DAY 2: Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman (Patterns)

Good morning! As we blast into day 2, remember that you can stock-pile your posts and schedule them ahead of time, which is what I'll be doing this afternoon. Rushing to write my post the morning of is just not working out for me (*hides head in shame*).

About the link: if you can't get it to work, don't worry about it, but at least give it a few tries for a few days. It won't affect you winning any prizes. Yes, it will make it easier for others to hop around from blog to blog, and yes it will allow people to attach their blog posts from your site as well. But, seriously, if you can't get it to work, don't stress over it and don't worry about it. We want this challenge to be FUN and EDUCATIONAL. That's the important thing. The problem about the link lies in the fact that I wasn't able to find an easy way to let you guys copy/paste it. But I think I finally figured it out. Let's try this:

<script src="http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=15DBA8FD-BC41-4F97-862A-5FAFD1A92C30" type="text/javascript">


Title: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
Author: Joyce Sidman
Illustrator: Beth Krommes
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Year: 2011
Word Count: 153
Top 10 Element: Patterns

This is the perfect book to go along with an art lesson. Not only are spirals a naturally occurring pattern in nature, but the text has patterns as well.

The book begins with:

"A spiral is a snuggling shape. It fits neatly in small places. Coiled tight, warm and safe, it waits..."

 

And continues onto the next spread:

"...for a chance to expand." And the snake is shown slithering off into the spring time.

 Here is the next spread:

The following spread shares what happens next, but with the example of a fern.

The pattern continues, by listing different things a spiral is, with examples of each. Several of the "list items" (i.e. "spreads") utilize the elipses..., but not all of them. This convention helps add suspense for the page turns.

In the back matter of the book, the pattern is expounded upon for each "definition."

• ...is a snuggling shape (with 3 examples)
• ...is a growing shape (with 2 examples)
• ...is a strong shape (with 4 examples)
• ...reaches out (with 3 examples)
• ...is clever (with 2 examples)
• ...is beautiful (with 1 example)
• ...moves (with 4 examples)

The back matter is fascinating!

So, what can we learn from this amazing little science gem of a book? That it doesn't take much to implement a pattern into your own writing. Whether it be with a page turn, by repeating the definition in different ways, or by repeating the sentence structure. If one of your own manuscripts is missing something and you're not quite sure what it is, try implementing some type of pattern into it. Experiment and have fun with it. You won't know what you can actually accomplish, until you give it a try!

And here's a book talk I found on YouTube. Enjoy!

Here's the link to add your own Top 10 Element example. Keep on keepin' on...