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There were so many activities.  I divided the responses into two messages.  This is 
Part 1.  Part 2 will follow later.
 
Thank you all for sharing!
Velda Hunter
Jack Yates High School
vhunter1@houstonisd.org
 
 

Activities for Flotsam: PART I


1.  Follow this link to an interview with David during the ALA conference in June.

http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/david-wiesner-interview 
<http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/david-wiesner-interview> 



2. I haven't done this yet, but was thinking how fun it would be to give a student 
a (digital) camera, have them take a picture of themselves, print it out (in the 
library) and pass the picture & camera on to the next student. As in the book, that 
student would then take a picture of themselves holding the picture of the previous 
student. 

 

I need to work out the logistics of giving the kids time to themselves to sneak off 
with an assistant so the pictures could be a surprise. I'm sure the kids would want 
to think of clever places they could take the pictures.  I'm thinking of splitting 
the class into groups of 5 would make for the best images.  

 

Sorry for the unformed nature of the plan!

 

There's also a nice book trailer here:

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/books/books_flotsam.shtml 
<https://mail.houstonisd.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/books/books_flotsam.shtml>
 

 

 

3.  This is what I did when Flotsam was chosen for the Caldecott.  I used this with 
1st and 2nd grade, but could easily use it with any grade.  

 

I started with some props in my "book basket" to get the kids thinking.  I had some 
plastic fish, magnifying glass and a camera.  We talked about what the book might 
be about with these clues.  Once I showed them the book (and of course built it up 
as the new "winner") we spent some time talking about the cover and what they 
thought they saw in the eye of the fish.  I also explained what the word flotsam 
means.  

 

Then we had a significant discussion on what a "wordless" book is and how to "read" 
it.  I explained that sometimes it's ok to have everyone tell their own story in 
their head.  But, at some points in the story I would explain things are have 
discussion.  At those points it is important for everyone to be thinking and 
understanding the same thing.  Other than that, since the book is wordless, they 
have to be wordless (quiet) while we read the book.  Also, to set the tone, I 
played ocean sounds music in the background.  They especially like this!

 

At the end, one first grade teacher said that it was an example of a "circle story" 
which they had been discussing in class.  The story basically starts and ends the 
same or at the same point.  I also explained that "Flotsam" is a good example of a 
book to check out and be able to read in your own lap.  There are so many neat 
things in the details of the illustrations.

 

With the 2nd graders we went on an author study of Weisner's other books.  An idea 
I had but never did was to pass a disposable camera around the class to take home 
over night and take a picture of themselves at home.  Then, after developing the 
film, have the kids write something to go with their photo to make a class book.  

 

 

4.  I scanned the entire book into my SmartBoard notebook. 

It could easily be scanned into a PowerPoint as well.

 

I start the lesson by talking about David Wiesner and wordless books. 

I show some of his books to the students. A lot of students know and love many of 
them.

I show an interview of him from www.teachingbooks.com 
<https://mail.houstonisd.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.teachingbooks.com>
 .

 

I then tell them that he has written another wordless book that has won the 2006 
Caldecott.

I show the first page before the title page with an embedded sound file of the 
ocean. Then I show props- magnifying glass, fish, shell, and an old 35mm camera. 
Ask if they can identify them and what do they think the story is about. 

 

I show a book "trailer" I downloaded from Houghton Mifflin website.

 

Then we "read" the book page by page. Sometimes I ask questions. Like if they know 
what the film is. Most do not know, they only know digital technology. the kids are 
free to comment.

I ask them why the pictures are black and white, point out how the style of dress 
is changing, try to find the camera floating in each picture, what do they think 
might be on the next page towards the very end, etc...

They loved it!

I tried it with fourth grade and Kindergarten (skipping the interview with them) 
not knowing which age it would be most successful. Well it was fabulous with both 
grade levels!  I have to say I enjoyed it so much as well. Can't wait to do it 
again next year.

 

 

5.       I didn't do lessons for Flotsam, per se.  Instead, I grouped it with other 
wordless or nearly wordless picture books.  We were focused on narrative skills.

 

6. From the NoveList article, "Book Performance Art: Using Reader's Theater and 
Creative Drama with Young Readers" by Judy Freeman. Reprinted with permission, 
NoveList/EBSCO, copyright 2007. (The original version appeared in NoveList in 
February, 2007.)

