Literacy Learning Zone

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Lisa sent me a message at the beginning of summer wondering if my girls would be interested in a summer pen pal with her daughter. "Yes!!" They shouted. And they waited for the first letter to arrive. It arrived one late afternoon as I was making dinner. They ripped open the envelope and read the note together with pure excitement. I have the image of them huddled together reading it aloud. I wish I grabbed my phone to capture a picture. Within minutes, they each grabbed a notecard and a pen...

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Summer is here. And I'm loving it. Even though I keep saying that being a full time mom and working through the to-do lists is more exhausting than going to school every day! In summer, there's ... More  slow mornings reading time baking yummy goodness dinner creations More  spontaneous moments hanging out with friends hiking, swimming, biking it's past bedtime nights More  'yes, let's do it' days summertime adventures special memories captured time to just ...

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ The last days of school are for ... reminders to exercise their reading brains making a reading plan of who? what? where? when? and why? filling their arms with new books to read at home and a notebook and pen to write story after story The last days of school are for ... small moments of connecting with each child noticing and telling of why they matter to me and this world sharing and caring as much as they need with hugs in between pouring all that I can into their hearts and mi...

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Rescuing a dog comes with many responsibilities, like lots of walks. Every day Harley and I walk about the neighborhood at least two times a day. One walk occurs after the girls get on the bus in the morning. I make my way around the outside of neighborhood completing the one-mile stretch. It's usually a quiet walk as most are off to school or work. Sometimes I think about my day and ponder life or pray. Other times I intently observe the neighborhood, houses, plants, front doors, and so on looki...

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ I can't believe it's been almost a year without writing a slice of life or even a blog post. After years of writing. Nine years. 626 published blog posts. Most slice of life stories. To be exact. I know that my habit of writing slipped away. I chose to ignore the blog, the calls for slices, the messages from far away friends. I let it go. It's hard really to say why. I'm sure it's a combination of home and school. And to be honest, my heart wasn't in it. However, my heart has been e...

  Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Every evening, we take our Harley-dog for a family walk. The girls are never too excited about just walking the neighborhood. Thankfully, they are creative and fun, and figure out a way to manage the boring walk. Some days they decide to hop on their scooters. Some days they create a game along the way full of hops, steps, and jumps -- worth points. Some days they ride their new bikes. Some days they guess and then count the number of steps until the next shade tree. Some days they roller blade. But, tonight, they grabbed a bag of c...

  Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ The very afternoon my girls were out of school, they were already making plans. They disappeared into the playroom ... and an hour later they emerged. "Momma! Come and see what we did!" They called out. The girls transformed their playroom into a new space: a classroom for summer.  Using items "gifted" from their teachers and other handmade essentials, the girls created a learning space, including a daily schedule made of popsicle sticks and a magnetic pointer on a pipe clea...

  Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Who can resist picking  the round  ball of perfection? Waiting and willing anyone or anything to -- * b *           * l *                          * o *     * w * Amazing how it is so beautiful and delicate, yet carries the power of unwantedness Once the beauty i s carefully plucked and a quick, forceful  * b *           * l *             ...

  Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ I knew I always wanted to be a mom.  Jon and I were married almost seven years before we were blessed with our twin daughters. I remember the day vividly when I found out I was officially pregnant with twins. It was a shock at first. I remember asking, "How does that happen?" The nurse just laughed. And, in what seems like a blink, the girls are eight. Eight. Eight!  I can't even believe it. They are growing up to be amazing little people. They are sweet and caring a...

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ Every night for years, my almost (in ONE week) eight year old daughters and I snuggle up in our big bed before bedtime and read. Some days, it's picture books from our library. Or new books from a Scholastic book order. Or even books the girls checked out from their school library. Or an old favorite we have read and read and read again.  The book selections and options are endless and always growing. Bedtime reading is one of my favorite moments of my day. Over the last year, ...