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The House at Pooh Corner

© 2018 Brave Writer — Julie Bogart: This is your copy. It may not be shared outside your family or resold in either digital or printed form.

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By A. A. Milne

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mailto:[email protected]

http://bravewriter.com



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Maybe you’ve heard the educationese term “scope and sequence”? Here's our version: the Brave Writer Spin and Spiral—terms and skills to visit and revisit.

In this issue of the Arrow:

» We’ll deconstruct a stylish run-on sentence;

» We’ll indent dialogue;

» We’ll punctuate dialogue with reverse dictation;

» We’ll begin a sentence with “And;”

» We’ll explore how italics emphasize;

» We’ll run, chase, charge, and sprint with synonyms; and

» We’ll select synonyms to stand in for “said.”

Brave Writer Spin and Spiral





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Week One The clock was still saying five minutes to eleven when

Pooh and Piglet set out on their way half an hour later.

(Chapter 1)





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Week OneRun-on Sentence

The clock was still saying five minutes to eleven when

Pooh and Piglet set out on their way half an hour later.

(Chapter 1)

© Dmitrii Kiselev | Dreamstime.com





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Why this passageThis short passage is only one sentence. The paragraph is completed with the following sentence:

The wind had dropped, and the snow, tired of rushing round in circles trying to catch itself up, now fluttered gently down until it found a place on which to rest, and sometimes the place was on Pooh’s nose and sometimes it wasn’t, and in a little while Piglet was wearing a white muffler round his neck and feeling more snowy behind the ears than he had ever felt before.

The second sentence is deliberately long for the sake of style. It is too long for copywork, but it provides an excellent passage for teaching about A. A. Milne’s writing style.

What to noteIn the passage for copywork, there are excellent vocabulary words related to time for this young set.

» clock

» five

» minutes

» eleven

» half an hour

» later





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In the sentence that follows in the paragraph, notice that this happens to be what is commonly referred to as a “run-on sentence.” A run-on sentence is one where the thoughts tumble freely from the pen of the writer without differentiating between them with periods and capital letters. A. A. Milne chooses to write like this is based on style. He likes the way this sentence creates a mood—Pooh and Piglet are caught in a little snow storm and are having to deal with it without pause.

Notice the use of commas in the sentence.

The wind had dropped,

This is a complete sentence but it is followed by the conjunction “and” which means another sentence is about to be added to the first.

and the snow, tired of rushing round in circles trying to catch itself up,

“and the snow” is the subject of the second complete sentence joined to the first sentence followed by a clause, “tired of rushing round in circles.”

now fluttered gently down until it found a place on which to rest,

This would be the end of the second complete sentence within this one long sentence.

The fact that another “and” follows the completion of these two sentences (joined by the first “and”) shows that A. A. Milne is now





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about to write a deliberate run-on sentence. Each time he uses “and” in this one long sentence, he is joining another complete thought to the previous one. If you were to drop the “ands” and simply use capitals and periods, the sentence would become multiple sentences and would look like this:

The wind had dropped. The snow, tired of rushing round in circles trying to catch itself up, now fluttered gently down until it found a place on which to rest. Sometimes the place was on Pooh’s nose. Sometimes it wasn’t. In a little while Piglet was wearing a white muffler round his neck and feeling more snowy behind the ears than he had ever felt before.

It’s important to compare the differences between these two renditions of this paragraph. While the second version is the way an editor would ordinarily correct the passage, Milne’s original is left in tact with the long string of “ands.” Why do you think that is?

A. A. Milne wants to convey a certain mood. He’s playful, making the words flow in singsong fashion. The narrative is fluid and child-like. He expresses through a lack of punctuation the unending feel of a storm. His run-on sentences are a stylistic choice, not a grammatical error.





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Read both versions of the passage (the original and the edited rewrite). Look at the placement of the “ands” and how they create a run-on sentence.

Run-on sentences are acceptable only when they are intentionally created with a deliberate eye for mood. Most kids won’t have an occasion to write run-on sentences with a stylistic purpose, however once they experience run-ons like Milne’s they may eagerly ask to try their hand at it! Let them. This is how kids learn about punctuation and language. They need to experience it in order to understand it.

Most of the time, though, it’s helpful to teach your kids to look for those “ands” in their own writing so that they can convert them to end marks and capitals. As a general rule, don’t combine more than two sentences with a conjunction.

Friday: French-style dictation

To reinforce the vocabulary from this week, use the French-style dictation passage.

