All the World’s A Stage

Did you know Stratford is for kids too?

Visit Neverland as Peter Pan leads the gang of Lost Boys and battles the pirates on stage at the Avon Theatre at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival with a great offer – Tuesdays thru Thursdays in June, July and August kids are free when you buy an adult ticket. Call 1.800.567.1600 and quote promotion code 33731.*

Click HERE to see all the great Stratford Activities for Kids

Why is Acting so Important?

Recent cuts to the education system have seen many arts programs slashed as non-essentials.Drama is an essential. Dramatic skills are essential for job interviews, presentations,, fostering creativity, empathy,and more. Drama can be integrated into all subject areas . Did you know there are some math problems best solved using the strategy “Act it Out”?

IF you can’t get to Stratford, check out  a Little Theatre Production  close to you!Take a leaf from many famous authors, and put on plays yourselves, even if the only audience is a line up of teddy bear.

Here are some links you may find useful :

http://www.childdrama.com/Menu.html   Tons of FREE Lessons K-12

Drama Printables

L.M. Alcott comprehensive Biography

Math Work Sheet Act it Out

Venomous Animals- How they Help!

Just when you think, we’ve discovered all the animals on the earth, some more pop up from hiding! We have much to learn from each of our fellow creatures.Reuters just posted a story about Antarctic Octopuses with venom that works in subzero temperatures.

Scientists have been able to use studies of venom in various animals to create extremely useful medicines, for example -

Hypertension drugs like ACE inhibitors are structured after snake venom, while certain diabetes drugs are derived from the saliva of the Gila monster, a slow-moving lizard found in the United States and northern Mexico. (Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Andrew Marshall) Quote from HERE

What other uses of venom can you find?   How do you think this newly discovered venom could be used?

Related Articles

Scorpion Venom  Snake Venom

Why? How? Where?- Questions Spur Creativity

This picture from Animal Planet reminds me of  the Rudyard Kipling story: How the Elephant Got its Trunk (a favourite with many children) In this story, Baby Elephant asks a lot of nosy questions about his neighbours.
Fostering  Curiousity
Young children have an enormous curiosity about the world, that if nurtured , can lead into many marvellous areas of invention, scientific discovery, and composition. Sometimes in frustration,, at not having a definitive answer,,adults will stifle this curiosity. One very successful tactic that , is to admit, “I don’t know. What do you think?” These are the times to grab a recording device and capture for posterity this peek into our child’s thought processes.
When students get a bit older ,they tend to lose a bit of this curiousity, to rekindle the creativity a study of "Pourquoi Tales", or “Just So Stories"  can be just the ticket.
Suggested Resources
Many Native legends give explanations about how the animals received their traits, some favourites with my audiences include How Bear Lost His Tale, the bitter,sweet story of Jumping Mouse (or How Eagle Came to Be), and the scary Water Monster (Bullfrog & the importance of free water for all).
Many tried and true authors authors offer explanatory tales as well. Young children enjoy these stories, for even though they will often see the silliness in the tale, they take comfort in there being a predictability to the world in which they live. Try a comparative literature study of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories or Thornton Burgess' Mother West Wind Stories , then create some of your own Pourquoi tales to explain animal adaptations  that interest your family.

Here are some questions from  students I recently met:

Why do earthworms have both genders’ organs?   Why do  daddy seahorses carry the babies?  Why do bears hibernate?

Send me your stories, and  I’ll post them here!

Queen Anne's Lace

Summer is a great time to integrate outdoor education into home assignments.

Picture from HERE                  

 This week's research / field trip - Search for Queen Anne's Lace
Botany/Art -
Take to the fields and capture pictures of local wild flowers. take a field guide to plants with you.
Pick some non-endangered flowers and press them to make bookmarks.
Queen Anne's Lace makes lovely snowflakes on a black background for Christmas cards to send to friends and relatives. What are some different names for Queen Anne's Lace?
See some great close ups HERE 



History Who was Queen Anne? Why did they name this flower after her?

Math  Graph the number of different plants you find in one square meter, then compare your findings with another square meter in a second area

Biology/Writing/Art  Can you spot any of the animals listed HERE that are associated with Queen Anne's Lace? If so what are they doing? Make a record of your observations.Create a shoebox diorama showing the interactions with Queen Anne's Lace.

Spelling/Composition  Word lists 

1. Gr. 1 -"qu"  - Write tongue twisters
2. Gr.2 - "ace" Word families - Write rhyming couplets
3. Gr. 3 -  Long "e" variations - Create posters for each list
4. Gr.4 +  Apostrophe Search

Make a list of words with apostrophes that you see in your community or  in the local paper. Is the apostrophe being used correctly?
If not, write a letter to inform the person of what the incorrect use of the apostrophe does to the meaning of the word.