a part of me.

A story I will remember
long after I’ve read it for the second,
third, tenth,
hundredth time.

 

Source: https://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/books-ive-written/poetry/

ACTIVITY:  What do you like to read? How are your choices different from your friends or family members? How can you explain your favorite book so someone else will want to read it? What story has become a part of you?

The Gingerbread Man - Read Aloud

The Gingerbread Man - Read Aloud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ylUqmw9pA

Here's a take on the Gingerbread Man Story...

Make some gingerbread cookies...

ACTIVITY:  Think about your house and neighborhood. Where would the gingerbread man run to get away? Make a map and draw the gingerbread in 3 or four different places. What will happen at the end of YOUR story?

Eat some gingerbread with your family or friends.

Draw and decorate some paper gingerbread people. 

Poetry Time - The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat

By Edward Lear

 

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea

   In a beautiful pea-green boat:

They took some honey, and plenty of money

   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl looked up to the stars above,

   And sang to a small guitar,

"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,

   What a beautiful Pussy you are,

            You are,

            You are!

   What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

   How charmingly sweet you sing!

Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried,

   But what shall we do for a ring?"

They sailed away, for a year and a day,

To the land where the bong-tree grows;

And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,

   With a ring at the end of his nose,

            His nose,

            His nose,

   With a ring at the end of his nose.

   Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."

So they took it away, and were married next day

   By the turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince and slices of quince,

   Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

   They danced by the light of the moon,

            The moon,

            The moon,

   They danced by the light of the moon

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl,

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Source: https://poets.org/poem/owl-and-pussy-cat

This is such a fun poem - fantasy an it always seems like it is summer time...

Activity: Read the poem aloud. What can you imagine?

Using watercolor paints, start with the sky and the water. 

On another piece of paper, paint the boat and the characters. 

Cut out the second page and place the boat and the characters on your painting of the sky and water. Read your poem to your family and friends.

Here's a video of the poem, too.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpwAP36-w7E

 

Ellis Island, New York, USA

Ellis Island, New York, USA  - Virtual Field Trip

Many people who moved to the USA came through Ellis Island to register as they arrived in the USA between 1892 and 1954. The island now houses a museum about the years it served immigration. 

The video is about 30 minutes long. It is very interesting for me, as one of my grandfathers and grandmothers came through Ellis Island when they came to America from Italy. 

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/webcast.htm

 

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