Friday, February 2, 2018

Sand or snow, take your pick


http://sasee.com/2018/02/01/beach-treasures/


On this cold February Groundhog Day, I invite you to bask in the warm memories of my beach experiences, published at Sasee Magazine.

Check out the publication. There are great articles and more personal essays.

It is a pleasure to read my work on line, but my treasure arrives in the mail this month when I receive a contributor's copy and can hold this beautiful magazine in my hands. The artists' rendering are delightful and I display some of the covers in the office.

If you feel like it, please leave a comment below my story on Sasee's website.

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Groundhog Day was always one of the most fun days in my classroom. I read a story about a groundhog who lived in the deep woods. One at a time, animals came calling, waking him out of his hibernation to find out if he saw his shadow. It is a delightful book. After the forest animals return to their dens to complete hibernation, the groundhog sneaks to each one and blows a trumpet to wake them and announce winter will stay for another six weeks. The kids loved that story.

I also read about Chuck, Chuckie, and Chuckles, three fat groundhogs, who did not want to see their shadows. They tried to roll them, fold them, kick snow over them...  Then I took my students outside and outlined their shadow poses in chalk.

When we returned to the classroom, we played a circle time game. One student climbed into a box (den) and then I pointed to one seated child, (but whispered another's name) and instructed the person I pointed to, to come up, rap three times on the box and say, "WAKE UP, GROUNDHOG."

The groundhog in the box had to guess who was trying to wake him/her.

There was added value to this game. The kids soon learned to use their auditory skills instead of listening to ME whisper a name. There was always lots of laughter and hands on learning in my class.

10 comments:

Sandi said...

"I also read about Chuck, Chuckie, and Chuckles, three fat groundhogs, who did not want to see their shadows. They tried to roll them, fold them, kick snow over them... Then I took my students outside and outlined their shadow poses in chalk."

This is a great idea!

Love the box one too.

jabblog said...

Brilliant!

Dianna Graveman said...

This is great, Linda. I'm going to steal your wonderful teaching ideas for when I start babysitting my granddaughter twice a week. The group activity won't work with one, of course, but we can read the book and outline the shadow! :) Thanks for the tip, and keep 'em coming!

Pat Wahler said...

Loved your story Linda, and like Dianna, I may try this game with my grandson.

www.patwahler.com

Merlesworld said...

Groundhogs i've heard all the stories but never seen one.
Merle................

Connie said...

The kids in your classrooms over the years were lucky to have such a creative and hands-on teacher. This game sounds like one the kids had fun with.

Val said...

I can imagine your little ones at home, answering what they did in school that day: "I woke up a groundhog!"

Susan said...

Hi Linda. I am sure the kids at school miss you very much. You were (are) a splendid teacher! Congrats on the Sasee acceptance and publication. Thanks for your sweet visits and comments to my blog. Always love your visits. Susan

janet smart said...

Hi Linda. Sounds like you had a lot of fun with your classroom children. Congratulations on your Sasee essay!

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Loved the Sasee article. Of course, you knew I would! The groundhog stories sound delightful.

There was a meme going around, created by a Floridian: "The palm tree saw its shadow. 52 more weeks of summer!" As it's going to hit 80 degrees here today, I have to say that's true!