Slice of Life | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Slice of Life’ Category

The Memory String

Posted in Books, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Eve Bunting, personal narrative writing, The Memory String on September 22, 2015| 13 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

I was in the library looking for another Eve Bunting book and came across this one. I sat right down on the floor and read it. Then I had an idea. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I thought of all the buttons I had collected in a box in my closet. What did I need them all for?

One of my goals for my teaching this year is to bring in more picture books. I am reading one each week. In The Memory String, the character Laura has a string full of buttons. Her mother died three years before, and her stepmother is trying to win Laura’s heart. Laura’s memory string is her way of holding on to the memory of her mother.

I brought my cigar box of buttons into class and after reading the story, the students each selected 3-5 buttons. I told them they would be writing a memory for each button. We sewed the buttons on a string, and the students began writing. This was a great form to prompt writing.

Here are some student samples:

The fourth button is a blueish greenish color. It reminds me of the first time I swam in the ocean. It was 2011 and I was 7 years old. I was still living in Minnesota, and I had never even gone near the ocean. We were going on a road trip to Florida. The first time I swam in the ocean was in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty beach with water that looked clear and bright. I loved it, but I never got to swim at a beach like that again. (Vannisa)

This is the story of the button that is gold and black. This button reminds me of my brother. This button reminds me of him because when we all brought him home from the hospital, it was cold and he was wearing a jacket that had a button that looked like this button. This button also reminds me of myself because that was the same jacket that I wore when I was brought home from the hospital. That was the story of the button that is gold and black. (Lani)

One button is absolutely clear, and its very small. It reminds me of how I feel when my dad is gone, and when he is usually gone for months. One time, he didn’t come back for half a year. I missed him very much, but when he came back, I was happy to see him.(Tobie)

Any one of these button memories could be a longer personal narrative (or Slice of Life) story. I hear the lament often, “I don’t know what to write about.” A picture book story and a box of buttons can open up a string of memories.

Read Full Post »

Slicing Life with Students

Posted in Blogging, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Anne Frank quotes, Sept. 11th on September 15, 2015| 8 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. –Anne Frank”

I have been writing a Slice of Life post every Tuesday (most Tuesdays) for years. Four years, I think. And in March, I write everyday for the Slice of Life Challenge, thanks to the Two Writing Teachers.

I want to pass on a love of writing to my students. The Slice of Life habit works many writing muscles; and yet, I can package it to my students as a way for us to share little tidbits of our lives. I can make it sound like fun, not a chore-like writing assignment.

On Monday, I ask the question, “How was you weekend?” As the stories start materializing through talk, I respond, “That would make a good Slice of Life story.”

Yesterday, Kielan came to my desk wanting to share all about her weekend. I asked her if she wanted to share it with the whole class, and she responded, “No. They can read about it in my Slice.”

I love how after only a few weeks of school, my students are immersed in blogging. I was checking the blog this morning and found a post from Tobie about Sept. 11th. I hadn’t brought up the date. They had an art enrichment activity that morning, so we didn’t have time to properly cover it. Actually that was my excuse because it’s always more difficult for me to talk about than it is for the students.

But Tobie hadn’t let it go by. His posts are usually rather silly, but here he shows another side, the strong sensitive side. He never said anything out loud about the date. Blogging gave him a way to express his thoughts.

Today is one of the worst days in American history. We are marking the day of the nightmare of the terrorists of September 11, 2001. Today marks the day that terrorists have crashed our own planes, gotten by hijack, into the World Wide Trading Center. Thousands injured or killed, kids without parents. We must remember the men and women lost, and the ones who fought for them. Only few were pulled from the chaos of fire and barrier, plane parts and glass. All of this at the hands of terrorists, who do this for fun or money. They don’t care for the lives of many innocent Americans. Let us have a second of silence, for the men and women, and even children lost, injured, or no family to take them in.

America has suffered much from this day, and we must not forget this day, 14 years ago. Our parents have been alive during this tragedy, in school or out of it. The Towers have been rebuilt, or are being rebuilt. We will never want another 9/11.
–Tobie, 5th grade

On Mondays, I am posting a quote for response, “Mrs. Simon’s Snippet of the Sea.” This week, I posted a video of Anne Frank quotes and asked the students to select one to write about. Lani expresses well her feelings about writing in her response.

