First Man-made Satellite is launched October 4, 1957

INTRODUCTION
I was a new first grader when the Soviet Union put Sputnik, the first human-made satellite, into orbit. It happened on October 4, 1957. At first we were scared of something flying around the world; we thought it might fall on us at any moment. We could not have imagined the world being as it is today with hundreds of communications, weather, and spy satellites orbiting above us. Sputnik began a new interest in science in general, rocketry and astronomy.

POEM

Skywatch

By Douglas Florian

On a clear night you might try
To gaze upon the starry sky.
A telescope or binoculars are
Great aids to observe a star.
To find your way it's good to sight
Upon a star that's very bright,
Like Sirius or Canopus,
Alpha Centauri or Arcturus.
You may see a planet or
A flash of light from a meteor.
Use a constellation chart
To help you tell the stars apart.
Start out when the day is done.
Most of all: Have lots of fun!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 2007. COMETS, STARS, THE MOON, AND MARS. New York: Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-15-205372-7

EXTENSION
Show the group pictures of constellations, and explain how ancient people played connect the dot with the stars, and visualized different pictures. Then give each child a paper with sparse dots scattered on it. Ask them each to draw a picture by connecting some of the dots. Explain they may choose any dots and connect them in any order. Then have them make sentence poems that describe their picture.

Photo courtesy of http://images.search.yahoo.com/.

Johnny Appleseed's Birthday (Sept. 26)

INTRODUCTION
Tell everyone that Johnny Appleseed /John Chapman was born in 1774, just before our nation was born. Explain how he spread apple seeds through the northeastern part of our country thus producing many apple orchards. Cut an apple in half to show the seeds inside.

POEM
Discovery
Within its polished universe
The apple holds a star,
A secret constellation
To scatter near and far.

Let a knife discover
Where the five points hide;
Split the shining ruby
And find the star inside!


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Esbensen, Barbara Juster and Barbara Fumagalli. 1971. SWING AROUND THE SUN. Illustrated by Cheng-Khee Chee et al. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications. ISBN 0876141432

EXTENSION
Make apple prints using cut apples, stamp pads, and construction paper. While children work, try reading excerpts from the picture book poem, JOHNNY APPLESEED by Reeve Lindbergh.

Photo courtesy of http://images.search.yahoo.com/.

Autumnal Equinox

INTRODUCTION
Using a globe, illustrate the meaning of the word equinox and tell why it was important to people in ancient times.

POEM
Recipe for Writing an Autumn Poem

By Georgia Heard

One teaspoon wild geese.
One tablespoon red kite.
One cup wind song.
One pint trembling leaves.
One quart darkening sky.
One gallon north wind.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Heard, Georgia. ed. 2009. FALLING DOWN THE PAGE: A BOOK OF LIST POEMS. New York: Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 1596432209

EXTENSION
Bring in leaves from a variety of trees. Make leaf rubbings on light and dark papers using crayons in autumn colors. Let children add pictures of other ingredients of autumn.

Photo courtesy of http://images.search.yahoo.com/.

Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19)

INTRODUCTION
Wear a pirate hat and head scarf. Pin a stuffed parrot to your shoulder and address your group as “Ahoy me hearties! Arrr! Listen up, ‘tis the captain talking.”

POEM
A Ballad of John Silver (excerpt)

By John Masefield

We were schooner-rigged and rakish, with a long an’ lissome hull,
And we flew the pretty colors of the crossbones and the skull;
We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,
And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore.
We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,
But we chased the goodly merchantmen and laid their ships aboard.

Ah! The pigtailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played,
All have since been put a stop-to by the naughty Board of Trade;
The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest,
A little south the sunset in the Islands of the Blest.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hague, Michael. 2001. THE BOOK OF PIRATES. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0876141432

EXTENSION
Pass out copies of common pirate sayings found at http://www.yarr.org.uk/talk/ and have the students try them out while enjoying a cup of apple juice “grog.”

Photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/.

Back to School

It's time to head back to school!

INTRODUCTION
As everyone begins a new year of school and becomes familiar with what happens during the day, it’s time to imagine what happens in the school building at night. What if all the objects in the room came alive at night? What do you imagine they would do?

POEM

By Carol Diggory Shields

Do you know what happens in the school at night
When the teachers all leave and turn out the light?

The math books count out, “3,2,1!”
Then the clock on the wall shouts, “Time for fun!”

The erasers start to race around the floor.
The rubberstamps stamp right out of the drawer.

The scissors cut up, and the stickers peel out.
The paper clips twist, the globe spins about.

The flag waves, “Bye-bye! Don’t be late.”
As the wall calendar goes out on a date.

The telephone gives the map a ring.
The rule gets bossy and acts like a king.

So if something in your desk doesn’t look just right,
Maybe it’s because of what happened last night.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Shields, Carol Diggory. 2003. ALMOST LATE FOR SCHOOL: AND MORE SCHOOL POEMS. New York: Dutton Children’s Books.
ISBN 0525457437

EXTENSION
Take another tour of the entire school. What is something that you saw on the tour that you think could become active after the lights are out and everyone has gone home? If the school could write a poem about us, what do you think it would say that we do after school?

Photo courtesy of http://images.search.yahoo.com/images.