Posts Tagged writing

STEM Tuesday — STEM Activity Books– Writing Tips & Resources

By STEM Tuesday on August 18, 2020 / Activity Books, STEM Tuesday

Sometimes, when there’s so much uncertainty in the world (like now) it’s nice to have a set of rules or instructions to follow. Honestly, having fewer choices is one reason I love writing nonfiction. We can’t just make up plots and main characters; we must stick with the facts and harness our creativity to turn those facts into compelling true stories.

This month’s booklist includes a host of STEM activity books, found here, all of which fall into the category of “how-to” books. As I looked through the books, I noticed each offered detailed rules or procedures for making or building items or conducting experiments. And each activity contained the following elements:

A list of supplies and/or equipment needed
Step-by-step instructions
Pictures showing the process

So how can we apply this “how-to” process to our writing? By embracing poetry, of course! Most poetry requires we follow certain rules. And some special poetry forms involve using materials like books, newspapers, markers, and more, just like our STEM how-to books. Fun, right?

Here are two simple, hands-on poetry forms to try.

Blackout Poems (erasure poetry)

Supplies/tools needed:

old newspaper, magazine, or a page from a discarded book
pencil
markers

Instructions:

Scan through one page of your newspaper or book, looking for interesting words that might spark a poetry idea. Lightly circle them with your pencil.
Now look for other words connecting your circled words. Remember, you won’t be able to reshuffle or reorder the words. You can only use what’s available to you in the order it appears reading left to right, down to up. Circle those new connecting words with the pencil.
Now go back with a marker and circle all the words for your poem.
Color or blackout all the remaining words on the page, so only your chosen words remain. You can even draw interesting shapes and designs over the remaining words if you like.

Here’s a step-by-step how-to video from Austin Kleon showing how he made the poem above.

Spine Poems (found poetry)

Supplies/tools needed: Lots of books!

Instructions:

Stack up books, one on top of the other, so you can read the spines.
Starting at the top, read down through the spines, letting the words from each title become a line of poetry.
Rearrange books as necessary until you have a poem you like.

Enjoy following these hands-on poetry “how-tos.” And here’s hoping limited choices spark unlimited creativity.

O.O.L. F (Out of Left Field)

More blackout poetry on the Scholastic Teachers Blog.
More spine poetry on the Scholastic Teachers Blog.
Try these other short poem forms from Writers Digest.

Kirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids. She’s the author of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: EMMA LILIAN TODD INVENTS AN AIRPLANE, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek, 2020), A TRUE WONDER, illustrated by Katy Wu (Clarion, 2021), THE FIRE OF STARS, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle, Fall 2021), along with 25 other nonfiction books for kids. Find her at kirsten-w-larson.com or on Twitter/Instagram @KirstenWLarson.

STEM Tuesday — STEM Activity Books– In the Classroom

By STEM Tuesday on August 11, 2020 / Activity Books, STEM Tuesday

It’s August and the countdown to school has started. For many students and teachers, going to school may look a little different this year. Some students may be learning in the classroom, while others learn at home. And some students may be doing a little bit of both. No matter where you’re learning, you can use these great books to spark a lasting interest in science and STEM.

The books we’re highlighting this month are all STEM activity books. They are a great starting point for different science activities and discussions in the classroom and at home.

Calling All Inventors!

Do your students know about scientist and inventor Temple Grandin? In this book, kids can learn from a master inventor by reading her personal stories and trying a few of the book’s 25 hands-on projects. Throughout the book, Grandin shows readers what it’s like to see the world through an inventor’s eyes, questioning and testing how the world works. You could have kids do a few of these projects and then present their results, either in person or in a virtual classroom. You can even have students think like Grandin and come up with their own project or invention!

Want to learn a little be more about Temple Grandin? Take a look at this Colorado State University article about Temple Grandin’s life.

Let’s Build!

If you want your students or kids to learn about engineering – try this fantastic book:

This book has activities to explore important principles of engineering, such as forces and motion; liquids and reactions; shapes and structures; and light and sound. You can explore gravity by building a working model of a tower crane. You can study the range of colors in light by building a spectroscope. Maybe assign a different project to small groups of students. Have them demonstrate their project to the class. How does it work? What engineering principle(s) does it show? How is this principle used by scientists in the real world?

Take a Walk Through the Jungle

For younger kids, Rainforests is a great activity book that teaches kids about tropical and temperate forests and how we can help preserve them.

The book also has lots of information about the creatures of the rainforest. The book begins with several chapters about the layers of the rainforest – the forest floor, the understory, the canopy, and the top layer. Perhaps have each kid choose an animal or plant that lives in the rainforest and write a few sentences about it and how it survives in the rainforest.

Kids will learn about the rainforest in different parts of the world. Try some of the book’s activities such as creating a jungle journal in Africa or communicating with message sticks in the South Asian and Malaysian rainforest. Ask the kids: How are the rainforests in different parts of the world similar? How are they different? How can we work together to conserve and protect them?

