projects – Peaceful Reader

Let’s touch base…

It’s the end of April! We’ve had a fantastic month of poetry for most of my students at school. I mean of course there are a few hold-outs who just can’t get into it but that’s okay. We did some borrowed poetry with Kwame Alexander and my littles did a few acrostic and concrete poems about trees, the weather and Earth Day. We read a lot of poetry together and kids of all ages love the You Read to me; I’ll read to you series of poetry books by Mary Ann Hoberman. Reading a poem out loud to a group of your peers is a brave thing to do and reading it with a friend just makes it easier. 5th and 6th graders are doing a mash-up with The Hill We Climb by the amazing Amanda Gorman, poet laureate. We listened to her recite this poem and through Google Classroom each student has their own copy to edit how they choose. Ms. Gorman has many beautiful and meaningful phrases and some students were really able to conceptualize what Amanda’s intention was in this piece. The poem they compose with me will then be illustrated with our beautiful art teacher.

Last week I made a really delicious sweet potato dish from the NYT with wild rice that gave me lots of great lunches for school. I made some yummy m & m bars last night for a student party today at school and at the beginning of the week I made a chocolate vegan birthday cake for our son’s birthday. He took all the cake with him (or we gave him all the cake?) but I’m still thinking about the rich dark chocolate flavor. I am ready for the weekend, ready to relax and prepare mentally for the last month of school. Groovy Girl is almost finished with her freshman year of college and I’m ready for her to be home and in a summer routine.

And tomorrow is May Day! Ya’ll have your May Day baskets prepared yet? We don’t either but will do them tomorrow for maybe an early evening delivery time. Let’s head into May with a positive mindset and good weather for spending time outside.

Black History Month Lesson

I love this animated short that won an Oscar this year. We’ve shown in to 3rd-6th grade students and it’s created an atmosphere for good discussion about hair, cancer, and families. I worked hard to create an interesting history project for 5th and 6th grade students. It’s a Google Slideshow if you are interesting in checking it out or using it.

My students have been very engaged in research and creating their slideshows. I love their excited conversations as they find out facts. One group announced that John Lewis’ birthday was on February 20th and he was turning 80. They’ve discovered a few Iowans like Anna Mae Weems and were excited to know she is from Waterloo and that she is still alive! Lonnie G. Johnson invented the Super Soaker. Wow! I look forward to seeing their projects and knowing each of them learning a little something new which is what we all need to broaden our horizons.

I recently finished Maybe he just likes you by Barbara Dee which chronicles Mila as she navigates 7th grade with a group of unique friends and a group of harassing young men. These boys play a game centered around touching or talking about Mila’s body and she has a hard time fending them off. One of her friends keeps telling her she is taking it too seriously because maybe they like her or they are just joking. The boys continue the game even after Mila has asked them to stop. This is a wonderful book for middle or high school students to read although I personally didn’t think the boys were truly understand how their behavior was wrong. It certainly will create good conversations for students. Last weekend I read The War that saved my life which was a huge hit two years ago in the library but has been gathering dust this year. I took it home, read it and loved it so of course book talked the heck out of it with 5th-6th grade students and now it’s circulating again as is the sequel The War I finally won.

I’m still working on Mary Pipher’s book Women Rowing North. Aging is tough and this book is an excellent navigational resource. I want to highlight the heck out of this book except that it isn’t mine.

School Bells are ringing…

My seniors!

As August draws to a close I’m celebrating not only the beautiful summer I had but the new school year that is upon us. The happy small faces filled our clean hallways last week on Backpack Night and you could feel their excitement. Hugs were tossed about like confetti, hellos and high fives passed up and down. They were ready to be back in their routines. Students were happy to announce all the books they read and I had about five former students stop by to say hi and get a quick hug.

Now we’ve had a full week back and it’s been the same excitement level as that first night. Students were thrilled to be in the library, checking out books, and seeing some changes. I purchased a large colorful story carpet from Scholastic, I’ve created a puzzle corner, and added an iPod/iPad corner so students can listen to podcasts. Our TedTalk Wednesdays will begin again next week. Lots to look forward to in the year. There’s a lot of fun mixed with important messages. Our school theme is “Adventure Awaits!” And my library theme is manners. We’ve already had one very telling conversation about cell phone use and how hard it is to get a parents’ attention away from their phone. We’re going to delve into all this deeper as we go about our regular library business.

Our 5th and 6th graders are soon to begin a collaborative graphic novel project between the library and the art room. We are super excited to start this first time project and the students have no idea yet! Our graphic novel section is popular and I’m thrilled to be able to introduce this project to them.

What has you excited for the coming year?

First day of Spring!

I went for a walk-about in my yard today to see if I could find any hints of Spring. Today is Spring Equinox and deep in my soul I needed to see a little sign that it would come. There are birds on the feeder flitting about, more than usual. I’ve seen squirrels getting extra friendly with each other but no real signs of Spring out there to me. I wanted to see sprouted green things as I marched around the yard in short sleeves, hopeful, but I froze and didn’t see one hint of sprouts. It is still dang cold out there even though we are seeing the sun a bit more and for longer in the day.

I had to search elsewhere for Spring. I read this Farmer’s Almanac article about the Spring Equinox which made me just want to see the “rebirth of flora and fauna.” I discovered this adorable dress growing over at Macy’s-it that made me think of Spring.

{source}

I unearthed these gorgeous tulip blossoms at Terrain that make me feel like Spring could be around some corner (not this corner but somewhere). My grandmother loved tulips and I loved to see hers pop up. I have bulbs planted and I can’t wait to see them shoot up soon, with deep hope that the squirrels did NOT dig them up for winter snacking.

I found these DIY projects that make me want to get down on my knees and dig in the dirt especially this fairy-looking bird house arrangement. Groovy Girl will love to help with this.

{source}

Isn’t that pretty! I’m going to gather the materials now so the first warm (really warm) day we can head out and put this together. I already have one bird house that needs a new home as it got knocked down during a winter storm.

What has you thinking Spring in your neck of the woods?