Yesterday, I was thrilled at the possibility of northern lights being visible in Connecticut. I have vivid memories of the handful of times I have witnessed this display of dancing light, but it’s been ages since I saw them last. These mysterious lights must have been terrifying to people throughout history without our knowledge of solar flares and ions bumping into Earth’s atmosphere. Fortunately, knowing this doesn’t diminish their beauty or their ability to inspire.
I don’t share my own poetry very often, but I couldn’t find a poem that matched my memories or feelings about the auroras I’ve seen. So here is a very rough draft of a poem inspired by watching northern lights with my boys in March of 1989.
Gaze at the world through the eyes of a four-year old today and be amazed. And, for plenty of amazing poetry, be sure to stop by Mainely Write, where Donna has the Poetry Friday roundup.
It is a rainy, dreary Monday here in Connecticut. What better day to spread a little sunshine? I felt incredibly honored to be nominated for the Sunshine Award by four bloggers: Amy Rudd of The “Rudd”er, Michelle Haseltine of One Grateful Teacher, Vicki Vinton of To Make A Prairie, and Julieanne Harmatz of To Read To Write To Be. The mission of the Sunshine Awards is to recognize bloggers who inspire.
The specifics are:
1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger(s).
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers who inspire you.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they’ve been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.
Eleven random facts about me:
I have rafted down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon twice. (You can read more about these adventures hereand here.)
I won an award for cursive handwriting in 6th grade.
I have a stationary fetish. I love going into stationary stores (those that still exist) and buying beautiful notecards.
I love musicals; Funny Girl is my favorite.
I went to the prom with the inventor of LeapPad.
I live in the town where I grew up in a house built on land my great-grandfather bought in 1910.
I have a tendency to procrastinate. I also want things to be perfect. This is not a good combination.
I have never been a good speller. My spelling has improved significantly since I started teaching phonics.
I am a serial collector. Throughout my life, I have collected seashells, stamps, antique bottles, kitchen collectibles and McCoy pottery.
I am an excellent Trivial Pursuit/Jeopardy player. Collecting stamps helped me acquire a lot of facts about a wide variety of topics.
I love to knit.
A sweater I made for my great-nephew a few years ago.
Like other bloggers who were nominated by more than one person, I’ve chosen 3 questions from each person.
Vicki’s Questions:
1.What book would you want with you if you were stranded on a deserted island? In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust. I think it would me take a while, and it’s a book I’ve always wanted to read.
2. What did you learn from your mother? How to bake an apple pie, how to hem a skirt, and how to be a loving and generous person. She also taught me how to spell “mountain.” (see random fact #8 above)
3. Where do you find joy in your classroom or work? I work closely with struggling readers, so watching a child use a strategy to decode for the first time and realize that they’ve read the words and understood them is like watching a lock pop open. It’s an amazing sight.
Michelle’s Questions:
4. What’s your favorite quote? Why? “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein. I love this quote because it is the epitome of what Carol Dweck refers to as a “growth mindset;” that if you cultivate your passion and curiosity, anything is possible.
5. If you had a weekend (and money was no object), what would you do? Who would be with you? I would go to Florence, Italy and climb to the top of Brunilleschi’s dome at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and soak in the beauty of the Tuscan countryside. I should take my husband with me, but my friend Colette and I have talked about taking this trip for years.
By sailko via Wikimedia Commons
6. What book are you reading right now? I typically have at least three books going at once. At the moment, my adult read is 11/22/63, by Stephen King, my mg/ya book is Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein, and my professional book is The Common Core Grammar Toolkit: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Language Standards in Grades 3-5, by Sean Ruday.
Amy’s Questions:
7. What’s your most favorite children’s book ever? Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White. This is the book that made me a reader. I wrote more about my experience with this book here.
8. What is your favorite young adult novel? At the moment, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak is my favorite YA book.
9. How do you prefer to read books, paper or electronic? I have a Nook and an iPad with a Kindle app that I use once in a while. I love the convenience of being able to get a book at odd hours and not having to lug a heavy book around when I’m travelling, but paper is still my preference.
Julieanne’s Questions:
10. Name one guilty pleasure. Chocolate, in any form at any time.
11. What motivated you to start blogging? I began blogging because I learn so much from the blogs I read, and I love the idea of being part of a community where I can share ideas and learn from others. This experience has been more rewarding that I ever imagined.
12. What is your next challenge? An ongoing challenge for me is working with teachers to update our writing curriculum. We’re making some headway, but sometimes the scope of this work overwhelms me.
Eleven bloggers who inspire me: (Just eleven!? There are so many amazing bloggers, creating this list was almost as much of a challenge as answering the questions!)
“First Steps (after Millet)” Vincent Van Gogh, 1890 Metropolitan Museum of Art, via wikipaintings.org
Eavan Boland is one of “the foremost female voices in Irish literature.” (Boland’s biography can be found at The Poetry Foundation) I wasn’t familiar with her or her work, but was struck by the imagery in “This Moment.” I can’t decide if Boland’s tone is meant to be ominous or just full of expectation. Either way, the anticipation of the unknown seemed appropriate for the New Year.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year! Be sure to visit Betsy at I Think in Poems for the Poetry Friday Round Up.
