Stick Around Awhile

Did you know a million Earths could fit in our sun? Did you know that, since atoms are mostly space, if a cathedral-sized model was made of an atom, the nucleus would be a fly in the middle? I’m sure I learned either these or similar facts as a junior high school student, but I didn’t really take note of the information until lately when I spent the semester working with a student in Physical Science. This school year we’ve been watching an astrophysics series produced by NOVA. With stellar (no pun intended) production value and fascinating Generation Tech-friendly graphics, it has been riveting. For me. Today’s jaded eight-grader basically embraces one guiding principle: If I can’t text to it or with it, why do I care? So, we all sat having the universe passionately explained to us while the only person in the room listening was the nerdy old lady. Every day I would come home with some new tidbit captivating or astounding me. And the one that most knocked my socks off was the theory that 99% of all species ever having existed on Earth are now extinct. Ninety-nine percent. Obviously, that means everything in the world now--plants, animals, insects, humans--comprises only 1% of the sum total of everything that ever was. Mind-boggling. Maybe Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle wrote Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? about a child dreaming of endangered animals because they are NOVA fans. Or maybe they are just not-going-extinct fans.

P.S. Happy Birth Day, Posey Emmaline! Welcome!

http://www.amazon.com/Panda-Bear-What-You-See/dp/0805017585

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=387

http://www.carolhurst.com/newsletters/24dnewsletters.html

Visionary

Do you ever get asked those impossible choice questions some people live for? You know, the ones like which one of your children you would save if you had to choose or if you would flip the switch that would keep a full train from plunging into a canyon but kill your only son who had wandered onto the track. Those impossible questions. Maybe people just like to see me squirm because I seem to get that type of conundrum presented to me all the time. Most of the questions have varied and morphed over time but one has remained constant: Would you rather lose your sight or lose your hearing? Of course, the real answer is neither, thank you, but the point of these dumb dilemmas is to force you to make a choice. So, for me, the answer has always been clear. If I couldn’t see--to read, to recognize loved ones, to move about independently--my life would be qualitatively fractured beyond repair. I would have to preserve my sight, but I say that realizing how much I would lose if I couldn’t hear. Singing and dancing as I know them would be gone. I couldn’t gauge the tone of sadness or joy in voices I love. And a speech teacher who can’t hear speeches…But that would still be my choice. Maybe Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle’s arctic protagonist in Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? would choose differently. Snow is snow is snow, after all.

http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bear-What-Brown-Friends/dp/0805053883

http://www.teachingk-8.com/archives/celebrations_in_reading_and_writing/remembering_bill_martin_jr_by_maryann_manning.html

http://ericcarleblog.blogspot.com/

The Book Centennial

ONE HUNDRED BOOKS!

It’s hard to believe we’ve done this for a hundred days. I was worried at the beginning there wouldn’t be enough gems to last a year and now there might not be time to fit them all in. I am being more judicious in my choices, but Scarlett still loves randoms. I’ve realized how fortunate we are to live when and where we do so that a wealth of reading material is available. I am grateful for the friends who have stepped up to suggest and provide their favorites. I love that Scarlett presents books demanding “on the couch.” But perhaps the best by-product of all is catching Scarlett “reading” to herself. I remember being shocked when I spoke with a Resource Specialist for the first time about Connor’s academic challenges. She told me the first thing they check for in a child with learning disabilities is if they know how to properly use a book--holding it right side up, turning pages from front to back--because, often, these kids have never been exposed to reading. How is that possible? Fortunately, Connor did not have that problem because he not only navigated the book, he also showed where the author and illustrator’s names were and said that illustrator means someone who draws pictures. But think of how sad that is for those other children. So, to celebrate books, we read Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Now “skinned-knee d” is stuck in my head.

http://www.amazon.com/Chicka-Boom-Bill-Martin-Jr/dp/068983568X

http://www.teachingk-8.com/archives/celebrations_in_reading_and_writing/remembering_bill_martin_jr_by_maryann_manning.html

http://www.johnarchambault.com/about.html