Chalking Goodbye to April with Shakespeare

        Sharing one beautiful picture book that will help teachers share some Shakespeare with young students. Go to Alyson Beecher's Non-Fiction Picture Book Wednesday here!  Tweet at #NFPB14

  Betsy Hubbard started the wonderful Chalk-A-Bration (here at Teaching Young Writers) to chalk poems at the end of each month, I think last year sometime. It's been quite an April-so much poetry to love and enjoy, so many bloggers doing amazing projects. I'm ending with a discovery I made just yesterday, a poetic line from Shakespeare from a new book, and an original poem, all in celebration of April, poetry month.

A "Sorry" Slice of Life

           Time for the weekly Slice of Life at the Two Writing Teachers blog.  Tweet at #SOL14  Thanks Stacey, Tara, Dana, Beth, Anna and Betsy!
           I love flowers, and until I can cut some of my own, I purchase them at my grocery. I always hope they last a long time, not just because of the expense, but also because I learn to love them a little when they are with me every day. It's slightly different with the plants, I talk to them, and am convinced they hear me. Those I like best (yes, there are favorites) thrive better than the others, although I really do not neglect any.
          It is still poetry month, the next to last day, and I promised I would do something poetic every single day, and I have reviewed poetry books, written poems, shared those by others, etc. Tomorrow I'll link up and end the month with Betsy Hubbard for Chalkabration! Don't forget!

Monday, More from my Book Buddy

        Thanks to Jen at Teach.Mentor.Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers for hosting our Monday Reading community. I discover so many wonderful books here.

         I’ve completed only a few picture books this week, and have nearly finished A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (with a group).  Both good, both different, but have more commonalities than I originally thought. I highly recommend both.

New Photo Editing-Digilit Sunday

             Margaret Simon, of Reflections on The Teche, is trying to encourage people to link up for "Digilit Sunday" to share some things they're doing, or learning how to do, with technology. Thanks, Margaret! Myra Garces-Bacsal of Gathering Books suggested this new online photo editing tool in a comment. I've found it quite easy and fun to use. I've played with types of collages this time, but one can also create cards and use just one photo to edit, enhance with all kinds of different tools. Each time I did this, I discovered new ways to change the borders, new backgrounds, etc. Check out fotor.com for new kinds of creating!

Celebrating Good Things

Thanks to Ruth Ayres, we can Celebrate each week together! Tweet at CelebrateLu  Link up here!

     "There are exactly as many celebrations in life as we choose to celebrate." Robert Brault.  

         I've often said my mother and I had a long distance/telephone relationship. We lived far apart, and I couldn't see her more than twice a year. I talked with her nearly every day when she was alive, and I miss the conversations. She gave me a magnet a long time ago and every time I see it, of course I think of her. It says: "Barn's burnt down...now I can see the moon." So I celebrate my mother and her upbeat attitude that I learned.