Food, glorious food

I admire people who have the creativity to regularly come up with inspired dishes. I go to the grocery store to plan my family's week of meals and usually can't think of a single thing I want to or am able to make that isn't my mom's potato soup, a frozen Stouffer's casserole, or the old standby spaghetti. And then a lot of times, I bring home a bunch of groceries--usually enough for one or two meals, otherwise mostly snacks and drinks--and then I'm never in the mood for what I bought to make. So I end up wanting to go out to eat. I wonder if I'll ever get my act together and become the kind of cook and mom my son can look back on and remember fondly. What will he say when he is older? "My mom sure did make a great frozen pizza...?"

Speaking of my son, he brought home this Foods with Moods book a while back and, like a number of reviewers, we were both quite fascinated by it. Now that's some creativity right there...The author has used only carving and a few supplemental food pieces to make fruits and vegetables express a variety of feelings.

You can find all sorts of other artistic uses of foods out there in blogland and on the Internet. You might have even been to restaurants or catered events where the chefs have been especially innovative in the presentation of their food. Or maybe you just remember your mom or dad or someone else when you were little arranging your food in cute ways on your plate.

Please create a New Post on your blog inspired by food or a food memory.  See the yellow sheet with the Thanksgiving cornucopia at the top for ideas and more details.  There really isn't a wrong answer, but shoot for about 300 words.  

Please print a copy of your piece to share with us in class on Tuesday.  And if you are able, please bring a food to share with the class (possibly connected to your writing piece).  I'll bring something to drink and plates, napkins, forks, etc.

We'll have a feast in the classroom, share our food memories and do a little thinking about what we're grateful for.  I am thankful for kind, creative, driven students like you all who are willing to try new things and continually impress me with what you're able to come up with.

If you have time, you can also cruise around and look at food blogs like this one to bring back more ideas or inspire new thinking. As you might imagine, there are tons and tons of pieces about food and even food memory in magazines and on the Internet. Probably because most people really love to eat!

Keepin' it Reel

2 New Posts this week:  Share your thoughtful answers to 4-5 of the Dan In Real Life questions.  Shoot for about 250 words.  Include an image.

Do a second New Post answering the following questions about your preferences in movies.

• Tell us about your favorite movie and why you like it.
• Tell us about the kinds of movies you don't care for usually.
• Tell us about how often and where you usually watch movies.
• Tell us about what you need for movie viewing (environment, food, company, etc.)
• Tell us about what this survey says about you.
• If my life story was made into a movie...

Include images in this post also. Thanks!

This is...Photo Writing

I like this image...it's a print available at one of my favorite websites called Etsy, where you can buy all sorts of vintage and handmade goods. So much creativity and inspiration there...have a look some time.

I'd like you to do a New Post on your own blog with some writing about one of your own photos inspired by Katy Barber's "Photograph 1969." I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd like to arrange your words as a poem or a short piece of prose. I'll be looking for a vivid description of what we can actually see in the photo, followed by that "twist" we discussed in class, where you intimate or imply what else is "in" the photo...an understanding, an observation, a hint at something that came later...something more. Please include the photo in your post. 

If you don't have a photo of your own or find that too personal, find a striking or interesting photo that speaks to you on the internet or in a magazine and write about it in this same way instead.  You could also use the antique photo you looked at in class as your inspiration.  Feel free to post any other writing inspired by photos that you've come up with this week, too...

Photograph 1969 by Katy Barber

This is my mother
lifting her hair long
like a low whistle
off her neck
These are her fingers
caught in the tangles
of brown and gold caught in
silver earrings
This is my father
reaching through the lens
to touch the edge
of a new family
to touch her opening belly
under her full dress

This is existing
before I exist

This is me growing up
against their lives
him watching for a sharp
breath from her looking out
onto the border of birth
this is bumping us into three

inspiring images

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

Photo #4

Photo #5

Photo #6

Photo #7

Photo #8

Photo #9

Photo #10

Please do a New Post today on your blog inspired by one of these images and following these steps:

1. Add the image to your post. (You can right-click the image and save it on your computer to upload, or you can click the link below the photo and copy/paste the url--sometimes you lose the image later when you do it this way).

2. Write a prose paragraph of about 250 words inspired by the image (a fictional story, a personal memory, a vivid description...whatever comes to mind).

3. Then rearrange the exact same words in your paragraph as a free verse poem (like we did with the horoscope sentences). Experiment with the font if you'd like.

