{#sol15} The Melting 9/31

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers

There are puddles everywhere and this is a good thing - a very good thing. I took my dog for a walk yesterday and we kept running into puddles. Some even looked like ponds or lakes. It made the journey tricky sometimes, but we enjoyed our time outside.

The snow is melting and everything is wet, but I'll take it. My dog needed a bath when we got back from our walk, but it was worth it being out there with all signs pointing to spring. Every year around this time I think of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. When the White Witch's spell ends, they start to hear the dripping and they know that spring has finally come. We will have highs in the 40s and 50s this week. Winter's grip is loosening and that lifts my spirits for sure.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. Jen Vincent over at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye from Unleashing Readers decided to put a children's and YA spin on it and they invite anyone with an interest to join in. You can participate by creating your post then visit one of their sites to add your site. Finally, visit at least three participant blogs and comment to spread the love.

If you want to know more about what I am reading, visit me at my Goodreads shelf. Images via Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

The Past Week: 

 

I reviewed Black Dove, White Raven at Rich in Color. It was another well done historical fiction book by Elizabeth Wein. It took a bit of effort at the beginning, but overall I enjoyed it. 

A Fine Dessert was one that really impressed me. I know that in our social studies curriculum there is an emphasis on change over time and this would be a perfect book for showing that concept at the lower grades. It shows how a dessert has been prepared over hundreds of years and how that has changed by degrees. I loved the book and am excited for berry season to arrive so I can use the recipe. 

Lend a Hand is a wonderful poetry collection showing a variety of ways to be helpful to others. 

Water Rolls Water Rises is beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing water in many forms and in many places around the world. 

This Day in June does a fantastic job of showing what a Pride celebration may be like. The best part is the information in the back that explains things in more detail (since the text is simple) and gives pointers on how parents can share about the topics.

Go, Shapes, Go! is a great concept book about shapes that is done via collage. The shapes are moved many times and would likely inspire readers to make their own collages.

I also enjoyed most of the other books, but I'm running out of steam and need to get to sleep so if you want to know more about them, head to my Goodreads shelf.

The Coming Week: 

I'm still listening to The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich. I have made some more progress in The Elements of Style. I started Invent to Learn in response to the Maker Space session I went to this week. I'm hoping to get to Matt de la Peña's book The Hunted and possibly Gregorio's None of the Above. Have a wonderful week!

Celebrate!

Ruth Ayres has a link-up on Saturdays where people link to posts that are celebrations about their week. I love this reminder to celebrate every week.

Here are some of my reasons to celebrate.

* I committed to doing the March Slice of Life Story Challenge and it is becoming a habit. I am starting to write things down during the day for my slices.

* Slices help with my Celebrate posts. I can look back through my slices and see the highlights of the week. My first slice was about our tech crew touring our construction site.

* My daughter started at her first official job this week. It has been exciting watching her move into this new part of her life. 

* For Dr. Seuss/Read Across America Day and World Read Aloud Day (sliced about that here), staff and students had many opportunities for fun reading experiences this week. Three classes were also able to video chat with some students around the country. We shared poetry and picture books with others. We learn something new with each chat. 

* I was able to attend a Maker Space workshop (sliced about it here) as we plan for our new library space next year. It gave me lots of intriguing ideas.

* I spent a day in Madison and had a wonderful time with book people at the CCBC (sliced here), visited a library and also a museum (sliced here), and spent time with my son.

This was a week full of celebrations and I wish you a wonderful week to come.

{#sol15} The World Through Art 8/31

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers

During my visit to Madison yesterday, I was finally able to go to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. It's housed within the Overture Center for the Arts. I enjoyed seeing one of Deborah Butterfield's horse sculptures in the lobby. Immediately the horse sculpture at the Walker Art Center came to mind. I checked later, and yes, they are both her work.

The stairs are a slightly unsettling experience. They appear to be glass planks fitted into a metal frame. The whole structure bounces just the slightest bit with each step and there are open spaces between each stair. All of the glass everywhere does make it feel very open and light though.

I was disappointed that the sculpture garden on the roof isn't open during winter, but now that I know it's there, I'll definitely be visiting when the weather is warmer. 

