Hello Readers! Guess what? April is National Poetry MONTH!!!! Rah! So when you come back, be prepared to learn about different styles of poetry and compose a few of your own. Poems can be serious or silly, rhyme or not...and be short or long.

Here is one about VACATION...(by the way, happy vacation). And then I will share with you one of my favorite poems from William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Chaucer.
PS: I was a Lit. Major :)



David L. Harrison: Are We There Yet?

My foot’s
asleep,

my seat
is sore.

You said
“another hour”
before.

You say
“an hour”
every
time.

Your
hours
are much

longer
than
mine.


William Wordsworth: Tintern Abbey

FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur. -- Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
The day is come when I again repose
Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see
These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!


Elizabeth Barrett Browning: How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Geoffery Chaucer (1340-1400?): (From the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales
(This one is written in Old English and I had to memorize it and can still recite it!)

WHAN that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye,
That slepen al the night with open ye,
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages:
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmers for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The holy blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.

Math: March 19

Today for math we had a reward. I call it math game day. It is where my whole floor becomes a sea of math manipulatives. The buzz of the classroom shows great team work and involvement. I tried to find the geo boards...but they were missing today...

Oh, life is good. Math toys are fun...and happy, happy, happy BREAK.

Love,
Ms. H.

Reading: March 18

We worked on our spelling activity today. Then we pulled out a Reading packet from inside our desk to work on. The kids are coming home with a reading packet to work on at home over break. This will help them get used to the format of a test...Also coming home, if you don't already have it is the parent letter to write a letter to your child to encourage them during the MCAII's.

Math: March 18

I sent home the packets today for Math...for practice over break. FEEL FREE to help your child out with them and have "Math Talks."

We worked on our classroom one today as well..we are just about done with it.

Spelling...

"I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me."
Winnie the Pooh


We did several activites with Spelling this week except pretest..so in lieu of that, we are going to use the same list for the week we come back from break..the first week of April. I will reprint and repost..and EVERYONE will get 20/20---right?

Reading: March 17

Today in Reading, we had a picture person come. Mrs. Baxter. She told us about Jan Vermeer who was a Dutch, Baroque Era painter from 1632-1635.

Here is information about the painting from wikipedia.com

Description
The painting depicts a painter painting a female subject in his studio, by a window, with a large map of the Netherlands on the wall behind.

The painting has only two figures, the painter and his subject. The painter is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist, though the face is not visible.

A number of the items shown in the artist's studio are thought to be somewhat out of place. The marble tiled floor and the golden chandellier are two examples of items which would normally then be reserved for the houses of the well-to-do.

The map in the background is of the Seventeen United Provinces of the Netherlands, flanked by views of the main centres of power. It was published by Claes Jansz Visscher in 1636.

Symbolism and allegory
Experts attribute symbolism to various aspects of the painting.

The subject is the Muse of History, Clio. This is evidenced by her wearing a laurel wreath, holding a trumpet (depicting fame), possibly carrying a book by Thucydides, which matches the description in Cesare Ripa's 16th century book on emblems and personifications titled Iconologia.

The double headed eagle, symbol of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, former rulers of Holland, which adorns the central golden chandelier, may have represented the Catholic faith. Vermeer was unusual in being a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant Netherlands. The absence of candles in the chandelier might represent the suppression of the Catholic faith.

The map on the back wall has a rip that divides the Netherlands between the north and south. (West is at the top of the map, as was the custom.) The rip symbolizes the division between the Dutch Republic to the north and the Habsburg controlled Flemish provinces to the south. The map by Claes Jansz Visscher (Nicolaum Piscatorem) shows the earlier political division between the Union of Utrecht to the north, and the colonies to the south.[2]

Salvador Dalí refers to "The Art of Painting" in his own surrealistic painting The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table (1934). On Dali's painting we can see the image of Vermeer viewed from his back re-created as a strange kind of table.