Three bloggers I admire very much have nominated me for a Sunshine Award. I feel so honored to be included on their lists of “bloggers who inspire,” lists that include the names of many bloggers who inspire me. Over the next day or two, I will answer all their questions and come up with my own list, but until then, I’m going to answer one question that both Amy and Michelle asked: What is your “one little word” for 2014?
Balance. We hear this word everywhere. Balance your checkbook. Eat a balanced diet. Balance your tires. Entire Eastern religions are built around the idea of balance. In art, balance is achieved when no single element of a work overpowers another. So why is it so easy for our lives to become unbalanced? How is it that we forget the importance of eating right, exercising, doing things we love, and finding time for friends and family every day?
I took this picture at Point Judith lighthouse in Rhode Island last September. The asymmetry of the construction of this cairn intrigued me. How does the small stone on the left remain poised on the end of the stick? Does the stability of the larger rock on the right allow this?
In 2014, I want to be the small stone on the left, poised on the brink of whatever the day brings, yet able to maintain my balance. Just as bridges have firm footings and extra capacity (thanks, Anne!) that allows them to withstand forces of use, wind and weather, the firm foundation of the large rock keeps this cairn in place. I think that if our beliefs are solid, if we know our own mind, we have a firm foundation for our choices, both personal and professional. We may waver or deviate a little, after all flexibility is a good thing, but with secure footing and a good support system, we’ll be able to withstand whatever life throws at us.
Cairns have been used since prehistory to mark trails. This cairn will be marking my path through 2014, helping me to keep my balance.
Thank you to everyone at Two Writing Teachers and all my fellow slicers for their friendship and support over the past year. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and balanced New Year!
On Sunday, my friend June and I went to see The Nutcracker. Dancers from a local theater and dance studio performed the ballet to Tchaikovsky’s beloved music. The cast was full of students from my school and it was wonderful to see them in a different light. Each dancer’s face beamed as they jetéd and glissaded across the stage. As I watched them, I was reminded of something I had read earlier in the day about yoga and the belief that “there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra.” (Yoga Journal) Their Divine spark was shining through, bringing joy to every person in the auditorium.
June and I have known each other since Kindergarten. Our friendship has waxed and waned over those almost 50 (gasp!) years, but we have always been bound together by our love of music and dance. We started ballet class together when we were in second grade, and we sang together in chorus through all our years of school. We sing together still in a local choral group. Yet somehow, neither one of us had ever seen a performance of The Nutcracker. What more appropriate way for us to celebrate Christmas than by watching one of the most famous ballets in the world?
Thank you to everyone at Two Writing Teachers for providing this space to kindle our divine sparks. Wishing you all a season of light filled with love and joy and peace, filled with friends old and new.
‘Tis the season for traditions. Every family celebrates the season in their own way, and singing Christmas carols has always been part of Christmas at our house. Beloved carols and songs fill the air as we decorate the tree, bake cookies and wrap gifts. One of my favorite carols is “O Holy Night.” The music was composed in 1847 by Adolphe Adam for Placide Cappeau’s poem “Minuit, chrétiens.” In 1855, John Sullivan Dwight adapted the the poem and created the lyrics we sing today.
“O Holy Night”
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on you knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night, when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
(read the rest of the lyrics, as well as the original French poem, here)
Wishing you all a holiday filled with love and joy!
Be sure to visit Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog for the Poetry Friday Round Up.
I am a pack-rat. I hate to throw anything away. My cousins and I tease each other that this must be genetic because my grandmother saved EVERYTHING. I have a love/hate relationship with this part of my personality. On the one hand, the piles of boxes and books in my attic and office drive me crazy. On the other hand, I can usually find what I’m looking for and am glad that I still have whatever it is I’m trying to find.
This was true last week when we had our Christmas party at work. The party organizers thought it would be fun to have an “Ugly Sweater” contest, with a prize for the ugliest sweater. “You know, those tacky holiday sweaters everyone used to wear,” one of my colleagues explained. Yes. I did know. I still have one. (Okay, maybe two, but I swear my tackiest Talbots sweater, circa 1994, went to Goodwill at least a year ago.) In the days leading up to the party, conversations like this could be heard throughout the halls: “Do you have an extra sweater I can borrow?” or “Maybe you can find one at the thrift store.”
Happy to know I didn’t have to search for something to wear, I was faced with another dilemma. I like my sweater. I don’t think it’s ugly. That’s why I still have it. I was relieved to find out that other people agreed with me. (Although maybe they were just trying to be nice.) Still, I felt better when I saw my friend Cathy.
The winner of the contest didn’t have an ugly sweater, so she created one by raiding her Christmas decorations.