» clock

» five

» minutes

» eleven

» half

» hour

» later

How to teach the passage





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Week One: French-style Dictation(Chapter 1)

The _____ was still saying ____ _______ to ______

when Pooh and Piglet set out on their way ____ an

____ _____.

Name: ___________________ Date: ___________________





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Week TwoEeyore walked all round Tigger one way, and then turned

and walked all round him the other way.

“What did you say it was?” he asked.

“Tigger.”

“Ah!” said Eeyore.

“He’s just come,” explained Piglet.

“Ah!” said Eeyore again.

(Chapter 2)





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Week TwoDialogue

Eeyore walked all round Tigger one way, and then turned

and walked all round him the other way.


“Tigger.”




(Chapter 2)

Why this passageThis is a simple dialogue that makes for easy transcription. It gives children practice with alternating speakers, as well.

I like the way the dialogue alternates characters and therefore runs straight down the page in indentations. It makes for a solid example of how to indent when changing speakers.

What to note





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The spellings of “Eeyore” and “Tigger” can be challenging. The double “ee” and the double “gg” (pronounced “guh” when Tigger says his own name!) need to be pointed out to your children. Tigger is a nickname for “tiger” so Milne plays with the spelling and sound.

Another noteworthy term is “round.” In American English, speakers and writers would say “around,” as in “Eeyore walked all around Tigger…” British speakers and writers use “round.”

Dialogue punctuation requires the proper placement of quotation marks. They go outside of the punctuation, so the question mark, the exclamation point, the period, and the comma all fit inside the closed quotes.

Monday

Discuss the notes and the following instructions.

Notice the use of the exclamation point and how the “said Eeyore” follows in lowercase. Punctuation within the quotation marks doesn’t end the sentence if the attributive tag (he said, she said) follows immediately afterwards.

To create proper indentation for such a long indented passage, try the following idea. Take a sheet of paper. Using a Sharpie marker and a ruler, make a long vertical line down the page about half an inch from the pink ruled margin line. Give this page to your child and put it underneath the page for writing. The thick black line is the one that your child will consult when indenting. Otherwise, the writing starts next to the pink ruled margin line on the copywork page itself.






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Tuesday

Copy this long sentence.

Eeyore walked all round Tigger one way, and then turned and walked all round him the other way.

It has a comma in the middle of it, so practice saying the sentence aloud so that the comma is obvious in how the sentence flows in speech. This kind of reading helps to solidify the pertinence of commas.

Wednesday

Because this is a dialogue with short, staccato sentences, your child may wish to do them all at once. However, an alternative is to handwrite the passage in two parts (so that the child has the practice of indenting more than once in one sitting).


“Tigger.”

Thursday

Copy these sentences.








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Continue on the same sheet of paper so that the dialogue all lines up. If your child’s handwriting is quite large, it’s possible that two of the sentences (one on Wed. and one on Thurs.) will wrap onto the next line. Help your child remember to go all the way back to the pink margin line when a sentence wraps. Indenting is only ever for the start of a brand new sentence.

Friday: Reverse dictation

Rather than French-style dictation, this week let’s focus on dialogue punctuation in reverse dictation. The focus of this week’s sheet is to put in the quotation marks where they go. Nothing more.





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Week Two: Reverse Dictation(Chapter 2)

What did you say it was? he asked.

Tigger.

Ah! said Eeyore.

He’s just come, explained Piglet.

Ah! said Eeyore again.

Name: ___________________ Date: ___________________





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Week ThreeAnd that was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks,

which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to

play on the edge of the Forest.

(Chapter 6)





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Week ThreePoohsticks

And that was the beginning of the game called Poohsticks,

which Pooh invented, and which he and his friends used to

play on the edge of the Forest.

(Chapter 6)

Why this passagePoohsticks is such a great game. Though the invention of the game is not attributable to Milne (what child hasn’t tossed a stick off a bridge to watch it emerge on the other side?) the name “Poohsticks” is.

What to noteThis is a single sentence passage. It is long and uses two clauses that begin with the word “which.” Most grammar and punctuation books suggest that a comma comes before the use of the word “which.” If you change the word to “that,” no comma is required.

The sentence begins with the word “And.” More often than not, it’s a good idea to revise writing that includes sentences starting with





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“And.” That said, in some stories and styles of writing, “And” at the start of a sentence creates connection between ideas. It also serves to create a bridge between two ideas in two different sentences. Milne uses it here to convey a childlike storytelling pattern (which is often marked by “and then...” types of recitation: “And then we went to the park. And then we played baseball. And then she got hit in the head with the ball!”)

The final word of the passage is “Forest.” Ask your child what’s unusual about it. The “F” is capitalized, which is not usual for a common noun. In this book, however, the “Forest” is a very specific place. It’s not just any forest, just as when you talk about your mother, you refer to her as “Mother,” because she is not just any mother.