Example--yours should be a bit longer at 250 words (inspired by Photo #10):

Prose:

He put his hand on the back of my neck and kissed me, like he knew just who I was and what I wanted, that I loved summer nights and big, thick books, dancing and chocolate milk. I just closed my eyes. I didn't know if his favorite color was red or blue, if he liked Italian or Chinese.

Poem:

He put his hand
on the back
of my neck
and kissed me

like he knew
just who I was and
what I wanted

that I loved summer nights
and big, thick books
dancing
and chocolate milk

I just closed my eyes

I didn't know
if his favorite color
was red or blue
if he liked
Italian or Chinese.

For this week: I know it will be hard to remember, but I'd like you to bring in some images of your own to inspire some writing--your own photos, snapshots, family pictures or even images you've come across in magazines or on the web. Could you get these photos onto your phone or flash drive so you can upload them to your blog at some point later this week?

Also, grade checks go out Wednesday.  Review the assignments on our class blog and make up any posts you're missing if you'd like to improve your grade.

Be ready to turn in your journal again this Friday for our mid-2nd quarter check (already!?). You should have 20 new, full pages.  Thanks!

Thanks so much...

Tell me a story!

Please write a children's story of 300-500 words and share it in a New Post on your own blog by the end of class on Thursday.  You'll need your story in class on Friday, so please print a finished, proofread copy, too.  Give your story a great title and please include at least 3 images throughout your post (kids' stories are often all about the pictures!)--maybe of images that come close to how you imagine your character(s), the setting(s), or even the events.

Children's stories aren't usually all that long, but because of their brevity, each line and word needs to count.  Try to make strong and effective word choices and eliminate any unnecessary rambling.  Also, decide on an age group to target with your story and keep that in mind as you craft your piece.  What would a kid that age know, want to know, think about, be scared of, find funny, etc.?  You may want your story to rhyme--seems like many kids' books do--but it's not required.  Your story could be funny or serious, silly or sentimental...

You are welcome to write about whatever you want, but there are a number of ideas for stories at this website if you're looking for inspiration, or maybe you could try the brainstorming process explained on this website.

Or maybe consider these ideas from the site Children's Book Writer:

Select one character, one character trait, one setting, one problem, and one magical element from the lists below and write a 200-250 word scene or story. To complete the exercise, eliminate the magical element and rewrite the scene/story. What had to change? Does the magical element make your main character, and the story he tells, any stronger?

Main Character (select one from list or create your own)
Cassandra
Joey
Lizard
Ardvark
Gollup

Character Trait (select one)
Shy
Curious
Loud
Slippery
Sad


Setting (select one)
Cruise ship
Hot air balloon
Zoo
School playground
Beach


Problem (select one)
Forgot lunch
Lost
Make a new friend
Bullied
Cold
Save the planet


Magical element (select one)
Skateboard
Bubble
Jumprope
Elephant
Dollar bill

...........................................................................................................

Select a beginning, a main character, and a moral to convey. Imagine yourself telling your tale to a rapt group of children... Keep interest high by using active verbs and phrases, use conflict to create tension, and try lots of dialogue. To complete the exercise, read it aloud!

Beginning:

My friends! Gather around, close to me. We are about to embark on a strange journey...

Once upon a time, in a land nearly forgotten...

I'm as old as the trees, as old as the stars in the night sky. Only I am old enough to remember what happened a long time ago...

Long ago and far away...


Character:

The Bovine King
Quiet Leopard
The Boy in the Moon
Two Sisters 
The Dancing Rabbit in the Moon
The Lonely Princess
Warty Frog

Moral or Lesson to be Learned:

Always practice kindness
A good deed can make a difference
Only you can control your attitude.
Sometimes things are not as they appear to be.
Don't be afraid to challenge authority

Children's Lit Online Search

Hi there. I'd like you to do a guided search today to see what's out there in the world of children's literature. I've put in links to the web addresses listed on the worksheet here on this post for you to make your search easier. A couple of the sites are interactive and have sound, video and other activities, and you're welcome to scroll around on those in addition to just answering the questions.

1. First stop: Cyberbee

2. Next stop: Pigeon Presents

3.  Ian Falconer's Olivia

 4. Walter the Dog link

5. Top 10 of 2013 by Breezy Mama

6. Top 10 "Classic" Children's Books @ Best Toys Guide

7. Current Trends in Children's Lit article

8. No link for this one--look for a review of your own favorite

9. Skippyjon Jones Home Page

Make sure you've completed the New Post on your blog about the kids' book you looked at in the library and the other New Post responding to several of the prompts about childhood.  See the two previous posts below for more information.

