Petaloso: A New Word Blossoms Forth
What adjectives would you use to describe a flower? This is the question an Italian primary school teacher asked her class. One of the students, an 8-year-old boy, wrote down “petaloso” meaning “full of petals.” The only problem was that there’s no such word in the Italian dictionary. At least not yet.
The ending “oso” is common in Italian. But it’s never been applied to flower petals. The boy and his teacher wrote to the Italian institution that oversees language. And to their surprise, they received a letter from an official linguist. It read in part:
It’s beautiful and clear. . . If you manage to spread your word among many people who start saying ‘What a petaloso flower this is!’, then petaloso will have become a word in Italian.
The teacher posted the letter on Facebook, and now there’s a movement to make “petaloso” a widely used word. Now that’s a language lesson her class will never forget!
Read more details at: How an eight-year-old boy invented a new word”, or you can listen to the story on NPR.
On One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks, and a Few More Icks
What adjectives might your students use to describe a goldenrod flower? After reading the book One One Flower, they might call it a “mini-beast park.” That’s because an animal “community” inhabits a single flower. To name a few: a butterfly sips nectar . . . a ladybug snacks on aphids . . . and, uh oh, look out for the ambushbug!
The story is written in rhyming cumulative verse, and two pages of “Field Notes” and “fun facts” at the back of One One Flower offer intriguing information on all the critters.
A single goldenrod plant is home to a remarkable variety of insects. Each insect uses specially developed senses to survive. In this lesson students discover how insects use their senses in different ways. For example, a stinkbug uses a stinky smell (eew!) as a defense, while a lady bug uses an unpleasant taste (yuk!) to deter predators. Get complete directions here.
Detailed and realistic-looking illustrations, accompanied by an informative narrative full of satisfying-gross bug facts make this story perfect for the aspiring insect expert. —Connecticut Country Kids
Follow