It's fun to see your craft supplies with fresh eyes. My friend and neighbor looked through my supplies as we planned for another neighbor's baby shower during our annual block party, and we found this stamp set.
I stamped simple advice cards on colored card stock and made a card. It was fun to add layers and details after taking a break from card making.
Daily bike rides kept my family active, and the kids could play in our backyard. Schools transitioned to remote learning. One of my former students wrote a short story about this phase of the pandemic, which was published on author Kelly Yang's website.
The parent email sharing the link to this story made my day! I am glad that a student remembers my smiling face from that time. It was a challenging time. I ran morning meetings from my entry way because good wi-fi spots in our house were limited. My young daughter watched cartoons during morning meetings and napped during my afternoon small groups and staff meetings.
I started this post in March 2022 without posting it, but realized that I don't want to lose this story.
Introduction
For EDT 603: Foundation of Literacy through Children's and Young Adult Literature at the University of Dayton, I am studying Jacqueline Woodson for my Mentor Author Project. I first became familiar with her picture books through my teaching positions and books discussed in the class, so I read two of her novels to expand my knowledge. I read her memoir in verse, Brown Girl Dreaming, and a recent novel, Harbor Me. (Links at each section of this post will take you to her official website.)
Quotes
"I used to say I'd be teacher or a lawyer or a hairdresser when I grew up but even as I said these things, I knew what made me happiest was writing."
Awards (selected)
A variety of awards from 1995 to the present recognize Woodson's contributions as an author and her amazing books.
Newberry Honor 2015, 2009, 2008, & 2006
MacArthur Genius Award 2020
Hans Christian Anderson Award 2020
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2018
Young People's Poet Laureate 2015 - 2017
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature 2018 - 2019
Coretta Scott King Award 2021, 2015, & 2001
Coretta Scott King Author Honor 2013, 2004, 1996, & 1995
Picture Books (selected)
Novels (selected)
Common Threads
The power of friendship is a theme in both Brown Girl Dreaming and Harbor Me. In her memoir, Woodson writes about her growing friendship with Maria even though their families have different backgrounds. Jackie and Maria are still friends as Woodson notes at the end of Brown Girl Dreaming. Woodson brings together six kids of different backgrounds in Harbor Me and uses their weekly time to talk and share stories to examine their growing friendships.
Woodson uses her home of Brooklyn, New York as a setting for multiple stories including Harbor
Me. Woodson uses places she knows well, including New York and the South as the setting for many of her stories.
Woodson used one of the poems in Brown Girl Dreaming as the inspiration for her picture book, The Day You Begin. Her mother's story of Jacqueline's great-grandfather, William Woodson, was the basis for her poem.
Her own story is part of The Great Migration from the South to the North for many black families. She writes about her family's experience in Brown Girl Dreaming and examines another story if migration in her picture book This is the Rope.
Woodson tackles many challenging, thought-provoking topics in her books including race relations, religion, poverty, loss, divorce, and incarceration. In Brown Girl Dreaming, she shares stories of her Uncle Robert, who was in prison in New York. Her main character in Harbor Me, only remembers her father in prison, but it takes time for Haley to share this significant part of her life with her new friends. Once others share their stories, Haley begins to share her family's story.
Reading Strategies (Pre-K to Grade 5 licensure)
Woodson writes stories for young children to adults, so there are a variety of reading strategies to use with her books in classrooms.
1. Semantic Map of the Civil Rights Movement (grade 5)
After students read This is the Rope, excerpts from Brown Girl Dreaming, and two to four informational books about the Civil Rights Movement, they create semantic maps in small groups. The Civil Rights Movement is in the center and other areas may include details about the time period, leaders, events, issues, and laws. Each group shares their semantic map with the class.
2. Read with a Writer's Eye (grade 4)
Discuss how we can "read with a writer's eye" as a whole class and create an anchor chart. After the second read aloud of The Day You Begin, small groups look for evidence of good writing supported by text examples. Each group is given a copy of the text and writes 1-3 examples on 3x5 cards to be shared with the entire class. The 3x5 cards be made into a class anchor chart. (The book can also be connected to motivation for writing personal narratives.)
3. Book Cover Predictions and a One Pager (grade 5)
Books clubs are formed based on interests and reading levels. (The teacher has given choices around the theme of friendship, which is not revealed to the class until later.) Each book club is given their novel to make predictions based on the cover, and one or more groups is reading Harbor Me. The groups begin posters with their predictions about the books in the left column, and then the groups fill in actual details for the books after the reading to compare and contrast with their predictions. Individuals complete a One Pager for their book. After all books clubs are finished, the class has a gallery walk to view the posters and One Pagers to spark additional reading interest in these books.
