October 28, 2015
Good morning and welcome to a special Halloween Writing Wednesday (which includes a ghostly Halloween treat at the end of this post)!
Today, we would like you to read a part of Seymour Simon’s book GHOSTS. As you read the page below, notice shades of meaning in the vocabulary. How does Seymour’s use of the adjectives "cold" and "damp" instead of just writing "castle" affect the mental image you create? As you read, look for other examples of vivid words that Seymour Simon uses, and tell us about how it enhances the selection. Write two or three sentences and tell us about which adjectives and word choices he makes to create a spooky feeling as he tells this story.
When you have finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" link below to post your writing for others to read.
Calvados Castle is a gloomy-looking castle in France. It was built hundreds of years ago in the Middle Ages. Cold and damp, the castle hardly looks like a place in which anybody would want to live. If you saw it, you might think it was a perfect place for a ghost. And you would be right. Calvados Castle is haunted.
The first record of ghostly happenings came in 1875. The family and the servants that lived in the castle were disturbed night after night by mysterious sounds. They decided to place threads across the open doors. They hoped that the threads would be broken so that they could learn where the intruders came in. The sounds continued, but the threads were never broken.
The owner began keeping a diary of the strange events. The diary tells that on the night of October 13, 1875, a teacher employed by the family was alone in his room.
Halloween Treat! Seymour Simon had this book recorded by a narrator who has a famous "haunted" voice (he used to be a narrator for The Twilight Zone television series). Click below if you would like to hear a selection of the book read aloud. But we warn you, if you are someone who is easily scared, you might not want to press play!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
October 27, 2015
This ghostly sight is known as the dB 141 Nebula. It is composed of the gassy remains of a supernova - the gigantic explosion that occurred when a huge star blew up. And since it kind of looks like a bunch of ghosts, it reminds me to wish all my readers a Happy, Out of This World, Halloween!
Photo: Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF
Posted by: Seymour Simon
October 26, 2015
Getting ready for Halloween? I have two books, both narrated, that can help get you in the mood. The first is called SILLY VAMPIRE, WEREWOLF AND ZOMBIE JOKES & RIDDLES. It is just that—- very silly Halloween jokes to share with your friends. Here is a video trailer so you can sample the book.
The second is a book that I wrote a number of years ago, and is still very popular. Simply called GHOSTS, it is a collection of supposedly true, very scary stories. Whether you are a believer in these kinds of stories or not, they are fun to read and/or listen to with friends. Just don’t do it before bedtime!
Happy Halloween!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
October 14, 2015
A baby seal who adopted a wildlife cameraman is the subject of today’s Writing Wednesday.
The Story:
Cameraman Raymond Besant’s job on a nature documentary was to spend three weeks filming a colony of grey seals. He built a “blind”—a hiding place that looks like it belongs in nature, with a peek hole for the camera to shoot through—so that he could work without disturbing the animals. One morning he showed up for work and found the blind had been damaged. At first he thought it was because of a storm the night before, but when he looked inside, he found a sleeping seal pup (baby).
"I gently shook the blind and eventually he shuffled out. He had wrecked the place and he was molting so there was fur everywhere. It smelled pretty bad, like a wet dog."
He tried building all kinds of barriers with driftwood across the entrance to stop the seal pup from getting in, but every morning he would come back to work and find a little head poking out of the blind.
Eventually, he decided to stop trying to block the seal, and started sharing the space. "He was just a clever seal that had found somewhere warm and dry to stay," said the cameraman.
Your Assignment:
Tell the story of the baby seal pup in your own words. Use details from what you read and from the photographs to make your story come alive for your readers.
When you are finished writing, click on the yellow "Comments" button at the bottom of this post to share your work. Happy Writing!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
October 13, 2015
Seymour Simon recently visited Relay Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland. His visit was covered on the district’s website, BCPS News! Check out the video here.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
September 30, 2015
I had a nice note today from Isaiah, in Owings Mills MD, who wrote: "I really like the way you gather information about what scientists know about global warming."
Thank you for letting me know that, Isaiah. It is a topic I am very concerned about, and I have written about it often. In fact, there are 29 articles about Global Warmingon my website. Click on this link to read the articles: http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/blog/tags/tag/Global+Warming
For readers who may be new to my blog, on the left hand side of the page is an alphabetized list of topics (called "Labels"). You can see here that "Global Warming (29)" is on that list. And every topic is clickable. So all you have to do is click on the link, and you can read earlier articles on subjects that interest you.
Thanks for stopping by my website. We love to see you here!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
September 30, 2015
Seymour heard from many of you on Twitter (@SeymourSimon) yesterday about the adorable photograph of the Western Pygmy Possum that he posted on his blog.
So today, for Writing Wednesday, let’s do some descriptive writing. Look at this photograph and think about everything that you see. Use all your senses. What does this little critter’s fur feel like? Can you feel its little heart beating when you hold it? How does it move? How does it look at you?
Of course, since you can’t actually see or touch a real Western Pygmy Possum, you will have to imagine all these things, and that’s ok! You also might want to do some additional research on your own, either in your library or on the Internet, and learn more about this animal. Or you could read yesterday’s blog post to learn more.
When you’ve studied the photograph thoroughly, and done whatever reseach you want to do, write a paragraph or two describing this animal with as much detail as you can. Help your reader imagine what it would be like to encounter a pigmy possum in a field.
If you would like to post your writing for other students to read, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog post, copy and paste in your work.
Happy writing!
Posted by: Liz Nealon
March 27, 2015
Look at this cute, tiny animal. It is called an Ili Pika (pronounced "illy PEEK-ah" or "Pika" for short) and it lives in the mountains in China. The pika is very small, measuring just 7 inches (20 centimeters) long. That is about the same length as a 3-year-old’s foot.
The Ili Pika is an endangered species, with less than 1,000 known to be in existence. They live on rocky mountain slopes and eat the grasses there, but as global warming leads to rising temperatures, the mountain glaciers are shrinking, forcing the pikas to gradually retreat to mountain tops to find the cool moisture that nurtures the grasses that they eat.
Ili Pikas also tend to live alone and they are not as vocal as other pika species. So if predators are near, Ili pikas are not able to call out and alert each other. Because of these threats, scientists in China are working to establish an organization to study and protect this animal.
Some people think that this tiny animal inspired the famous Pokemon character, Pikachu. What do you think?
Posted by: Seymour Simon
February 24, 2015
Even after all these years of writing science books for children, I’m still thrilled when I get a good review. This one is particularly meaningful, because it’s from Kirkus (who are notoriously tough reviewers) and because it’s of a book that I co-authored with my wife, Liz Nealon.
The narrated version of this eBook is part of our StarWalk Kids streaming eBook collection. I hope that you will try it with your students.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
October 29, 2014
Happy Halloween from the misunderstood animals in my book ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
