Time to build an 'encyclopedia' of my school visits
and the amazing response to my picture books.
I have literally hundreds of articles here,
with thousands of photos
documenting my visits from coast to coast.
Time to organize them into a one-stop-hop
for the director or principal
wanting to guide their teachers to a catalog of ideas,
all in one place.
Major undertaking.
Let's start at the beginning.....
I have three picture books.
The text in each of my books are the lyrics to one of the songs
that I've written and recorded earlier.
Each of my books has a CD insert included!
Getting familiar with my work ahead of time
makes our author-visit together a grand slam, hole in one!
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| My books are available on my website.... click pic to go to www.RainbowsWithinReach.com |
#ArtMATTERS #MusicMATTERS #PlayMATTERS
This is my twentieth year of travels
and I've had big some pretty amazing school visits.
Every school designs their own day or residency.
Here's the flier that I send to prospective program inquiries.
In one page, I think you get a pretty good glimpse.
My dear husband Allen acts as my 'events coordinator'
and he makes all of the travel plans and puts together our calendar of travels.
I still work out all of the details for the day.
He knows that one of my favorite things is to be greeted with my
NAME UP IN LIGHTS!
It is beyond AWESOME when I get invited BACK to a school!
Then all of the teachers know what to expect
and how best to prepare ahead of time.
#LUVit!
Over the years, I have had some pretty amazing
WELCOME greetings.
Lots of color!
Rainbows!
Handprints!
Artwork!
QUILTS!!!
When I walk in and find all of the hard work
created in anticipation of my arrival....
I am filled with with such appreciation.
LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!
Take a glimpse at some of the efforts made
with the participation of eager students,
to prepare them for my arrival.
This library was all decked out with enlarged photos
from this very blog!
My blog photos were SURROUNDED by student art & writing!
It is a toss up as to whether a school will go with a rainbow welcome
or one with a quilt motif.....
sometimes the two are mixed together.
I just LUV LUV LUV when my cyber blogger teacher friends become
#TeacherFriends in real life!
Do you recognize Kristen of Kristen's Kindergarten?
She is my weekly co-host at
#TeacherFriends Twitter chat on Tuesdays.
Look at this beauty of Kinder-rainbows!
Isn't is awesome how every rainbow is original?
Every rainbow is unique!
That's what I call #AuthenticArt!
It is great to see the work of students in response to my own illustrations.
Even more incredible?
To see an author study in comparison to one of the greats!
#BeStillMyHeart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LET THE FUN BEGIN!
My plan is to mix early literacy, picture books, singing and dancing
into one GIANT extravaganza of memorable learning.
So let's get to my very first picture book.
It is now eleven AND A HALF years old!
So I definitely have the most images to share in response to my first born.
Here's the cover!
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| Click pic to go to my site to order |
And let's take a look at the 'end-matter'
all of those requests from teachers for the eight years previous to publication.
I made the illustrations for the book from fabric, as small quilts.
Sixteen quilts professionally scanned into the computer....
turns into a thirty-two page book!
Why, yes.
We are also the publishers of my books.
So I write the songs and record them.
I then design the quilts and sew them.
And then....... we have the books printed.
VOILA!
Here's the YouTube video to introduce you to my song.
We are performing it together in sign language.
This event was at a community college, with upcoming teachers performing in conjunction with the preschoolers of the county.
This next image was JUST sent to me via Facebook!
How absolutely amazing is it?
Created in a preschool classroom --
studying my work for their entire spring art show!!!!!
#BeStillMyHeart
#ArtMatters
My simple song of affirmation and the picture book format
lend themselves to exploring not only the artwork I used for illustrations,
but the very words, the adjectives, the affirmations.
Many schools have taken a CLOSE look at how these WORDS
can be personalized and become writing prompts.
#AFFIRMATION
#SelfEsteem
#ClassroomCulture
This fall out in Colorado at the Artful Learning Elementary
I entered the library to be greeted with a unique photo booth,
ready for my day of Artist Residency.
The plan for our time together included my author presentation,
followed by an authentic Art, hands-on, open-ended quilt making project,
and included the literacy/writing component with individual student photos.
Yes!
We had an entire squadron of parent volunteers in the wings.
Each student was photographed holding the iPad
where volunteers captured each student's
WONDERFUL
sentence using the "Big Words" App.
*Here's a repeat image of the collaboration of all the kinders.
This time so you can see how the 'writing' component frames the quilt squares.
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| {Click image to go to my site to order} |
And finally.......... my newest picture book!
"Red, White and Blue"
is the song that I wrote in the immediate aftermath of September 11th.
Again, I made the illustrations from fabric as small quilts.
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| {Click photo to go to my site to order, THANKS!} |
By no means is this article completely comprehensive.
It is just a beginning..... as I hit the publish button today.
I will continue to return and add additional documentation and photos,
as I sort thru the depth of my stockpile.
I will also add additional resources.
Hopefully this has gotten you excited about the prospect of our working together.
One of the other ways that I support our extended family,
is to distribute the alternative seating known as
WOBBLE SEATS!
A couple years ago, the Wobble folks had a booth next to ours
and I fell in LUV with the possibilities that these add to the classroom.
For some children and especially for "that child"
these are the answer!
We now process Purchase Orders from school districts
and can also be selected as a special request vendor at Donors Choose.
Please visit our companion site WobbleSeat.com for specific information on ordering.
Earlier I created this SlideShare to help you create a successful Author Visit.