Wiesner, David. Flotsam. Illus. by the author. Clarion, 2006. (Gr. PreK-3) 
Caldecott Medal Winner

On a summer's day down the shore, a blonde-haired boy investigates the unusual 
old-fashioned box camera that washes up at his feet. "Melville underwater camera" 
it says on the case. Taking the roll of film he finds to the one-hour photo, the 
boy is dumbfounded at the resulting color prints of vibrant underwater life. 
There's a red mechanical fish, a blue octopus reading aloud a book to his 
young'uns, and a spaceship with little green-faced aliens taking their own photos 
of seahorses. Most unusual is the last print of a girl holding a photo of a boy 
holding a photo. The boy examines the picture with his magnifying glass and then 
uses his microscope to find that the photos date back several generations to the 
turn of the last century.

GERM: 
Wiesner's latest wordless fantasy is filled with marine life frolicking in a most 
un-fish-like way. Ask your viewers to provide a voice-over narration as you turn 
each page. Before revealing the final page, ask them what they think the boy should 
do with his extraordinary camera.

Children can then write captions or dialogue for each of the photos of underwater 
life. For instance, what book might the octopus be reading aloud, and what is the 
story he is reading? (It would be so helpful if the publisher would make a set of 
mini-posters of those underwater pictures; in the meantime, an extra copy of the 
book will do.)

On the final page, we see a girl on a faraway beach retrieving the camera from the 
water. What kinds of photos will she find when she develops the film? Children can 
draw those fantastical underwater scenes, photo-style, based both on what they know 
to be under the waves and their imaginations.

Note that this is Wiesner's fifth Caldecott Medal! He won silver honors for Free 
Fall and Sector 7, and gold medals for The Three Pigs and Tuesday. He's a one-man 
Caldecott lesson for introducing the medal. Find out more about the Caldecott 
at:http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.htm

Here is a good interactive swimming song to sing after reading with Flotsam.

The Swimming Pool Song 
(To the tune of "Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main")

Swimming, Swimming (arms do crawl stroke) 
In my swimming pool (make rectangle with index fingers) 
When days are hot (fan face with hands) 
When days are cold (Hug arms) 
In my swimming pool (make rectangle with index fingers) 
Side stroke (do side stroke with arms) 
Breast stroke (do breast stroke with arms) 
Fancy diving too (with hands together, dive up and down) 
Don't you wish that you had (wag index finger) 
Nothing else to do (hold palms open) 
But . . .

The first time, sing the whole song as you do each motion. The second time, leave 
off the first line ("Swimming, swimming") and just do the pantomime. Each time you 
repeat the verse, leave off one more line, and just pantomime the actions instead 
of singing them. By the time you sing it ten times, you will be pantomiming the 
entire song silently (except for all the giggles), and end with only one word 
spoken: "BUT."

Related Titles about the Ocean

Cowan, Catherine. My Life with the Wave. Lothrop, 1997. 
Karas, G. Brian. Atlantic. Putnam, 2002. 
Rose, Deborah Lee. Into the A, B, Sea: An Ocean Alphabet. Scholastic, 2000. 

Other Wordless or Near-Wordless Adventures

Banyai, Istvan. Zoom. Viking, 1995. 
Faller, Regis. The Adventures of Polo. Roaring Brook, 2006. 
Lehman, Barbara. The Red Book. Houghton Mifflin, 2004. 
Rohmann, Eric. Time Flies. Crown, 1994. 
Van Allsburg, Chris. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Houghton Mifflin, 1984.

Other Weird Adventures

Clement, Rod. Just Another Ordinary Day. HarperCollins, 1997.
Joyce, William. A Day with Wilbur Robinson. HarperCollins, 1993. 
Van Allsburg, Chris. Jumanji. Houghton Mifflin, 1981. 
Van Allsburg, Chris. Zathura: A Space Adventure. Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 

Other Books by David Wiesner: 

Wiesner, David. Free Fall. Lothrop, 1988. 
Wiesner, David. June 29, 1999. Clarion, 1992. 
Wiesner, David. Sector 7. Clarion, 1999. 
Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. Clarion, 2001. 
Wiesner, David. Tuesday. Clarion, 2001.

 

  
 

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