tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post2718032156222283840..comments2023-08-26T16:55:38.930-05:00Comments on Views from My Highland Cottage: The Love of Reading is a Precious GiftTeresahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06666609213171939599noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-60974434322867751042014-02-20T23:29:49.357-06:002014-02-20T23:29:49.357-06:00Jenny, I did read your other blog and I love the b...Jenny, I did read your other blog and I love the book the children are writing/wrote. The story starters and advance organizers (stories of WW I nurses, real objects) used really focused the children, as well as brought out their creativity. I fully understand that historical accuracy had to be sacrificed in lieu of time, their ages and backgrounds. I love the fact that you started with a personal connection. And I laughed as I read backwards to fully understand the inclusion of fleas on a hospital train. My husband is an RN, so the idea of a nurse having and smuggling flea friends was different. Higher level thinking skills are something receiving a lot of attention in the US right now, with the debate over Common Core standards and how they are being implemented. Supposedly, they are to develop thinking and reasoning/problem solving, etc. but at the sacrifice of any creativity, especially on the part of teachers, as everyone is judged by test scores. I've been an educator my whole life but most recently in early childhood and early childhood special education, but in the beginning I was a reading and literacy teacher. There is a lower performing/ESL school near my house where I would love to volunteer. I have a friend who is a librarian but I always have too many other irons in the fire. How long does this project continue? How is it incorporated into the existing curriculum? Teresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06666609213171939599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-82114304698245762742014-02-18T10:56:47.027-06:002014-02-18T10:56:47.027-06:00Thanks for following my blog, Teresa. Your blog is...Thanks for following my blog, Teresa. Your blog is lovely, and I was really glad to find that you think it's important that children should love books and reading. <br /><br />On my other blog, I've written about a writing project we've been doing with children, called www.mabel-and-her-amazing-fleas.blogspot.co.uk. Many of the children who were involved were not used to reading or writing books so it was fascinating to see how creative they were. Don't feel obliged to go there but if you would like to take a look, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it! Jenny Woolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16881781466502273314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-19290191570324645122014-02-10T16:18:12.282-06:002014-02-10T16:18:12.282-06:00It's sweet and fun.It's sweet and fun.Teresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06666609213171939599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-28915781138326171612014-02-09T20:14:24.658-06:002014-02-09T20:14:24.658-06:00this sounds just wonderful. I'll have to look ...this sounds just wonderful. I'll have to look for it. Thank you.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-87805818707643728342014-01-30T23:51:13.820-06:002014-01-30T23:51:13.820-06:00There is something magical about being snowed in. ...There is something magical about being snowed in. Some of my favorite memories also occurred while life was put on hold during snow storms--as a teacher, I was often as excited as the kids when school was cancelled. I have delightful memories of books read, birds fed, long walks through the neighborhood, walking to a small neighborhood store and buying bagels just shipping in from Chicago (when fresh bagels were still a novelty). There were sledding parties, warm fires, being forgotten in a basement classroom while the college shut down because of a blizzard, then being the last car up a hill before a trailer of horses jackknifed and closed the road home. Loved your memories of El Dorado--you never know, maybe your mom enjoyed it as much as you.Teresahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06666609213171939599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5727843531028515444.post-19101912051075664202014-01-30T16:41:38.458-06:002014-01-30T16:41:38.458-06:00Reading is, indeed, one of the greatest gifts one ...Reading is, indeed, one of the greatest gifts one can give a child. Love that some gently used books are finding new homes!<br /><br />Snowed in with Grandmother Silk sounds like a perfect book for winter, even if we have escaped the monster storm that hugged the deep South. I remember an ice storm that hit when I was in the 4th grade in El Dorado and the luxury of a gas stove that worked even though the electricity was out, and my mother making doughnuts, and reading by the window. Good memories for a child. Bet my mother was a wreck with three kids, no heat, and no electricity, but she never let us know it!jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.com