Rachel Piercey

Synergy: Seasons

Seasons are a way to divide a year on Earth based on changes in daylight, weather, and living organisms. The seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere are different because of the Earth’s axial tilt. Although traditionally divided into four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, some areas of the world recognize fewer or more seasons.

Read the recently published picture book, then learn more at the website:

IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY with poems by Rachel Piercy and illustrated by Freya Hartas is an engaging picture book exploring the woodland habitat through the seasons. Each two-page spread includes a descriptive poem and over a dozen things to find on the page. Primary grade teachers will find this book to be a fun read-aloud or engaging learning station option. Use it to jumpstart a discussion about the fact and fiction of woodland life. The book concludes with a nature trail revisiting the book’s content and encouraging children to get outside and explore nature.

50 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU’RE 11-3/4 is an activity list from UK’s National Trust. This handy resource describes dozens of ideas for encouraging young adventurers to explore nature through the seasons. Users can read the guide online, then download a wall chart as a PDF.

To learn more, go to https://bit.ly/3i50B2C.

ARC courtesy of Magic Cat Publishing, an imprint of ABRAMS.… (meer)

A delightful book of poetry inspired by space, planets, astronauts, and aliens, with contributions from nearly 30 British poets. There are long poems, short poems, metered and not, with tone ranging from awestruck to silly, dreamy to defiant. Scribbly illustrations reminiscent of Quentin Blake accompany the poems. I’ve marked several that I can’t wait to read to classrooms, including “Art 101 for Aliens” (instructions on crop circles), “Compared to What?” (inviting kids to think about how “big” is relative), “Up Above” (imagining the sky-inspired mythologies of different Earth animals), and “Uranus, Roll Up, Roll Up,” a poem all about how Uranus is happily, confidently, different from the other planets. At the end of the book is a list of prompts for kids to write space-inspired poetry, and short biographies of all of the poets. Give this book to your kids’ English teachers!… (meer)