Label: School Visits

December 5, 2012

Seymour Simon is preparing to travel to visit five schools in Pennsylvania next week. It is easy to tell because we are seeing so many new readers on the Seymour Science blog. Students in the Pennsbury school district - this AWESOME SCIENCE WORD contest is for you!

Two lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s newly updated SCIENCE DICTIONARY, with more than 2,000 entries!

Did you ever spend time browsing through an encyclopedia or dictionary? You might not have been looking for a specific word but just leafing through, finding cool topics and reading about them. For this contest Seymour Simon invites you to browse through his online Science Dictionary and find a word or image that you really like. Here is the link where you can find his Science Dictionary online: http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/science_dictionary/

Here is what you need to know to enter Seymour’s Awesome Science Word Contest:

Take a look around in the online Science Dictionary and find a word that you think is an Awesome Science Word. Once you have decided on your word, you have to do three things:

1. Tell us what your word is and explain the definition in your own words.

 2. Tell us why you think your word is awesome.

3. Use your Awesome Science Word in a sentence to prove that you really understand what it means.

Here is an example. Let’s say that I look at the online Dictionary pick "geyser" as my Awesome Science Word. I would write:

Definition in my own words: A geyser is a hot, underground pool or stream of water that sometimes explodes into the air, releasing hot water and steam.

Why it is awesome: I think it is awesome that hot water, smoke and steam can just explode out of the ground without any warning.

Using it in a sentence: If you ever go to Yellowstone National Park, don’t walk too near the "Old Faithful" geyser, because you never know when it is going to blow!

Here is how to enter once you have selected your Awesome Science Word:

A. Click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of the blog to enter the contest by sharing your word along with your definition, why you think it is awesome, and your sentence using your word.

B. When you write you information, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your school, and your teacher’s name. That way we can find you if you are the winner!

C. Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Thursday, December 13. The contest ends then.

 

RULES:

• Two winners in the Pennsbury Schools will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. 
• Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. 
• Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner. 
• Both winners will receive copies of the printed version of the SCIENCE DICTIONARY, autographed by Seymour Simon.
• Students who are not in the Pennsbury (Pennsylvania) school district may also enter this contest. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose a third prizewinner from the non-Pennsylvania entries. 

So, get to work and send us your entries today. Good luck!

October 23, 2012

I had such a good experience with Mrs. Klott’s second grade class at Scanlan Oaks Elementary School in Sugar Land, Texas last week.

They did a big research project and assembled all their writing and photographs into a book that they called SWIMMING SHARKS. This kind of book - where words and photographs work together to tell the story - is called a "photo essay." Many of my books (like my SHARKS book) are also photo essays.

Here is what they wrote on the first page:

About the Authors:
Mrs. Klott’s class is taking a bite out of learning every day, and loves to research science topics. They have already learned about sharks, wild weather, and plants. They have an aquarium full of fish for their class pets. They will continue to grow and learn together for the rest of this school year. They all love to read nonfiction books!

This sounds like my kind of class!

The whole book is wonderful, but I only have room to show you a couple of pages. These are both great ones.

Thank you, everyone, for making this lovely book for me. It is right here in my office, on my desk.

I also thank you for your excellent Writing Wednesday work last week. You can read more excellent writing by these second graders by clicking here to see how they analyzed the humorous writing in SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES. Their writing is at the bottom of the post - click on the yellow "comments" button to see.

Great job, Mrs. Klott’s class! It was a pleasure to meet you.

October 22, 2012

I am back at my desk after spending last week visiting schools in Sugar Land, Texas (outside Houston). Mrs. Jeffcoat, the librarian at Walker Station Elementary School, sent this great photo of a student, her teacher and yours truly. I am always pleased and humbled to meet avid readers of my books. Thank you for your hospitality and warm welcome, Sugar Land kids!

May 11, 2012

I Skyped with fourth and fifth graders in Maryland this afternoon. I love meeting classes this way! These students were well-prepared with good questions about my books and about writing. We had a great time!

At the end of the Skype, I picked up my webcam and showed them the scene outside the window where I write. I love to get outdoors and photograph, or just watch the animals, sky, trees, insects and flowers all around me. I asked the kids to go out with a camera, take a photograph of a nature scene that they love, write 100 words about it and send it to me here.

Would you like to do that, too? I would love to see photos and writing from any of my readers who love the outdoors like I do! 

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 19, 2012

Check out this wonderful video biography (click "Play" below) made by the fourth graders at Middle Gate School, where I visited last week. I love the fact that every page is unique, handmade, and signed. Thanks so much, everybody, for your great work. I really loved our visit together, and I hope you did, too. Please stay in touch with me here on the blog and let me know what you are reading and thinking about.

April 19, 2012

The second graders at Middle Gate School in Newtown, Connecticut made a wonderful powerpoint in which they contributed all the things they learned during my visit last week. I know that this was really a lot of work, and I love it! Check out the video below to see their wonderful report. 

April 6, 2012

Did you know that classes can enter Seymour Simon’s YOUR EARTH DAY PROMISES contest? A class can comment on any one of Seymour’s blog entries between now and April 22, 2012 (Earth Day). When you write your comment, tell Seymour what your class is doing to help take care of the Earth. Every time a class writes a comment, you will be entered into a drawing to win a FREE Skype session with Seymour Simon. You can enter as many times as you like, so start thinking about what your class can do and get those entries in!

Click here for all the details about the YOUR EARTH DAY PROMISES contest.

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!

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