Picture+Books

Activities to use with books found in the "E" (easy, everyone, exciting) section of the Media Center.
__**The Great Blueness and other Predicaments**__ by Arnold Lobel. This is the book that inspired us to pursue this site and these activities. Unfortunately, this book is now out of print, but it is still available in many school and public libraries (also Ebay & Amazon). It is a story about the discovery of color. The Wizard lives in the time of the great grayness. Everything in the world is dull and gray until he discovers **Blue** which he shares with his neighbors. Their enthusiasm for something new finds the entire world painted in a color...thus, The Great Blueness. All that blue makes everyone sad. The wizard works his mixing magic and next discovers **Yellow**. Each new color has physical and emotional effects on the people who then blame the Wizard. He eventually discovers all the colors and declares the neighbors must use them all instead of one. At last the Wizard can say that all is right with the world. On the ArtPad you can draw the basic outline of the picture. Set the paintbrush to the widest setting and the opacity of the color to be transparent. Create your own Great Blueness as you read! [|The ArtPad]


 * __Gingerbread Man__ (any version)** After reading a few of the many different versions of the Gingerbread character, let students retell the beginning, middle, and end or create a new ending with [|ToonDoo].

__**Cock-A-Doodle MOOOO! A Mixed-Up Menagerie**__ by Keith DuQuette begins with a reference to mythical creatures such as a Griffon (lion + eagle) and then imagines the possiblities of creating your own creatures such as a Cooster (cow + rooster) or a Girantula (giraffe + tarantula). Kids will love the large colorful illustrations and imagining the endless possibilities.... The next book has a similar theme and the suggested web activity could be used with either or both books.


 * __Billy's Picture__** by Margret & H.A. Rey has Billy the bunny trying to draw a picture. It begins with a familiar (bunny) body. As his friends gather around, each of them adds a body part to the picture that looks like their body part. He ends up with a strange creature that isn't at all what he intended to paint. Let children create, name, and write a description of their creature at [|Switch Zoo].


 * __Still-Life Stew__** by Helena Clare Pittman may be the perfect inspiration for using[[image:still_life.JPG width="292" height="213" align="left"]] the still-life activity at the National Gallery of Art's Kids Zone. This book is written by an art teacher and is the result of an actual art lesson in her class. After gathering lots of fresh vegetables for her children to use in a still-life drawing, she took the veggies home and put them in a stew. Voila! Dinner and a book! As you can imagine, the illustrations are very colorful and the text is full of adjectives and adverbs. Read it before going to the [|NGA Kid Zone Still Life] to create original still-lifes. You might want to show their slide show of still-life examples before reading the book so the children understand what Rosa is trying to create. When creating your own, be sure to try a mirror... they actually reflect the objects you choose to put on the table!


 * __Olivia__** by Ian Falconer expresses the dreams of many little girls as she imagines she is [[image:pollack.JPG align="right"]]one of Degas' ballerinas on stage. She also voices the opinion of many children (and adults) as they stare at a piece of modern art..."I don't get it. I could do that in five minutes". And like many children, Olivia tries it on her wall when she gets home. Give your students a safe place to practice their paint slinging, dripping, drizzling, and splotching at the [|NGA Kid Zone Brushter] to bring out their inner Jackson Pollock creative side.

The same Jackson Pollock painting ("Autumn Rhythm") that Olivia "doesn't get" is also featured in **__You Can't Take a Balloon Into The Metropolitan Museum__** by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser. In this delightful wordless story a young girl is "told" she must leave her balloon tied outside the museum entrance. It is untied by a bird and while the girl and her mother view paintings, statues, pottery, and other pieces of art, the antics of the balloon's journey bear a striking resemblance to the artwork they are currently viewing. Children are introduced to pieces they may or may not recognize, such as "Washington Crossing the Delaware" or Monet's "Bridge Over a Pool of Water Lilies". While they may not appreciate the actual art, they will love the chaos depicting the balloon's travels around New York. (also see reference to Monet's water lilies in the Non-Fiction activity for **__Linnea in Monet's Garden__**)


 * __The Dot__** and **__Ish__** by Peter Reynolds are both about self-confidence and self-esteem motivated through artwork. In __The Dot__, Vashti declares she cannot draw. Her teacher tells her to make a mark and see what happens. Her dots lead to a successful art show where another student declares he can't draw a straight line. Vashti encourages him to make a mark and see what happens.... His "squiggle" is a good lead-in to **__The Squiggle__** by Carole Lexa Schaefer. The last girl in a line of students spies a "squiggle" on the sidewalk. Her imagination turns it into all sorts of wonderful things which she shares with classmates at the end of the story. Play musical squiggle chairs with your students (works best in a setting of several computers). Open any drawing program and have each child draw a "squiggle" on their page. Now have students move over to the next chair. They have 1 minute to add something to the squiggle on that screen. Move over to the next chair. Add something to that squiggle. Continue as long as appropriate. Encourage children to see beyond the squiggle and create something around it or with it. If the musical chairs approach is too much, just have them move one time and create something with that child's squiggle. Tell them they must use different colors around it so the original squiggle is still visible. (In the story, the squiggle is always red.) This story is also full of onomatopoeia examples. Let your students add onomatopoeia text to their squiggle creations... and don't forget to sign it!


 * __Who is the Beast?__** by Keith Baker is cataloged as an Easy book, but can also[[image:jungle.JPG width="397" height="221" align="right"]] be used to spark discussions about endangered animals, habitats, animal similarities, etc. The tiger in the story thinks the other animals are fleeing from him, the beast. When he sees his reflection in the water he only sees himself and then explains to the other animals that they share similar features...white whiskers, black and yellow stripes, strong legs, round green eyes. Large, beautiful illustrations will be appreciated by students. Let them create their own jungle habitat in the [|NGA Kid Zone Jungle].

There are so many stories told through and about quilts. Some are historical, some ancestral, some magical, but most of all....they warm body and soul. After reading some of these suggestions you might want to try creating a quilt with [|Wallovers at NGA Kids Zone]. __The Keeping Quilt__ by Patricia Polacco, __Luka's Quilt__ by Georgia Guback, __The Josephina Story Quilt__ by Eleanor Coerr, __Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt__ by Deborah Hopkinson, __Patchwork Path: a quilt map to freedom__ by Bettye Stroud, __I'm Going to Grandma's__ by Deborah Hopkinson, __The Quilt Makers Gift & The Quilt Makers Journey__ by Jeff Brumbeau.

__**It Looked Like Spilt Milk**__ but it wasn't. It was actually a Voicethread you created with "cloud" pictures. Students may then comment with voice or text with what they think it looks like.

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[|The Gingerbread Horse.wmv] After reading different versions of The Gingerbread Man, let children rewrite the story with a different gingerbread character. Their illustrations can be used in Photo Story or Movie Maker for their unique rendition of an old favorite. The example story was done by a group of first graders.


 * __The Gingerbread Man__** (any version) Yes, there are lots of Gingerbread activities here, but there are many different versions of the story so you can pick the story and pick the activity...or let the kids pick :) This one has the Gingerbread character all baked and [[image:gingergread1.JPG width="300" height="154" align="right"]]ready for decorations. It can be printed and used as the inspiration for a student version of the story. Decorate your own at the [|SprintSweets] site. The decorations and frosting are unlimited and calorie free!