September 4, 2013
Zebras are the topic of the first Writing Wednesday of the new school year. The writing below is an excerpt from ZEBRA, a lovely book by my friend and StarWalk Kids author Caroline Arnold.
Here is what we would like you to do today. Read the section below from Caroline Arnold’s book and as you read, jot down the main ideas on this page. Then think about which one of those points is the MAIN IDEA. Look at the other thoughts you have written down. Are these "supporting details" that help to explain the main idea?
Finish up by writing a short summary (one or two paragraphs) of what you think Caroline Arnold was trying to say on this page - you can use the main idea as your first sentence and your supporting details as evidence to back up your thinking.
We would love to read what you write! You can publish your writing for others to read by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom of this blog post.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
September 3, 2013
This magnificent photo of the Aurora Borealis (also known as the Northern Lights) over Canada’s Yukon territory is today’s Cool Photo of the Week. Are you wondering about where these beautiful lights come from? You can read about it in my online Science Dictionary!
Photo: Jonathan Tucker
Posted by: Seymour Simon
September 3, 2013
Science fans, are you ready for a great, new school year? We are back from our summer break and have so many exciting things to share with you!
If you are new here, this is what you can expect from us (nearly) every week.
Monday: Science News. There is always something new and exciting being explored, explained or discovered. We try to share the latest with you.
Tuesday: Cool Photo of the Week.
Wednesday: Writing Wednesday. Your chance to publish your own writing on the Seymour Science blog!
Thursday: Wild Card. Sometimes we publish your reviews of Seymour Simon’s books, sometimes we share cool videos….check in with us on Thursdays to see what is happening!
Friday: A New Animal Joke or Riddle on the front page of Seymour’s website.
Also, any time you want to drop by, we have built up several hundred stories about topics you may be interested in. On the left hand side of Seymour’s Blog page, there is a list called "Labels." This lets you find previous stories about subject you are interested in. So if you like "Animals," click on that link and you can explore 173 previous stories about animals. Fascinated by "Space"? There are lots of stories there, too.
If this sounds like fun, please visit www.SeymourSimon.com and write often by clicking on "Comments" at the bottom of any blog story! This is a community of kids who are explorers, and we love hearing from you!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
August 29, 2013
We are so pleased and proud to report that the first two books in Seymour Simon’s new series, EINSTEIN ANDERSON: SCIENCE GEEK, have won GOLD (!!!) in the Mom’s Choice Awards!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
July 31, 2013
I hope everyone is having a good summer break. While I was working on my latest book, CORAL REEFS, I got the urge to start a reef aquarium again (that’s a salt water aquarium - I haven’t had one for quite a few years).
This is a picture of some of the fish, coral, crustaceans (shell fish like crabs) and snails that live there. Many of the coral and the clownfish are fluorescent at night. I could sit and watch for hours….and sometimes I do!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
July 18, 2013
I spotted a beautiful animal when I was eating my lunch today. This butterfly (or is it a moth?) was fluttering against the window. I grabbed my phone and used the camera to take this picture. Then I sat down to fill out my SeeMore Explorers Observation Log to help me figure out what it is.
This is really quite unusual. Everything about it (no furry antennae, no knobs at the end of its antennae, awake during the day) says that it should be a butterfly, but it looks like a moth.
I take a good look at the photograph, and then type into Google: black moth white brown spots
I click on "Images" and a lot of different pictures come up, but none of them look like my photograph.
I decide to try again. I look hard at my photograph, and decide to be more specific in my search. Back to Google, and this time I type: black moth white brown spots pointy butt
BINGO! Sure enough, there are many photographs that look just like my animal. It is an Anania funebris, or a White-spotted sable moth. I know for sure that I am right when I read that its caterpillars feed on goldenrod. We have fields full of goldenrod in the late summer around where I live.
So that’s what I found today. A very delicate, very beautiful, day-flying moth. Nice.