In January 2019, I earned my California Preliminary K-8 Teaching Credential. I chose to pursue my second career in elementary education through the CalState TEACH program. This is a university-based, alternative teaching program. I was drawn to the program because we had to spend time in schools each semester of the program. I worked on college campuses from 2002 - 2014, so I needed to broaden my experiences instead of going back to traditional college classes.
I attended the CalState TEACH program from 2016 - 2018 because I took maternity leave from the program when my daughter was born. My teaching journey has been the circuitous route, but each experience contributes to who I am today. I landed my ideal job and started teaching fourth grade in August 2019 in our school district. And then a global pandemic began, so I did not pursue another teaching contract in California.
We moved to Ohio in the summer of 2020 to be closer to our families. I stayed home with my own two children while they settled into their new schools. I knew that there were discrepancies between my teacher preparation in California and the Ohio requirements for a teaching license, but the differences were larger than I expected.
As with many aspects of life, it's beneficial to take things step-by-step. I am slowly completing 12 credit hours of reading instruction coursework and studying for two state tests. I am a graduate student again at the University of Dayton (Go Flyers!). I completed a master's degree in College Student Personnel (higher education administration) in 2004, and many things have changed on campus in 17 years. I try to stay grateful for the slow path as it allows me to learn more and spend more time with my own children, who are growing quickly. I may be able to line up a full-time teaching position with the time my youngest begins kindergarten.
My craft desk has been taken over by stacks of books as I take a children's literature class and study for exams. My next post will be sharing about one of the outstanding authors that I have read this semester. I am using Goodreads to track my reading, and I am on track to read over 50 books this year (which includes picture books). I want my children and students to be life-long readers, so it's important for me to also stay on this path.
Yesterday I made two birthday cards using items from the Ice Cream Corner Suite from Stampin' Up!. Once I have my supplies out, it seems just as easy to make two cards instead of one. My card designs evolved as I stamped and cut. I need to make more masculine birthday cards for upcoming family birthdays, so I will keep working on those.
Supplies Used
Sweet Ice Cream Bundle
Ice Cream Corner Designer Series Paper
Baker's Twine (retired)
White Notecards
Pattern Paper (Retired)
Lagoon Ink & Card Stock
Bluebird Card Stock
Other Supplies
Big Shot
Fiskars Paper Trimmer
Neenah Solar White Card Stock
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies
I even cleaned my craft desk last night after making the cards. Unfortunately, I am still on the hunt for my favorite "happy" stamp from the Lawn Fawn Happy Everything set. It's too easy for me to lose small, clear, sticky stamps!
I finally made it to my local (independent) paper craft store yesterday. If we were not in pandemic times, I think that I would have visited before living here 6 months. I bought 2 new Distress Oxide pads, so I am trying them out on some cards. Speckled Egg is my newest blue to compliment Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers. Here is my first color combination for blending:
 |
I splattered some white and silver paint for the background. I added the soccer ball stamp and some die cuts to turn this into a masculine birthday card. I used the Cards 4 Guys #263 as my inspiration. The challenge is to make a card with any sport or sports.
Supplies used:
Distress Oxides
Close to My Heart black card stock
Close to My Heart Soccer stamp
Versa Mark ink
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Stampin' Up! silver embossing powder
Stampin Up! Playful Alphabet dies
Lawn Fawn Happy Everything stamp
Stampin! Up! circle die and label punch (retired)
Marco's Paper white card base
White acrylic and silver watercolor paints for splattering
Thank you for visiting my blog!
I made another valentine card. This time I played along with Paper Players Challenge #526. For this tic-tac-toe challenge, I chose the row across with red, embossing, and sparkle. I used Real Red card stock and a heart embossing folder (retired) from Stampin' Up!. I punched some red glitter paper (from my stash) with a heart punch to add the sparkle. The stamp is from the Happy Everything set from Lawn Fawn.
I kept using my plaid paper and two more challenges to make another valentine card.
I was happy to find the Retro Rubber Stamp Challenge because it encourages us to use our older stamps. Each card must use a stamp that is at least a year old. I started stamping in 2008. I did not keep some of my oldest wood mount sets, but most of my stamps are over a year old.
For this card, I am using two older stamps from Lawn Fawn. I love the font and mix of greetings in the Happy Everything set. The set was released in 2012, so I estimate that I purchased it in 2012 or 2013. I think that I purchased the Year 5 stamp set when it was released in 2015 because I think that both river and sea otters are so cute. For this card, I wanted to color it gray using my sole gray (C05) Copic marker and the colorless blender.
I was still playing with my card design until I found Freshly Made Sketches #471 to tie the card elements together.
