Travel Tuesdays: Trip Planning, Part 2

Once we choose a location for a trip, I begin doing a little research with our kids. I start at our local library's on-line catalog. After arriving at the website, I simply enter one of our library card numbers (or our alternate ID) and pin number. Then I can search for books, CDs, magazines, etc. to my heart's content. If you live in the US, you likely have the same service at your library. If you haven't used it, you're really missing out!

From the comfort of my own home, I can search my local library's complete catalog and the catalogs of the other libraries in our library system (Which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 libraries). If I find a book I want in another library, I simply click the "Place Hold" button. That book will usually arrive at my local library in a matter of days (Some take longer).

Here are a few titles I reserved for the kids last night:

A crafty one especially for my crafty daughter

A graphic style that will appeal to my son

A shorter non-fiction for my Kindergarten daughter

And a longer one to appeal to my 4th grade son.

Of course, globes and atlases will also feature heavily in our reading. We own several we like, though I recently read about this one from Barefoot Books that looks wonderful. 

(An aside: If you're not familiar with Barefoot Books, please visit their website. They produce lovely books).

What children's books about Italy have you enjoyed? Do you have any titles to recommend to us? How do you help your children learn about the places they'll visit?

Related posts:
Travel Tuesdays: Trip Planning
Travel Tuesdays: Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Children
Travel Tuesdays: Affording to Travel

Poet in Residence, part 2

Last Friday, I posted poems written by students in my son's grade 4 classroom. I served as "Poet in Residence" during the fall.


Today, I continue sharing their work. 

In January,

the joyful

kids play with

    S

       N

           O

                W.

Some ride

T

   O

       B

           O

                G

                    G

                        A

                             N

                                   S

                                      !

          by Gabrielle B.

Dinner Web

Dinner came here

For the spider

It is not a deer

it’s a fighter

A dragonfly came ready

his name is Freddy

He fought

but he got caught

by Noah M.

CHICKEN TEENAGERS WITH HOTSAUCE

One day while I was sitting in a field

I was eating chicken wings

as the breeze

hit me in the face

the chicken wings were good

they were buffalo chicken wings

my mouth was burning

like a … ouch ouch ouch

why is there hot sauce in my mouth

I must have fallen asleep

and those teenagers

put hot sauce in my mouth      

by Ethan D.

The Sweet Sounds Of Fall

Kids crawl

in piles of leaves.

Crisp leaves fall

from tall trees.

Cold wind slithers

across me like a snake.

I DASH on my bike

and bonce on the bumps.

I wear a costume

each Halloween.

I wear something

SCARY!

I carve a pumpkin,

with a grin.

And

school begins!

                    by Andrew S.

  

Thanksgiving Morning

everyone is in a good mood

and ready for all the yummy food

All the family is here

talking loud with cheer

we all watch football

then we nap to end it all.

by Kate B.

you mystery thing

your warm welcoming’s in the cold winter

warm maple syrup

your bumpy skin like a driveway

you dropping 

                         clump

                                     clump

the warm maple syrup the tree next to you

had gave me

oh wait I think you might be a...

P-I-N-E-C-O-N-E

a pinecone

by Kylie S.

Please leave a comment for these young poets. I'll publish more next Friday.

Related Posts:

Poet in Residence

Seashell Poetry- Lunes
Fall Haiku

Wordless Wednesday: First Snow of 2012

Photos taken 10 January 2012 

Travel Tuesdays: Trip Planning

"Travel, undertaken with mindfulness, can be a powerful vehicle for transformation."

~ Joseph Dispenza, The Way of the Traveler

My family is in the early stages of planning a trip to Sicily and Lipari to trace my husband's family roots. We had planned to go last year, but skyrocketing airfare due, in part, to the Arab Spring, led us to postpone. We scaled back travel plans last year, saved up our travel money, and now we're ready to plan in earnest.

I love this early dreaming phase. We've been pouring over guide books, perusing sites that rent villas, and agonizing over airfare. I love the dreaming, the endless possibilities, that excited feeling in the base of my stomach. It's exhilarating.

And maybe a little bit tiring. Where should we stay? Is this other place better? Will that place meet our needs? Should we fly to the islands or take a ferry?

