A flash of harmless lightning, a mist of rainbow dyes, the burnished sunbeams brightening from flower to flower he flies.  ~John Banister Tabb

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #4: A Hummingbird Story

2. Start by watching a video about hummingbirds. Record 5 facts on your recording page.

3. Show what you learned by choosing 3 of the prompts to answer on your recording sheet.

• Describe what makes the sky islands one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America.
• Explain the significance of hummingbirds during their migratory route.
• What unique ability do hummingbirds have that sets them apart from other birds?
• Discuss how the brain size of hummingbirds compares to that of humans.
• Why do hummingbirds remember every flower patch and feeder they visit?
• What are the best times to observe hummingbirds, and why are those times optimal?
• How does the southeastern Arizona bird observatory contribute to the study of hummingbirds?
• What adaptations do hummingbirds have that help them avoid predators?

4. Listen to this this story and write a 3 sentence summary on your recording page.

5. Listen to this story and write 2-3 sentence about the hummingbird.

6. Read this interview with the author of the Courage of the Little Hummingbird. Record 3 details from the interview on your recording page.

7. In the interview, she talks about retelling the story and answers this question: What advice do you have for authors interested in retelling old tales? Write about her response and what you learned.

8. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

This mini spark will have you writing in a creative way.  Have some fun with pangrams.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #3: Pangrams

2. A pangram is a series of words which contains all the letters of the alphabet.                   (pan = all and gramma = letter)                                                                                                          Example:  The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

3. Watch this video and record the sentences he creates on your recording sheet.

4. Try writing your own pangram.  Sure, you could look one up on the internet, but push yourself to think of an original one. On your recording sheet, start working on your pangram. When you are done, count the letters in your pangram, and write about the strategy you used.

5. Once you get the hang of it, write a shorter pangram that makes sense.  Use a dictionary if needed to find words that you can add to you pangram in order to incorporate some of the less common letters of the alphabet.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

A portmanteau (pronounced port-MAN-toe) is a type of literary device.  It is a word made by blending at least two words. The new word combines both the sounds and meanings of the originals

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #2: Literary Device Lesson: Portmanteau

2. A portmanteau is when two words are combined to form a new word which refers to a single concept that retains the meanings of both the original words. Modern language is full of portmanteaus. In fact, the portmanteau is itself a portmanteau. It’s a combination of the French porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak). Record the two parts and meanings of portmanteau on your recording sheet.

3. Write these examples on your recording page.

 smog (smoke + fog) – hazy, polluted air

internet (interconnected + network) – a computer network of information

labradoodle (labrador + poodle) – a hybrid dog breed with parentage from a labrador retriever and a poodle

pluot (plum + apricot) – a hybrid stone fruit that combines the characteristics of a plum and an apricot

4. To form a portmanteau, usually the first segment of one word is attached to the final segment of another word. Some portmanteau words are blended in other ways, like combining the initial segments of both words. Look at the examples that you wrote on your recording sheet or find 3 of your own.  Describe how each of the words were created

Example: spork (spoon + fork) – an eating utensil that serves as both a spoon and a fork

Spork is formed by combing the beginning segment of spoon with the last segment of fork.

5. Try this portmanteau creator. Enter two words that are often found together and look to see the combos that are generated for you. Explore several combos and record your two starting words and the results.

5. Create your own portmanteau. Pick two words that are often used together to describe a single concept. For example lettuce and dressing or amazing and spectacular. See if there’s a way to combine them and create a single word that encompasses the meaning of both. Show all of your work on your recording sheet.

6. Portmanteaus are often mistaken for compound words. On your recording page explain how they are different from compound words. When you are done, scroll to the bottom of this post to see if you had the right idea.

7.  Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Lesson adapted from https://www.grammarly.com/blog/portmanteaus/

A compound word is created when two or more entire words are joined to create one word with a new meaning. For example:

• Black + bird = blackbird.
• Foot + ball = football.
• High + light = highlight.

A portmanteau, on the other hand, occurs when elements of two or more words are blended to create one word with a combined meaning. For example:

• Breakfast + lunch = brunch.
• Information + commercial = infomercial.
• Motor + pedal = moped.

To further illustrate the difference, note that if we were to form a portmanteau word out of black and bird, we would have blird. Likewise, to make a compound word out of breakfast and lunch, we would create the word breakfastlunch.