What Happened When We All Stopped is a children’s book and animated poem by Tom Rivett-Carnac, illustrated by Carla Kreuser and Bee Rivett-Carnac. It explores life after a health pandemic, like COVID-19, from the viewpoint of people at home observing nature. The story suggests that this time of quiet can help the Earth heal and remind us how to live in harmony with nature.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #77: Pandemic Poetry

2. Read this article about Jane Goodall.  Record 5 details about her life on your recording sheet.

3. Tom Rivett-Carnac wrote the children’s book What Happened When We All Stopped in partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute. The book, read by Jane Goodall, is about what happens after a health pandemic and how to build back better.  Watch this animated poem.

3. On your recording page, write about what changed from the beginning of the poem to the end and write about your favorite part of the poem.

4. Write a personal reflections about a natural place that feels peaceful. Incorporate sensory images to help the reader understand what it feels like to be there.

5.  Write your own short poem about nature.

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

Check out the Jane Goodall Badge at the EY Website.

Wombats are like the adorable couch potatoes of the animal world! These furry little marsupials come in shades of brown, tan, or grey and can grow up to 1.3 meters long!

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #76: Diary of a Wombat
2. Listen to the story Diary of a Wombat. Focus on viewpoint, voice, flow as you listen to the story.
3. Explore opposing viewpoints. On your recording page describe the same event from two points of view-Mothball vs. family members.
4. Diary of a Wombat is a humorous text. Identify the various devices Jackie French and Bruce Whatley have used to make this book entertaining. To get you started- What is Mothball describing as a ‘flat, hairy creature? How does this add humor?  Think of a few more examples and add them to your recording page.
5. In literary texts, dialogue plays an important role in character development. However, there is no dialogue in Diary of a Wombat (from Mothball). Analyze the text to glean information about Mothball. How has Jackie French developed Mothball’s character without the use of dialogue? Record your ideas.
6.  Mothballs main motive in life is to find carrots to eat. Make a list on your recording sheet of all of the ways he does this.
7. Make a tiny information page about wombats on your recording sheet after reading this National Geographic article.
8. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Check out the Diary of a Creature badge at the EY website.

Across the Pacific, myths and legends are passed down through oral tradition. The myth of Dakuwaqa is deeply rooted in Fijian culture and serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world, as well as the consequences of greed and disrespect for the environment.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #75-Dakuwaqa:a Fijian Myth
2.  Watch this video. On your recording page, record the names of the characters as they appear.

Choose 2 activities

3. Write a simplified version of this myth for a younger audience.

4. Read about kids helping sharks.  Write about several of the projects and the kids behind the project.

5. Research sharks and create an information page about them.

6. Learn about other myth stories that involve sharks.  Take notes on the information from this article.

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

It is helpful to be able to recognize and understand adages and proverbs in the stories you are reading.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #74-Adages and Proverbs

2. Watch this intro video.

3. Like idioms, proverbs and adages can be used in conversation or in writing. They are also unique to a particular language. Unlike idioms, however, proverbs and adages generally have more literal meanings. Their meanings match more closely to the meaning of the individual words that make up the expression. Record this information in your own words on your recording page.

4. It is helpful to review some of the more common adages to help you better understand the meaning of the text. Look over this information and put notes about what you learned on your recording page

Proverb

• Proverb is a short, well-known saying stating a piece of advice or the general truth.
• It can be described as a statement of practical wisdom expressed in a simple way.
• It is based on common sense or a person’s practical experience. Proverbs are typically metaphorical or alliterative in form.

Examples

• Slow and steady wins the race. 
• Birds of a feather flock together. 
• Rolling stones gather no moss. 
• It is better to be smarter than you appear than to appear smarter than you are. 
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. 
• Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. 

Adage

• It is a short, common saying or phrase that tends to be old, known for decades or centuries.
• It refers to popular sayings that give advice.
• It expresses a general truth about people or the world.
• It could be based on facts. It can also come from a specific situation or job.
• It is similar to a proverb and proverbs could be adages.

Examples 

• A penny saved is a penny earned .
• Slow and steady wins the race. 
• Better safe than sorry.
• Nothing ventured; nothing gained.
• You live, you learn.
• Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Keep in mind

• An adage is sometimes called proverb.
• They are usually smaller than proverbs.
• So don’t worry about mixing both up, as they have mostly similar qualities.

