Thursday, July 29, 2010

On the Lawn in Claverack

Our last stop in the Hudson Valley last week took us to the Claverack Library, where music skipped across the front lawn.

We listened to frogs in the bog

and created music of our own using glasses, water, and spoons.

We played scales using various heights of water in the glasses

and painted scales on trout replicas to make prints.

And we captured our time together by writing water haikus:

Water of water
Tum-ble-ing over goddess
Come to you and me.

- Megan, age 13

Mud puppies swimming
in the mud in the morning
They love mud all day.

- Kyle, age 5

Splish splash in the stream
Skipping rocks to watch them bounce
Stream walking is fun.

- Ellie, age 6

Splash go the raindrops
Falling down upon the rocks
Nourishing the ground.

- Alicia, age 6

Lovely lady loons
Glide across the water pool
Feeling quite peaceful.

- Ruth, age 11

Tap in a raindrop
A puddle makes a big splash
Pat got really wet.

- Brandon, age 10

Thanks for making us a part of your summer reading celebration!

Phish in Philmont!

No, not phish, but fish, and lots of them!

Last Thursday took us down into the Hudson Valley where we stopped first in Philmont, just off the Taconic Parkway, at the Philmont Public Library.

This is a repeat visit for me, as I spent time with this wonderful group of young readers last summer making 3-D salt dough maps of the river.

Because my camera was still in the Finger Lakes, I don't have any photos of the day's event to share with you. (Karen, please share a few shots if you can!)

I do have some creative water haikus, however, to share:

Water goes "splish splash"
When I go underwater
Do you love water?

- Elizabeth, age 9

Clean liquid speed is
Tumbling over small pebbles
And the biggest rocks.

- Ruby, age 11

Waves crashing slowly
Tide is flowing out to sea
Where dolphins jumping.

- Anneka, age 12

Water splashing high
Splish splash splish splash I hear it
Crashes to the ground.

- Jenna, age 9

Water is freezing
Water is healthy for you
Refreshing and cold.

- Emily, age 10

Water falls quickly
Water falls down from above
Storms cause trees to fall.

- Conner, age 9

Thanks for inviting us to your wonderful new facility. Happy Summer!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Fish, Fingers, and Fire Trucks

The latest stop for the Splash! program was in the tiny hamlet of Hector in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, at the Elizabeth B. Pert Reading Center.

Here, young readers are also young naturalists, and they really know their fish!








They also know fire trucks, as the Reading Center shares space with the local volunteer fire department!

They wrote beautiful water haikus, including:

Colorful fish splash
Waves are lapping the shore now
I get really wet.

- Sara, age 11

Ocean tide is high
The fish swim underwater
Fish are rejoicing.

- Kali, age 9

Sunshine rests on the
Rich, gleaming waters of a
Stunning paradise.

- Ruthe, age 11

Fish in the water
Moving his fins back and forth
Jumping for the fly.

- Jason, age 4

Summer night noises
Frogs making loud noisy songs
Until the morning

- Aliyah, age 7

Kyna and I had a wonderful visit to a colorful part of the state, where the blue of the lakes swirls with the greens and purples of the grape vines. Thanks for inviting us. Enjoy the last part of summer! Splish! Splash!

(Thanks, Bobbie, for returning my camera! )

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Ready, Set, Go, Flow in Little Falls

Ready ...

Set ...

Go ...









Flow ...

Water into glasses to make a musical xylophone.

Frog music into shapes and colors.

And paint onto fish to make trout fish prints.









Thanks, Little Falls Public Library, for making my latest summer workshop visit a flowing good time.

And thanks, also, to college intern Kyna and her two sisters (Hailey and Sage, who were visiting from Florida) for their help with the stations, and to Elise (author's daughter, college art student, and a young published author with Barnes and Noble) for taking the photographs of the event!

Remember two things from this Splash! activity:

Never wear flip flops when serious rain-making needs to be done. (Looks like your hard work paid off. It poured the next day!)

And, art can be found in the most unusual places, including dirty paint water!







Here are some of your water-word haiku from our time together.

