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school visits

Casey Students Make Fractal Pop-Ups

I recently spent two days with Casey’s fourth and fifth grade students, making fractal pop-ups. We used the fractals to practice calculating the area and volume of various-sized rectangular prisms. I want to thank Ms. McCormick and Ms. Dean for co-teaching these workshops. And, Mr. John Howell, the Casey arts coordinator, for taking the photographs.
The instructions for making the fractal pop-up can be found on my website here.


Visit to Highland Bluff Elementary


Today I spent the morning with 2nd and 3rd graders at Highland Bluff Elementary School in Brandon, Miss. The students had read my books in the library and had completed several activities related to them. Led by librarian Lindsey Cauthen, the students made Fibonacci spirals and wrote and illustrated what they had learned about wolfsnails.
highland bluff visit
The students had great questions. Because they asked about what I am working on now, I read a few pages from my Infinity draft. I’m happy to say they liked it.

I appreciate Ms. Cauthen for inviting me and for taking the photos in this post.

Author Visit with Murrah Students

Today I was the featured author for the Murrah High School library’s Snack and Chat Program. I told them about my journey to becoming an author. Part of the fun was showing pictures of my sons when they were young — these students knew the boys as older high schoolers.

Snack and Chat

Ms. Courtney Holmes, pictured far right, will guide these young writers as they write and publish their own stories, using the Storybird website.
The students had great questions. Several were familiar with my work already from previous visits to their schools. (Shout out to Davis Magnet IB School!)

The Redeemer’s School Author Visit

Finding a wolfsnail is always a cause for celebration for me and people in my circle of teacher friends. About a week ago, Shirlene Phillips, my former neighbor and a pre-K teacher at The Redeemer’s School, got in touch with happy wolfsnail news. We agreed on a time for me to read Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator to a combined group of her students and the kindergartners.

 

reading wolfsnail

Reading Woflsnail

In this photograph, I have just finished reading the closest thing to a laugh line in the book: “the snail looks like it has a mustache.” Gets them every time! These kids were eager, bright, inquisitive and full of wonder. Their imaginations and their interest in science were on full display!

My favorite quick teaching activity to pair with a reading of Wolfsnail is a lesson in using Private Eye loupes to magnify an object from nature. In this case, I picked a bunch of leaves from my front hedges. You would be amazed at some of the things they described seeing on their leaves. (hint: a slimy critter with lip extensions that look like a mustache.)

looking at leaves

As I model looking at the leaf, the students do it along with me.

Then it was time for the star of the show: the wolfsnail.

looking at the snail

It’s always hard to wait your turn when a wolfsnail is coming around, but these kids were great.

Other activities for use alongside Wolfsnail can be found here.
I didn’t get a chance to get a picture with Shirlene so I snagged this one online. She’s pictured here with a cousin (Shirlene is on the right) with her house in the background. Happy snail hunting grounds! I appreciate the invitation to The Redeemer’s School. Also, thank you to Shirlene’s assistant, Morgan Gallon, who took some of the photographs in this post.
Shirlene with cousin

Wolfsnail Classroom Visits

The lush green days of Spring are here and I’ve been talking about wolfsnails. I visited Spencer Loomis Elementary School in Hawthorne Woods, IL, very near Chicago. Alex D., the daughter of my college roommate, Sarita, goes to Spencer Loomis. We had a great time with private eyes and some garden snails and slugs. Some of the snails were reluctant to move around, but we nudged them with water. The slugs seemed more eager to move; we wondered whether that’s because they have no shells to hid under.
visit to Spencer Loomis
Also, my former neighbor, Shirlene Phillips, found a wolfsnail in her yard so I brought my book to The Redeemer’s School to talk with her students. It was pretty much the same size as the snail I photographed for the book. The 4-year-olds, kindergartners, and first graders had really good questions.

Earlier this month, I spent a few days at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival with Julie Owen. We presented a session titled Photography and Place: Engaging Projects for Libraries. We pulled together materials related to our presentation on Pinterest here.

 

Fractals in Asheville

Home from a great trip to Asheville, North Carolina, where I met friends and talked a lot about fractals. After the book stuff, I went to a family wedding. But first, Asheville … I met up with Joe D’Agnese and Denise Kiernan. Joe wrote Blockhead, a picture book biography of Fibonacci that came out in the same season as Growing Patterns. We enjoyed wonderful food and fellowship.

Malaprops

I signed books at Malaprop’s Bookstore.

hall fletcher
I did a presentation for 4th and 5th graders at Hall Fletcher Elementary School, and made fractals with 5th graders.

group pic
Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know that I also sat for an interview with Greta Johnsen, the co-host of Nerdette, a podcast that is distributed by WBEZ in Chicago. I’ll keep you posted for when that will air.

