It's a Chalk-A-Bration!

I have loved the idea of Chalk-A-Bration as soon as I read about the idea on Betsy's blog, TEACHING  YOUNG WRITERS.  for months and was determined to make time for it each month.  This Friday was the perfect day to begin. My third graders had been in class for 8 days and we had already started our Friday morning tradition of POETRY FRIDAY!  I figured Chalk-A-Bration would be a natural extension.

It was perfect for so many reasons!

-Chalk-A-Bration was a great way to begin connecting online with my class this year.  They could see immediately that we were part of something beyond the classroom walls.

-I showed them Betsy's blog and shared her idea of Chalk-A-Bration. I talked about how much I loved the idea--so much that I wanted to try it. That we get ideas and build on ideas by learning from and with others.

-They realized that others would see their work and that chalking on the playground would be a fun way to surprise others with fun words and illustrations.

-They LOVED the word Chalk-A-Bration and it served as a great word study discussion for the day.

-It was 15 minutes of joyful literacy!

Kids had great ideas for chalking.

Many kids had fun chalking bright, happy pictures!

Others decided to use a favorite line we read in our readaloud this week. "Make Like a Sponge!" was a funny line used in The Trouble With Chickens when the chickens were annoyed that J.J. Tully would not go out in the rain.

Others chose favorite lines from poems they enjoyed during our Poetry Friday! reading. This one --"My backpack weighs a thousand pounds." (Prelutsky)

Inspirational phrases were also popular!

And we had to share our love of books and reading!

We loved our first Chalk-A-Bration and can't wait until next month!

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June Chalkabration!

A Chalk-ku for Eastern Colorado

uncommonly cool...
gentle rain sprinkling down...
not ever enough...

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013




2:30 PM and still only 76 degrees.

Only enough rain to get the street wet; not enough to make it through the trees and get the whole driveway wet.

Average YEARLY precipitation in Burlington, Colorado is 16.5 inches. They put the d-r-y in arid out here.



Betsy's hosting the monthly Chalkabration at Teaching Young Writers. Go check out the chalking others have done today!

Poetry Friday -- Chalk-A-Bration -- Casting for Recovery

I have a multi-purpose offering for Poetry Friday this week. 

We went over to the neighborhood park yesterday evening to blow the dust off our casting in preparation for the Casting for Recovery Fish-A-Thon on Saturday. While there, I chalked a poem on the sidewalk:

Now for the PSA:

Casting for Recovery is a leading breast cancer quality of life program. CFR isn't trying to find the cure for breast cancer; the goal of CFR is to empower breast cancer survivors by giving them powerful tools to overcome the challenges of breast cancer.

One of those tools is fly fishing.

I'm involved in Casting for Recovery as a past participant and now on Ohio's retreat team. I teach casting and knot tying.

We're having a Fish-A-Thon tomorrow to raise money for the Ohio CFR retreat. If you'd like to sponsor me on a per-fish-caught basis, or with a one-time donation, send me a message through the blog email. 

"Casting for Recovery is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that relies solely on donations to provide all-expense-paid weekend wellness retreats to 14 breast cancer survivors per retreat. Through your support, we will be able to continue to enhance the lives of breast cancer survivors by providing retreats that promote mental, physical, and emotional healing."

Betsy, the Queen of the Chalk-A-Bration, has the Poetry Friday Roundup AND the monthly Chalk-A-Bration today at Teaching Young Writers.

Chalkabration!

Betsy, at Teaching Young Writers, is hosting a Chalkabration on the last day of April, May, June, July and August. Here's my poem:

Here's a close-up of that yellow haze of oak pollen (and some CUTE little oak leaves):

Now multiply the pollen from those three bundles of oak flowers by an entire tree full, in a neighborhood filled with mature oak trees...

...and you'll understand why my red car has a distinct yellow tinge to it!! (AH--CHOO!!)