Writer's Workshop - My Favs

Create a list of your top beauty must haves.

For people who know me,

know I have a love for

handbags,

shoes,

earrings,

and necklaces.

And because I'm always wearing these

it's assumed I wear a lot of makeup,

But I don't.

I'm a lipstick and eyeliner girl.

That's it.

Pretty simple.

So Mama Kat's prompt

really got me thinking.

What are my beauty 

must-haves?

1. Anti-Breakage Serum

Earlier this summer,

I had long hair,

and loved my flat-iron.

My hair,

however,

was not as much of a fan.

This stuff is amazing.

It makes your hair soft,

prevents split ends,

and you'd never know

your hair doesn't like humidity!

2) Body Shop Lip Butter

A couple of years ago, 

Scott was travelling to SA

and I asked him to pick me up some lip balm.

He came home with Lip Butter instead.

And I have to say,

I love it even more.

3) Lipstick

Like I said,

I'm a lipstick girl.

Right now, 

MAC's Dare You

is my favourite.

4) Nail Wraps

Jamberry Nail wraps

are my latest obsession.

I LOVE these.

I love manicures,

but the polish always starts to peel

within a few days.

These, 

not only last,

but they come in so many amazing

styles, colours and designs. 

They've even started a 

Style Box!

I may be simple in taste 

and beauty products,

but trust me,

when I find something I love

it's amazing!

The App Generation - Howard Gardner & Katie Davis

I really enjoyed this book.

It wasn't filled with any 

ah-ha moments

and really wasn't anything new.

And to be honest,

there were times it got quite dry.

However, 

the idea and thoughts behind

this made me think

about how I treat 

Facebook and other apps.

Gardner and Davis look at how 

the digital era affects teens

in three areas;

identity, intimacy and imgaination.

They do not say apps are bad,

but show how we've changed with apps,

how today's generation 

is different through apps.

A great example is the idea of 

getting lost.

I remember being lost.

Trying to figure out where I was.

But today,

my iPhone guides me.

Last year,

I had a unit on migration.

With my Grade 2 students,

we discussed what was important to take with us

when we moved.

Photographs were not something

my students thought of,

since they were all on their phones.

But I digress.

The App Generation 

is a good read.

There's no new ideas

but it does make you

think about how our lives have changed.

Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

I am a huge fan of Cinderella stories.

Actually, 

if am honest,

I'm a huge fan of fairy tales.

So when I heard that Cruel Beauty

was a new twist on

The Beauty & the Beast

I knew I had to give it a read.

I didn't so much read this book

as I did gobble it up!

Nyx is an amazing character.

She is strong-willed,

witty, brave

and,

dare I say,

sarcastic!

She is angry, bitter and fierce.

And she craves to be loved. 

She has spent her whole life 

being prepared to sacrifice her life

and kill a beast. 

Before her birth,

her father made a deal with the Gentle Lord,

the evil ruler/monster

of their kingdom. 

In exchange for allowing his wife

to conceive the twins, 

their father promised one twin

to the Lord in exchange.

But the Lord plays tricks.

He granted the father's wish,

and Nyx and her sister were born.

But he also lost his wife

to childbirth.

Then there is the Gentle Lord,

Ignifex.

For centuries her has terrorized

the kingdom. 

But things are never as they seem.

Cruel Beauty mixes the best of two of my favourite genres;

fairy tales and Greek mythology.

It is cleverly written and hooks you in 

from the start. 

If this is how she debuts,

I cannot wait to read more from this amazing

author. 

The Writing Thief - Ruth Culham

I'm a huge fan of Ruth Culham.

She's written a lot of books about the

6-Traits of Writing.

She's a great resource

for mentor texts. 

And basically,

that's what

The Writing Thief

offers. 

Culham explains how stealing from

authors and books we love

is great when teaching writing. 

She focuses on 

informational, narrative and argument

types of writing.

She explains them in simple terms

and connects the 6-Traits to these 

text types.

With the 6-Traits,

Culham points out

the simple differences

in each text type,

and offers some mentor texts

to support them.

