Developing Creativity - Desarrollando la creatividad: 3RD & 4TH Grades

Por Claudia Quackenbush

"How could I not love you, my beloved book? When each one of your colorful, artistic scenes and anecdotes full of adventure filled my senses and feelings. Your illustrations have lit up my soul and my life, I absorb you in every breath of air".

In Developing Creativity, Quackenbush transmits her love for learning through reading, math, science, the arts, fables, and reasoning, to kids, using original compositions, word problems, and logical solutions, in English and Spanish. She also defines concepts in Greek and Latin.

"¿Cómo no te voy a querer, amado libro? Si cada uno de tus coloridos dibujos artísticos, cada anécdota llena de aventuras se impregnan en mis sentidos."

Desarrollando… ayuda al lector a soñar, vivir, analizar, reír y aprender.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 23 jul 2021
• ISBN: 9781643347783

Vista previa del libro

How Could I Not Love You?

For Kevin

and Dennisse

How could I not love you, my beloved book? When you have accompanied me throughout the trajectory of my life; the memories from your artistic pages are rooted forever in my memory. Your episodes encapsulate my finest moments. Scenes from my everyday life, from the world that surrounds me, from my beautiful life are seen reflected in your heart, which you protect and share like the greatest of all secrets. Like a brilliant treasure, I keep them sacred.

How could I not love you, my beloved book? When I am the fruit of your wisdom. Your sweet words flutter in my consciousness, clinging to my memory. Since the time I was an orphan, you have been with me night and day. You have given me refuge, protection, kindness, support, companionship, love, teachings; you have been my guide; you have satisfied my hunger; you have given me the water of triumph to drink; and with your sweetness you diminished my solitude.

How could I not love you, my beloved book? When each one of your colorful, artistic scenes and anecdotes full of adventure filled my senses and feelings. Your illustrations have lit up my soul and my life. I see you wherever I roam. I absorb you in every breath of air. I love you in every exquisite taste of intellect that I savor. I touch you in every delicate, loving touch I feel. I sense you in each delightful fragrance of discovery that I receive.

I have loved with you

I have learned with you

I have sung with you

I have played with you

I have counted with you

I have dreamed with you

I have created with you

I have analyzed with you

I have rhymed with you

I have discovered with you

I have laughed with you

I have solved riddles with you

I have known the times with you

I have understood the times with you

I have sketched my dreams with you

I have imagined life with you.

Now, you know why I love you so much: Eres pan de bondad y flor de belleza. You are the most beautiful open chest of pearls. You have been the realization of my dreams, a reflection of my success, the expression of my feelings; in the end, I am the sum of your creative force. How could I not love you, my beloved book?

Claudia Quackenbush

For Analysis

You know that the center of emphasis of a sentence is its verb. The verb is the word that indicates the action that the subject performs. Examples of verbs are to laugh, to analyze, to read, etc. Try to read the same text without its verb. Do you understand what you are reading?

In the previous reading, there are several verbs. Identify them and write sentences with the same verbs. Share your reading with your classmates.

Language

Do you know the meaning of communication? To communicate comes from Latin comunicare, which translated into English means to have in common. So that communication can happen, it is necessary to have a transmitter, a message, a code, a channel, and a receptor.

The transmitter is the person or thing that sends the message, in either written, verbal, physical, or visual form.

The message is the content, the idea, or information transmitted.

The code is the very language used (linguistic sign), so there can be the same referent between the transmitter and the receptor.

The channel is the medium or means through which the message is transmitted. It could be by speech, by telephone, by newspaper, by book, or by electronic apparatus.

The receptor is the person who receives the message; there could be one or more receptors, an audience, for instance.

To illustrate this:

An example of transmitter is the author of this book.

An example of message is the content of this book.

A proof of a code is the language and references which are presented in this book.

An illustration of channel is this book, because it is the means by which the author is transmitting her ideas.

An illustration of receptor is you, my respected reader, who have received my message.

Language has diverse means of developing itself. Have you ever asked yourself how it is that animals communicate with humans? Read the following stories.

Fluke, a True Friend

Fluke is a very special labrador dog. From an early age, he showed signs of being a guardian friend. He is loving and mischievous. As soon as he sees me arrive from school, he starts barking, pulling my dress, jumping and playing around, hoping that I will give him a sweet treat. He puts his head on his front paws, showing how bored he has been and that, now, he wants me to play with him. Nevertheless, I don’t like dogs much. It isn’t that I don’t love them, but that I get allergies from dogs and cats. I have to tolerate Fluke because he is my brother’s pet dog. But I have to be really careful that he does not get too close to me since I would get dermatitis; regardless, the dog does not seem to worry much about that. He wants my attention, and he wants it now!

On Friday, in the afternoon, my brother and I took Fluke to the park. The dog looked at me very intensely. After a while, some boys invited my brother to play baseball, and he accepted. I was so distracted watching my brother and his new friends that I didn’t notice when, all of a sudden, a boy much older than I came up to me. His look was terrifying. At first, I just tried to ignore him, but Fluke sensed something strange in him and started to bark so furiously at him that some mothers walking with their children in the park came up to me to ask if everything was all right. The boy quickly ran away, and I felt more at ease.

From that moment on, I try to show Fluke my affection and gratitude, bringing him candy from school, saving a little of my chicken for him, and throwing my frisbee to him from my window. Every time I want to go out for a walk, Fluke comes to give me that be careful look, with great insight, and he heads for the door to get out before I do. So I don’t have many options; I take him everywhere I go, but at a distance.

