It’s time to introduce you to another collaborator for one of my?30 Painless Classroom Poems books. Readers, please meet Catherine Flynn, who created a completely awesome activity guide for Wacky, Wild, and Wonderful: 50 State Poems.
Catherine Flynn
Catherine Flynn
Catherine Flynn has been a literacy specialist for the past nine years. Prior to that, she taught 3rd grade for 10 years and 1st grade for two years. She co-authored an integrated reading/writing/art curriculum unit on pourquoi stories, which was recognized with a Celebration of Excellence award by the Connecticut Department of Education. Catherine was Teacher of the Year for her district in 2002, and she is an active member of NCTE and IRA. Catherine loves to read, write, and knit in her spare time.
Visit her blog:
Reading to the Core
Follow her on Twitter:
@flynn_catherine
Addendum from Laura Purdie Salas: I had such fun meeting Catherine in person at NCTE in November! Here we are:
Catherine Flynn and Laura Purdie Salas
(cw from top) Catherine Flynn, Heidi Mordhorst, Mary Lee Hahn, Laura Purdie Salas, Tricia Stohr-Hunt
She is so warm and enthusiastic. And, wow, did she do an amazing job on the activities guide! Here are a few examples:
- Our diverse ethnic heritage is evident in the states? names, as well as in the names of rivers and other geographical features. After viewing a video of the song ?Ancient Places, Sacred Lands? (available on YouTube), have students research the name of the state and/or subject of their poem. Have them create a dictionary page for the name using the template following these activities. (State names can be researched easily online?try Enchanted Learning’s website or Mental Floss.) Gather all entries to create a class Dictionary of Name Origins.
- In groups or individually, students can create a timeline for a poem with a clear sequence of events, such as ?Rhode Island: Narragansett Bay, 1772.?
- There are a number of poems about ecosystems and animals, such as ?Nevada: Valley of Fire? and ?Wisconsin: Catch!? Have students illustrate and describe the food chains of the ecosystem described in the poem of their choice.
Besides great activities, she created appendices that group the poems by form (i.e., Diamante, Haiku, etc.) and by topic (i.e., Agriculture, History, etc.), plus a list of resources related to the topic of each poem.? Like I said…wow.
I’ll be sharing some state poems over the next couple of weeks. I hope if you like them, and you like the sample activities above (and who wouldn’t), you’ll decide to read the book. I wrote the poems with 4th- and 5th-graders in mind, since that’s the era of state reports:>) It’s available for Kindle and in paperback–and if you buy the paperback, you get the Kindle version free.
she is a very inspiring person is this book in book stores?
thank you for sharing this with us
Thanks, Jessica. All of these 30 Painless Classroom Poems books are available on Kindle and in paperback through Amazon. They are indie published (by me), so they aren’t distributed through bookstore channels. I wish they were…
she is a very inspiring person is this book in book stores?
thank you for sharing this with us
Thanks, Jessica. All of these 30 Painless Classroom Poems books are available on Kindle and in paperback through Amazon. They are indie published (by me), so they aren’t distributed through bookstore channels. I wish they were…
Laura,
Thanks for introducing us to your collaborator! What fun it would be to sit around the fireplace and chat with you and Catherine for an hour or so or even for a workshop. Hmmm… What a wonderful team you make. I have written teacher guides for Cobblestone magazines and I’ve created activities for three author’s books. I’d like to consider doing more of that. I would benefit from more Core knowledge background.
Cool, Linda. That’s neat that you’ve done teaching guides for books, too. Yep, more and more teaching guides for children’s books are aligned to CCSS. I did a CCSS Reading Guide for my WATER CAN BE… Will pry do one for ROCK, too. Haven’t decided.
Laura,
Thanks for introducing us to your collaborator! What fun it would be to sit around the fireplace and chat with you and Catherine for an hour or so or even for a workshop. Hmmm… What a wonderful team you make. I have written teacher guides for Cobblestone magazines and I’ve created activities for three author’s books. I’d like to consider doing more of that. I would benefit from more Core knowledge background.
Cool, Linda. That’s neat that you’ve done teaching guides for books, too. Yep, more and more teaching guides for children’s books are aligned to CCSS. I did a CCSS Reading Guide for my WATER CAN BE… Will pry do one for ROCK, too. Haven’t decided.
Terrific to see Catherine and you working together. I’m sure the guide is wonderful. I’ll share with the teachers about this, Laura. Thank you!
Thanks, Linda! Appreciate it:>)
Terrific to see Catherine and you working together. I’m sure the guide is wonderful. I’ll share with the teachers about this, Laura. Thank you!
Thanks, Linda! Appreciate it:>)
I am very excited to see my friend and writing partner, Catherine here! She’s so gentle and wise. I ordered the collection on my Kindle. Thanks for continuing to inspire my teaching and writing.
Thanks, Margaret–I hope you enjoy it! Catherine was wonderful to work with:>)
I am very excited to see my friend and writing partner, Catherine here! She’s so gentle and wise. I ordered the collection on my Kindle. Thanks for continuing to inspire my teaching and writing.
Thanks, Margaret–I hope you enjoy it! Catherine was wonderful to work with:>)
I’m in a writing group with Catherine and I couldn’t agree more… she IS wonderful! I’m delighted to hear about your collaboration!
Thanks, Stacey! And, wow, what a lovely, engaged community you have at your blog! THanks again for sharing A ROCK CAN BE…
I’m in a writing group with Catherine and I couldn’t agree more… she IS wonderful! I’m delighted to hear about your collaboration!
Thanks, Stacey! And, wow, what a lovely, engaged community you have at your blog! THanks again for sharing A ROCK CAN BE…