School visit, Slingerland NY!

Here is another school visit I did, all the way back in April! This one was in Slingerlands, NY where they did a One Book, One School Read (my favorite thing!) of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon:

Why do I love visiting schools that do this so much? Well, because the kids there are so awesome:

Of course, they are taught to be so awesome by their amazing teachers and librarians who take my little book and turn it into a school-wide opportunity for learning and community building.

For example, they used the idea of the red thread and had students draw who they were connected to:

They even had a red thread  wrap on all the walls of the school to show everyone was connected...with the red thread ended at a mountain, of course.

And this is the first time I've ever seen a class use my TEDx Talk as part of their lesson curriculum. Kids reflected on which parts of the books were like a window and which parts were like a mirror:

As well as pinpointing and illustrating the figurative language in the book:

 

Oh, and there were also goldfish swimming in the halls:

And, after the visit,  I received this:

Did I mention how the kids were so awesome? Thanks so much, Slingerlands!

School Visit Photo Album

My school visit season is winding down and I'm a bit aghast at how little I posted about them. Dear schools, please know it is not a reflection on how much I enjoyed our event! Because I have visited so many amazing schools that have welcomed me in such creative and fun ways! I love seeing how every school uses my books!

Here are some examples of some schools I visited in April:

There were beautiful welcomes and decorations:

beautiful Kite Flying kites!

 

look at all the details!

  

One school had a giant mountain & moon, with student-made goldfish all over the school "leading" the way to it:

And there's my first lego welcome sign:

lego Dragon!

Sometimes the artistic talent shown just put me to shame:

And the projects! Like I said, SO creative. At one school,  kids made "baseball" trading cards of all the characters in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon:

and postcards to and from  characters in the book:

I find this so funny! The Buffalo sending a peeved postcard to the Buffalo Boy because Minli came over.

the goldfish asking Aunt Jin if she's a dragon yet.

And then there were old fashioned book reports done so elaborately and with so much care that they was nothing old fashioned about it...this one actually lit up:

And there's lots more! I just have to get my act together and share them! Thank you, students, teachers and librarians for being so awesome!

Another Awesome School

So, I have a big backlog of awesome school photos. These schools worked so hard to make me feel welcome, I must share...even if a bit belatedly. This is from a school in West Bloomfield, MI--where all the classes decorated their doors in my honor!

Most of the older grades chose Where the Mountain Meets the Moon as their theme. Aren't they beautiful?

Here are a couple close ups:

Most of the younger grades chose from Ling & Ting books.  Ling and Ting Share a Birthday was particularly popular; I think the last story about the underwear as birthday gift was what did it. This class illustrated every story on their door:

see the underwear?

While this class made birthday cards:

While others displayed the cutest drawings:

One class chose Dim Sum for Everyone! and I think their door looks good enough to eat!

But the icing on the cake was the huge mural in the library--where a mountain, moon and orange goldfish created from tissue paper awaited me:

As well as all the students' ideas of what the secret to happiness is:

I don't know which one is the right answer but the school sure did make this author happy! Thanks so much, West Bloomfield!

Beautiful Board!

More old school visit photos! This one was from the Winthrop School, another school that did a One Book, One School read of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Unfortunately, the only photo I took was of their bulletin board welcoming me in, but it's such a good one I have to share:

It's the Village of Moon Rain 

but instead of raining seeds, it's raining Where the Mountain Meets the Moon!

Pretty neat, huh?

One Book, One Read, One Awesome School!

I've been remiss with this blog, I know. I've found it hard to get back into the swing of social media-- puttering and stalling, then repeat. But life has continued even though I haven't been posting and that includes my school visits. And I've had some pretty amazing ones! 

This one was so awesome, it deserved it's own post. It happened back in January in New Boston, NH where they had a One Book, One School, One Year read of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon! I can't tell you how much I hearted it. 

The school did so many incredible projects. This one was particularly touching. A teacher actually made the Minli's coat of patches (the one where all the Villagers of Moon Rain each cut a piece of their own sleeve to piece together...and the one Pinmei wears in When the Sea Turned to Silver):

and then each child in her class wore the coat and  wrote about  how they themselves would help someone who was in need:

It makes me get all watery-eyed,  thinking about it...

And there were other amazing projects, too! Much more!  Sometimes I wonder how my middle grade book will work with the younger grades...well, here, it worked beautifully!

The Kindergarten made Minli ABC's:

and observations about Dragon:

as well as illustrated and shared their favorite parts of the book:

The 1st and 2nd graders used the book as an opportunity practice their use of adjectives (as well as make some cool tissue art):

And the 3rd graders thought about their own personal fortunes:

As well as questions for me!

I'm not sure what grade this was but everyone enjoyed studying and sharing their "red thread" connections:

While the older grades mapped out Minli's journey:

and wrote their own Dragon stories:

Event the PTA participated:

Thanks so much to all!