With Ethan having completed 

first and second grade,

and with having taught,

in recent years,

second and third grade,

I found myself making notes in the margin

about which texts I could see myself using

with a specific grade,

or even matching ideas

with a unit.

The Writing Thief

is one of those books

that you're glad you read over the summer

and gets you excited about going back

into the classroom. 

Writer's Workshop - Say What?

Kids Say the Darndest Things......

When Ethan was little

(not that he's all that big now)

he'd say the cutest things.

 I would write them down,

so to never forget.

But as he's gotten older,

I haven't really,

and yet he still says the 

darndest things!

Some examples:

1) On the way home one afternoon;

Me - Ethan, I need to stop at the drug store.

Ethan - Mama! Drugs! Really???

Me - Ethan, I need to stop at the pharmacy on the way home.

2) Ethan lost a tooth the other day;

Me - Do you think the Tooth Fairy knows where to find you?

Ethan - Of course, since she's a parent!

Me - Apparent?

Ethan - No! A Parent! Like a mom or dad!

3) Discussing our peanut-free lunches for camp;

Me - So how about tomorrow I send you with 

a cucumber sandwich, yogurt and a granola bar?

Ethan - Yogurt on my sandwich? Really?

Me - So how about tomorrow I send you with

a cucumber sandwich comma yogurt comma

and a granola bar!

I love how his mind is as warped
and twisted
as mine!

Blood Father - Tessa Dawn

I absoultely love this series.

I cannot recall how I found the first one,

but am so glad I did.

And yet,

somehow,

I missed the release of this one.

But am sooo glad I found it.

I think,

this may also be my favourite

in the series.

Blood Father

begins with the epilogue from

Blood Redemption.

Kagen Silvasi and his brothers,

Nathaniel, Nachari and Marquis,

learn their father is alive

and being held prisoner

in the land of Mhier,

for the last 480 years.

They decide they must try to go

and save him.

Arielle Nightsong is a human

living in Mhier.

She is a healer

and a part of the rebels.

Arielle has a huge heart,

and cares for the prisoner

Keitaro.

The lycan king is cruel

and is determined to make Arielle his.

Being on a different portal,

Kagen does not see the blood moon,

yet when he meets Arielle,

he is drawn to her.

With Arielle's help,

Kagen and his brothers are determined to save

Keitaro 

and bring him back home.

I loved Arielle.

She is a strong woman.

She's a fighter. 

She's been through a lot

and Kagen is extremely 

patient and caring.

The Book Whisperer - Donalyn Miller

My first year in Zambia,

my teaching partner and I

scoured the server

to find a ton of reading logs.

We went through them all

(they were used by the previous year's teachers)

and found the one we would implement

in our classroom.

By October,

I hated the reading logs.

It felt like I was giving parents homework.

If a student wasn't reading,

I'm sure the parent would tell me.

So what did purpose did the log serve?

Unfortunately,

I was alone.

The following year,

my teaching partner was an avid

book log teacher.

And since we were a small school,

it was hard for her to do something

and not me.

So,

when I read in The Book Whisperer

how the author also has a distaste

for reading logs,

I knew we were kindred spirits!

The book is more or less
her thought process
on how to create a generation of readers.
She has instilled a love of reading in her students.
They don't read books because the curriculum says they should.
They read books they want to,
they share ideas,
thoughts
and recommendations.
It's what I would love my students
to feel about reading.

Miller teaches middle school.
Her methods work great in that setting.
As a second grade teacher,
I'm not sure how much of this I could use
but it was truly inspiring.

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet - Darynda Jones

Charley's back!!!!

I honestly think, 

the biggest pull to this series,

is Charley herself.

If she were a real person

(Gasp! you mean she isn't)

I could totally see us hanging out together.

Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

begins 2 months after 

Third Grave Dead Ahead.

Charley has not left her apartment

in these 2 months.

She's addicted to home shopping

and is broke.

And then she gets a new client.

And she's still not speaking to her father

who had her arrested while she was in the hospital.

Who btw, 

then shoots at her,

twice!

She has some demons from Hell

after her.

Oh, 

and then there's Reyes.

Say it with me,

don't forget to add the sigh,

Reyes!

You really cannot get enough of 

these two.