“Poohsticks” is a compound term (a mash-up!). It combines Pooh’s name and the word “sticks.” Obviously. Point that out to your kids, though!

This is clearly a time to talk about made-up games. Some of the most memorable events in my children’s lives are the games they created: color tag, Stick-the-Take (don’t ask), their own version of Clue using our house for the rooms, and 3-D chess. Small children enjoy making up their own rules for games they already know. All you need is some kind of target and projectile! A ball, a Frisbee, a stuffed animal, or a stick—any of these can become the primary tools in a game.

If you have time, take a trip to a local creek and play “Poohsticks.” See if the rules hold up in real practice.





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It’s brief enough that this passage can be completed in one or two sittings max. Use this week to ask your child to select a passage from the book for one of the other days of the week. Consider discussing it in the ways that you have learned to evaluate passages in this issue of the Arrow.

If your kids choose to invent a game this week, try rewriting the passage putting the proper attributions, for another copywork passage.

And that was the beginning of the game called _____________,

which _______ invented, and which he and his friends used to

play (at, in, on, near) _________________.


The following terms are the ones to go with this week’s French-style dictation passage.

» And

» game

» called

» which


» which

» friends

» play

» Forest





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Week Three: French-style Dictation(Chapter 6)

___ that was the beginning of the ____ ______

Poohsticks, _____ Pooh invented, and _____ he and his

_______ used to ____ on the edge of the ______.

Name: ___________________ Date: ___________________





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Week Four “Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not

even when I’m a hundred.”

Pooh thought for a little.

“How old shall I be then?”

“Ninety-nine.”

Pooh nodded.

“I promise,” he said.

(Chapter 10)





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Week FourItalics

“Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not

even when I’m a hundred.”



“Ninety-nine.”

Pooh nodded.


(Chapter 10)

Why this passageThe ending is so touching. Christopher Robin is both ready to move into the world of school and not quite ready.

© Steve Mann | Dreamstime.com





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Introduce your kids to the idea of italics. Italics are used for emphasis. This passage is a part of a longer conversation and is actually full of other words in italics. Read the page with your child, holding the book open, and ask your child to point out other instances of italics. Read the sentences without emphasizing the italicized words, then with emphasis to see why a writer might choose this punctuation form. Remind your children that punctuation serves a writer—it’s a way for writer’s convey to readers the way the words sound in their own heads as they write. This copywork passage italicizes both the words “promise” and “I.”

This is another dialogue interrupted by two behaviors. Pooh thinks and Pooh nods. These two actions are single sentence paragraphs. Milne gives special weight to these actions, almost as if they are part of the conversation—a silent form of communication just as important as any spoken words.

What to note

Monday

Discuss the notes. Practice reading the passage aloud, giving the italicized words emphasis. Make sure your child tries it too. For further fun, emphasize different words and see how the meaning or mood changes.






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Tuesday

Have your child copy this sentence. Indent it. Use your “indentation guide” if it helps. To italicize in handwriting, put an underline under the word. We don’t use italics except in typewritten copy.

“Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred.”

Wednesday

Have your child copy the next sentences. One is a sentence of prose (non-dialogue).

The second is a comment (dialogue).



Thursday

Finish the passage. Note that the number is not written in numerals, but in words.

“Ninety-nine.”

Pooh nodded.






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This week’s passage lends itself to a couple of areas for practice. Both italicized words are listed. To show italics in the dictation passage, ask your child to underline the words (promise, I) underneath the provided writing line. Two additional words need capitals (How, Ninety-nine) in addition to the pronoun “I.”

Note the two double letter words: little, nodded.

» promise

» hundred

» little

» How

» I

» Ninety-nine

» nodded

» I

» said





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Week Four: French-style Dictation(Chapter 10)

“Pooh, _______ you won’t forget about me, ever.

Not even when I’m a ________.”

Pooh thought for a ______.

“___ old shall _ be then?”

“______-____.”

Pooh ______.

“_ promise,” he ____.

Name: ___________________ Date: ___________________





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Synonyms

Literary Element

Definition: A synonym is a word that has a similar meaning to another word. For instance, “happy” and “content” are synonyms.

What purpose do synonyms play in good writing?

They help the writer to repeat the same idea or thought or item without over-using the original term.

For example, if a writer wants to write about a game of soccer, it would be easy to get into a rut of talking about players, balls, kicks, and goals. Synonyms enable the writer to write about the same subject for a sustained period without sacrificing linguistic interest.

Read the following two accounts and note the repetition of terms in the first and the synonyms used in the second.

