Read Grow Inspire Book Week Slogan 2023 (Part 6) IMAGERY and SYMBOLISM continued

 

Now for more of the ways the word 'seed' is used figuratively...

What do we mean when we say 'he sowed a seed of doubt' ? The Seed of Doubt  by Irene Brugnill and Richard Jones illustrates this adage very well. A little boy dreams of a world beyond the farm where he lives – a world full of mountain ranges, oceans and cities, where he could do anything. But one day he plants a seed from which doubts start to grow. Instead of thinking of all that he could do, he thinks more of what he could not. Can he overcome his fears and chase his dreams?

What are 'seeds of compassion'? In the book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,  The Seed of Compassion he shares stories of his own childhood which highlight this concept. Once an ordinary child named Lhamo Thondup he grew up in a small village in Tibet where his mother taught him about compassion.

What are 'seeds of change'? We hear the saying 'Be the seed. Be the Change' and two books that demonstrate this are  Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson and Sonia Lynn Sadler which tells the story of Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai and next year Nina Laden's new book set in Madagascar, also called Seeds of Change  will look at this metaphor less figuratively as it is not about planting trees, but rather about having the courage and resilience to plant "seeds" that will improve ourselves and our community. It is very poetic

Sow seeds of strength

Ride out the storm.

Sow seeds of compassion 

Make hearts warm.

What about 'seeds of promise'? Teachers hear themselves saying this about a student or situation. In Little Seeds of Promise by Dana Raft and Reina Metallinou, Maya feels very lonely and lost when she moves to new country. Her grandmother has given her some seeds to plant when she gets there, but she wonders about whether to plant them and whether she will ever fit in. Can she risk planting them? 

The Seeds of Friendship  by Michael Foreman explores a similar situation through the eyes of a boy called Adam, yet the title likens seeds to friendship rather than promise.

Can a seed be personified? Read A Seed is Sleepy  by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long; The Bad Seed by Jory John and Pete Oswald or Seed School  by Joan Holub  and Sakshi Mangal and your students will know that it can be.

You can teach figurative language without having to use the books suggested in the English K-2 units online! Their lists are only suggestions.

7th June Butterfly Day

In the UK today is designated Butterfly Education and Awareness Day, a day to make people aware of the role of butterflies in pollination and what they can do to ensure there are butterfly habitats close to them. Butterflies are certainly fascinating creatures because of their beauty and delicacy.

Many children's books focus on butterflies, but the ones here, I have included because of their illustrations and/or stories rather than their factual information. They will certainly cover a wide range of uses.

1. Butterfly by Petr Horacek.
2. A Butterfly is Patient  by Dianna Hutts Acton and Sylvia Long.
3. Caterpillar Butterfly by Vivian French and Charlotte Voake.
4.  Caterpillar and Butterfly by Ambelin Kwaymullina.
5.  Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jnr and Lois Ehlert.
6.  I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe and Ed Young.
7. Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes.
8.  Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle and Julie Paschkis

For more butterfly titles including expository texts see Pinterest here.

21st April

Tomorrow is Earth Day, which is a global movement. This April is the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day. From its inception it has aimed to create awareness of environmental issues and to have people appreciate the Earth's environment. The initial success of the

first Earth Day is seen as the beginning of the modern environmental movement.

There are an abundance of children's books which would be appropriate to share on this day. Any that I have already recommended for

World Wetlands Day (3rd Feb), Clean Up Australia Day (7th Mar) or World Water Day (22nd Mar) would do. You could choose non-fiction books about any environmental issue such as global warming, shrinking habitat, endangered species, etc, but with my young clientele I have chosen to highlight two beautiful non-fiction books which require readers to respond to nature with wonder and awe and which make you want to ensure that the natural phenomena of the Earth continue ad infinitum. The two books An Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy are by the same author (Dianna Hutts Aston) and illustrator (Sylvia Long) team, and once you have seen these two books you will hope that they have more in mind.

These books are beautiful, full of description and adjectives but remain scientific. There is a myriad of lesson plans using them on the web. The publisher, Chronicle issued them with teachers notes.