Claudia Quackenbush

For Analysis

How is it that the girl and Fluke communicate? Talk about it with your classmates.

What was the message that Fluke communicated to the girl?

Was there just one receptor or several?

If you look closely, the text presents two verb tenses: present (at the beginning and at the end of the text), and past (in the middle of the text, and it serves to tell the story about Fluke).

The present is used to tell what happens at this moment in time, in a continuous sequence.

The past, on the other hand, is used to tell what happened a while ago and that does not have a connection with the present. The past tense is also known by the term preterite.

Read this story again and identify the present and past tense verbs. Write them in the spaces below:

Present Past

The Tame Cat

Little Kevin has been a very good boy, sensitive, smart, and kind; therefore, he has been able to understand animals very well. One day, his neighbor, Richard, gave him a gray cat that was somewhat wild; that is, no one could correct, hug, or even touch her without being scratched. As soon as little Kevin’s mother saw it, she began to worry about her son, but to her surprise, the outcome was very positive.

Little Kevin began by petting the cat, and she hissed at him, trying to scratch him, but the boy began to train her. Little by little, her bad temper went away, and soon he could play with her. He played horsie with her. He used her as a pillow. She became his confidant and toy. He used to share his cookies, his chips, his ham, and vegetable pieces that he didn’t want with her.

Every time little Kevin opened the front door, the cat ran to him, ready to receive some tidbit and to be petted by the child. She looked intensely at him and said, Meow! Meow! The wonderful child would give her any tidbit at hand, and then, he would play with her. The cat followed her owner all over the patio, to such an extent that she would not leave him for anything. Because she was not permitted to sleep in the house, she would lie down by the window of the boy’s room.

Every morning was the same: the boy got up and gave her a dish of milk for her breakfast, then following her banquet, playtime. However, one day that routine was interrupted, when the boy called the cat by her name, Candy! Candy! but she didn’t come. Little Kevin got the box of croquettes out and rattled them as he always did to call his pet, but she never came.

Many days later, they found her dead at the side of the road. Some people say that animals don’t like their owners to see them suffer, so when they feel they are going to die, they go far away. Little Kevin learned that animals have a secret language, and if someone learns how to understand them, that person will have a tame, loving pet.

Claudia Quackenbush

For Analysis

How did the boy and the cat communicate? Talk to your classmates and write what you think.

What was the message that the cat told the boy at the end of the story? Write what you learn.

What did the boy learn at the end of the story? Write what you think.

Have you ever had a pet like the ones in these stories? Explain.

Can you describe how birds communicate when they are frightened? Write what you have heard.

Can you describe how a mother cat calls to her little kittens? Write what you have heard.

Can you describe how dolphins communicate? Write what you have heard.

Can you describe how you communicate with your friends? Talk about it.

Did you know that it is not always possible to communicate with other people? Many people who speak English have trouble communicating with people who speak Spanish, French, German, Italian, or other languages. What must they do to overcome this problem? Learn other languages to be able to communicate with others from other countries.

Christopher Columbus, for example, had trouble writing his letters to the rulers of Spain to tell them about his discoveries and to describe the places he found. Why? Because neither he, nor the royalty of Spain had the same language referent or code, that is to say the same language as the natives of the lands that he discovered.

Have you thought about how to communicate with a friend or family member who is far away? Write your thoughts.

The Experiences of a Tourist in France

Mr. Johnson, an American businessman, had received a promotion in his job. He would be the CEO of the company he was working for, but first, he would have to go to France on a business trip. Mr. Johnson accepted happily. He did not think he could have any trouble, even though he did not speak French at all, since all his colleagues speak English. Nevertheless, he had difficulties from the moment he arrived. He was very hungry, but he could not see his colleagues to have them help him get something to eat since his appointment with them was not until the next day. He had thought that French was an easy language and, also, that everybody would understand English, since it is a universal language, so he decided to go to the closest restaurant to his hotel. When he was reading the menu, he was surprised to see a dish named poisson (fish in French). He thought, Do they really poison their customers here? He understood he would not be able to order by himself, so he looked for help from his smartphone.

He thought about ordering chicken: poulet, and potatoes, pomme de terre. He wanted to drink milk, but he did not have time to look on his cell phone translator, since a young waiter arrived at that very moment to take his order, and he asked him, "Qu’ est- ce que tu veux manger? Mr. Johnson told him what he wanted, and he said, Leche." He thought milk in French was pronounced the same as in Spanish. Because of his incorrect pronunciation, the waiter wrote what he understood, not what the man wanted. So he brought him chicken with an apple, because Mr. Johnson did not mention de terre, he just said pomme, which means apple. The waiter also brought him a slice of lettuce, since the man pronounced le-che, which phonetically has the same sound as laitue (lettuce) in French.

The poor businessman did not know what to do, how could he complain about it when he could not communicate in French? He wanted to order a dessert, so he told the waiter, An ice cream cone, please. The waiter understood that, and he said as he wrote, "Le dessert une glace. But phonetically, Mr. Johnson understood in a glass. So he said, No, in a cone. The man tried to explain to him what he was talking about, but he just said, Tant pis! Which means It doesn’t matter. But again, phonetically, Mr. Johnson heard, Donkey." He started to feel quite uncomfortable.

He wanted to eat bread. He remembered he saw on the menu the word pain for bread. But the pronunciation is different. It sounds like paw. Not like the American sound. The businessman asked for pain, with American pronunciation. Again, the waiter tried to help him to pronounce pain, but Mr. Johnson could not say it right. Despite all this, the waiter understood, and he brought the bread and butter. He placed them on the table at the same time that he was pronouncing the