Tuesday Tips & Tricks

Teaching a Child to Hold a Pencil

1. Take a Kleenex and tear it two pieces (a full Kleenex is too large, so just use the half piece for this trick.)
2. Have the child pinch the Kleenex piece in his/her pinky and ring finger, like this:

3. While the child is still pinching the Kleenex in those two fingers, tell him to hold the pencil in the remaining three fingers.

4. Remarkably, as long as the Kleenex is still "occupying" their 4th and 5th fingers, the child will naturally hold the pencil the right way. 

Good-bye Grandpa

The Handwriting's on the Wall

It's National Handwriting Day!!

January 23 marks National Handwriting Day, an annual celebration commemorating the birthday of John Hancock. National Handwriting Day was created in 1977 by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) to publicly acknowledge the importance of handwriting. According to WIMA, "National Handwriting Day is a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting."

What Does Your Handwriting Say?

Did you know your handwriting may be saying as much about your character as the words you write? Here are some hints to what you may be saying when you dot your I's and cross your T’s:

Are you’re A’s and O’s tightly closed?
There may be a secret you’re trying to keep.

Do your letters slant in chaotic directions?
You’re in strange company. Where only 10 percent of the general public has a wobbly slant, 70 to 80 percent of convicted felons do.

Do you carefully line up the dots above your I’s?
You have excellent concentration; you are one who doesn’t shun the drudgery of detail while working hard.

Are your letters strictly vertical?
This communicates your desire to appear detached and impersonal. It shows independence and restraint, but also self-centeredness and rigidity.

Are the letters of each word slightly connected?
This reflects your single-mindedness and consistency of thought. You tackle problems with practicality, not sentimentality.

Punctuation Parables

Is punctuation really that important...

I think so!!

Geometric Post-It Notes

For those who love math, and those that don't!!

Found here...

Lefties by the Numbers

13
Percent of adults that are left-handed

26
Degree to which left-handed men who graduate from
college are richer than right-handed men who graduated.

2:1
Ratio oof boys to girls that are left-handed.

8
American presidents who have been left-handed:
Garfield, Hoover, Truman, Ford, Reagan,
GHW Bush, Clinton, and Obama.

8/13
Left-hander's day.


P.S. Three of our four children are left-handed,
but, so far, none of the grandkids are...

The Rest of the Proverb

A 1st-grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child with the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the the saying.

It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is classic...

1. Don't change horses until they stop running.

2. Strike while the bug is close.

3. It's always darkest before Daylight Saving Time.

4. Never underestimate the power of termites.

5. You can lead a horse to water, but how?

6. Don't bite the hand that looks dirty.

7. No news is impossible.

8. A miss is as good as a Mr.

9. You can't teach an old dog new math.

10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll stink in the morning.

11. Love all, trust me.

12. The pen is mightier than the pigs.

13. An idle mind is the best way to relax.

14. Where there's smoke there's pollution.

15. Happy the bride who gets all the presents.

16. A penny saved is not much.

17. Two's company, three's the Musketeers.

18. Don't put off till tomorrow what you put on to go to bed.

19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you have to blow your nose.

20.There are none so blind as Stevie Wonder.

21. Children should be seen and not spanked or grounded.

22. If at first you don't succeed get new batteries.

23. You get out of something only what you see in the picture on the box.

24. When the blind lead the blind get out of the way.

25. A bird in the hand is going to poop on you.

AND...

26. Better late than pregnant.

Ideas and Explorations by Matt Brown

Slant-Ruled Notebooks

Should Teachers Be Paid More?

The 6th-grade students at our school were practicing for the state persuasive essay test. They were asked to write a letter to the principal letting her know whether they believed teachers should be paid more nor not. Here are some of their responses:

“I think so. They have tried so hard all these years…”

“They have to tolerate so much on us and try their best so that when the district comes in our class, we don’t screw up everything.”

“They have to wait and not get mad. I don’t think that is very easy when you’re trying to teach something, and the kids are like, ‘What did you say?’ It’s just really frustrating to do that, so they deserve more money.”

“It is hard not, like, sitting in the teachers lounge, drinking wine, and just chatting with other teachers. They just deserve more money…”

“The solution is yes! Teachers are the start to another generation. Teachers are the future…Make teaching legendary…”

“Teachers deserve more money! They need money for clothes.”

“I absolutely, positively know that teachers should get more money…They can pay for health and their bills. They can also pay for food.”

“Teachers would definitely be happier if they got a raise. Happy teachers make happy students!”