Katie ran onto the soccer field grinning. She ran down the field chasing the ball. Two defenders ran toward her and tried to kick the ball away. But Katie ran forward, eyes on the goal. She kicked the ball into the goal and scored!

This paragraph over-emphasizes the need for synonyms for a specific purpose. It illustrates how important a variety of terms are to good writing. Let’s look at this same paragraph with the use of well-placed synonyms.





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Katie ran onto the soccer field, grinning. She sprinted over the grass, chasing the black and white orb. Two defenders charged toward her and tried to kick the ball away. But Katie dashed forward, eyes on the goal. She booted the ball into the net and scored!

Synonyms are useful when you want to upgrade the interest-level of your writing.

Let’s look at how to use synonyms effectively. It’s helpful to write the bare bones (draft) of the writing piece without worrying about word variety. Simply get the ideas down in the easiest manner. Once you have a draft, you can underline the words (key terms) that repeat. Not every use of a word needs to be replaced with an alternate term. However, it’s important to season the paragraph with at least two choices if the term repeats more than three times. It’s like adding a little nutmeg or salt to a recipe.

Look at the example above. The word “ball” repeats three times so I chose to change one of those uses to “black and white orb.” Likewise, the word “goal” repeats twice and so the first time, I used the word “goal” but the second time I used the word “net.” The word “net” combined with “scored” communicates “goal.”

The most frequently repeated term in the original paragraph were variations on the term “to run.” I used a thesaurus to help me think of alternate terms that communicated something similar. That search yielded “sprinted,” “dashed,” and “charged.” For “kicked” I found the word “booted” as an alternate.

Using a thesaurus is not cheating. It’s a wonderful skill to develop and often leads to a deeper investigation of language use and vocabulary. Word processing programs usually have a thesaurus





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that will suggest a short list of alternate word choices. You can use a thesaurus and read word choices to your children and let them pick between the options.

Writers can also page through magazines, ask a parent or sibling, or simply wrack their own brain for ideas. There are lots of ways to get good synonyms for your writing.





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Let’s have fun with synonyms this month. Try any of these exercises.

He said, she said

The most frequently used word in dialogue attributions is “said,” but there are literally dozens of alternatives. As a team, have everyone take a week to collect as many different verbs as possible that can replace the word “said.” Feel free to use “chortled” and “quipped,” even though they take the meaning of “said” further. The idea is to think of as many words as possible that can replace “said.”

Hint: There are far more than you might imagine. A big sheet of butcher paper stapled or taped to a wall makes a wonderful place for everyone to contribute, while watching the list grow. Pay special attention to the choices used in the novels you’re reading. It’s okay to use a thesaurus, too.

Pick a paragraph

Improve a paragraph! Pick any paragraph from a book or article. Now, see how many of the terms can be altered with synonyms. Be silly! No reason that the paragraph can’t be over-the-top ridiculous in its rewrite. The goal of this practice/activity is to give kids a chance to focus exclusively on one thing: the act of hunting for and selecting synonyms. Change as many words as you can. Count the total number of words. Count how many were changed and see how many are left.

Synonym competition

On another sheet of butcher paper or on a whiteboard, put the following terms at the top horizontally. All week, add terms that can

Writing Activity





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be synonyms to the specific words in lists going down the page. At the end of the week, see which terms “won.” The longest list of synonyms is the winner!

» to see

» to eat

» frightened

» good

» beautiful

» tired

» bright

» first

» interesting

» move (as in all the ways a body can move)

Add to this list as you think of words.

Advanced writing option: Suggest (if your children are capable enough) a freewrite at the end of the week where they pick one synonym cluster and include every version of the word in one long story or piece of writing.





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Hello, Book Club Planners!

This book club guide is packed with ideas for a memorable “book club party school.” Pick and choose the ideas that work best for you, your location, and the children involved. Believe me when I say: even I won’t use all of the ideas included in this guide, but I wanted to provide you with a lot of choices. Go forth and kick-start a lifetime of literary enjoyment for your kids.

Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood. We are so glad that you are here.

Everyone has started gathering in the forest to meet you. Pooh Bear has already started eating, of course. He just couldn’t resist Kanga’s honey cookies. He is probably dipping them in honey. That silly bear just can’t get enough honey.

We hope that Owl will be flying in later too. He is still repairing some of the damage done to his house when the tree fell over.

Let’s go join the group. I am pretty sure Pooh has started reciting one of his famous poems, and I don’t want to miss it.

Book Club Party School

House at Pooh Corner

By Mary Wilson





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In Which We Enter the One Hundred Acre Wood» Decorate using colors that represent the modern Winnie-the-

Pooh, yellow and red. Consider hanging yellow and red balloons outside the front door or on the mailbox to mark the location. Cover the table with a red tablecloth and use yellow plates and utensils.