History
The painting is considered a work with significance for the artist because the painter himself did not part with it or sell it, even when he was in debt. In 1676, his widow Catharina bequeathed it to her mother, Maria Thins, in an attempt to avoid the sale of the painting to satisfy creditors.[3] The executor of Vermeer's estate, the famous Delft microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek, determined that the transferral of the work to the late painter's mother-in-law was illegal.

It is not known who owned the painting for most of the 18th century. It ultimately was acquired by the eminent Dutch physician Gerard van Swieten. The painting was then inherited by Gerard's also-famous son Gottfried van Swieten, and later passed into the hands of Gottfried's heirs.[4] In 1813 it was purchased for 50 florins by the Bohemian-Austrian Count Czernin.[5] Until 1860, the painting was considered to be by Vermeer's contemporary Pieter de Hooch; Vermeer was little known until the late 19th century. Pieter's signature was even forged on the painting. It was at the intervention of French Vermeer scholar, Thoré Bürger and the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen that it was recognised as a Vermeer original. It was placed on public display in the Czernin Museum in Vienna. Andrew W. Mellon and others tried to buy the painting.[6]

Nazi interest
After the Nazi invasion of Austria, top Nazi officials including Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring attempted to acquire the painting. It was finally acquired from its then owner, Count Jaromir Czernin by Adolf Hitler for his personal collection at a price of 1.65 million Reichsmark through his agent, Hans Posse on November 20, 1940 [7]. The painting was rescued from a salt mine at the end of World War II in 1945, where it was preserved from Allied bombing raids, with other works of art.

The Americans presented the painting to the Austrian Government in 1946, since the Czernin family were deemed to have sold it voluntarily, without undue force from Hitler. It is now the property of the State of Austria.

2009 Request for Restitution by Heirs
In August 2009 a request was submitted by the heirs of the Czernin family to Austria's culture ministry for the return of the painting. A previous request was submitted in 1960s however it was " rejected on the grounds that the sale had been voluntary and the price had been adequate." A 1998 restitution law which pertains to public institutions has bolstered the family's legal position.

Location
The painting is on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, where it has been since it was acquired by the Austrian government in 1946.

Math: March 17

Today for Math, we had NWEA catch up day. There were several students who were moving from here to there for testing times to make up. We also had some students who are now on vacation gone.

We did a "reward" and are watching a movie called Eight Below. It is about sled dogs.

An Irish Blessing

(A Blessing from St. Patrick)


May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Who Was Saint Patrick?

***holidays.kaboose.com/patrick-history.html***

Even though Saint Patrick the patron saint of Ireland and one of the most celebrated religious figures around the world, the factual information about his life and times is quite vague. Most information about St. Patrick has been twisted, embellished, or simply made up over centuries by storytellers, causing much ambiguity about the real life of St. Patrick. However, there are a some elements of his story about which most scholars accept to be true.

According to Coilin Owens, Irish literature expert and Professor Emeritus of English at George Mason University, Saint Patrick is traditionally thought to have lived "between 432-461 A.D., but more recent scholarship moves the dates up a bit." At the age of sixteen he was kidnapped from his native land of the Roman British Isles by a band pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. Saint Patrick worked as a shepherd and turned to religion for solace. After six years of slavery he escaped to the Irish coast and fled home to Britain.

While back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and then decided to return to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.

After studying and preparing for several years, Patrick traveled back to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Although there were already some Christians living in Ireland, St. Patrick was able to bring upon a massive religious shift to Christianity by converting people of power. Says Prof. Owens, "[St. Patrick] is credited with converting the nobles; who set an example which the people followed."

But Patrick's desire to spread of Christianity was not met without mighty opposition. Prof. Owens explains, "Patrick ran into trouble with the local pagan priesthood, the druids: and there are many stories about his arguments with them as well as his survival of plots against them." He laid the groundwork for the establishment of hundreds of monasteries and churches that eventually popped up across the Irish country to promote Christianity.

Saint Patrick is also credited with bringing written word to Ireland through the promotion of the study of legal texts and the Bible, says Prof. Owens. Previous to Patrick, storytelling and history were reliant on memory and orally passing down stories.