Books for Kids

Please type up the information from the folded sheet regarding a children's book in the library as a New Post on your blog.  Include a couple of images.  Glue the half sheet in your journal to count as an entry.

child's play

In childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking out. 

In memories of childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking in.    ~Robert Brault

 

 

Let's use CHILDHOOD as our theme this week and do some thinking about children's stories--both your own and fictional ones you might write for kids. 

 

Please choose some of these questions to answer in a New Post on your blog of at least 300 words.  Rather than answering many of them with short, surface answers, go into more detail about just a few.  Include images with your writing if you can. 

 

You could answer others in your journal, too.  You should have at least 15 new pages by the end of the week.

 

 



1. What is your most poignant childhood memory? The one that sticks out the most? Write out as much as you can remember and then fill in the details with elaborate description.

 

2. Who was the most important person to you during most of your childhood? Your Mom? Your Dad? Another relative? A friend? An imaginary person? Show some examples in which you see how much influence this person (or imaginary person) had on you while you were growing up.

3. It seems like when you are a kid growing up you can't wait to get there and when you are a grown up you wish you could be back. Imagine one day in which you are granted adulthood as a child, and one day in which you are granted childhood as an adult. How do you utilize these 24 hour periods?

4. We all have that friend we had in childhood who later moved into a different popularity scale in middle or high school. Who was that friend and what did you two enjoy so much together when you were little?

5. What did you and your family do for entertainment when you were little? Did you play board games together? Go to movies? Go into extreme detail of a family fun night of some kind.

6. What cartoon from your childhood is the most memorable for you? What made it stick in your head so strongly? Would you see a movie of it now if were made into a big blockbuster for the nostalgia purposes?

7.  What action makes you the most nostalgic for your childhood? Is it seeing old pictures or going through old clothes? Something else entirely? Write a story of you going through those nostalgic actions and having various memories of your childhood.

8. How do you recall getting along with your family during your childhood? With your parents, siblings, and other relatives? Go though a typical reunion or holiday with your entire family in attendance during your childhood. Have fun going into excruciating detail.

9. Is there something you know now you wish you knew when you were a kid?  Is there something you’ve come to know that you wish you didn’t?
 

10. It's your birthday! Pick a party that you had during your childhood or create an ideal birthday party for yourself at any young age and write a story about it.

11. You have been given the opportunity to go backwards. You can pick an age and start over again from that age. Do you pick one or not? What age would you go to? Describe your first week with your "old person" memories in your younger body.
 

12.  Describe any childhood ailments or injuries you had.

13.  Describe your favorite toy. What did it look like? How did it feel?

14.  Describe your favorite books growing up. What made them special to you?

15.  Describe your favorite game growing up.

16.  Describe your nemesis growing up. Who made your life miserable and what did he/she do to make your life so rough?
 

17.  Describe your favorite foods as a child. What did you eat then that you no longer eat?
 

18.  What was the biggest trouble you got into as a child? Describe what you did or didn’t do to deserve what happened to you.
 

19.  What was your greatest childhood accomplishment? How did it make you feel? What influence do you think it has had on your life since?
 

20.  Describe what you did or where you went as a child when you wanted to feel safe.
 

21.  Describe your personality as a child. In what ways has it changed as you’ve gotten older? In what ways has it stayed the same?
 

22.  How has your opinion of your parents changed as you’ve grown older?

23.  Describe your most interesting relative.

24.  Describe something that people would be surprised to know about your childhood.

25.  Describe some of the cultural influences in your childhood.  Do you know your heritage?

26.  Describe the home you grew up in. If you lived in several different homes, describe one or discuss the reasons for the frequent moves. Were you moving up or working your way down?
 

27.  Describe one of your first away-from-home experiences.
 

28.  Describe a smell that you remember from growing up.

29.  What was your favorite family dinner as a child?

30.  Talk about a time when you were grounded.

31.  At what age did you learn to ride a bicycle?

32.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

33.  When you were a child, how did you imagine your teenage life?  Your adult life?

34.  Describe someone who taught you to believe in yourself.

35.  What frightening dream do you remember from your childhood?

36.  What did you not like about your childhood?

37.  Recall one of your favorite childhood movies.

38.  What did you collect as a child? What did you like about these items?

39.   Write about a favorite or interesting quote about childhood or children.