Welcome to Saturday Celebration. I thought it would never come. Yes, it was a long week. Yet the week was full of reasons to celebrate (and sleep late) today.
1. Healing
Minga, my mother-in-law, gets stronger every day. (Last Saturday’s post was about her successful surgery.) Here she is with cards from my students. My students put effort into their creations. They know Minga because she visited last year to present about her trip to Myanmar (Burma). Vannisa made a book of character traits while Kendall, without my knowing, wrote a poem for her. Brooklyn sent her a booklet of her own writing. This pleased me because it shows how far Brooklyn has come not only in her writing ability but also in her confidence. She wanted to give Minga something to read while she recovers.
2. Courage
On Tuesday, we had a Skype visit with Caroline Starr Rose, the author of May B. We had some technical difficulties. She could not hear us, so we typed our questions and comments. We could hear her. How delightful she is! My students learned so much about how to be an author, the hard work that goes into it, and the rewards. Caroline said being an author is a dream come true for her. When we discussed her visit, we decided to make a chart to remember all her advice. The chart became an acrostic of the word COURAGE.
3. Cupcakes
One of the things I love about teaching small groups of children is the opportunity to celebrate birthdays. I sent my husband out to get cupcakes for Emily’s birthday. He bought the ones with the brightest icing. He said they reminded him of Willy Wonka. The kids loved them. The girls made the icing into lipstick. How silly!
I hope you have found some healing, courage, and cupcakes to celebrate this week!
All three are great celebrations. So glad to hear (and see) your mother-in-law is doing well. I really need to look into a Skype visit with an author. So many are doing this! Have a great week.
Happy to hear about your mother-in-law & your students’ thoughtfulness in get well wishes, Margaret. And glad the visit with Caroline Starr Rose went well as well as the cupcake celebration. Nice all around.
Hooray for healing and frosting lipstick!
Ah ha. Sorry I hadn’t read this when we just talked. Yes, I assume I’m healing but lack of pain would assure me.
Sent from my iPhone
I commented on the wrong spot, but the sentiment’s the same!
Love how you have the opportunity to use authentic writing as an assessment of learning. What a better way to look at a child’s writing than by looking at the writing they do with an audience in mind and with clear purpose!
Love that cupcake picture! And how wonderful to have Caroline Starr Rose as a guest in your classroom. May B. is one of our favorites, too.
Healing, happiness and heartfelt stories! Your kids wrote for real meaningful purposes and interacted with real authors and celebrated real events! I can’t help but think that Donald Graves would be proud!
So glad to hear MInga is doing well and how lovely to teach students that we can give gifts with written words. I love the acrostic chart: wise words for all writers. And cupcakes with silly faces. These are all moments your students will remember.