Category: Nikki Schaefer

Posted on by cindyindigo

Teachers First with Poetry


I am very pleased to announce that TEACHERS FIRST.com chose my poem, “Buggy Alphabetics,” as a teaching poem on their website.

Click on the link to TeachersFirst.com and scroll down the page a bit for a quick hands-on poetry lesson featuring my poem–so wonderfully illustrated on my website by Nikki Schaefer. Of course, you’ll want to visit my acrobatic bugs in the
Writings section of my website, so you can enjoy the slideshow as well.
If you want to try an ABCEDARIAN–an alphabetic poem that uses the letters A-Z in proper order as the first letters of every line–start with only a few letters. As you become more comfortable with this poetic challenge, see how far you can go–alphabetically–with your lines. In a new Abcedarian I created below, I give myself a little leeway with an extra word, here and there, after the main letter word on a few lines. I also use two semi-invented words. (Can you find them?) That’s why poetry is so much fun–it’s puzzles and puns and wordplay all wrapped up in the coolest formats.
Give an ABCEDARIAN a try!
*****
FEATHERED FESTIVITIES
A
Bright
Cardinal–
Dressed
Elegantly–
For the Festivities,
Gathered
Holly berries
In a
Jaunty
Kitbag
Loaded with
Miscellaneous
Nuts and
Offerings,
Perfect
Quota for the
Robins,
Sparrows, and
Turtle doves’
Up-tempo
Vocal
Warblings and
X-citing
Yuletide
Zelebration!





Posted on by cindyindigo

Spring Craft & Book Time

The bugs featured on today’s blog
are courtesy of Nikki Schaefer
http://www.nikkischaefer.com/ from her illustrations for my poem
BUGGY ALPHABETICS.

https://www.cynthiareeg.com/writings/alphabetics.html

Have a fun time with your little critters and help them celebrate the arrival of spring using Eric Carle‘s book, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR. This book is filled with one brilliantly colored page after another. An insatiable caterpillar literally eats his way through a week and almost everything else. In end, of course, he changes into a beautiful butterfly.
After reading the book through a time or two with your child, help him create a caterpillar puppet using a white tube sock and permanent markers. Slip a piece of construction paper or tag board inside the sock so the markings don’t go through to the other side.
To make the butterfly, use a clothes pin and tissue paper and chenille wire. Here’s a link to the San Diego Zoo’s Crafts for Kids to show you how: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/craft_butterfly.html

The Zoo Crafts also has another caterpillar craft: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/craft_caterpillar2.html
Or your child might like to make a string of food (that the caterpillar could eat) by clipping photos from magazines or newspaper ads. Punch holes in the foods and then string them up with days-of-the-week name tags interspersed through the pictures.

Other books by Eric Carle that you can share with your child are
THE GROUCHY LADYBUG
THE MIXED UP CHAMELEON
THE VERY BUSY SPIDER

Happy reading and crafting!
Posted on by cindyindigo

Website Additions & a CONTEST

Greetings All!
Please pass the word around that I’ve added the following new treats to my website.
In the WRITINGS section, you’ll find:

BUGGY ALPHABETICS with illustrations by NIKKI SCHAEFER (www. nikkischaefer.com) This poem is an ABECEDARIAN–an alphabetical poem which uses the letters from A-Z for the first letter in every line. (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/writings/alphabetics.html)

A DAY in TASMANIA with photos–taken from my travel journal over the holidays. (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/writings/tasmania.html)

In the TIPS FOR WRITERS section, you’ll find:
INTERVIEW with NIKKI SCHAEFER–the very talented author/illustrator soon to be joining the GAP team (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/tips/nikki_schaefer.html)

More RESOURCES — helpful websites for writers (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/tips/resource_2.html)

In the FOR TEACHERS & PARENTS section, you’ll find:
BOOK SUGGESTIONS for DIVERSITY–a quick list to help celebrate the uniqueness in each child. (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/teachers/diversity.html)

In the FOR KIDS section, you’ll find:
BE A NEWS REPORTER–an easy break-down of the 5 W’s and a link to a Weekly Reader page to start the young news hound on his/her story. (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/kids/reporter.html)

SOLVE A MYSTERY–be the first to unravel the clues and answer the questions, and you’ll win a prize. (https://www.cynthiareeg.com/kids/mystery_questions.html)
Enjoy!