Label: Writing Wednesday
January 30, 2013
Writing Wednesday: Namibia Tornado
Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday!
Today we would like you to look at this photograph and take five minutes to have fun with creative writing.
Background: This is a photograph of a tornado sweeping across the Namib Desert in Namibia, a country in southwestern Africa. Isn’t it a gorgeous sight?
Your Assignment: Imagine you are in Africa, seeing this tornado, and describe this sight. Use lots of strong adjectives to help the scene come to life for your reader. What does it look like? Sound like? How would you feel if you were there in the desert?
When you are finished writing, you can click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog post if you would like to share your writing for others to read.
Happy writing!
Photo: Francesco Middei
Posted by: Liz Nealon
January 9, 2013
Writing Wednesday: Snow Animals!
Welcome to Writing Wednesday!
Today we’re going to start with this funny photograph of a snow person and snow dog! Isn’t it great? We would like you to tell us in your own words what snow animal you would build if you could.Think about your favorite animal, and tell us why you like that animal so much. Use facts, concrete details and other information to convince us why your snow animal would be the best one ever!
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "comments" link at the bottom of this blog post if you would like to publish your snow animal writing for others to read. Or, share with your classmates, family or friends!
Happy (snowy) writing!
Note for Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to support CCSS Writing Standard w.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. (2b) Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
December 12, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Model Shark
Welcome to Writing Wednesday!
For this Writing Wednesday, we’re going to use a photograph that was taken when Seymour Simon visited a school in Pennsylvania yesterday. This class built a model of a shark that was so big it needed to be hung out in the hallway!Your Assignment:
In 50 words or less, tell me about what animal model you would build if you could, and why. Use as many descriptive words as you can to tell me about your model. Some of the things you might describe: What animal would you choose? What would it look like? What color would it be? How big would it be? How would other students feel when they saw it? How long would it take you to make it?
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this post to add your writing.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
December 5, 2012
Writing Wednesday: RESCUE!
Welcome to Writing Wednesday, which is about an item in today’s Science News.
Sandhill cranes are an endangered species, and bird scientists in Mississippi are going to unusual lengths to try to save their chicks by moving the babies to the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge.
The problem is, before you can move a chick, you need to catch it.
"We don’t want to spook the cranes," whispered Megan Savoie, crane project director at the Audubon Species Survival Center. Ms. Savoie was dressed in a white bag, her arms raised high when she said this. The rescuers are capturing the babies by dressing up like an adult sandhill crane!
Your Assignment: Imagine that YOU are one of the crane rescuers. In 50 words or less, tell us what would you whisper to the baby chicks so that they would not run away? How would you feel about being a rescuer?
When you have finished your writing, you can post it here if you would like others to read it. Simply click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this post to enter your writing. Or you can share your writing with your family, friends or your class.
Happy writing!
Photo: The Associated Press
Posted by: Seymour Simon
November 28, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Spectacular Volcano!
Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday.
The Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island is once again spilling lava into the ocean. This volcano has been erupting continuously from its Pu’u O’o vent since 1983. However, it has been nearly a year since the lava flow traveled the seven-mile (11 kilometer) distance to flow into the ocean.
When hot lava meets cold ocean waves, there is a spectacular display of steam and smoke. Tourists are traveling from all over to visit the volcano to see this rare and beautiful sight.
Your Assignment: Look at this photograph and imagine that you are able to travel to Hawaii’s Big Island to see the volcano and lava flowing down to the ocean. Describe what it is like. What do you see? What do you hear? Smell? How does seeing the hot lava meet the ocean waves make you feel?
When you have finished writing, you can share it with your class, friends or family. Or you can post it here for everyone to read. Just click on the yellow "Comments" button at the bottom of this blog to post your writing.
Photo: Hugh Gentry / Reuters
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Writing Standard #3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
November 14, 2012
Writing Wednesday: A Baby Bat
Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday! Today we’re going to look at a portion of a book called A PINKY IS A BABY MOUSE, written by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Diane deGroat. 
In this book, the author is talking about the names for the babies of all different animal species, and she asks a question: What is a baby bat called?
Your Assignment: Read the excerpt below and do some research. Find out what a baby bat is called, and then work with other students or friends to write a few more sentences about what you think is interesting, beautiful, or NOT beautiful about a baby bat. When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" link below to post your writing, or share it with your class.
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Writing Standard #7: Participate in shared research and writing projects. A PINKY IS A BABY MOUSE is one of the exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
October 31, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Wild Goat
Good morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday. Today, we’re going to share an excerpt from a lovely book by Caroline Arnold and Richard Hewett, called WILD GOAT. Once you have read this and enjoyed the photograph of these adorable kids, you can write about it and post your writing for others to read! 
