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Starry-eyed with Van Gogh
Many requests for ‘Starry Night’ moved one artist up the list of books chalked out for our art theme. A few seemed familiar with the...
JoAnne Saldanha
Aug 20, 20212 min read
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Degas and the Little Dancer
From amongst the books I’ve chosen to share with the children for the Art Theme that we are doing this term, this one is probably my...
JoAnne Saldanha
Aug 12, 20213 min read
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Cumulative tales...a Chain of Fun!!!
"Perhaps she'll die!!!....Ha! Ha! Ha!!!" Rather inappropriate chant to hear in todays's politically correct world, right? I'm sure this...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 30, 20213 min read
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Niko Draws a Feeling
"Sometimes he showed his pictures to his friends. 'What is it?' one of them would ask. 'It's the ring-a-ling of the ice cream truck,"...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 27, 20212 min read
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Nani's Walk to the Park
My first glance through ‘Nani’s walk to the park’, written and illustrated by Deepa Balsavar, I thought, ‘hmmm sweet book, nice for...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 21, 20214 min read
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The Magic of a True Story...and trash!
Week 3 of the Art Theme that I've been doing with my elementary students this term. Last week my younger elementary students were...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 21, 20212 min read
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Journeying with Jamlo
The one in which I share our journey with the book Jamlo Walks by Samina Mishra, illustrated by Tariq Aziz and published by Penguin,...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 16, 20217 min read
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The Noisy Paintbox speaks.
Taking on from our first book, ISH by Peter H. Reynolds which I chose to help my students see that art comes from what we...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 5, 20214 min read
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An art-ISH theme
Every term I like to plan around a theme...the idea usually pops up a few months earlier, often inspired by new books added to my...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jul 1, 20213 min read
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Being me and rethinking Be You.
Be You by Peter H Reynolds came highly recommended by someone whose choices I value. So without much hesitation, I ordered it...after all...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 26, 20213 min read
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The Book of Hopes
29 September, 2020 As I sat down to prepare for the new term, which started this week, I looked back with pride, amazement and smug...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 11, 20213 min read
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A Saree for Ammi...filled with learning opportunities.
Ammi weaves the most beautiful sarees in the world, Abba is a pro at dyeing the threads and the children help out where ever they can....
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 10, 20213 min read
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'The Village with a Long Name' stretches our imaginations.
While the curly whirly script on the sign boards belie the fact that this book may be set in a village in South India, I felt villages...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 10, 20213 min read
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Stories from Orissa and the connections my students made.
While I’ve been posting about all kinds of books, our Indian Folk Tale theme has been continuing at the school library. Last week we were...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 10, 20212 min read
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Sometimes misfortune can indeed be a blessing.
August, 2020 Sion, an excellent and well-respected fortune-teller, lives in a kingdom just along the Great Wall of China. Everyone went...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20212 min read
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A Book filled with Sharing and Gratitude
I love how food brings people together, often accompanied by laughter, stories, love, friendship, camaraderie and sharing. I love when ...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20212 min read
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The Grand Chapati Contest
Written by: Asha Nehemiah Illustrated by:Chetan Sharma Published by : Duckbill/Penguinsters So let me say right off the bat, that there...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20213 min read
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The Great Kapok Tree...a classic.
28 July, 2019 When I first planned to post a review of The Great Kapok Tree’ by Lynne Cherry, I didn’t know that it was World Nature...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20212 min read
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When a library read-aloud session inspires creative expression...Spellbound by Nalini Sorensen
I started my class by reading the first chapter of a book. I didn’t tell my students the title or the author. I just read aloud the...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20212 min read
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MERCEDES AND THE CHOCOLATE PILOT
AUTHOR: Margot Theis Raven ILLUSTRATOR: Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen Was I glad to be hiding behind the ‘share screen’ option during my...
JoAnne Saldanha
Jun 8, 20212 min read
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