Label: Kids Write

April 26, 2012

Last week, when I visited Middle Gate Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, one of the first graders made a special shirt. Look at the drawings - these are jokes from my book SILLY ZOO ANIMAL JOKES AND RIDDLES. I  love it!

And when I turned him around, the back of his shirt was a list of my books! Thank you, Stephen, for creating this wonderful fan shirt - you made my day! And thanks to Stephen’s teacher, Michelle Roudenis, for sending these photo. 

April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Your Earth Day Promises are wonderful. Anyone who reads your writing for the past 22 days on this blog is sure to feel good about the prospects for our environment, and the future of our planet! 

The winners were randomly chosen by a true random number generator on the website www.random.org. First we listed all the entries in order of when they were received. Then we used the random number generator to pick the winners from among the hundreds of entries.

The "individual student" winner was actually a pair of students who wrote, so they will each win a personally autographed copy of my book EARTH: OUR PLANET IN SPACE. Those winners are Baylee Y. and Austin P., from Mrs. Stewart’s class at Midway Elementary in Holt, Michigan. Baylee and Austin wrote:

Survival of Polar Bears is threatened by the melting of the Arctic ice because polar bears eat a lot of food and the more the ice melts the less food Polar bears have to eat. Global Warming has been around since 1995 so you should care now, not later. Global Warming doesn’t only affect animals, it also affects humans. Polar bears are threatened by Global Warming.  

The second prize goes to the student who uploaded a photograph of his poster, called "Promise Island." This student is a homeschooler from Ohio named Will B., and Will will receive a personally autographed copy of my book BUTTERFLIES. He wrote:

I promise to recycle with my dad.  I promise to not run the water when I brush my teeth.  And I promise to sleep my computer when I am not using it to save electricity.  Thank you.

 And finally, I asked classes to write and tell me their Earth Day Promises, and I was so pleased to receive many great entries! The randomly selected winning class entry was one of Mrs. Houck’s second grade library classes at JB Blayton School in Williamsburg, Virginia. When Mrs. Studdard’s class was in the library, they came up with this list:

~ using water bottles that can be reused instead of plastic water bottles.

~ picking up trash that we see outside.

~ plant a tree to help clean up our atmosphere.

These are excellent promises, and for making them, Mrs. Studdard’s class has won a free Skype session. I can’t wait to "meet" you all over Skype!

We had a number of schools whose students entered often, and one school, in particular, posted many more entries than any other. We decided to add one more winner, to recognize the participation by all the students from Mrs. Maggio’s Library Classes at James Fallon School in Wayne, New Jersey.

Ryan A. was the randomly chosen winner from this class, and he will also win a personally autographed copy of EARTH: OUR PLANET IN SPACE. Ryan wrote:

This Earth Day I promise to re-use paper and recycle plastic bottles.

Thank you, again, to everyone who wrote in with your Earth Day Promises. You have made Earth Day 2012 very special, indeed.

Take a moment to reflect on Earth Day today, and what it means to you. If you have a few minutes, go back to April 1 on my blog, and read all the student "promises" which were posted as comments on the stories between April 1 and today. I guarantee you that you will be inspired by the hundreds of commitments to protect and honor our home planet. 

April 13, 2012

One of our regular "Writing Wednesday" authors is Will B., from Ohio. 

This week Will sent us a link to his wiki, where he has made a poster called Promise Island. And he wrote with his Earth Day Promises:

1. I promise to recycle with my dad. 

2. I promise to not run the water when I brush my teeth. 

3. And I promise to sleep my computer when I am not using it to save electricity.  

These are all excellent Earth Day promises, and good habits to practice year round. And thanks for the poster, Will - it illustrates what is happening all around the country. Lots of classes are making posters to inspire their classmates and people around them to reduce, reuse and recycle. Any one else who want to send photographs, we would love to see them!

Take a digital photo showing an Earth treasure around your school or home that makes you appreciate our planet. Click on Send Us Photos/Video (in the yellow bar at the top of every page) and follow the instructions to upload it to the website. We will publish your Earth Day photos and videos on Seymour’s blog, and each person or class that uploads a photo will be entered into the drawing to win a personally autographed book from Seymour Simon!

March 27, 2012

April is almost here. It is one of my favorite months, because it is the month that we celebrate Earth. If you are a regular reader of the Seymour Science blog, you know that April is the month that we all share our Earth Day Promises, about how we will care for our environment and make our planet a better and healthier place.

This year we’re running a contest, with multiple prizes that can be won by students from any school, in any country, in Kindergarten through 8th Grade.

Each day from April 1 until April 22, we will give you a chance to write your comments about how you are helping the Earth. There will be prizes for individuals who enter, as well as for classes that enter as a group. And, we are going to have a special Earth Day Photo Contest for those of you who want to upload a photo of an Earth treasure that makes you appreciate our planet.