All this good-natured fun got me thinking, though. Even if my sweater wasn’t ready for the donation box, are there elements of my teaching that are? Am I clutching to an activity or practice just because I’ve always done it? I like to think that I’m reflective and objective about this, but I’m not sure. I definitely have favorite books and projects, but I also read new books and am always on the look out for ideas that will improve my teaching.
The truth is we get comfortable with materials and routines. It’s scary to change our practices and habits. But is this in the best interest of our students? When I talk with colleagues about lessons or activities, I always ask them, “How does this help our students grow as readers and writers?” If there isn’t a good answer to this question, then we have to let it go. By the same token, we shouldn’t be in a hurry to toss everything over for some shiny new program. If a practice is effective, we should keep it. We may need do some tweaking, but there’s a big difference between abandoning and modifying. We have to trust ourselves to make good decisions in this time of rampant change.
And don’t throw that sweater away. You never know when it will be exactly what you want to wear.
Thank you to everyone at Two Writing Teachers for sharing your slices. Your stories always give me new ideas to think about.
I originally posted this on December 21, 2012, one week after the tragedy at Newtown. I am posting it again today, in a slightly modified form, in honor of the teachers and children who died that day.
Turn Again to Life
by Mary Lee Hall
If I should die and leave you here awhile,
Be not like others, sore undone, who keep
Long vigils by the silent dust, and weep.
For my sake – turn again to life and smile,
Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do
Something to comfort other hearts than thine.
Complete those dear unfinished tasks of mine
And I, perchance, may therein comfort you.
Mary Lee Hope
Iain Lees [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia CommonsWe owe it to the dedicated educators who died to take up their “dear unfinished tasks.” We must do everything in our power to create a world filled with love and joy; a world where all children can grow and flourish into the fullness of themselves.
I finished reading Christopher Lehman and Kate Robert’s new book, Falling in Love With Close Reading(Heinemann, 2013) last week. Kate and Chris have done a terrific job articulating the elements of close reading. At the same time, they encourage teachers to be purposeful about using close reading strategies. Close reading is not something to be done on every page of every book. Their main point it that close reading should be done when there is a deeper understanding to be gained.
All week I’ve been thinking about the application of these ideas in the classroom. I have been looking at texts differently since reading Falling in Love With Close Reading. Noticing patterns I might have skimmed over in the past, or asking myself, “I wonder why the author chose that word.” All this thinking reminded me of “The Secret” by Denise Levertov.
“Two Girls Reading” Pierre-Auguste Renoir [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsPlease visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for the Poetry Friday Round Up.
Every year in late November, my town library hosts a cocktail party/silent auction fund raiser to kick off the holiday season. People donate gift baskets, wreaths, and gift cards to local restaurants and businesses, but the highlight of the event are the Christmas trees. The decorations on each tree are inspired by a book, which is of course part of the package. My dear friend, Colette (of Used Books in Class fame), and I have been contributing a tree for at least the last 15 years, and it has become one of my favorite holiday traditions.
The Nutcracker Tree, topped by Boalt’s Sugar Plum Fairy
Our trees have most often been based on a children’s book, but we have done a few trees based on adult books. Our Under the Tuscan Sun tree was especially beautiful. Sometimes we’re inspired by the book itself; other times we find an ornament that strikes our fancy. Many of our trees were inspired by the incredible handmade soft sculpture ornaments by Gladys Boalt. These usually adorn the tree top. The rest of the ornaments are generally a mix of purchased ornaments and ornaments that we make. We’ve gotten very creative over the years about making ornaments out of almost anything. Tiny terra-cotta flower pots and raffia became bells on the Tuscan tree, yellow grosgrain ribbon was transformed into the yellow brick road with the help of a black Sharpie, and a hand-knit I-cord became the garland for a tree full of little sweaters and hats.
Alice in Wonderland Tree
Ideas for a tree can strike at any time of the year. Colette is usually the mastermind, but I’ve had my share of brainstorms too. This year’s tree was inspired by a set of wooden magnets Colette found in the gift shop at the Eric Carle Museum back in March. With the help of brightly colored bakery string and scrap book paper (to cover the black backs), these adorable magnets became ornaments. Plastic alphabet links were turned into a garland, and the Very Hungry Caterpillar himself sat atop the tree.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Every year we ask ourselves why we do this, as it takes a fair amount of time to make sure we have all the materials we need, make the ornaments, and decorate the tree. Trees have to be delivered to the library (a big challenge in itself!) right before Thanksgiving, a very hectic time of year for teachers. But every year, as we’re making the ornaments, we remember why we do this. We love it. We love supporting our local library. We love using a creative part of our brain that we often neglect, and we love creating beautiful Christmas trees that bring joy to someone. Most of all, we love giving a child a book they will never forget.
This year’s finished tree
Thank you to everyone at Two Writing Teachers for creating and nurturing this supportive community!
![By Xander [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://readingtothecore.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/800px-northern_lights_at_yellowknife.jpg)
![Iain Lees [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://readingtothecore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/snow_angel_at_blynlee_-_geograph-org-uk_-_1652771.jpg)
Reading to the Core 