92. Butterflies for Kiri by Cathryn Falwell
September 27, 2009 at 8:05 pm 1 comment
Retell: Kiri loves to paint and draw. When her Auntie Lu sends her a package of origami paper, Kiri begins teaching herself how to fold a paper butterfly. She gets to a point where her corners are supposed to match up and tears her paper. She attempts the butterfly the next day but she is scared that she will tear one of her beautiful papers. Through practice and persistence Kiri eventually folds a successful butterfly.
Topics: origami, art, paper, diagrams, how-to
Units of Study: Realistic Fiction
Tribes: personal best, appreciations/no put-downs
Habits of Mind: persisting, striving for accuracy, creating-innovating-imagining, thinking flexibly, managing impulsivity, taking responsible risks, remaining open to continuous learning
Writing Skills: including similes, making several drafts before publishing
My Thoughts: I wish I had known about this book years ago when I started a paper crane project with my fourth graders. We read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, folded 1,000 paper cranes, and sent them to a school in Japan who delivered our cranes to the peace memorial in Hiroshima. When I had started the project, I didn’t realize how difficult paper crane folding would be for that age. Some students were able to pick it up quickly while others got really frustrated with the process. Kiri teaches us how to deal with frustration. She took a break from the project, practiced with other materials, and tackled the project with new energy. Throughout this book many ‘habits of mind’ are presented. Even if you don’t plan on doing origami with your class, it’s great to read during the revising process of any Writing unit.
Entry filed under: Female Authors, Picture Books. Tags: "creating imagining innovating", appreciations/no put-downs, art, diagrams, how-to, managing impulsivity, origami, paper, persisting, personal best, realistic fiction, remaining open to continuous learning, similes, striving for accuracy, taking responsible risks, thinking flexibly.
Teachable Texts 
1.
Cathryn | December 30, 2009 at 1:24 am
What a pleasure to know that a teacher “gets” this book, and knows how to use it for more than origami. There’s a bit of autobiography in Butterflies for Kiri. I, too, struggled with perfection, was afraid of using precious materials, and needed to find new paths for my creativity in order to free my imagination.
Thanks for your comments, and for your wonderful blog.
What lucky students you have!
Best wishes,
Cathryn Falwell