What We Read and Watched

For the Keller Library Summer Reading Program:

Happy Birthday, Rancher's Apprentice!

John celebrated his 14th birthday on April 9. He is working as a Rancher's Apprentice for Candice, his riding instructor. He is learning property management for barns, stables, and horse property.

Last Read-Aloud: On the Way Home

We did this as a read-aloud in anticipation of our road trip to the Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival in Mansfield, Missouri.



Added to our Read-Aloud List.

Literature: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

 3/10

Literature: Star in the Storm

Set in Newfoundland, Canada just after the sinking of the Titanic. The Newfie's name is Sirius.


3/10

Current Read-Aloud

Added to our Read-Aloud List.


3/10

Literature: Don Quixote

The story is not new to us, as we've already read a few adaptations, but we enjoyed it again.






2/10

Current Read-Alouds

Added to our Read-Aloud List.





2/10

Literature: Stone Fox

Another animal story with a tragic ending!

2/10

Library Sculpture Reading List

In the main lobby of the Keller Public Library there is a sculpture that celebrates the joy of classic childhood literature. During the recent months of library remodeling, the sculpture has sat in its temporary home in Keller Town Hall. John and I finally took a good look at the piece and realized we had read every book engraved around the outer circumference but one, The BFG by Roald Dahl. I promptly put that book on hold, received it, read it aloud to John, and we enjoyed it very much. To honor the occasion I took a few photos of John and the sculpture.

The complete list of books engraved on the band:

Anne of Green Gables
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Borrowers
The BFG
The Secret Garden
A Wrinkle in Time

Literature Read-Aloud

Added to our Read-Aloud List.


2/10

Science: Learning to Use a Microscope

2/1/10

Music: Classification of Instruments

John with a chordophone.



John with an aerophone.



John with a membranophone.

We no longer have any idiophones at home. In the past we've had a triangle and maracas, but they are long gone.

1/30/10

Literature Read-Alouds

1/10
These are added to our Read-Aloud List.

Literature: The Prince and the Pauper

One of John's recent Literature assignments was an introduction to Mark Twain's classic, The Prince and the Pauper. After completing the reading, we watched a modern retelling of the story.

Literature Assignment: Spring

Picture Source

I love the spring
It sparkles and smells
It loves to sing
And it is spring.




Picture Source

The cold bitter bite of early spring
It loves to freeze the ponds and marshes
It loves to freeze.

Literature Assignment: Winter

Winter Poem by John McKay

Winter is harsh.
It whistles through the trees.
It sweeps over the marsh and it sees all nature.

1/19/10

Art Project: The Figure in Sculpture

Detail: Realistic boot-cut jeans

1/15/10; 1/20/10

Memoir Writing Assignment

Click photo to read the memoir.


12/09

Describing Summer

Language Arts (Literature) assignment, 1/14/10

Read and analyze four poems about summer:

June by Aileen Fisher
That Was Summer by Marci Ridlon
Summer Rain by Eve Merriam
Summer Rain by Elizabeth Coatsworth

Write a description of summer or some part of summer. Appeal to your reader's senses. Try to make your reader see, hear, smell taste, and touch what summer means to you.


Summer Poem
by John McKay

Summer smelling as the ditch smells,
The rain tapping at the windowsills,
Horses neighing in the pasture,
Turtles plopping into the water,
As dusk falls.

Turtle Science Update

I got a new basking platform yesterday. They like it. Click on the photos to enlarge and see detail. Visit my turtle blog at http://john-wildlife.blogspot.com/ .