Beth's Rock Collection

I want to take a minute of your time to share with you an AWESOME website by a local science teacher, Beth V. Her website, Beth's Rock Collection, is a great place to find lessons and activities for earth science. You can also listen to tracks from her two CDs (or order them to use in your own classroom!). Her website is definitely worth taking a few minutes to look at. If you weren't able to click on the links above, try typing http://www.bethsrockcollection.com/ into your browser.

Uno!

How long has this game been out? And do they even sell the original version any more? Now they have Shrek! 2 Uno cards, Sesame Street Uno cards, Care Bear Uno cards, Hello Kitty (my favorite!) Uno cards and many more! Regardless of which version you acquire, this version of “Crazy 8s” provides hours of fun. Not only will your child have to match color or number, but they will have to think strategically when considering using the Reverse, Skip, Draw 2, and Wild, and Wild-Draw 4 Cards. Don't have money for a new deck of Uno! cards? Use your standard poker deck and follow the rules for Crazy 8s.

Mary Jane Auch

Last winter Orion brought home a book that his fourth grade teacher was reading aloud at school. It was called Journey to Nowhere. I don't usually get fired up about historical fiction, but the heroine of the story had a lot of pluck. She also had a cool name: Remembrance Nye, a.k.a. Mem. So Orion and I read it out loud at home too! We really enjoyed her adventures.

When Orion returned to school this fall he discovered from a classmate that there was another book in the series by Mary Jane Auch. This book was called Frozen Summer. We just knew we had to read it. He brought a copy home from the library and off we went. It was the summer of 1816 and winter held its grasp firmly on New England. M.J. Auch mentioned in her authors notes that this odd summer was caused by the eruption of the Tambora volcano during the previous year! It must have been a doozy! In Frozen Summer, Mem and her family struggle to survive as crop after crop freezes well into July! Orion liked this book so much he cried (and I'll leave it at that!).

We also discovered that there is a third book. We hope to find it soon and read it as well. The third book is called The Road to Home! I'll let you know when we read it and what we think! In the mean time check out Road to Nowhere and Fozen Summer.

Z for Zachariah

I just finished reading this book. I consumed it in a matter of hours over a period of a couple of days. It was every bit as good as my friend Chad said it would be. This is the journal of 15 year old Ann Burden, sole survivor in her valley after a war where nuclear bombs and nerve gases left nearly everything a wasteland. Z for Zachariah was written by Robert C. O'Brien. He also authored Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. This would be a great read aloud for 6th-8th graders. It's a real page-turner.

Farewell

Madeleine L'Engle died at 88 on Thursday. This fabulous author will be missed my many, most especially me. If you've not yet read any of L'Engle's works, please do so. She is well known for her Time Quartet which began with A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962 (Yes, several years before I was born!). Visit her website to read about her life, her many many books, and much more. Farewell Madeleine, may your new journey be interesting!

Ice Cream Coup!

This has been a weekend for ice cream finds. Friday, I found the Ice Cream Ball on sale at Wal*Mart in the 'Burg. Saturday, I found the Donvier Ice Cream Maker at Bratten's Treasures south of the 'Burg on Highway 13! I spent $3.00. No kidding. This puppy retails for just over $50.00!

The wonderful thing about the Donvier Ice Cream Maker is that you can keep the insert in the freezer. When you want ice cream, just place the insert in the maker, mix up the ice cream, and stir occasionally! Yes, occasionally! A few of my students this past summer borrowed mine to make ice cream during summer school! Fun! I've had mine for over 15 years (!) and I snagged it from my mum-in-law! Now I have two! Wanna borrow one?

Have A Ball!

Remember making ice cream in the classroom with two coffee cans and lots of duct tape? Nowadays it is really hard to come by metal coffee cans! But no worries. Visit Ice Cream Revolution to see their "Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker!" it comes in two sizes, original and mega, pint and quart respectively. They usually retail from $29.00 - $44.00. Fill one side with ice and salt, the other holds the ice cream! Shake and roll and in about 30 minutes you have ice cream! Orion received one for Christmas. He loves it.

For those of you in the 'Burg, Wal*Mart has placed their ice cream balls on sale! As of Friday, August 31, they had four or five more left (In the sale tent!). They've been marked down to $15.00. If you can't find them there you can look at L.L. Bean or R.E.I. Good luck!