If you're a teacher, and you live somewhere in the general vicinity of the northeast United States, you may be reading this from underneath a giant pile of blankets, cocoa in hand, enjoying at least one unexpected day off from school.

And if you're reading this, then you may be browsing for what to do when school is back in session, because your kiddos' focus will most likely still be on the gigantic piles of snow outside, and not on whatever you originally had planned.

Second graders who are still marveling at the biggest snowstorm of their little lifetimes might have a good time writing about snow: Specifically, writing about how to build a snowman. So, here is a set of plans you might like to use, focusing on temporal words and how-to writing.


Some technical notes: 

• I wrote these plans based on Sailing Through First Grade's How to Build a Snowman: Instructional Writing Mini-Pack. Clicking on the link in the previous sentence will take you to the Teachers Pay Teachers store page, where you can download the packet for free!
• These plans use only pages 1-5 and 17-18 of the packet, but feel free to adjust and tweak as you like.
• The plans are aligned with Pennsylvania Common Core standards, but you can easily adapt to the standards in use in your state.
• The plans are for second grade. However, they can be easily adapted for first and third grade - just adjust your core standards and tweak the plans accordingly to fit.
• The plans use the book below as an anchor text. (But if you don't have it and are pressed for time, any book about snowmen, or ideally, building a snowman, should do):

• Title: Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy (Nature)
  
  Author and photographer: Carl R. Sams II, Jean Stoick
  Pages: 48
  Reading Level: Ages 5 and up
  Publisher and Date: Carl R. Sams Photography, November 1999
  Edition: 1st 
  Language: English
  Published In: United States
  Price: $16.52
  ISBN-10: 0967174805
  ISBN-13: 978-0967174808

Far too soon, we've come to the end of the Third Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons Series. Anyone needing some backstory, or a refresher, can click on the link in the first sentence and get caught up quite nicely. But don't forget to come back here to catch this last literary dragon post for the 2015 series.

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident Dragon Expert: Lovely Girl

Another Friday in January, another post in the Third Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons series. (Not sure what this is? Click on the link in the previous sentence, and that will get you up to speed quite nicely. Then come back here to continue the book-ish dragon fun.)

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident Dragon Expert: Lovely Girl

Here we are, with the second of four posts for the Third Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons!

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident Dragon Expert: Lovely Girl

We're getting a bit of a late start for the Third Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons, but let's not let that dampen our fun, shall we? Counting today, there are still four Fridays left for us to fill with fabulous books full of fantastic dragon stories of one sort or another.

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident Dragon Expert: Lovely Girl

The Third Annual Literary Appreciation of Dragon Series is most definitely on its way. Bit of a late start, as the first Friday in January has already whooshed past – dragonless. But there are still four Fridays left, and we here at Bugs and Bunnies have four Fridays' worth of deliciously dragon-y books we're excited to share with you!

"We men dream dreams, we work magic, we do good, we do evil. The dragons do not dream. They are dreams. They do not work magic; it is their substance, their being. They do not do; they are."

                                         – Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore

All too soon, we've come to the last post for our Fifth Annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series. If you're new here, clicking on the link in that first sentence will bring you right up to speed. If you're not new here, you can click the link, too, for nostalgia or for a refresher...or not. But whether you're New or Not New, if you click, don't forget to come back to this post to see what's up for today.

• Installment #16 – Weirdly True 
• Installment #17 – Waxing Poetic
• Installment #18 – Supernatural 

If you've been following along with our Fifth Annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series, we're glad you're back for more. And if you're visiting for the first time, well, we're glad you're here.

• Installment #16 – Weirdly True
• Installment #17 – Waxing Poetic
  

The next morning, the small trap is empty. Pop thinks that means there aren't any monsters. But Paddy thinks they were just too smart for the trap. So Pop and Paddy get to work building a bigger, smarter trap.

And if it works? Well, that could be a whole new problem.

I Need My Monster
Written by Amanda Noll
Illustrated by Howard McWilliam
Ages 5 - 8

When Ethan heads to bed one night, instead of his usual monster under the bed, he finds a note: "Gone fishing. Back in a week. – Gabe" 

Ethan can't sleep without his monster under his bed. And he can't go without sleep for a whole week. So he does the only thing he can think of – interview for a replacement.

But can any of the other monsters measure up to Gabe?

* An added treat: We found this video from SAG Foundation's StoryLineOnline.net, with actress Rita Moreno reading I Need My Monster, including animated illustrations from the book presented as she reads. A bit over 11 minutes, total, and very, very fun!

Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo
Written and illustrated by Mercer Mayer
Ages 3 - 8

Professor Wormbog's beastie collection is incomplete. Though he has found a beastie for nearly every letter of the alphabet, from the Askinforit to the Yalapappas, there is one last beastie that still eludes him: the one for Z, the Zipperump-a-Zoo.

So the professor sets off, determined to catch one and complete his collection. He digs a pit. He fishes the sea. He tries to lure it out of the air. He climbs a craggy peak. He drops into caves. Each time, he finds something. But each time, it is not the Zipperump-a-Zoo. Finally, the disappointed professor gives up and heads home, empty-handed.

But sometimes? The very thing a person searches for the hardest tends to turn up in the most unexpected of places...

The Mysterious Tadpole
Written and illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Ages 5 - 8

Every year, Uncle McAllister – who lives in Scotland – sends Louis a birthday present for his nature collection. And when this year's gift arrives, Louis proclaims it "the best one yet," and takes it to school the next day. His teacher proclaims it a tadpole, and Louis names it Alphonse.

By summer, Alphonse still looks nothing like a frog, and has outgrown his jar, the kitchen sink, the bathtub, and even the apartment. Louis decides what Alphonse really needs is a swimming pool – which they don't have, and can't afford to build. Though nobody wants to, it looks like the only option is to take Alphonse to the zoo. But that night, Louis remembers the middle school pool, which sits unused all summer. He happily sneaks Alphonse in, and it works...until the swim team shows up for its first practice, and the coach says Alphonse has to be gone by the next day.

Louis is out of options and in despair when he runs into his friend, Miss Seevers, the librarian, on his way home. He tells her his problem, and then takes her to meet Alphonse. And then, Miss Seevers comes up with a plan to help. A plan so far-fetched, it just might work.

* * *

See? Not scary at all. Be sure to come back next Friday, September 26th, for Installment #19 of the Fifth Annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series, when animals and people show there's more to them than meets the eye.

Until then, we'll leave you with this:

"The possibilities that are suggested in quantum physics tell us that everything that we're looking at may not be in fact there, so the underlying nature of being is weird."

                                    – William Shatner

Avast, me hearties! International Talk Like a Pirate Day be soon upon us. Aye, very soon. Tomorrow, in fact.

If this oh-so-fun little-known holiday, celebrated annually on September 19th, has taken ye by surprise this year, never fear. We scalawags here at Bugs and Bunnies have some fun and bookish ways for teachers an' kids ta celebrate the day.

Today marks the second of four posts this month in the Fifth Annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series.

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Bugs and Bunnies Wonderful Weirdos of Literature Series!

• Walter is well-read, even if he doesn't always understand everything he's read. He references titles and quotes from classic literature for both adults and children throughout the story, but the quotes are all unattributed. Help your students discover which quotes came from which books, then discuss why they think the books and quotes have stood the test of time. Another idea: discuss each quote, what the quote means to Walter, and how your students can apply the wisdom Walter gleans from the quotes to their own lives, followed by a poster project where each student depicts one quote he or she finds meaningful, with an appropriate illustration that connects the quote to their own lives.
• A unit centered around writers and how they work would be appropriate. How does Miss Pomeroy get her writing work done? Have your students research current children's authors online, and compare their work habits with Miss Pomeroy's. Another fun discussion would be how each of your students conducts their own writing, and compare their writing habits to those of Miss Pomeroy.
• Of course, a letter-writing unit would be lots of fun, combined with and centered around starting and building a new friendship. Finding another classroom in another school willing to become pen-pals is a great way to have your charges learn about both letter-writing and building new friendships.
• Walter finds Miss Pomeroy's library organization confusing. Compare Miss Pomeroy's system to the school's library system, and the public library system, and even their own home libraries if they're fortunate enough to have one. Discuss pro's and con's of each organization system, why they are the way they are, and how each system benefits or hinders its particular users. As an activity, have your students (in small groups) create a new organization system (charts, maybe, or labeled room diagrams, or maybe a small 3D model) for Miss Pomeroy's library, in a way Walter would find it to make the most sense. Display their work in your room or the school library, then have them explain their choices.
• Walter is dismayed and even a touch angry that humans hate rats, a belief he holds in part due to the proliferation of mouse stories in Miss Pomeroy's library, and in part due to his own previous treatment at the hands of humans. A related science unit could explore why humans have a negative view of rats, and whether their reasons are valid or based on myth or misinformation. Stretch this unit out to explore other animal species humans view with disdain or fear or loathing, in a similar manner.
• How about a social studies unit? Walter feels humans' views of rats to be unfair and based on untruths. Have your students break into groups to come up with campaigns to change human's negative views of rats. Make sure they do the research to find scientific and historic reasons why those negative views are unfounded or unfair - or not, in some cases. Later, you can branch into a discussion of how humans unfortunately have throughout history given similar unfair treatment to other humans viewed as different than themselves.
• Get some geography in there with a unit on maps. Let half of your students create maps of the house as Walter sees and uses it, and the other half as Miss Pomeroy sees and uses it. Or perhaps create a map of the places Walter and Miss Pomeroy have been in the town of Sag Harbor, where they live. Compare this to a map of the actual town of Sag Harbor, New York.  Perhaps do some research and then have your students create tourist brochures of the town - either as Walter and Miss Pomeroy live in it, or as it actually exists in real life.
• The author, Barbara Wersba, lives in Sag Harbor, New York, in real life. The illustrator, Donna Diamond, is a life-long New York resident. Perhaps an aside of how authors and illustrators sometimes infuse things from their own lives into their work would be a fun discussion. Connect this idea to your students and their own writing. Do they use settings or events from their own lives when they write? Why? Why not?
• This book is the story of two unlikely souls and the process of their becoming friends. But it is also the story of the relationship between a reader and a writer. If you can, find the address or email of this author or illustrator, or perhaps of whomever your students' individual favorite authors or illustrators are, and have your students write and send letters or emails to these people. Discuss their feelings after they've sent them off. How do their feelings compare to those Walter felt when he wrote that first note to Miss Pomeroy? If anyone is lucky enough to receive responses from the authors or illustrators, encourage them to share how it made them feel to hear back from someone they don't know but admire.

