Celebrating A Great Week

            The month of November is a time of more thanksgiving for us. Come join Ruth Ayres at Discover, Play, Build to share your celebrations.

            I want to share Friday's post at the Teaching Authors blogsite where they are beginning their annual tradition of inviting others to write Thankus.  A Thanku is a haiku of  thanks during this time of the year leading to Thanksgiving. If you'd like to share one, they will post it at the end of the month, and sometimes share on the blog. Even if you don't write one, it's wonderful to read all that others are writing.
             
              Time to celebrate my colleagues this week! I'd like to share that I'm going to be the core teacher in a classroom for the remainder of the year with the same age students I've taught before, 6th, 7th and 8th graders, what we term Advanced School. My mind is whirling, ideas are swirling, and I am grateful for colleagues who often stopped in to give hugs and offer help. I completed conferences Thursday and Friday, and had good conversation with students and parents, viewed their portfolios, and made future plans. I know I'll have much to share and celebrate in the weeks to come!

It's Random Noodling's Poetry Friday

            Come welcome November at Diane Mayr's Random Noodling. I'm sure you're find delightful poetry when you visit. Thanks for hosting, Diane!

            Leaves fill our lives in autumn, and this one in Colorado has been particularly spectacular. We've had only a few days of cold weather, and the next cold snap is coming after this coming weekend. Time for coats and scarves and gloves, but still scuffling through leaves, or when a wind blows up in part of the day, the leaves rearrange themselves, and fill my porch, too.

          Here's another "leafy" poem, one a little more somber for this month of November. I nearly shared a full moon poem for that beauty last night, but the leaves again overcame me.

Leaves
              by Elsie N. Brady

"How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,

           The rest is here, on a poetry/quote site.  Scroll down a little; it's after the Shakespeare quote.

Non-Fiction Picture Books - A Good Week

           Thanks to Alyson Beecher, we discover favorite non-fiction picture books every Wednesday when others link up on her blog, KidLit Frenzy. 

       When Marian Sang – written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Brian Selznick

          Somehow I missed this when it was published several years ago. The story begins with Marian’s childhood, all the way to her triumph singing at the Lincoln Memorial, with some follow-up of changes that occurred after that. The author and illustrator notes at the back are also of interest, adding more to Marian’s story, and the spark that started both down the path in crafting this book. The story of Marian’s voice is celebrated by interspersing songs she sang throughout her lifetime, and the illustrations fill the pages with a kind of celebration too. Even the background surrounding her on each page is meaningful in a historic sense. I enjoyed it very much.

Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries, & Sometimes Can Openers

Time for the weekly Slice of Life at the Two Writing Teachers blog.  Tweet at #SOL14  

       Thanks Stacey, Tara, Dana, Beth, Anna and Betsy!

          Bill Moyers says "Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous."  I have Mondays off, and even with Mondays off I am busy. Busy with my work, busy with my writing and reading, busy taking care of my home, busy with family and friends. There are times when I don't want to do anything exciting, and this November 3rd was one. Wet weather is unusual here in Denver, and I knew from the weather report that it was on its soggy way from the northwest, and still I was surprised to wake up in the early 'still-dark' morning to rain pounding on the roof. It was loud enough that I had to rise, open the shades and look. Yep, rain. Earlier, a little snow had drifted onto the grass and car (no garage), but now, rain.

It's Monday - Reading Reviews

Sheila at Book Journeys started It's Monday! What are you Reading?, a meme where bloggers share recent books read.

             Then, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started one with a children's focus.  It's great discovering what everyone has been reading!  Thanks Sheila, Jen, Ricki and Kellee!   Have a terrific week reading everyone!

Tweet at #IMWAYR

^{Chapter Book}

The Misadventures of The Family Fletcher – by Dana Alison Levy

            I read this so quickly, wanted to get back to it again and again. It’s just a terrific family story, filled with the ups and downs that a family with four sons might have, ins and outs of friends, living with one’s choices, taking the risk of something new, taking care of each other. Each chapter begins with a note, a bit of foreshadowing of the “misadventures” to come, and to look forward to. It will make a terrific read aloud, for discussing all the growing-up challenges that happen. They aren’t always bad, but life’s challenges that just happen. One learns and grows, and in the meantime, it’s time to just “be” a family.

Picture Books

Silence – by Leminscates, an illustration studio in Barcelona

             I’d never heard of Leminscates until I read this book. At the end of the book, it’s shared that a goal is to “encourage children to develop their unique talents and skills for a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.”  The story is told by a little girl who shares what she notices when she is silent, ‘waves crashing’ or ‘snow twinkling’ and on. The collages that make up the illustrations are gorgeous. Since we do so much nature journaling at my school, it will be a beautiful book to encourage silence, to see what children notice.