The Interrupting Owlet

The Interrupting Owlet
by Helen Cowles LeCron

When Mother Owl and Father
Owl are talking busily
About old Uncle Blinker in the gnarled
old maple tree,
Or Cousin Drowsy Hoot-Owl in the
oak across the way,
Or stylish Old Miss Snowy Owl, I
much regret to say
That naughty little Downy often inter-
rupts the two
To ask them, "Who'd you say it was?
Say! WHO, Pa? WHO, Ma?
WHO?"

Though Mother Owl has told him that
the question's impolite,
And little owls should never interrupt
on any night
When parents talk, it doesn't seem to
do a bit of good!
For Downy still continues, as no
thoughtful owlet would,
With "WHO, Pa? Who Ma?
Who'd you say?" and "Tell me,
folks! Aw! Do!"
And "WHO'D you say it was? Aw,
Ma! Say! WHO, Pa WHO,
Ma! WEHO--OO?"

The Hiawatha Paper Cuts Restored

       Below are the Hiawatha paper cuts restored for those of you who are teaching Native American studies to your little ones, enjoy.

       The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features American Indian characters. Read more...

       Read the original poem by Longfellow here.

The wigwam of Nokomis.

Nokomis nursed Hiawatha.

Nokomis bound Hiawatha's cradle with the sinews of the reindeer.

Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!

The owls spoke their native language.

The birds hid their nests.

The birds sang to Hiawatha.

The reindeer, Hiawatha talked too.

I am Adjidaumo, the squirrel.

The warriors and the women all praised the hunter.
They called him Strong-Heart, Soan-ge-taha.
They called him Loon-Heart, Mahn-go-tay-see.

Hiawatha is running by the Big-Sea-Water.

Quick & Easy Bulletin Board!

Sometimes, teachers over think things like bulletin boards. Tack up a bright butcher paper to cover an old cork bulletin board and then let your students do the rest! I contributed a few scissors and glue bottles while everyone else laughed and scribbled.

         Young students should be allowed to feel they have a say in how their everyday spaces look. This bulletin board was decorated by kids in an after school kid care program. I hung up their paper puppets, drawings, and coloring sheets in just a few minutes. This old cafeteria never looked so colorful! I think they did a great job!

On the upper left hand corner of the bulletin board I stapled the "visual" directions of how to assemble the turtle puppet. 1. color, 2. cut, 3. paste. The bulletin board was then filled in with the children's crafts. It got even fuller than what is depicted above over the following weeks.

The Mist and All

Click to enlarge and download.

The Mist and All by Dixie Willson

I like the fall,

The mist and all.

I like the night owl's

Lonely call--

And wailing sound 

Of wind around.

I like the gray

November day,

And bare, dead boughs

That coldly sway

Against my pane.

I like the rain.

I like to sti

And laugh at it--

And tend

My cozy fire a bit.

I like the fall--

The mist and all--

A Wise Old Owl

Picture of an owl sitting on an oak tree limb with a moon and night sky behind him.

A Wise Old Owl

by Le Roy Newark

A wise old owl

Lived in an oak,

The more he saw

The less he spoke, 

The less he spoke

The more he heard;

Why can't we be

Like that old bird?

The Owl by Tennyson

 THE OWL

When cats run home and light is come,

And dew is cold upon the ground,

And the far-off stream is dumb,

And the whirring sail goes round,

And the whirring sail goes round;

Alone and warming his five wits,

The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch,

And rarely smells the new-mown hay,

And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch

Twice or thrice his roundelay,

Twice or thrice his roundelay;

Alone and warming his five wits,

The white owl in the belfry sits.

Second Song--To The Same.

Thy tuwhits are lulled, I wot,

Thy tuwhoos of yesternight,

Which, upon the dark afloat,

So took echo with delight,

So took echo with delight,

That her voice, untuneful grown,

Wears all day a fainter tone.

I would mock thy chaunt anew:

But I cannot mimic it;

Not a whit of thy tuwhoo,

Thee to woo to thy tuwhit,

Thee to woo to thy tuwhit,

With a lengthened loud halloo,

Tuwhoo, tuwhit, tuwhit, tuwhoo-o-o

by Alfred Tennyson

Practice Shading An Owl

This owl is wide awake. Give him big yellow eyes and practice shading in all of his little feathers.

       Above is the "digital tracing," of the image. Students may look at the original sample below in order to practice shading techniques on top of the printed digital tracing. After a student learns shading techniques with a number 2 pencil, he or she may choose to try working with colored pencils or even watercolors in order to enhance the digital tracing above.

A Fall Collage Featuring An Owl

       Collage (From the French: coller, to glue) is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. Above you can see that I began this collage using a template of an owl that I cut from heavy construction paper.

      A collage may sometimes include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty.
      For this fall collage I used wood chips, pom-poms, acorn caps, painted and stamped papers and magazine clippings along with a few markers: brown, white, black and yellow. I will give my younger students templates to trace around. The older students will be required to draw their own owl designs.

      The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue". This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art. Owls were popular subjects for both cubists to include in their still life art works as well!

      I pasted some real feathers into my collage to finish off my teacher sample.

See More Owl Collage Lessons and Ideas:

• Owl collages and matting
• Owl collage from Roadsworth
• Marbled Paper Owl Collages
• Recycled owl collage
• Magazine Collage Owls

Restored Antique Alphabet Prints

      These restored antique alphabet prints would look charming in a child's nursery/bedroom or a homeschool classroom. I've cleaned and restored them for your next alphabet craft. Enjoy and read the Terms of Use before printing them out.

The above image for pinning please.

A was and Apple, an Archer, an Arrow. B was a Bird, Bear and a Barrow.

C for Cat and D for Dish, E for an Elephant, F for a Fish.

G for Goose and Ha for Ham, I for an Inn and J for Jam.

K for Kite and L for Light. M for the Moon and N for Night. O for Owl and P for Prattle,
Q for the Queen and R for Rattle.

S for Ship and T for Tap, U for an Urn and V for Vat. W for Windmill, for Watch & Wren,
 X stands in English for no word but ten.

Y is for Yew, for Youth and for Yeast, Z is for Zebra a beautiful beast.

More Restored Alphabet Print by Kathy Grimm:

• A Bible Alphabet from Thrifty Scissors
• A Noah's Ark Alphabet at Easter Egg Crafts
• Animal Alphabet Flash Cards at The Crayon Palace

Old-Fashioned Halloween Silhouettes

      Use these stencils to trace around with a white lead pencil onto black construction paper. Then hang them in your windows or cut them out for cards and stationary.

More Paper Cut Outs:

• Paper Mice Halloween Decorations
• Haunted House Halloween Cut-Out
• Fold-n-Cut Paper Halloween Garland from Dabbletree
• Spooky Paper Cutouts

The Owl and The Jay Bird

A sweet little poem for publishing in your next school newsletter or reading lesson.

An old owl sat all day in a

barn.

The light was dim in the 

barn.

The owl was watching for mice.

He sat right still, and did not say a word.

The jay bird was a great gossip.

She was always going about talking.

She went to the barn to see the owl.

The jay began to talk.

The owl kept right still.

The jay talked and talked.

She staid a long time.

The owl did not say a word.

At last the jay flew away.

She told the cat-bird she

had never had such a de-

lightful chat.

She said that Mister Owl

was the most entertaining 

bird she knew.

--The Golden Age.