Like true kindred spirits, Joe and Denise had sunflowers in their garden. I love sunflowers.

flower1ash

flower2ash

Girls Prep Public Charter Visit

Last month, I visited Girls Prep Public Charter School in the Bronx, New York, to work with second grade students for a unit on writing nonfiction books. While I was there, I also spent an hour with the fourth grade writing club. With second grade, I worked with the students for three days. I was testing some ideas for a presentation I am slated to give at the International Reading Association annual conference in New Orleans in May.

Girls Prep WS group

The first day, I presented my “Love a Critter? Make a Book” session to all three classes in one big group. It was Read Across America Day so some of the girls and teachers were dressed as characters in books.

jess in background
The reason I chose Girls Prep is that my sister, Jessica Crosby-Pitchamootoo (pictured in the center dressed as the tree in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom), works there as a reading specialist. Jessica will join me and Dr. Amy Broemmel, a professor of education at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, to present “Reading and Writing Science Books? Paths to Creating Authentic Informational Texts.”
teacher gp small group
In the second and third days at Girls Prep, I led each class in a mini-lesson and then the girls did some guided practice. On the first day, my topic was “Taking information from research and writing in my own words to suit my purpose,” and the second day, it was “Making a plan for my writing, keeping my purpose in mind.”
lady bug girl
julie
sarah w stu
During the mini-lesson on planning, I showed the students how I make a book dummy when I am deciding the order of things in my books. I led them in making an instant book.
folding
star
numbering
book
girl writing
The feedback from the second grade writing unit has been good. One teacher said she believes the girls really understand author’s purpose in a much deeper way. One student told her teacher: “This is the most fun I’ve had while learning!” That’s exactly what writing should be. Fun, while learning!
I’ll post photographs of my session with the fourth grade writing club next.

Visit to The Dalton School

Last week, I visited first graders at The Dalton School in New York City. I began by speaking to all 5 classes (or houses, as they call them) in a kind of foyer that the school uses for such presentations. I knew the first graders were familiar with Growing Patterns from discussions with Dalton staff, but I brought them new material by starting with Wolfsnail.

presenting wolfsnail

I can’t say enough “thank you’s” to Melissa Haile-Mariam, librarian, and Karen Bass, communications/technology adviser, for their help in coordinating the visit, taking photographs, guiding me through the school, and making an amazing video about my visit.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

sarah showing snail

Dalton audience

more audience

groupThe most amazing part for me was visiting House 34, where I found Fibonacci Folding Books on display!

in the hallway outside house 34

description

Fib Book

I have more images of student books, and I’ll be adding them to my collection of student art on my main website. Thank you, Dalton!

Mysterious Patterns Earns Second Star — School Library Journal

I’m thrilled to report that Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature got a starred review in School Library Journal.

Here’s an excerpt: Mysterious Patterns Cover online small-“Using clear text and outstanding color photographs, Campbell explores the concept of these unusual shapes. Beginning with circles, cones, and cylinders, she leads readers carefully and concisely through examples of fractals such as trees, rivers, mountains, broccoli, lightning, and lungs. The photographs, sometimes highlighting the ever-smaller pieces of a vegetable fractal against a black background, sometimes drawing back to give a aerial view of a geological feature, are crisp and precise and underscore the clear text.”

Read the whole review here. I am excited about the reception that Mysterious Patterns is getting in the review press, but I am even more excited about the reception it is getting from kids.

“I never knew about these before!” “Oh, now I see. Cool.” Music to my ears.

Girls Prep Fractals-

st lukes fractals

Visit to New York

Next week Sarah will be traveling to New York to make a few school visits.  The first visit she’ll be making will be to The Dalton School, where she will be speaking to first graders about Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator.  The First Graders at The Dalton School are actually familiar with Sarah’s work already because Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature is a part of their curriculum! Last year, some first graders did the Fibonacci Folding Book project.

Sarah will then be at the Girls Prep Charter School in the Bronx. She’ll be spending a few days there working with second graders on writing non-fiction books.  They will be exploring the work of an author, specifically tying in how authors and illustrators choose their topics, how to write with a purpose in mind, and how to put one’s research into their own words. For this presentation Sarah will be highlighting Wolfsnail. Also at Girls Prep, Sarah will also be working with the fourth grade writing club, doing the fractal pop-up book project we taught at St. Luke’s in Baton Rouge.

We’ll certainly miss Sarah here down South, but it will be exciting to hear about her time in New York!