If you want to try to identify animals or plants that you see outside this summer, you can fill out your own SeeMore Explorer Observation Log. Click here to download. Print it out, grab a pencil or pen, and write the most specific notes you can about what you see. Then, go to the library or onto the Internet, and use your clues to find out what it is!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
July 3, 2013
It’s so important to keep kids reading all summer, and to support this goal, I’m giving out FREE access to all the great eBooks in my digital publishing company, StarWalk Kids Media.
That’s right. For the entire month of July any child (or teacher or parent, for that matter), can read all of our eBooks, as much as they like. Like a frog popping its head our of the pond, or a mushroom popping through the ground into the light, it’s a Pop-Up Library! You never know when it might appear.
Here is the link where kids can go to read. Just click and get started. And be sure to let me know what you think of our eBooks. I’m very proud of them.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 22, 2013
One Week Only! Get Seymour Simon’s popular eBook MORE FUN FACTS ABOUT PETS for 75% off! Just $1.99 for Kindle Fire or Nook Color. Click here for details.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
June 11, 2013
We offer a multitude of resources (most of them free) to help stave off summer reading loss. Click here to download the list and to start accessing these great activity ideas for kids! (Note that you must be a member of SeymourSimon.com to access these free educator resources. Membership is also free: simply click "sign up" at the top right on the website).
My digital publishing company, StarWalk Kids Media, is also offering a summer reading special. Schools and libraries that subscribe by June 30th get a fifteen-month subscription for the price of 12, which covers a summer reading program! Here’s the link to sign up for a subscription to this exceptional digital collection, which is affordable and simple to use, works on all devices with Internet connections, can be used by multiple children simultaneously, and has "Teaching Links" that support Common Core activities with every eBook. Don’t delay - you must sign up by June 30th to take advantage of this special offer!
I participated in a terrific Twitter chat last night, lead by Cornelius Minor (@MisterMinor), who is a Staff Developer at Columbia Teachers College Reading & Writing Project. Educators were sharing ideas for encouraging summer reading and learning, and there was a lot of great information exchanged. If you are interested in learning about what people were suggesting, read the Twitter thread #tcrwpcoaching.
People were asking last night what I do in the summer. It’s a mix of things. I relax during the summer by doing many of the same things that I do all year long - read books, write books, get out and photograph nature. We also fish, walk in the woods, try to learn bird calls, watch bats at night, read poetry. How about you? I’d love to hear about your summer plans, for your students and for yourself.
Whatever your plans, happy summer to all!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 4, 2013
The dedication of this young, preservice teacher reminds us all of why we do what we do. Here is a letter I received recently from Hannah Blair.
I am a preservice teacher. I’m currently working as a teacher’s aid in a first grade classroom. Becoming a teacher is hard, especially right now. When I tell people I’m going to teach, most of the time I just get a "good luck with that" look. I know that as I teach there will be times when I want to give up, but there will be moments that take my breath away and remind me why I do what I do. I recently had one of those moments and it involved one of your books.
One of my kiddos has the hardest time focusing in school. He’s out of his seat and off the walls most of the time. Except for silent reading time. Silent reading time means he gets to read what ever he wants. And for him, that is outer space. He tries to find books about space every time he goes to the library, but most books at his level are only drawings of outer space and never completely satisfy his craving for a good space book. That is until I brought him my well-loved copy of your book Our Solar System. When I pulled that book out of my backpack and he saw all those photographs and read what you had written my heart melted. To see his curiosity expand and his excitement grow I knew this was why I had gone into teaching. To watch him fly around the room showing off his book to classmates and teachers, to watch him tell that book goodbye every afternoon, and to watch him read and reread it daily reminds me why I want to teach. So I can inspire this love of learning in others.
Thank you, Hannah, for this wonderful letter. You are a credit to a noble profession, teaching! I am so proud of having some small part in helping to assist you in being the great teacher that you are.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