» Hang a buzzing beehive in the corner of the room. Use a yellow round paper lantern and glue bees to the lantern. Paper lanterns can often be found online or at the local dollar or craft stores. Look for small, toy bees at a local craft shop or make them out of paper.

» Meet outdoors or bring the woods indoors. Decorate with sticks, rocks, acorns, and other woodsy items. Fill a vase with woodsy items to use as a centerpiece or leave a few on the table as their own centerpiece.

» Display Winnie the Pooh and friends stuffed animals or toys in the meeting area.

» Play the song, “The House at Pooh Corner,” as your guests arrive. You can also play “The More It Snows (Tiddely-Pom).” Both can be found by searching for the song title online.

In Which We All Enjoy a Little Smackerel of Something» Honey. Honey is a “must-have” at any Pooh party, and you can

serve it in a variety of ways.

» Bit-O-Honey candies

» Honeysticks (also known as Honeystix)





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» Honey for dipping (give a tiny glass jar filled with honey to each guest and provide biscuits or fruit for them to dip in their honey)

» Honey cookies (look for recipes online)

» Kanga’s Sandwiches. Make sandwiches for everyone to enjoy. Kanga makes a watercress sandwich for Roo, and you can find a basic recipe online for these if you want your group to try them. In addition, provide ham, turkey, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for your guests.

» Tiger’s Tails. Dip half a pretzel rod into melted orange Candy Melts (found at your local craft shop) and then place it on wax paper while it hardens. Drizzle melted chocolate over the orange to create “stripes.”

» Piglet’s Haycorns. Use melted chocolate or frosting to adhere a Hershey Kiss onto a Nutter Butter bite. Enjoy your edible Haycorns.

» Malt Strengthening Medicine. Buy malted milk ball candies so your guests can enjoy some of Roo’s “Extract of Malt” medicine.

» Teatime Drinks. Serve lemonade labeled, “A Very Nearly Tea” and serve sweet or unsweet tea labeled “A Proper Tea.”

In Which the Guests Entertain Themselves» Play Poohsticks. Walk or drive to a local river or creek with a

bridge that crosses it. For the game to work, the current must be strong enough for the water to carry your twigs. Each child should find a twig and line up on the bridge. Drop the twigs at the same time off the bridge. Run to the other side to see whose twig appears first.

» Feed Pooh Bear. Draw a large image of Pooh Bear on a poster or tri-fold display and cut a hole for his mouth. Purchase or make small bean bags (honey pots) to toss into Pooh’s





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mouth. If you sew them yourself, use yellow fabric and write “Hunny” on them with backward “N’s.”

◊Hang the poster or prop the tri-fold display so that your guests can toss the honey pots into Pooh’s mouth. If necessary, two guests can hold it while the others toss the bean bags and then rotate.

◊If you have a Cornhole game set, decorate one side with a poster of Pooh Bear using the Cornhole opening as his mouth. Toss the honey pots (bean bags) into his mouth to score points.

» Help Rabbit find Small. Use a small object to represent Small in this game of hide and seek.

◊For the first round, hide the object in the room and invite the kids to find “Small” without telling them what they are looking for. After all, Pooh didn’t know what Small looked like while he was searching.

◊For subsequent rounds, everyone should leave the room except for one child who should hide “Small.” Once “Small” is hidden, everyone should return to the room and search for him.

» Build a House for Eeyore. Using small pretzel sticks and chocolate frosting, let your guests build a house for Eeyore. After everyone creates a new house for Eeyore, they can eat their designs.

◊Optional: Provide mini marshmallows as a building supply to represent the snowy day.

In Which the Children Write a Poem» Pooh writes about everyday moments in his poetry, and he loves

to play with rhyming words. Select a few of Pooh’s poems or songs to read to the kids for inspiration.





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» Tiddley Pom (Chapter 1)

» Song about his friends (Chapter 4)

» Noise, by Pooh (Chapter 5)

» Rabbit and Tigger poem (Chapter 7)

» Sunny Spot poem (Chapter 8)

» Owl’s Fallen House poem (Chapter 8)

» Here Lies a Tree (Chapter 9)

» Poem about Christopher Robin (Chapter 10)

◊Write a group poem about today’s book club meeting. Work as an entire group or in pairs to compose couplets. (Couplets are two lines that rhyme, usually similar in length and rhythm.)

◊Join all of the couplets together into one long group poem. The book club host mom can email the final version to all of the participating families.

Sing Ho! for the Hundred Acre Wood Book Club! Sing Ho!



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