Draft of Candy Store Poem

Here’s an incomplete rough draft of a poem I’m working on. What do you think?

Heaven on Earth  (Working Title)

Is there any place more

WONDERFUL

than a

CANDY STORE?

Row after row

of glass jars

filled to the brim

with…

soft pink candies

bright gummie candies

melt-in-your-mouth chocolate candies

suckers, lollies, and blow-pops,

cotton candy

butterscotch

green apple sour

chewy caramel

smooth candy

hard candy

sugared candy

(*That’s all I have for now. What else should I include?? Smells??? Sounds??)

Blogging Community

The fifth graders have been working on updating and adding to their blogs lately. We also talked about and practiced how to make positive & productive comments, practicing on paper by using sticky notes that attached to the poems we have posted in the hallway before practicing online. A few kids needed reminders on what constituted a “polite & productive” comment (“That looks wierd,” or “Are you getting these comments?”), but I think we’ve got a good handle on it now.

SO, we are excited now to get to participate in a blogging community (mini-neighborhoods) with some other 5th graders near Des Moines. These new friends will be a REAL audience for our writing and we’ll get a chance to read and comment on what other fifth graders are writing. We’re using a Google doc to get it all set up, and maybe we’ll get a chance to SKYPE with the class before we start reading & commenting on each other’s blogs. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even add other classes once we get this rolling along. Ultimately though this is about getting and giving real feedback from a real audience and making connections with new friends.

I think the possibilities for this are beyond reading and responding to a few blog entries. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

Have you ever purposefully participated in a blogging community? What other long-distance activities have you done with other classes?

What do you think of this project?

Two Thumbs Way Up for Flagbees!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY SET OF DESKTOP FLAGS FROM WWW.FLAGBEE.COM!
I am so not kidding!

Destop flag in use from www.flagbee.com. I know this 5th grader has a question!

Wow!

They totally saved my sanity during this normally INSANE time at the end of the quarter as kids work to revise, edit, and then turn their final drafts into actual BOOKS using the laptops from the mobile lab.

No longer did kids sit with their hand up or try to flag me down for help as I walked by. They simply put their flag up and THEN CONTINUED WORKING! Seriously. THEY KEPT WORKING! Many of them PUT THE FLAG BACK DOWN BECAUSE THEY FIGURED OUT THEIR OWN SOLUTION! OR BECAUSE A NEIGHBOR SAW THEY NEEDED HELP AND THEY FIGURED IT OUT TOGETHER!

Like I said, I LOVE these things, and the KIDS do, too!

Thanks, Rita, for sharing them with me!

Natalie Kaye

The 5th graders are writing something from their composition books on their blogs today, so I thought I’d add something from mine as well. Here’s what I STARTED earlier and now finished about my daughter.

Natalie Kaye

17

I am so incredibly proud of who you are. Do you remember when you were in 5th grade and you would ask me, “What am I good at?” I would try to reassure you that while you felt like you were not the best at this or that, you WERE so completely and obviously good at making friends. You would argue that that wasn’t something to be good at, I would argue it WAS. I knew because I noticed how other kids, girls especially, might fight or get in silly arguments at recess, but YOU would walk away and play something else. You were never one for drama, even at that young age.

Well, you are older now, but that is STILL one of your best attributes. You certainly have a variety of friends and you get along with just about anyone, even if some people DO drive you nuts.

But I hope you can see your other good attributes now as well, the most obvious is your drive and initiative. Nobody has to tell you to get busy and get to work. You get things done and look for more to do. You are driven and always looking for some new adventure or opportunity and you are not afraid to give something a try. That’s such a blessing, especially for someone your age.

Your dad and I love you, Natalie, and we are sure that God has plans for your future. We can’t wait to see what those plans will be. Keep that drive and fearlessness, work hard, and make good choices, but most of all, remember to thank the Lord for the work he is doing in you every day.  Heaven IS for real, and God IS good!

Love,

Mom

Totally OFF topic: Recipe for “Full-Flavored” Tuna Casserole

A friend is asking for my Tuna Casserole recipe, so instead of just sharing with one person, thought I might as well share with EVERYONE.

Ingredients:
Small 3 oz package of cream cheese (you can also just use half of a regular size package)
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1/2 cup milk
6.5 oz can of tuna
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 can creamy chicken mushroom soup
2 cup macaroni
Bread crumbs & melted butter

Directions:
Soften cream cheese. Blend in mustard, onion, milk, soup, and tuna.
Cook macaroni until tender, drain, and toss it in with mixture.
Place in a buttered casserole dish. Top with buttered bread crumbs. (I usually just randomly pull apart some bread, or day-old buns until I have about enough to cover the top of the casserole. Then I toss it with about 1/2 stick of melted butter and place on top of the mixture.)

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Peas go well with this casserole as a side dish.