• Walter and Miss Pomeroy's journey to friendship may mirror your kids' own attempts at forming fledgling friendships: small steps, occasional missteps, attempts to right unintended wrongs, little joys and triumphs, pangs of worry that their gestures of friendships may not be equally returned, or worse - not taken as a welcome gesture at all. But once that friendship takes root and starts to grow, each person finds themselves making little changes for the other one, such as when the usually untidy Miss Pomeroy beginning to spruce the place up a bit more when Walter mentions how nice things are starting to look, or when Walter becomes more careful in his treatment of Miss Pomeroy's belongings and more respectful to follow her wishes regarding his conduct in the kitchen at night.
• Walter moved several times before finally ending up living with Miss Pomeroy, and faced different homes in different places, loss of loved ones, a feeling of insecurity, but also finding new and wonderful people and better situations, and hope for a happy life. Change can be scary, but it can also bring you to something better.
• As Walter and Miss Pomeroy get to know each other and share their living space, several things become clear. It's important to respect the property of others, to clean up after yourself in order to be respectful of the others you lives with, to return things borrowed to build good faith and trust, and to show appreciation for those you share your life with.
• At first, Walter judges Miss Pomeroy, sometimes unfairly, based solely on what he sees/observes/discovers. But once he actually makes a connection with her, he soon realizes not everything he assumed about her was true, and that getting to know a person before making judgments is a better – and more accurate – way to interpret what you think you know about a person.
• Walter is lonely. But he notices that Miss Pomeroy is lonely, too. And instead of wallowing in his own loneliness and sinking into misery, he sets about trying to alleviate Miss Pomeroy's loneliness and help her be happy. In the process he finds he is able to defeat his own loneliness, too. Sometimes, focusing on helping others is a good way to help ourselves.
• Miss Pomeroy and Walter exchange gifts for Christmas which they made themselves, from things they have at hand, that were custom made with much thought. The gifts cost them nothing, but were invaluable and very much appreciated by the recipients. It's an empowering idea for kids – small gestures that cost nothing, yet are big on thoughtfulness, can have a huge and lasting impact on those we care about, making both giver and receiver feel very loved, indeed.
  

May 23rd, 2014, marks the day, 396 years ago, that The Defenestration of Prague took place. Having learned a few years ago that defenestration is "the act of throwing a person or thing out a window," our curiosity here at Bugs and Bunnies about this Little Known Holiday was piqued.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Who knew there was a day dedicated to finding rainbows? Not me. But apparently, Find a Rainbow Day is a thing.

Well, I didn't find a rainbow today (yet), but I did find a pretty awesome one last year. The picture is a great reminder for me, but seeing it in person...well, it was just spectacular. It showed up all of a sudden, big and bright and beautiful, when the sun burst through all at once after a totally epic summer afternoon rainstorm:

• The story begins at a non-specific point (such as: "Once upon a time..." or "A long, long time ago, in a kingdom far away..."). 
• Things tend to happen in threes.
• There is usually some type of royalty involved.
• Some sort of good vs evil theme is always a good bet.
• Some sort of magic is typically included (say, a talking animal, perhaps, or a magic sword).
• Often, there is some type of quest to be embarked upon, or a difficult task to be completed, before the hero/heroine can accomplish their goal.
• A lesson is usually found at the end.
• Most endings are of the "Happily Ever After" sort...but not always. There could instead be a "cautionary tale" aspect to the ending.