But here's what I've learned from previous trips: No matter what decisions we make, it will all work out in the end. The trip may not be what we expected, but it will provide a life-changing adventure. Travel is just like that. It's impossible for me to travel, particularly to another country, and not be changed in some way.

And, hey...there's a hotel on Lipari with Cusolito in its name, so that's pretty exciting! Maybe we'll find distant relatives.

What life-changing trips have you taken? What changed? What did you learn?


Related Posts:
Travel Tuesdays: Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Children
Travel Tuesdays: India
Travel Tuesdays: Morocco

Poet in Residence

This past fall I served as "Poet in Residence" in my son's grade 4 classroom. While I mostly write for children now, my first love was poetry. In fact, even my prose has a lyrical quality to it. I loved being with fourth graders again and guiding them on their own poetic journeys.


To culminate this season long experience, we created an anthology of their poems. Each student received a copy just before the holiday break. Here's the cover, designed by a student named Jacob. I love how he tied together some of the generators we used for poems. One day, each student brought in a special object from nature and used that to write a poem. Another day, they looked at photographs I brought in. They also made maps of their important play places and then wrote a poem about a specific place on the map. Can you see those ideas represented in his images?

Every student (and their teacher, Mr. Davignon) included at least one poem in the anthology. Since many students wrote poems from photographs I had taken, those photographs also appeared along with the poems.


Starting today, with the poets' permission, I'll share some of their work. I'll post more over the next month or so.


Aside from correcting an occasional spelling error, I have not altered these poems in any way. I offered guidance about how to revise poetry but the work is entirely their own. I hope you enjoy their work. If you do, please tell them by leaving a comment.

The Crab 

When I look I see

a fearsome yet strong animal.

It is humble

and never backs down from a battle.

His claws are like boxing gloves

his shell is like his shield.

The ocean is his battlefield.

                                                      by Elijah S.

The Silent Hawk

It’s eyes

watch all day for prey

Then it goes down to fight

It’s feet as sharp

as a shark’s jaw

It’s claws as big

as a lion’s paw

It blends in

the sky

Like an overwatch

by Max M.

 CLIMBING TO FALL

I am

clambering

Up, up, up, on the

highest branch. Below

there’s a logger, OH NO,

Did I just say, LOGGER!

“TIMBER,” here I go

again, falling

Down,

Down,

Down,

Down,

Down,

Down,

Bump,

OOF, OOF!

———————————————

by Dante C.

A WINNING GAME

Ortiz is up

it’s full count

there’s no doubt.

The pitcher beams a fastball

WOW!         

   It’s  blasted into  the  air

HOMERUN !      

 But I can’t look

He’s…….. OUT

I did a big pout

But wait

  YANKEES LOST

RED SOX ARE

THE BOSS!

                                                 by Ethan P.      

Humming Bird

Humming bird, humming bird

Where will you fly?

With your wings moving so fast

As you go by

Zig-zagging from flower to flower

Just like cheetahs dashing by

                                                    Looks like you have no wings

                                                    Sometimes,

                                                    I think you’re attached to strings

                                                   by  Jakob M.

Please leave a comment for these young poets.

Related Posts:

Seashell Poetry- Lunes
Fall Haiku

                             

Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Visitors

Photos taken 23 December 2011

Travel Tuesdays: Inter-faith Celebrations

I wasn't the traveler this time, but many people traveled to our home to celebrate this holiday season. We all came together on the night of December 25th to celebrate.

The friends and family who gathered were varied. In addition to many guests from our home state, we welcomed guests from the UK, Maryland, California and China. We also welcomed friends who immigrated to the US from France, China, and India. There were Christians, Jews, agnostics and atheists present. Some were raised with religion and no longer practice. Some were raised without religion and asked many questions about the practices of the Jews and Christians present. Two menorahs glowed beside a nativity brought back from Mexico.

What I love most about this annual event is the openness and sharing that occurs. We support each others' choice to practice a religion or not. We help each other celebrate. We break bread together. (Dumplings, knishes and latkes followed by lasagna, meatballs, Caesar salad and noodle kugel).  We honor important family and religious traditions.

To me, this is the perfect way to celebrate during the month of December.

If you celebrated a holiday this season, I hope it was joyful, peaceful and full of traditions.

May we all find new ways to connect with those of different faiths this year, for that, I believe, is the best way to bring peace to our troubled world.

Namaste.