“I know that the teachers that work in schools should be paid more!…Teachers paid a TON of money before to get educated in order to teach. They must have paid at least $1,000 dollars just to do school…to work here. It’s quite stressful!”

“I do think that teachers should get paid more…Some really good teachers take hours to prepare their lessons. Really awesome and exciting lessons take hours to prepare and hours to get all of that awesomeness into them.”

“Teachers work for the government. Why do congressmen get paid more than teachers?”

“If you were a teacher you would have a hard life. If they get paid less than you then that’s not fair. Teachers should be paid how hard of a class they teach. Or everyone would be teaching kindergarten.” - How little do they know! :)

“Dear Principal,
I heard you are not paying the teachers as much. Now that is unstable…Teachers are very smart and they share their smartness to the kids…If we didn’t have teachers we wouldn’t be smart at all.”

“If teachers quit because they were not paid enough, who would teach us? Teachers are the reason people become successful…If there were no teachers, school would be pointless.”

The Handwriting's on the Wall: It's National Pie Day

This special day was established by the Writing
Instrument Manufacturers Association in 1977.
Their motive... to promote the consumption
of pens, pencils, and writing paper.

They chose January 23rd because
it's John Hancock's birthday.

Today is also
National Pie Day
(not to be confused with Pi Day on March 14)


Ideas for spreading random acts of pieness today:

Eat pie.
Make pie.
Share pie.
Teach pie making.
Hold a pie-making contest.
Hold a pie night where everyone brings a pie.
Hold a charity pie-throwing or pie-eating contest.
Raffle or auction off pies.
Collect pie recipies.
Watch a pie movie.
Write a pie poem.
Take pictures of pies.
Draw or paint pies.
Write down pie memories.
Take a pie to work.
Sing pie songs.
Read pie stories.
Make pie charts.
Enjoy some pie a la mode.

ENJOY THE DAY...

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Tomorrow is a day to recognize mothers, so

now seems like the perfect time to

ask this burning question:

Does the name of the holiday for our mothers need
an apostrophe, and if so, where does it go...


Choice 1
Mothers Day
with no apostrophe:
You can argue that mothers do not own the day, so no possession
is involved. Thus, no apostrophe is needed. We are describing
a day for mothers, not a day belonging to
a particular mother or mothers...


Choice 2
Mothers' Day
with an apostrophe after the s:
Here, the argument is that the day belongs
to all mothers collectively. Thus, we
need an apostrophe after the s.

Choice 3
Mother's Day
with an apostrophe before the s:
This last argument is that the day belongs to one
specific mother (presumably yours). Because
possession is involved, mother's needs
an apostrophe before the s...

There seems to be a good argument for all three choices,
so I guess the question is still burning...


Happy Mommy Day

More Pictures With Stories to Tell

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

This is a fascinating and unusual book compiled by Chris Van Allsburg. He first saw these drawings in the home of a man named Peter Wenders.

Many years earlier a man called Harris Burdick stopped by the office of Mr. Wenders who then worked for a publisher of children's books. His job was choosing stories and pictures to be made into books. Burdick brought one drawing from each of fourteen stories he had written. Wenders told Burdick he wanted to see the rest of his work as soon as possible. Promising to bring the stories in the next day, Burdick left; never to be seen again...

A Strange Day in July

He threw with all his might,
but the third stone came skipping back...

Mr. Linden's Library

He had warned her about the book...

Captain Tory

He swung his lantern three times
and slowly the schooner appeared...

Oscar and Alphons

She knew it was time to send them back.
The caterpillars wiggled softly in her
hand spelling out goodbye...

Missing in Venice

Even with the mighty engines in reverse,
the ocean liner was pulled further
and further into the canal...

Uninvited Guests

His heart was pounding.
He was sure he had seen the doorknob turn...

The House on Maple Street

It was a perfect lift-off...

The Seven Chairs

The fifth one ended up in France...

The Third-Floor Bedroom

It all began when someone left the window open...

Under the Rug

Two weeks passed and it happened again...

Archie Smith, Boy Wonder

A tiny voice asked, "Is he the one..."

Another Place, Another Time

If there was another answer, he'd find it there...

The Harp

So, it's true he thought. It's really true...

Just Desert

She lowered the knife and it grew even brighter...

Missing in Venice

This time she'd gone too far...

What.s that you say, your counted 15 pictures, not 14. That is another Mystery of Harris Burdick. Check out the book to solve this last mystery, then choose a picture and write on...

Mr. Muscles

Ya just gotta love this picture!!



This is the kind of picture that has a story to tell...
a story that is hidden somewhere in someone.s imagination.
maybe even in your own mind.s eye...