El día de los niños/El día de los libros 20th anniversary

Today is officially El día de los niños/El día de los libros, celebrated every April 30. And today is particularly special, since it’s the 20^th anniversary of Día. This special celebration was conceived by and established by founder Pat Mora, author, poet, and literacy advocate. In March 1996, while being interviewed in Tucson, Arizona, she learned about the holiday El día de los niños celebrated in Mexico. Realizing that the United States had nothing similar, Pat proposed linking Children's Day, the celebration of childhood and children, with literacy and bilingualism, creating a new holiday: El día de los niños/El día de los libros.

Earlier this month, Pat also delivered the prestigious May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture in Santa Barbara, CA, “Bookjoy! Alegria en los Libros!” the Garvin Theatre at Santa Barbara City College. Fortunately, they recorded her talk and you can watch it in its entirety here: 

Meanwhile, here’s the official description of Día from the ALSC sponsor website: “El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day), commonly known as Día, is a celebration every day of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”

Check out the ALA/ALSC website for free downloadable materials, tips for starting a book club, booklists, toolkits, and more. You can find even more info, help, and celebration videos at Pat’s website. Plus lesson plans here and even more resources here.

Share Pat’s celebratory picture book all about Día, Book Fiesta! and her poem about Día in The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (below) to celebrate this special anniversary of this special day.

Science + Poetry = Earthworms

Here is the final installment in my series of science poetry tied to science-themed picture books. My graduate student, Elizabeth Zelenak (in my "Poetry for Children" class) selected the focus on “earthworms” from the series of professional resource books, "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (and published by the National Science Teachers Association). Here are her three infographics centered around learning about earthworms. The focus picture book pair is:

• Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
• Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer

The poem that works perfectly with this book is “Reliable, Pliable Worms” by Celia Warren from her book Don’t Poke a Worm till it Wriggles. Below is a graphic featuring this book pair and others, followed by the featured poem, and then the Take 5 activities to accompany the poem along with a "bonus" poem, “Soil Inventory” by Kate Coombs from The Poetry of Science. Enjoy! Also, don't forget to check out the rest of the Poetry Friday posts all hosted by Buffy at her blog here.

Science of poetry graphics created by Elizabeth Zelenak

Image credit: dialoguealumninews.wordpress.com

Science + Poetry = Classifying rocks

Here is another installment in my series of science poetry tied to science-themed picture books. My graduate student, Susan Williams (in my "Poetry for Children" class) selected the focus on “classifying rocks” from the series of professional resource books, "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (and published by the National Science Teachers Association). Here are her three infographics centered around learning about classifying rocks. The focus picture book pair is:

• If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian
• Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth by Natalie M. Rosinky

Susan chose an excerpt from “If You Find a Rock” by Peggy Christian as the poem to accompany this pair of books. Below is a graphic featuring this book and others, followed by the featured poem, and then the Take 5 activities to accompany the poem along with a "bonus" poem, “My Rock” by Ken Slesarik from The Poetry of Science. Enjoy!

Science of poetry graphics created by Susan Williams

Image credit: dialoguealumninews.wordpress.com

Science + Poetry = Motion and force

Here is another installment in my series of science poetry tied to science-themed picture books. My graduate student, Melissa Willardson (in my "Poetry for Children" class) selected the focus on “motion and force” from the series of professional resource books, "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (and published by the National Science Teachers Association). Here are her three infographics centered around learning about motion and force. The focus picture book is:

• Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

The poem that works perfectly with this book is “Sledding (Uphill and Downhill)” by Karma Wilson from her book, Outside the Box. Below is a graphic featuring this book and others, followed by the featured poem, and then the Take 5 activities to accompany the poem along with a "bonus" poem, “Push Power” by Janet Wong from The Poetry of Science. Enjoy!

Science of poetry graphics created by Melissa Willardson

Image credit: dialoguealumninews.wordpress.com

Science + Poetry = Ben Franklin and the engineering design process

Here is another installment in my series of science poetry tied to science-themed picture books. My graduate student, Meghan Hunt (in my "Poetry for Children" class) selected the focus on “Ben Franklin and the engineering design process” from the series of professional resource books, "Picture Perfect Science Lessons" by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (and published by the National Science Teachers Association). Here are her three infographics centered around learning about Ben Franklin and the engineering design process. The focus picture book pair is:

• Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Barretta 
• Build It: Invent New Structures and Contraptions by Tammy Enz

Meghan chose an excerpt from Dream, Invent, Create: Engineer the World for her featured poem. Below is a graphic featuring all these books, followed by the featured poem, and then the Take 5 activities to accompany the poem along with a "bonus" poem, “My Experiment” by Julie Larios from The Poetry of Science. Enjoy!

Science of poetry graphics created by Meghan Hunt

Image credit: dialoguealumninews.wordpress.com