The quote that I chose was, and I quote ”I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” I think this quote means that when you write you can get everything that is bothering you off of your chest. For example, Anne Frank must’ve had courage before she went into hiding, so she is saying that now she has sorrow, but when she writes her sorrow is gone and she then has courage. I personally think that this quote has the same meaning today just like in the past because when I write my courage comes back if I am writing about a time when I had sorrow.
–Lani

Slicing and blogging with my students gives them the platform and audience for making meaning with their writing. If you are not blogging with students yet, I suggest you try it. And if you are and you want to connect on kidblogs, let me know.

Read Full Post »

Staying in the Struggle

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing on September 8, 2015| 10 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Put yourself out there and get knocked down? What for?

I am asking myself over and over why I do this writing thing? Sometimes the struggle gets too hard, and I want to quit.

I recently entered a contest. I took the plunge and sent my latest middle-grade novel out into the world. I felt good about it. I felt ready. Now, I feel regret and shame. Stupid.

My writing partner called me yesterday while she was driving home from the beach. She chose to spend time on her vacation to comfort me. “You are a great writer. Don’t let this stop you.”

Then she sent me an email she had gotten in response to her submission. Practically word for the word the same email I had received. How can someone honestly write the exact same feedback on two totally different pieces?

Instead of feeling relieved, I felt more confused. What is the point?

Everyday I guide my students to be better and better readers and writers. I would never consider giving each of them the exact same response. And yet, I ask them to “stay in the struggle.” I need to ask myself to do the same.

I’ll stay in it. For now. With the help of a strong writing community. With the help of friends like Melanie. She writes about this same thing here. Her reflection is different, of course, because we are different writers. We don’t deserve the same response. And neither do our students.

Read Full Post »

First Chalkabration of the Year!

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Slice of Life, tagged chalk poetry on September 1, 2015| 8 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Betsy Hubbard invented Chalkabration! It’s my students’ favorite day of the month (unless it’s their birthday.) We wrote poems on Friday, but didn’t have time to chalk them. Monday morning was a sunny (hot) morning, so we ventured out to chalk up the sidewalk with poetry.

I have never asked permission to do this. The only complaint came from the assistant principal who merely asked us to move the celebration to the side walkways rather than the area where the little ones sit waiting for their cars. Poor things were going home with chalked up uniforms.

No Chalkabration is ever the same. This time one student enlisted the help of the class to make a huge lettered sign. By the end of our time outside, the kids were sweaty, dirty, and happy. I know they look forward to the end of September to do it all again. (Maybe by then the air will be cooler.)

My poem promise to my students this year.

What is a friend by Emily

Fall is coming, a Who am I poem by Erin

Read Full Post »

Katrina changed lives (2005-2015)

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Gentilly, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans on August 25, 2015| 14 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

I remember standing in my bedroom watching the TV in tears. I turned it off, sat down, and grieved… for the city I knew, for the deserted ones, for my own daughter. On Sunday, August 28, 2005, Hurrican Katrina reached Category 5 and barrelled down on the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. We were a safe 120 miles from the storm.

One thing I have learned from experiences with hurricanes all my life is that the stronger the hurricane, the more it sucks into itself, thus leaving outlying areas in a strange calm with virtually clear skies. And yet, the horror was showing up on my TV screen.

My daughter was packed and ready to return for her junior year at Loyola University in uptown New Orleans. The schools closed. Every thing closed. The city was completely shut down.

Maggie wasn’t going to let this disaster ruin her college plans. She got online and watched the Jesuit schools all over the U.S. open their doors to Katrina victims. We had a talk with her. She said, “I have my choice of schools. I want to go to New york City.” By Tuesday, Sept. 6th, Maggie had chosen Fordham in the Bronx of New York City.

I insisted on going with her. All flights from Houston and Baton Rouge cost close to $1000. (Total price scalping, if you ask me.) We decided to travel to Jackson, MS. where my parents live to get a cheaper flight. We drove to Jackson on Wednesdy and flew out on Thursday.

