Nicola Winstanley
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ONOmATOPoEIA

3/31/2020

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​Another new word (maybe?) and a quick writing activity for children old enough to write. It has the advantage of a few minutes of breathing and stillness. 

1. Sit down quietly, inside or outside.
2. Set a timer for three minutes (or five!).
2. Close your eyes.
3. Be silent and listen carefully.
4. Write down everything you hear--try and use "sound" words. 
5. Voila! A poem!



Quiet, then
A ticking clock
The fridge gurgles
Far away, a bus rumbles
Creaking cupboards
A whoosh in the the oven
and a metallic jangle
Footsteps above my head?
My own breath
Tick-tock



No one else is up in my house yet! Maybe your house is noisier?


A loaf of bread in a dutch oven
The gas was noisy in my oven this morning because I was baking bread!
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VIRTUAL VISIT!

3/30/2020

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How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps has been chosen by Illinois schools kids as one of the books on the shortlist for the Monarch Award for K-3. (Please see the website and master list for 2021 here.)

Tomorrow morning, I'll be online with Rondout School in Illinois for a virtual visit! I'm looking forward to meeting all the kids who will be able to join me online to hear me my read my book, and to chat about out pets and our writing and reading.

If you are a teacher or librarian in Illinois and would like to do the same, I would be happy to set that up with you. 

I'll let you know tomorrow how the visit went!

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BORED? FIND a FACE

3/24/2020

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Once in a while, I will post a little activity--maybe, while you're stuck at home, you'll stumble on it and think "Why not?"

Thanks to my friend Donna Akrey for this idea.

Here's a new word for you: PAREIDOLIA
1. Use a dictionary or the Internet to figure out what it means.
2. Search your house and yard (if you have one) high and low to find five things that don't have faces, but look like they have faces.
3. Take a picture of each "face" with a phone or make a drawing.

If you have brothers and sisters, try a race--who can find the most "faces" in fifteen minutes?

Think about it . . . why do you think we see "faces" in things?

One of my photos is posted here. Remind you of anything?

And beneath it is a face my son, Sam, found in the floor boards.
Picture
Picture
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    Photo courtesy of Anne Zbitnew.

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    I'm a writer for children and adults from Hamilton, Ontario.

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