The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” was first a picture book by William Joyce. The book was written by Mr. Joyce to show his appreciation for his mentor, William Morris, a children’s book publisher. You can find the book in Henry Ford’s Media Center by clicking on this link.

When creating the film, Mr. Joyce designed the look and behavior of the main character, Morris Lessmore, after silent film legend, Buster Keaton.

Younger children will enjoy the sweet story of a man and his magical books, older children will be mesmerized by the physical comedy of Buster Keaton when they do a Google search of his films. Adults will need a box of Kleenex.

Enjoy! Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad3CMri3hOs

For the April 1 lesson: April is Poetry Month (and Baseball Season!)

Today’s Poem:

“First Girls In Little League” by J. Patrick Lewis

Today’s Key Vocabulary:

Key Vocabulary

Literacy:

First we’ll watch a YouTube video of the song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

  • Discussion time: How are the lyrics of a song like a poem?

Then we’ll read a book on the Promethean Board: “Goodnight Baseball.”

  • Discussion time: Does this book remind you of another you have read? (Maybe “Goodnight Moon?”) 

Media Skills

Launch the Henry Ford OPAC
● Log into the site
● Go to Search bar and type the word <sports> the hit the enter key on your key board. What do you notice about the types of books in your results? Are they a wide selection of fiction and nonfiction books? 

● Next, select the “Sports Fiction” section and note the types of sports books available.  

Discussion time: Why would you use either option? Which one would be faster if you wanted a chapter book about baseball?

● Assignment for today:
Students will choose a book from either search option and answer questions about it.

  1. Is the book fiction or nonfiction?
  2. Is the book in the library or checked out?
  3. What is the author’s name, what is the title?

 When students answer the question, they can go to free choice.  Including the new game, ABC Match at
https://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/abcmatch/

This Week’s Music:

Relaxing Music for Stress Relief

Free Audio Books from Audible Stories

For as long as schools are closed, this site will be open. Starting today, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids.

All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.

Explore the collection, select a title and start listening.

It’s that easy. To access Audible Stories, click on this link: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

Looking for eBooks?

Follett, a company that provides library books and other materials, is making its content available free through June 30, 2020.

To access the books, you must first register. Click on this link to fill out the registration form.

After the registration form is filled out, you will see a new window with the information below:

  1. In the Location box, it says “Any Location.” Do not change.
  2. In the School box, enter “Follett eLearning, McHenry, IL” and click Go!
  3. To log in, click on the “Log In” button at the top right of the screen. In the Location box, it says “Any Location.” Do not change.
  4. In the School box, enter
    Follett eLearning, McHenry, IL” and click Go!
  5. To log in, click on the “Log In” button at the top right of the screen.
  6. Use the user name <guest> and the password <follett> to login.

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