Author Archives: Lainie Levin

Slice of Life Day 3

Day 3 of the Slice of Life Challenge. And folks, I guess they don’t call this month MARCH for no reason. Get up, get moving, KEEP moving, lather, rinse, repeat. Because, as many of you know, Life likes to work that way. So I’ll leave you with a couple of images from my latest walk:Continue reading “Slice of Life Day 3”

Slice of Life Day Challenge Day 2: On Timing

Whoo! Day two of the Slice of Life Challenge. Stick with me on this one. I promise this post has some fun in store. When you have a group of squirrelly fourth-graders on a beautiful spring day, And you have them for two full hours’ worth of literacy studio, And you know that some ofContinue reading “Slice of Life Day Challenge Day 2: On Timing”

Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’

Hooray for the Slice of Life Challenge! This is year 4 for me – which is pretty tough to believe. I’m maybe a little proud of myself for sticking with it. Now…this is a year where life is a little…googly-eyed, shall we say. So, I’m not confident I’ll make it every day. I’ll sure giveContinue reading “Slice of Life Challenge, Day 1: Gone Fishin’”

Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along

Each year, I have my students craft forced association poems, where they pull together a poem that’s written about one thing…but it’s really about another. We start by thinking of places or things (usually in nature) important to us: that one lilac bush, the park we love to play at, a favorite tree. Then, weContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Write-Along”

Slice of Life Tuesday: The Important Thing

I love teaching units more than once. I get do-overs! Each year, my kids teach me more about how they learn, how best to reach them. And lucky me, I don’t even have to wait until the following year! Working at two schools, with two sets of kids, I get two tries for each lesson.Continue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: The Important Thing”

Slice of Life: One BIG Little Word

Each new year, members of the Slice of Life teaching and writing community traditionally write a post focusing on “One Little Word.” I enjoy the process of sifting through, taking stock, and figuring out where I might land. I enjoy it almost as much as I like to read other folks’ OLW posts. It’s fascinatingContinue reading “Slice of Life: One BIG Little Word”

Slice of Life Tuesday: A Little of This…

You know that show, “Chopped?” It’s the one where four professional chefs compete against each other using mystery ingredients from a basket. It’s a test of skill and creativity. It ALSO happened to be the source of one of my most genius moments in parenting. You see, my boys watched that show and loved itContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: A Little of This…”

Prompt and Reliable

Oh, WordPress. There you are again, with a prompt for the day. This time, it’s “Do you have a favorite place you’ve visited? Where is it?” So let’s get real. As a teacher of writing, I find it very clear that WordPress’s prompt people know that adults are the ones pondering this theme. Were IContinue reading “Prompt and Reliable”

Slice of Life Tuesday: Hidden Inspiration

Did you know that WordPress gives you a prompt when you start a new post? I certainly didn’t. I just kind of glossed over whatever print was under “add title” and took it from there without ever actually reading the text. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I’ll leave that up toContinue reading “Slice of Life Tuesday: Hidden Inspiration”