The water is calm
In the river I see fish
The seahorses walk

- Trystan, age 12

Clear water to drink
Water tumbles over rocks
It adds some splashes

- Rebecca, age 11

The rain falls from clouds
Dripping and making puddles
I like when it rains

- Claire, age 10

Some water is clear
Seaweed is green and slimy
Starfish slowly walk

- Alivia, age 10

Oh, I like to swim
My face goes underwater
I play in the pool

- Gabby, age 7



Flow from July into August and have a splash of a good summer and school year too! Thanks for inviting us!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Splish! Splash! Splunk! in Johnstown

Ripple
Babble
Roar
Drip
Drop
Wave
Flow
PLOP!

These are some of the water words that the young water enthusiasts used in last night's summer reading program at the Johnstown Public Library, where everyone -- young and old -- participated in the water program.

Side by side, parents and their young readers

... giggled to the frogs in the bog while imagining sounds and shapes

... wrote water haiku

... and peeled back fishy discoveries







Here are some of their 5-7-5 syllable thoughts:

The water is cool
Water can make big puddles
Water can flow fast

- Hailee, age 6

I hear the water
Flowing down the waterfalls
It sounds beautiful

- Hayleigh, age 7

Dolphins in water
Swim and jump in the air
I like all dolphins

- Sydney, age 7

Atlantic Ocean
River, stream, and waterfall
Pacific Ocean

- Kyle, age 6

Water is swoshing
I love water, do you know?
It is sparkle-ing

- Alayna, age 6

Water is flowing
Flowing through the river still
Fresh traveling tears

- Shain, age 8

Drip drop drip drop drip
Rain drops into the ocean
Water flows away

- Anne, age 9


Have a wonderful summer, Johnstown! And when we have our next dry spell of weather, remember to snap, clap, click, and stomp to encourage the rain to fall! (You made it not only rain but pour last night! Wow!)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Schools of Fish in Schoharie!

What is better than happy readers on a hot summer day? Happy readers enjoying ice cream and strawberries following a wonderful library workshop! Thanks, Schoharie Free Library, for treating Kyna (my college intern helper this summer) and me like strawberries-and-cream royalty. We had a great time.

This group created beautiful gyotaku, or Japanese fish prints.


















They also wrote some wonderful water haiku.

I saw some frogs jump
I could see them eating bugs
It was cool watching

- Zebulun, age 9

Hear the water sing.
What does it tell you tonight?
What does it tell you?

- Niamh, age 11

If you don't see your fish print here, blame Andy, the library cat. He was fishing for a good story. (Actually, blame me. I tried to photograph them all, but I may have missed a few fish. Sorry.)

Have a splish-splashy good summer!

Music and More in Middleburgh

Music from the bog and frogs eminated from the Middleburgh Library this afternoon, where we ...

... pondered frogs on lilypads (while we closed our eyes and listened to frog music)

... counted syllables for water haiku

Water is rushing
The thunderstorm scares the fish
At storm's end, fish swim

- Johannah, age 9

Bubbles being blown
Having fun on a kayak
Swimming in a pool

- Ashton, age 6

... measured water to create musical tones

... painted silly fish (wearing Silly Bands) (to make Gyotaku)








... captured the shapes and colors of the bog

... and made real rain! Really! As we performed an auditory rain-making activity inside, the sky rained upon us outside. (The young rain-makers were that good! Must have been the double action of pounding feet and hands that did it. No stomach crunches are needed for the next few days!)

I had a wonderful time with the young readers in Middleburgh. Thanks for inviting me back.

Splish! Splash!

Skies Opened Up Over Schuylerville

What a storm last night! Did you hear those thunder claps?

In Schuylerville -- where we made rain with snaps, claps, and slaps -- we did!

Thanks to the wonderfully polite and attentive young readers and rainmakers at Schuylerville Public Library, where my college helper, Kyna, and I spent the evening as part of the summer reading program.

We captured the colors and shapes of frog music.

We wrote rhythmic haiku.

We reeled in ...

and unveiled fishy delights.








And made music -- using water, of course -- to sweeten the night.









From the young readers and writers of Schuylerville, we leave you with these beautiful thoughts:

Swimming in the pool
I like laughing and splashing
Swimming with Jack-O.

- Alaina, age 5

Big splash, little wave
Water cool in summertime
Frogs jump in the bog

- Sloan, age 10

Lillipad and ducks
Jumping on a trampoline
The ducks fly off it

- Samuel, age 7