Patrick's mission in Ireland is said to have lasted for thirty years. It is believe he died in the 5th century on March 17, which is the day St. Patrick's Day is commemorated each year.

The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in America in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first official St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City in 1766. As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

Bluejacket Pride

Reading: March 16

Today we spent a good chunk of our time testing in the lab for NWEA Math. You would be proud of your children, focused, trying hard and being patient with themselves as they move along. This is hard work...it is their "job" and they are doing fine. We will soon go upstairs and work on Spelling.

Math: March 16

We are trying to finish our class packet of review before break! It is not as easy as it sounds. We will work on one OVER break and also work on one the week back....then it is testing and moving on to Chapter 10!

Over Break

There are some things that the students will be taking home to work on over break.

One thing will be a math packet...for those in math. The reading group will get one as well. They can be brought back upon returning to school for points for the school store.

Please encourage your child/provide time for your child to go online to get some practice for testing MCAII's. Please see the links below for a variety of help. I ESPECIALLY love http://www.internet4classrooms.com/.

Other things that you could do include having your child read to someone at home, read a great book at their reading level, write a note to a relative and send it, work on Latin Root Words..or even throwing words into www.spellingcity.com and playing games.

Enjoy this well deserved and earned rest. I look forward to seeing you all out and about and having fun.

Spring Forward

So, I get a blog that comes to my email. It is from a Responsive Classroom blog called Yard Sticks. I am going to share with you what Chip wrote this week.


*****
Some call this week at school “March Madness,” with a nod to the endless basketball parade on television this time of year. The analogy does fit if you think about the college kids who are sometimes playing three and four basketball games in as many days, the ones with the greatest stamina often the ones surviving to win their conference championships.The more-fatigued-than-usual kids we see this week entering morning classes in elementary, middle, and high school with noticeably tired eyes and faces are dealing with the change to Daylight Savings Time. A loss of an hour’s sleep Saturday night is playing havoc with sleep patterns and circadian rhythms, and it takes some children weeks to readjust. Crankiness, disengagement, mental fatigue, and poor work production can be observable this week.

And it’s not just the kids. Teachers are affected by this change as well and probably found it harder getting up and off to school Monday morning. We push through and think we’re quickly adjusting, but our patience and attentiveness may not be par excellence. What to do?

It makes sense this week to:

Talk to your students about getting extra sleep at home this week, and why
Build a few more short stretch breaks into your lessons
Take a “one-minute nap” with your class
Make sure kids are drinking plenty of water
Sneak in a ten-minute outdoor break once or twice this week for your class
In many states, this week it is getting close to state standardized test windows. The strategies I’ve suggested for helping kids adjust to Daylight Savings Time are also well-known to help with test-taking attention and energy at all grade levels!

Reading March 15

Reading today was all testing...NWEAS rocked in our classroom. Please ask your child about their score and whether it improved or not from last Fall. We also enjoyed a little bit of free time after our time of intense testing and quiet reading.

Math: March 15

Today we talked about Pi Day. Pi Day is getting more and more famous. We had a great time trying to wrap our minds around an incomprehendable number...Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. The number goes on and on forever past 3.14 with a exhaustive series of numbers in a non repeating.

We also worked on our testing packet. We will work on this and send one home for break. Tomorrow is our NWEA testing.

Spelling March 15-19

regular
dinner
activities
Latin
nice
according
realized
related
recognized
refer
search
lose
pencil
useful
won
worry
giant
wonderful
cloth
farther

Something Happened

I love technology, but I will be the first in line to also say that sometimes, it is more trouble than it is worth. I had noticed a problem with the blog a few weeks ago. It went click, click, click and took me in a flash to a screen that I did not want. I tried to figure it out. The only answer I came up with was a evil gremlin who wanted to take over the world and I am sure that was not the cause.

So I deleted the blog and recreated this one. You will again find school information here. I appreciate all the parents who were keeping in touch with this blog and with me through it. It has been helpful.

Most Sincerely,
Kimberly