For part of my returning series, Have You Ever?, today I will ask if you have ever eaten a kumquat? Earlier this week, while grocery shopping, I passed by the citrus stand at the grocery store. There, the petite, yet familiar oval orange fruit lay in a bin just beckoning me to grab some to…
enrichment activities
An Enrichment Post: Those Amazingly Awe- Inspiring Carnivorous Plants!
One of the best gifts I received this holiday season was a PBS documentary video called, “Plants Behaving Badly”, in which two types of amazing plants – orchids and carnivorous plants – are described in detail. I am lucky that my husband indulged me with this item on my wish list. Home alone on Saturday afternoon,…
The Amaryllis Project 2017
Last year, a parent donated 220 Amaryllis Kits to the after school garden club I ran at our local elementary school. It was not the first time she had made such a donation, but the volume this time was much larger! 220 Kits! Wow! I had about 40 students enrolled in garden club and knew…
Feedback on Writing
What kind of feedback do you offer your students on their writing? Are you red pen crazy? Do you mark up the paragraph, page, or essay with slashes, carots, and circles every where there is an error? Do you do this with another color pen – trying to conceal your zeal for marking the page?…
Candy Apples & Apple Cider Caramels
Baking has always been a fun pastime for me. But, recently, I have gotten into making candy and found I really enjoy it. This fall, I decided to try my hand at another batch of Apple Cider Caramels. I made this treat two years ago and they were “salted” caramels. In my opinion, either I…
A Garden I Know, and One I Will Learn
The school down the road has a garden that I know well. There, in the butterfly garden, are plants picked by former students and some selected by me, some were donated by parents or staff, and many were purchased. In the center is a large, overgrown, lilac bush. It serves as a shelter for butterflies…
The Difference a Week Makes
Wow! It has been a whirlwind week. I am mid-course learning about environmental history. It has been a challenging course just due to some computer issues and heavy reading. But, I have been learning lots of new facts…..and realized that the course is already half over! My final project will be on the history of…
Wednesday Word Enrichment: Slough
Yesterday, we drove 75 miles down the Great River Road from West – Central Wisconsin to North – Eastern Iowa. My husband and I had a dual purpose to our trip. Firstly, I needed to deliver some pieces to a gallery in the town of McGregor where I am on consignment as a jewelry designer/artist….
Student Writers Make Me Think
Over the summer I heard a few times from one of my former students from the Third Grade Writer’s Circle group I have led as a volunteer for the last six years. She was a particularly precocious writer and has continued to send me bits and pieces of her writing since she was in my…
Caving: Follow the Rules! A Reactionary Post.
Have you ever been spelunking? How about cave exploring? They are one in the same! Major newspapers have recently written and posted articles about an ordeal a young college student in Indiana had while spelunking. Reading these articles prompted me to post on this subject, having been spelunking several times in my life. My first…