The prizes will range from personally autographed books to a free classroom Skype session. Stay tuned this week for more information about how you can enter and what you can win.

And start thinking about your Earth Day promises, because starting next Sunday, April 1, you can share them with the world!

March 26, 2012

When Seymour Simon visited Carl Sandburg Elementary School, a  student named Jacob read his independent writing to welcome Seymour. Jacob’s principal, Mr. Kincaid, wrote: "What a special moment that was for all of us who were fortunate enough to hear him read it to Seymour that morning in the hallway at school!"

Take a look (below). We think you will agree!

March 21, 2012

When Seymour Simon visited Carl Sandburg Elementary School in Springfield, Illinois last week, he was interviewed by the 5^th Grade Sandburg News Team. Click on the "Play" button below to see their report. (Be patient - it may take a minute or two to load!).

March 18, 2012

Last week, Seymour Simon visited Carl Sanburg Elementary School, in Springfield, Illinois. The fourth and fifth graders made a wonderful book - 100 pages long! - about his life and his books. We decided to scan some of the book and make it into a video, which you can see here. Hope everyone enjoys it!

March 16, 2012

What a great day yesterday at Sandburg Elementary School! Everyone was wonderful, and the 4^th and 5^th grade students in Ms. Blickhan’s class made an incredible book for me - 100 pages long! They covered my entire life, starting with growing up as a kid in a New York City apartment and writing my first book when I was in second grade…..and carrying all the way through my grownup writing career. Thank you so much - this is really a magnificent piece of work!

Here is an example of one of the pages. I will post more from this great book when I get home.

Thanks again to the Sandburg Elementary kids and staff. You made my visit to Springfield really special!

March 10, 2012

Look at these great notes from Mrs. Sposito’s first graders at Menands School!

Hi, Seymour Simon,

I went on your blog. I went on Kids. I saw paper airplanes and I made one by myself.    From:  Alexa

We loved your presentation. My favorite book was Earthquakes. I like the videos you made. Thank you for coming to Menands School.   From: Mady

I love that video you showed us. That one with the paper airplane. You sure are a good book writer! I hope you can make more books and come back when ever you can!    From: Toby

How was your day, Seymour Simon was it good or great? My favorIte part was  when we all took a picture.      From: Abbi

I think you write a lot of books. Do you write nonfiction and fiction?    From: Sabrina 

It was a pleasure to meet you, we had lots of fun. I thought the paper airplane was cool. How did you throw that long? Your books are the best I ever read.    From: Reem

I like your Shark book, your Baby Animals book and your Bats book. I like when you threw the paper airplane out the window.   From: E-Sonne

Thanks for coming to our school. Why do you write books? Do you like books? you are the best author! Why did you start writing in second grade? Why do you like animals? Are animals your favorite things? Why do you write nonfiction?      From: Aditi

Thank you for sharing your books. We love your books. We had a great time reading them. Thank you for coming. I loved your video.    From: Roshni

March 9, 2012

I had a wonderful time with the kids at the Menands School yesterday. Each group I spoke with were terrific participants, well-prepared, asking and answering good questions. We had a lot of fun together.

These fifth graders prepared a presentation that included a music performance and an original poem! Here is a video of their performance; the words of their poem are below.

Science and nature he knows very well,

When he writes a book it surely will sell.

Lions and tigers, planets and trees,

Puppies and kittens and human disease.

Tornadoes and blizzards, earthquakes and rain,

He knows all about them, he uses his brain!

Past and present, old and new,

Unsolved mysteries he presents to you.

Read Seymour Simon whenever you can,

And when you do, you’ll become his fan.

Dogs are born both blind and deaf,

Police dogs stop all kinds of theft.

Bloodhounds, terriers, yorkies and shar pei

Are all kinds of dogs that love to play.

Writing nonfiction, advanced technician,

Animals, animals, animals!

Outer space and weather,

Science is his mission.

He is the dean, he is the man,

He can write about anything, yes he can!

He’s taught science, he’s taught writing,

Everything he writes is so exciting!

Funny books, lots of laughs,

Airplane books and tall giraffes.

Science is his main theory,

All those books must make him weary.

Rattlesnakes, hyenas and devil rays

make his book a fright,

And sharks, bats, grizzly bears

are animals that will bite.

Vultures and Gila Monsters

are an interesting lot

But spiders are creepy

and they’re hard to spot.

Writing nonfiction, advanced technician

Animals, animals, animals!

Outer space and weather,

Science is his mission.

Huge coastal storms known as hurricanes,

He knows all about them, he uses his brain.

The history of them, old and new.

And how they can form, he tells to you.

He knows how they start, he knows how they end,

Writing so much he started a trend.

*Fifth graders - I think I missed a word here or there. Someone write and help me correct these lyrics! And thank you again to Mrs. Ford, all the faculty and especially the kids at Menands School for a great day!

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