Students at Fordham were asked to open their doors to these victims. Maggie was welcomed by a wonderful group of girls who took her in and are her close friends even now. This experience changed her life, widened her experience, and tested her adventurous spirit.

Leaving my oldest child in New York City was hard. At the same time, I was grieving for the loss of a favorite city and a treasured coast line. I cried all the way home. There are many tragic stories of Katrina. This is not one of them. Maggie’s experience in NYC was great. We call it her semester abroad.

All three of my children love New Orleans. Two of my girls live there, and the third will be moving there soon. It’s a special place.

Recently, I visited my middle daughter, Katherine, in NOLA. She took me to an outdoor display in her neighborhood of Gentilly near the London Avenue Canal levee breach. The panels told the story of the devastation of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. What saddened me most was that all of the flooding that occurred, destroying homes and taking lives, was caused by human error. For years the Army Corps of Engineers maintained the levees below standards. The levee could not handle the weight of the water. The water did not flow over the levee, it flowed through a subwall that gave away.

Katherine looks at the neighborhood commemoration of Hurrican Katrina, 10 years later.

Ten years later, this home is still abandoned and delapidated.

Here is a link to a news report about the neighborhood commemoration. Here is the online version of the text on the panels revealing the failure of the levees.

So much of the aftermath of Katrina could have been avoided. This disaster exposed a tragic weakness in levee structure and government infastructure and the blind neglect of people living in poverty. The city is reviving. Young people want to be there. The culture of arts and music is alive and growing. You can walk down the street and feel the energy. Keep New Orleans in your heart. Once it gets in there, you will never be the same.

Katherine and I at The Bean Gallery– notice the Katrina flood line above our heads.

Read Full Post »

In Between the Rough Places

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Carol Varsalona, inspirational quotes, students, Wonder on August 18, 2015| 27 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Gifted students visit with Mr. Al.

I tend to be an optimistic person. I look for the good in everyone and every day. But sometimes life has other plans. Sometimes we just have to weep.

On the day school started, August 7th, one of our gifted students collapsed. She died two days later. This was one of those girls who was always laughing. She had a cheerfulness about her that was contagious. At a friend’s house after a sleep-over (and probably lots of laughter), her heart stopped. No explanation. The doctors suspect that it was a syndrome that occurs in athletes. Lauralyn was a normal 12 year old girl. She was not on the basketball court. It doesn’t make any sense.

With my gifted colleagues, we attended the funeral home. Kids were all around in purple shirts and purple ribbons. Since purple was her favorite color, her school had decided that Friday would be a day dedicated to her memory. There was a banner draped over a table celebrating that Lauralyn’s organs had been donated.

In between the sadness, students found hope. Amidst the loss, there was a gift of life.

I started a blog on kidblogs for my students. For now it is private. (I would welcome connecting with other classes, though.) I’ve decided to post a quote of the week. My class theme is “Mrs. Simon’s Sea,” so I’m calling it “Snippets of the Sea.” Carol Varsalona’s inspirational images make great snippets. Last week I used the quote from E.B. White and this image Carol posted.

Childhood Wonder by @journeynorthed

I think it is saying don’t ignore your curiosity. And to explore and discover new things. So if you go on a hike or a walk in the park try to look at the world around you. Most likely there are things you haven’t seen before. You just didn’t take the time to look. Like trees, flowers, and even places that you never even noticed were there!–Emily

This week I have posted this image by Carol along with a video of Michael Jackson at the 1993 Super Bowl singing “We are the World.”

I’ve asked my students to write a response to the snippet in the comments. I want to be intentional in making my students think about wonder, hope, and kindness. We don’t know how long we are here on this earth. We should turn each day into the sparkle of a child’s eye, the hope in a rainbow, the kindness of a teacher’s smile.

Read Full Post »

Wise Words of Malala

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Malala Yousafzai, summer poem swap, Tabatha Yeatts on August 4, 2015| 11 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Today is my first day back to school. The kids come on Friday. Ready or not?