• Visit your local library and check out some of your fave fairy tales to share with your loved ones, no matter their ages. Or look for fairy tales that are new-to-you. Children, or adults, or preteens...even teens* love a good fairy tale. (*Yes, you do. You know you do - especially if that fairy tale is of the Fractured Fairy Tale type, or maybe even a picture book with some really awesome illustrations.) 
• Wander the aisles of your local bookstore, browsing their fairy tale collections, until you find a couple of fairy tale books that you just have to have. Stories so powerful that they've stayed in people's hearts and minds over so many, many years must certainly be worth adding to your own collection of books, right?

• Visit this Pinterest Tell a Fairy Tale page for a fun, informal game of "Guess the Fairy Tale."
• The World of Tales web page has a large collection of fairy tales you can read online for free. The tales are from a variety of cultures, and also include folktales and fables.

• Older kiddos and teens will enjoy these videos based on Roald Dahl's book, Revolting Rhymes, where Dahl gives traditional fairy tales some darkly funny twists, in verse form, no less, that will have the older kids (and kids-at-heart) giggling.
• The little guys will find these videos a bit more to their liking - more on the lines of the traditional, happy tales they know and love.

National Read in the Bathtub Day is observed annually on February 9th, but we here at Bugs and Bunnies have no idea why. We couldn't find even the tiniest morsel of information as to Who-What-Where-When-Why this holiday came into being. We did, however, find several other bathtub-related revelries, with varying levels of backstory:

• First, there's plain ol' Bathtub Day, celebrated every October 7th. We found a whole lotta very interesting info on this one – so much that it'll be needing its own dedicated post come October. (So be sure to come back and check it out.)

• Then, there's National Bathtub Party Day. This one is simple and straightforward: Created by Thomas and Ruth Roy, it's an excuse to have a party in the tub, and is celebrated every December 5th.

• And finally, there's Bubble Bath Day, the annual January 8th celebration which seems to have come about due to a greeting card company creation. 

And so, we've come to the final post – Part 5 of 5 – for the Second Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons. If you're new here, or new to the series, clicking on the link above will give you all the details. When you're done, don't forget to come on back to this post and see what's in store for today.

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident dragon expert:  Lovely Girl

Three down, two to go: Today marks Part 4 of 5 for the Second Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons. If you're new here and wondering what all the fuss is about, click on the link above, and that should get you nicely up to speed. Then come on back here to continue the festivities.

If you already know what's up (or you're new but now up to speed), you'll probably be wanting to get right to it. Scroll on, then, and let's get started.

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident dragon expert:  Lovely Girl

Yesterday, January 16th, 2014, was Appreciate a Dragon Day. We here at Chez Wheedleton spent the day reading dragon books to mark the occasion. But yesterday wasn't our only day of literary revelry in all things dragon.

Here at Bugs and Bunnies, we choose to appreciate dragons not only on Appreciate a Dragon Day, but also on every Friday in January - sharing with our readers the dragon books we've read in the past year that we think are just fab. And today, Friday, January 17th, is one of those Fridays - the third one of 2014, in fact.

So, welcome to Part 3 of 5 of the Second Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons. We're glad you're here.

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident dragon expert:  Lovely Girl

Here at Chez Wheedleton, the temperatures have been positively arctic, which is the perfect excuse to stay in and warm up with some celebratory dragon reading during this Second Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons.

If you're new here, clicking on the link above will fill you in quite nicely. Once you're all caught up, come on back and continue the literary dragon festivities.

If you've been here before – or if you're new and back now from catching up on things – you're probably itching to get started, so scroll on down to see what's in store today:

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident dragon expert:  Lovely Girl

Today is the first Friday in January, which means it's time to begin the Second Annual Bugs and Bunnies Literary Appreciation of Dragons!

Drawing courtesy of Chez Wheedleton's resident dragon expert:  Lovely Girl

Two years ago today, I was teaching myself to use a tablet to draw digitally on my computer – a first for me. I am pleased to report that despite a not-so-smooth initial learning curve, I'm enjoying digi-drawing immensely.

This year, I'm expanding my digi-drawing horizons: trying my hand at some very rudimentary vector drawing. Happily, there was considerably less hair-pulling-out, and – thanks to much-appreciated auto-save settings  – absolutely no loss of work. Altogether a much more enjoyable learning process: