Slice of Life Day 10: Challenge Accepted!

There I was yesterday, cruising around and commenting on some great blogs during the Slice of Life Challenge, when I came across GirlGriot’s musings about the noises she was hearing from under a grate by her apartment building. I thought…now THIS is a great story prompt, and I told her so. Before I knew it, she challenged me to write, and before I knew it, I accepted.

‘Round about this afternoon, I was fretting over my 5th grade language arts class. I had my standard lesson planned, but I could tell from their energy this morning that I was NOT going to have them engaged with Business As Usual.

I read the original post to my students and issued a challenge: can WE write those monster stories? And, just to make the challenge even more fun, can we do it with 100-word stories? Lo and behold, we all jumped into the opportunity fully and excitedly. My work is shared below. And…hop over to GirlGriot. She’s got some good stuff going on!

There’s some full-on mischief happening here. And I LOVE it.

Stacie prayed it was over when the construction crews came. She hoped the monster, with its phlegmy grumbles, was silenced. GONE.

Until she ran the disposal.

Up reached a gelatinous hand, followed by an arm, head, torso, into full corpulent, schlubby splendor.

“Who are YOU?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Morrie. Morrie Fatberg. Looks like they flushed me out downstairs, so I’ll be crashing on your couch.”

Morrie coughed, a familiar, liquid rumble that rattled Stacie’s teeth. “Ya got a Ricola?”

Stacey handed Morrie a dishwasher tab instead.

Try as she might, Stacie never COULD get that grease stain from the rug…

Do giggles count as extra words?

Want to read my kids’ work for yourself? I’ve offered them up in the comment section of GirlGriot’s post. =))

Slice of Life Day 9: Current Conditions

Here we are at day 9 of the Slice of Life Challenge! Today had me thinking: you know, even though it seems corny for stories to have the weather reflect moods in characters, I have to admit that sometimes…well, sometimes the weather gets it right.

Oh!,
perhaps,
she pondered,
upon seeing
the weather outside
as it rained, snowed, threatened
to grow bleaker and bleaker,
the environment darkening,
reflecting an accurate likeness
of the heart’s atmospheric conditions,
perhaps I can only hope this is
not a metaphor for a sad
state of affairs, but merely
a good omen – just a
harbinger that might
bear with it the
promise of
a snow
day

Slice of Life Day 8: Picture This

Photo-based slices seem to be my pace lately. But I’m still Slicing, still sharing, still enjoying.

The last day or two brought their fair share of enjoyment. Among the things I have to celebrate:

Second- and third-grade students coaching each other on their stories. Three Bears Coaching is my ace in the hole!

My annual batch of hamantaschen, gifted out to many of my favorite people and distributed in the teacher’s lounge because if anyone needs baked goods right now, it’s probably my colleagues!

My newest additions to the classroom: SQUISHMALLOWS. I let various students name them. Introducing, from right to left: Pickles, Cornelius, and Finn-eas. I don’t think I could have gotten any more clever!

Fourth-graders partnering up to revise their writing. I’m not giving anything away quite yet, but I’m super excited by this one!

Slice of Life Day 5: I Can’t Be The Only One

Here we are at Day 5 of the Slice of Life Challenge. I saw this particular type of post from a fellow Slicer, and try as I might can’t find the original post that inspired me. If that’s you, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to edit my post to give you “props.” But I thought it was a fun spin on a bio.

I can’t be the only one who…
…peels bananas from the bottom up.
…times her library visits by when the tote bag gets too full
…looks at the sky whenever she goes out
….thinks the best part of a pedicure is the massage chair
…routinely pep-talks herself through the day: “Okay.” “All right.”
…still puts emoticons in her texts, even though she knows darn well the emoji keyboard is right there
…is not above eating peanut butter off a spoon
…sees baking as a viable form of therapy
…can’t sit still on a telephone call
…prefers windows to AC just about any day
…finds solace in a dinner of scrambled eggs with cheese
…doesn’t actually mind the sound of cicadas each summer
…has inherited her father’s love for and facility with punning
…doesn’t get people sometimes
…just likes picking up big things and putting them down again
…can visualize TODAY as the day she’ll be her best, amazing self (until she gets out of bed)
…wonders why the other drivers on the road have to be there, or why she has to drive behind them
…needs a nap and time with a dog
…always thinks of the best thing to say three days after she’s written a thing

Slice of Life Day 4: Ten Things

  1. Looking out the window and realizing I’m level with the pine tree tops, bristles and cones swaying in the early-March winds

  2. The gentle sleeping-almost-snoring of a mama who just needs some solid rest
  3. Hugs of a kid-man-kid who’s returned home, if only for a short while
  4. Comfy shoes that make my heart happy to look at

  5. A perfectly fresh bagel, with just the right schmear of cream cheese and a slice or two of lox, brought to me by a man who I love more than I could possibly have words for
  6. A legion of strong, smart, brave women standing, at the ready, to be my feet, my mind, my heart whenever mine falter
  7. Headphones that run out of “juice” mid-walk, reminding me to hear the red-winged blackbirds staking out their springtime territory
  8. Dogs who come to the door when I return home, world-weary and ready to offer a sincere “good girl” and a well-placed butt rub
  9. A sunset-border-of-night-sky that pokes through the parking garage, grabs me by the collar, and forces me to take a look

  10. Moments. of. silence.

Thanks, as always, to the Slice of Life community for keeping me writing every day this month.

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: SIGNS of SPRING. I hope you find them as delightful and fortifying as I did.

Until later, my friends.

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 of them have the wormies and squirmies and the like,

And you know that a movement break is more than called for,

And you reach into your improv game bag-o-tricks,

And you pull out a fun one called “Yes, let’s!”

And you tell the kids to start walking around until someone shouts a crazy suggestion,

And you tell them the proper response is to shout “Yes, let’s!” and then begin doing that thing,

And it so happens that all eighteen of you wind up on the floor crawling like babies,

And your evaluator comes in, unbeknownst to you, for an informal observation, do you freak out, apologize, and pretend nothing happened? Or do you thank the universe for its impeccable timing, dust your knees, herd everyone back to their spots and return to business as usual?

Those of you who know me can probably guess that 1) I have no pride, so 2) I figured it was a pretty accurate snapshot of how things go.

Of course, the subversive rabble-rouser in me maybe wished she had caught the conga line:

Throw our dignity over our shoulder and let ‘er rip? Yes, let’s!
Thanks to Kim K., my indomitable partner in crime, plan-time buddy and taker of this photo.

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 give it a shot, though!

Today in class, I taught my fourth-graders about forced association: the act of putting together concepts or objects that have NO BUSINESS being connected.

Today’s prompt: How is a teacher like a fishing pole?

Usually, I get the standard array of blank stares and concrete responses (“ummm…they’re both kind of tall…?”).

Not this year. This year, the kids walked in ready for abstract. They came in ready to conquer CLEVER. And they did not disappoint. I’ll let their work speak for itself.

(and let’s face it…sometimes they get away…)

Hopefully they take it!

“Teachers having better ideas or not so good ones.” Yep, these kids know me. I’ve got great ideas…AND I’ve got klunkers. They’ve seen ’em both.

Tell me that’s not perceptive for a ten-year-old.

Standards-based fishing…?

If I know more about the fish I’m catchin’, I’ll probably catch more of ’em!

My contribution to the party, inserted later on when some of my kiddos were paying attention, and some of ’em…not so much…

This one…it went DEEP, literally and figuratively. I wasn’t expecting the conversation to go HERE, but WOW.

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, we think of the people important to us.

The title of the poem is the person we’re thinking about, but nothing in the poem mentions them – an invitation to our readers to make the leap into metaphor.

Whenever I sit down to craft in this fashion, I’m continually amazed by my train of thought. I start to list ideas, and then BOOM! I’m surprised by a new insight that’s made itself clear to me. It’s also fun to watch the kids in their prewriting phase as they do the same.

“The tree is almost to big for it” – I wonder if this lovey sees the power in that phrase…
“If I didn’t have it…I would be lonely”

Here’s my contribution for the day.

My Boys

The irises in my yard
were gifted to me,
bulbs planted years ago
without a plan:
a vague arrangement
plopped into earth
with a trowel,
some water,
and hope.

Ever since, they’ve spread
across the garden,
rhizomes rooting,
stretching,
leaves messy and full.
I don’t know whether to be
bothered
by the chaos or
grateful
for the bounty.

Late in spring,
after crocuses and
forsythia and
hyacinth and
lilac and
peony,
I wait…wait…wait…
And when I’m not paying attention,
(it’s always when I’m not looking)
the iris will bloom:
showy, stunning, emerging
with too-big heads
that need support
to stay stable and upright.

I’m lucky.
I’ve got plants
a girl can take care of –
not fussy ones
demanding
weeding and
pruning and
oversight and
piddling with.
No,
give me greenery
that finds its own way,
survives the rough stuff,
returns year after year
through its own strength.

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.

I observe, make notes, and iterate for next time. Was my lesson a “klunker?” I’ll apologize to my kids and try again. Did we take a detour that turned out great? Better believe I’ll include it, for real, next time.

Today was round one of guiding my kids through a poetry project. We used Margaret Wise Brown’s The Important Book and let our work go from there. I’m not going to lie. My fourth-graders came up with some pretty insightful stuff!

Here’s what I wrote alongside them:

The important thing about cars is that they move.
They are big, and fast, and sometimes noisy,
And when we’re not paying attention
We find ourselves in the wrong places,
And they carry us
And our luggage,
They play host
To our meals
And our car-radio concerts
And our fights
And our road-trip memories,
And they give us room for
THOSE talks,
The kind
Best had with
Eyes on the road,
Hands on the wheel,
Closeness made bearable
Through the space of open road.
But the important thing about cars is that they move.