This year our gifted team plans to focus on heroes. For one of our Summer Poem Swaps, Tabatha Yeatts sent a prompt to write a poem from the words of someone. I chose to look at Malala Yousafzai’s words with the theme of heroes in mind. I found this image and quote.

One child
can step by step
walk across stones
wobble, fall, rise
to hope.

One teacher
can line her shelves
with books, voices
pointing the way
to climb.

One book
can open young eyes
to injustice, prejudice, pain
so they can build a road
to peace.

One pen
can move a single hand
to create new lines, new words
new art, making a change
to the world.

–Margaret Simon

Who is your hero? Can you write a poem off his/her words?

Read Full Post »

A Slice of Culture

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Arnaudville, Cajun music, fiddle, LA 31, Michael Doucet on July 28, 2015| 14 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Photo by Cajun Byrd on flickr.

The heat is on. Temperatures are reaching well into the 90’s with heat indexes of 100+. Humidity thickens the air. And yet, the party still goes on.

Last weekend my husband and I drove an hour north through fields of sugarcane and soybeans, past ancient live oaks along the ridge of the Bayou Teche. We were driving to see one of our favorite Cajun fiddlers, Michael Doucet, who was playing with 3 other musicians at Bayou Teche Brewery in Arnaudville.

I’ve known Michael since I taught his son, Ezra, in third grade. (If my calculations are right, it’s been 17 years.) Michael has always been charming and welcoming, even though he’s gotten quite famous. This day was no different.

There was a slight breeze. When it blew, we raised our arms like cormorants. We danced a two-step and a waltz and drank a beer fresh from the brewery.

I was transported back in time…
when the coolest place was on the porch
where musicians played in the late afternoon,
and the cicadas joined the fiddle tune,
when family was mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, Parran, Nanny, and the neighbors next door.

Michael and his friends captured that front-porch-family feeling with their music.

Read Full Post »

A Bit about Chocolate

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged chocolate, paleo diet, super foods, Vosges chocolate on July 14, 2015| 11 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

Braune Schokolade

Super Foods + Dark Chocolate
How can these things go together, healthy chocolate?
I set out on a journey to be healthier. In January, I started a Paleo diet. I followed strictly for about 4 months. I had to give up some of my favorite foods, such as crackers, hummus, chips. Not to mention bread, cookies, pie. Then I discovered that dark chocolate is Paleo. Are you kidding me?!

One of the best treats is dark chocolate covered blueberries. I keep them in the fridge and after a meal, pop a handful. Mmm!

This weekend I went shopping at Whole Foods. Some of the foods there are high priced and difficult to justify. Should I spend $5 on a glorified candy bar? I picked it out all because of its packaging. Yes, I judged my chocolate bar by its cover. Sprinkled on the box are red pomegranate seeds and goji berries. I don’t even know what a goji berry is. The third ingredient: pink Himalayan salt. Salt on chocolate? Have you tried it? Oh my, better than salty chips any day of the week.

Turn over the box and there is a graphic of a pie graph showing the three health benefits: Heart health, general wellness, and stress reduction. Sold yet?

Superfact!: “Goji berries boast more amino acids than bee pollen, more beta carotene than carrots, more iron than spinach and more Vitamin C by weight than any other food on earth.” Is this amazing or what?

The founder of this fantastic chocolate company is a beautiful woman (yes, her picture is on the box like the back cover of a book) who studied at Vanderbilt University and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Her resumé continues with travels all over the world to discover an answer to her prayers, “create a sustainable, luxury chocolate experience while bringing an awareness of indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, and the obscure.”

And the best part about all of this is the chocolate tastes divine. I feel guilty just telling you about it. Now, excuse me while I go indulge in some more Super Dark Super Food.

Disclaimer: I am in no way being compensated for this blog post, but if you are interested in this divine, cultural, healthy, delicious experience, click here.

Read Full Post »

Chicago Slice of Life

Posted in Slice of Life, tagged Chicago, Travel on July 7, 2015| 11 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

My husband and I spent the long holiday weekend in Chicago visiting my youngest daughter and her boyfriend. I captured a few moments in words and pictures.