Your assignment: Tell us what you learned from the words in this selection. What did the pictures teach you? How did the words and pictures work together to help you understand the world of these baby goats?
When you have finished, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog to post your writing.
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Reading/Informational Standard #6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.
WILD GOAT is one of the exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
September 26, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Space Monsters!
Welcome to an Out of This World Writing Wednesday!
When Seymour Simon was in second grade, he wrote his first book, called SPACE MONSTERS. He loved to imagine that there were aliens living on Mars, and he wrote and illustrated a science fiction story about it.
When he grew up, Seymour wrote and published a real book called SPACE MONSTERS, about Martians and other aliens as they appeared in books, movies and television series. That was long ago - the book is long out of print, and all the photographs inside were in black and white.
This year, Seymour Simon decided to go back to his favorite topic one more time, this time working with his friend and collaborator Dennis Kendrick on a new eBook called SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES. They had a lot of fun working on the book, because it allowed them to imagine all sorts of crazy and funny ways that you might draw a space monster.
So today, for Writing Wednesday, we’d like you to look at both panels (below) of this joke from SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES, and think about all the things that make it funny. How are the words that Seymour Simon has chosen unexpected, surprising or funny? And tell us about the details in Dennis Kendrick’s illustrations that make you laugh.
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" button below to post your writing.
Happy Silly Writing Wednesday!
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Language Standard #5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings; Reading/Literature Standard #1: Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events. SILLY SPACE MONSTER JOKES AND RIDDLES is one of the digital exclusive, recorded eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
September 19, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Amazon Diary
Good Morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday!
Today we’re going to work with an excerpt from a book called AMAZON DIARY.This is a fictional story about a 12-year-old boy named Alex Winter who is flying down to the Amazon jungle to visit his parents, who are anthropologists working there. When the small plane in which Alex is traveling crashes, he ends up living among an Amazon tribe, and keeping a diary about his experience.
This book is designed in a very unusual way. First, it uses handwriting (supposedly Alex’s handwriting in his diary) instead of printed text. It also incorporates drawings, doodles, and actual photographs of the Yonomami people. We’d like you to read this excerpt from Amazon Diary and as you read, think about ways in which how the story looks affects how you understand and enjoy what you are reading.
From AMAZON DIARY, by Hudson Talbott and Mark Greenberg
Your Assignment: Think about how the illustrations and pictures contribute to the story. How is this different than other books you have read? Then, write a reflection about how using diverse (different kinds of) media affects a piece of writing.
When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" below to post your writing. Enjoy today’s visit to the Amazon!
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Reading/Literature Anchor Standard #7: Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem). Amazon Diary is one of the newly recorded and reformatted eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
September 12, 2012
Writing Wednesday: Saturn
Welcome to Writing Wednesday, where every week we give you a chance to post your writing here on the Seymour Science blog. Today we thought we’d have some fun, and let you do a piece of creative writing about space. It’s "Science Fiction" Writing Wednesday!
The Topic: Saturn and its rings. Saturn is one of the "gas giant" planets in our solar system. Often, when I try to describe the size of objects in the solar system, I find that I need to use comparisons. The numbers are just so huge that no one can imagine what they mean. For example, I can tell you that Saturn’s circumference (which you would measure by wrapping a giant tape measure around its equator) is 235,298 miles or 378,675 kilometers. But who can really imagine how large 235, 298 miles is? I can’t.
A better way to think about this is to use a comparison. To give you an idea of how big Saturn is, we can compare it to Earth. Saturn’s circumference is 9.4 times larger than Earth’s circumference. We can all understand that that is BIG.
Now, for the science fiction part. I found a great image this week (thanks to the USA Science and Engineering Festival for sharing!). This picture is also designed to help us understand how huge Saturn is, by imagining how long it would take to drive all the way around one of the rings. Of course, no one could never ever really do that. But doesn’t knowing that it would take 258 full days if you were driving 75 miles per hour the whole time help you to understand just how huge Saturn is?
Your assignment: Imagine that you are in a that spaceship/ truck, driving on Saturn’s rings at 75 mph. Write a paragraph or two describing what that journey would be like. What are Saturn’s rings really like? Are they solid? What are conditions in space? Tell about the food and water you would need. Would you be lonely? Use what you know about Saturn and about space to imagine what you would encounter. Use lots of descriptive details to make you imaginary journey come alive for your reader.
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" at the bottom of this post to enter your writing.
Photos: NASA, Earth Sky Photos
Note to Eucators: Today’s Writing Wednesday excercize is designed to support CSSS Writing Standard #3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