My favorite part of the museum was the photography exhibit, Lands in Limbo, by Narayan Mahon. The collection of photos is part of a book project he's working on centering around unrecognized countries - Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus, Trandsniestra (Transnistria), Nagorno Karabakh and Somaliland.

One photo that really caught my eye was Barber Shop, Lefkosa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, 2008. There is a slice of life feeling to the picture. Men are getting haircuts or a shave and conversing all the while. What made it even more interesting was the way the photographer caught the mirrors so viewers see from the front and the back. Beyond that, the photo was mounted on a wall that faced the street. As I looked at it, I realized that in the reflection of the glass in the frame, I could also see the Madison street scene outside the museum. All of a sudden, people in Madison, WI became part of this moment of time from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Without meaning to, the people walking past the museum on the sidewalk were stepping in and out of the scene in a barber shop thousands of miles away.

The world consists of so many, many people going about their daily business, but we are moving through life together even if we are separated by great distances, language, and politics.

{#sol15} CCBC Choices 7/31

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers

Some books from CCBC Choices 2015

Today I crawled out of bed at 5:50 even though it was a Saturday because there were books to see. I will take books over sleep. I drove to Madison (2 1/4 hrs) for CCBC Choices Day. It turns out I will also take books over food. They had wonderful breakfast treats, but after I filled my plate, I set it aside to eat during the meeting and went to read books instead. There were so many good ones to enjoy. 

It was also fun to chat with old and new friends during the breaks and afterwards. Talking to book people is the best.

When all of the festivities were over, I went to the public library downtown expecting an event in the maker space, but alas, it wasn't to be. It had been postponed or cancelled. That opened up time for me to read some more in the children's section and even walk over to the modern art museum that I have been wanting to visit. 

To top off the afternoon, I was able to spend some time with my son before I drove home. All in all, it was a fantastic day.

{#sol15} Hooray for Library Hold Shelves 6/31

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers

Some of my favorite emails come from my public library. They say things like, "The following items are ready to be picked up at your library...." The beauty of the system is my ability to visit the online catalog and order up to fifteen items. It has only been in the past ten years that this magic has been available. I have so much love for this system. I could only love it more if they would let me order more items.

On top of that, if the items aren't available in our library system, I can go to the Interlibrary Loan catalog and order it there. Things like this used to be so much more complicated and would take a long time.

After opening my email, I zipped over to the library. Now I have some awesome books and DVDs. Here's what I may be watching and reading in the coming week:

Hooray for library hold shelves & online catalogs!

{#sol15} Rushing 5/31

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge 

hosted by Two Writing Teachers

Today was a day of rushing. I am often late and many times and telling myself, "No running in the halls." I fuss at children for doing it, but I should probably tell them that I fuss at myself too.

I won't tell you if I was late to work, because even I wouldn't be that transparent on the Internet. You may believe what you like on that score. I had things to do before my first class and we had pre-k come in for a quick check out. Even when I am in a hurry, it is fun to see them. Their eyes get so big when they find a book that looks interesting to them.

I had regular classes, but in one class we also had another Skype as an extension of World Read Aloud Day. Since I don't have my own classroom anymore (renovation woes), doing a Skype visit is a more complicated thing. We had an awesome time reading poems with a class from Seattle.

The afternoon was a little less stressful at least until the lights went out (more renovation woes). The best part of the day though, was our team meeting. My team is comprised of the teachers from Art, Music, PE, Guidance, Library and Technology. We usually meet once a week. This week the only thing on our agenda was glazing our pinch pots. We chatted while we painted the pots we made during a meeting last month. I picked a nice bright red and loved slathering the glaze all over the place. I made a bit of a mess too. It was a wonderful way to end the school day.

When I got home I had to rush to the feed store so my dog won't starve tonight. He had 1/2 cup of food left. The store closes at 5:00, but I made it. Whew.

The last bit of rushing for the day is finishing up a book and reviewing it. The review is supposed to be posted by tomorrow. Why didn't I finish it earlier? It may be because I was binge watching the first three seasons of Downton Abbey last weekend so I could go to a Downton Abbey tea party at the library last Sunday. Oops.