Have fun with all of the hands-on STEM and science activities in these books! It’s a great way to bring science into your classroom – no matter where it is this year!

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Carla Mooney loves to explore the world around us and discover the details about how it works. An award-winning author of numerous nonfiction science books for kids and teens, she hopes to spark a healthy curiosity and love of science in today’s young people. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, three kids, and dog. When not writing, she can often be spotted at a hockey rink for one of her kids’ games. Find her at http://www.carlamooney.com, on Facebook @carlamooneyauthor, or on Twitter @carlawrites.

STEM Tuesday — Pollinators — Writing Tips & Resources

By STEM Tuesday on July 21, 2020 / Pollinators, STEM Tuesday

Title Talk

Creating the perfect title for a nonfiction piece is tough. In a few short words you’re supposed to convey the subject, approach, and audience — and be appealing. That’s a tall order. Honestly, I used to hate drafting a title but I’ve come to see it as an effective exercise.

Working and reworking a title at different stages of a project helps me nail down more than words for the cover. When I finally smile at a title I’ve crafted — and when that smile returns every time I dive in to revise — I know I’ve also got a handle on what my book is actually about.

Often though, even that title isn’t the final title. The editor, marketing team, others at the publishing house all have a say and sometimes one of them develops the final title.

[Note: This discussion is relevant for trade books. For books in the education market, the title is typically assigned ahead of time.]

So, how do you develop the perfect title? Lots and lots of work — and play! Here are some exercises to help.

Structure

Read these titles from this month’s list, paying particular attention to their structure:

Birds, Bees, and Butterflies: Bringing Nature Into Your Yard and Garden

The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening

Pollinator Friendly Gardening: Gardening for Bees, Butterflies, and Other Pollinators

Summer’s Flight, Pollen’s Delight: Meet the Bees, Butterflies, Birds and other Creatures Who Keep Our World Green and Alive!

Pollinators: Animals Helping Plants Thrive

These titles use a traditional structure: a shorter title (indicating the subject matter), a colon, and a subtitle (fleshes out the topic or scope of the book). Check your shelves for titles that use this structure. Nonfiction writers are fortunate; we can use subtitles! Subtitles give us options. Providing additional clues through the title/subtitle combination can be a critical element in helping a book find the right readers.

What about titles that break from that traditional structure?

They may use questions:

Where Have all the Bees Gone? Pollinators in Crisis

Consider what the use of a question does for the title. Prompt the reader to think? Provide an air of uncertainty? This particular title also introduces a level

of anxiety and capitalizes on the tension inherent in the topic.

Or imperatives:

Know Your Pollinators: 40 Common Pollinating Insects including Bees, Wasps, Flower Flies, Butterflies, Moths, & Beetles, with Appearance, Behavior, & How to Attract Them to Your Garden

What does that do?

Or need no subtitle at all:

Turn this Book into a Beehive

Standing Out

Now, look for literary devices which help a title stand out.

Alliteration, assonance, consonance like Astronaut Aquanaut: How Space Science and See Science Interact by Jennifer Swanson and Woodpecker Wham! by April Pulley Sayre
A play on words like The Whole Story of the Doughnut by Pat Miller and I See Sea Food by Jenna Grodzicki
Rhythm or rhyme like Joan Proctor, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez

What other devices can you find in titles you love?

Try adding a literary device to one of the titles listed above.

The Power of Play!

Amazing titles can come from play. Play with the language, play with the concepts, play with what your reader might be thinking. Here are a few examples: You’re Invited to a Moth Ball by Loree Burns, Something Rotten: A Fresh look at Roadkill by Heather L Montgomery, Save the Crash-test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson

- - - - Draft the most conservative title possible. Draft the most outrageous title possible. Which do you like best?
        
        Reverse the words in one of your draft titles.
        
        Combine opposites (over/under, fresh/rotten, etc)
        
        Swap out a common word with something that challenges readers just a bit.

Tricks and Tips

Like any other skill, developing a finely honed title requires practice. Here are a few more exercises to round out your workout:

Listen to the words of friends, critique partners, strangers as they talk about your project or subject. Stockpile their words as fodder for your title.
Revise one of your titles using each of the literary devices listed above.
Jot down a title and develop a list of at least 10 synonyms for each word. Mix-and-match, paying attention to the rhythm of the words.
At random, select five non-fiction books and use their titles as models for yours.

Many thanks to the members of the NF for NF Nonfiction Children’s Writers Facebook group who suggested titles for this post.

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Heather L. Montgomery writes STEM books for kids. She’s had fun with her recent titles:

Who Gives a Poop? Surprising Science from One End to the Other (Bloomsbury 2020)

Little Monsters of the Ocean: Metamorphosis under the Waves (Lerner, 2019)

Bugs Don’t Hug: Six – Legged Parents and their Kids (Charlesbridge 2018)