5. On your recording page Create a colorful note taking page to show what you have learned.

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

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/english/adages/index.shtmlAdages

Learning Greek and Latin roots can help your understand English better, improve your vocabulary, and learn how to read and spell new words.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #73: Greek and Latin Roots

2. Watch this video. As you are watching pause the video as needed to write down at least 10 root words and at least 5 affixes and their meanings on your recording page.

3. Study this image. On your recording page, write 5 of the the roots and meanings that will be the hardest for you to remember.

4. Follow these instructions to learn these roots.

Make flash cards for each of the pink and blue buttons. On one side put the root and the other side put the meaning. Study the cards.

Then look at the word list and find the matching set of cards for each.

Learn how to pronounce the 12 words.  You can do this by typing in the word into your search bar and then typing “pronounce”.  Practice each word several times.

Memorize the spellings of these 12 words. When you are ready, have a friend quiz you on the spellings. Record your quiz score on your recording sheet.

5. Share your language arts mini spark recording page and your note cards  with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Lesson idea adapted from Khan and SpellPundit

Stretch your thinking and unravel your ideas with this Golden Line activity!

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #72: Golden Line Writing

2. Watch this introductory video about the Golden Line Writing Activity.

3. Print the Golden Line Activity and begin writing with the provided “Golden Line” by  C.S. Lewis. You can also open the page and record your writing on your recording page.

4.  Now that you have experienced this writing strategy. Research some other quotes that would make great writing prompts. Make a list of three to five quotes on your recording page.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page and Golden Line writing page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Nonfiction poetry focuses on conveying facts about subjects through engaging and creative narratives. Nonfiction poetry can be a fun and thought-provoking way to tell a story or impart information.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #71: Nonfiction Poetry

2. Learn about an important historical event (Apollo 11) by reading the article, The Moon Landing on the National Geographic Kids website.  Record 5 details from the article on your recording page.

3.  Listen to this example of nonfiction poetry about Apollo 11, Eight Days Gone.

4. Explore these websites and choose an article of interest. Read the article 1-2 times.

• Science News for Students
• Youngzine
• KidsPost
• DOGOnews
• News for Kids
• National Geographic Kids

5.  Create your nonfiction verse in the form of a Cinquain poem. Cinquain poems follow a specific 5 line pattern. Print off these Poetry Planning Sheets – Cinquain Poem to further analyze your article/topic and draft your poem.  You can put your final poem on the recording page or the poetry planning sheets.

6. Find a photo to accompany your poem, choose an app on your iPad to create a visual display of your work.

7.  Share your language arts mini spark recording page, your poem and your illustration with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Cat- C-A-T     Dog. D-O-G. Not all words have spellings that are as clear and easy to remember as these two. Watch this TED ED video about why there is a “B” in doubt.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #70: Why is there a “B” in doubt?

2. Watch this video.

3. Record all of the forms of doubt and double from the video. Do research to add more words to your list that were not mentioned.

4. Do some research to find words with silent letters that are new to you. Record some that you have found on your recording sheet.

5. Read this information page about Latin. Record several important details on your recording sheet as you read.

6. Read more about silent letters at Wonderopolis. Take the Wonder Word Challenge or Test Your Knowledge when you are done reading. Record both scores on your recording sheet.

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

We don’t have to only celebrate opposite day on January 25th. Check out some of these resources to celebrate!

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #68: National Opposite Day

2.  Watch this video. Oh, SpongeBob!

3. On your recording page, make a list of 10 things you could do today that are the opposite of what you would normally do. Examples: eat breakfast for dinner, greet your friends with “goodbye” instead of “hello”, or write your name backwards all day.

4. Palindromes are words written the same forward as backward. Mom and Dad Are Palindromes, written by Mark Shulman, has many examples palindromes. Watch the video and write down your 5 favorite palindromes from the story on your recording page.

5 Contronyms are words that have contradictory or opposite meanings.

• CLIP can mean to “cut off” (as in clipping a coupon) or “attach” (as you do with a paperclip)
• DUST can mean to “to remove particles” or “add fine particles” (as in dusting a cake with sugar)
• LEFT can mean “remaining” (as in one piece left) or “departed” (as in “she left ten minutes ago.”)
• SEED can mean ” seeds put in” (as in “seeded with native grasses”) or “to remove seeds” (as in “seeding a watermelon”).

Add these words to a list on your recording page and try to think of 3 more on your own. Check out more examples here and add a few more to your list.

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

Lesson ideas are from Big Ideas for little Scholars .