Captain's Mistress

It has been a long time since I have taken the time to post.  And much has happened since my last post.  I officially graduated with my Ph.D., accepted a friend's proposal, moved from Missouri to Tennessee, started a new "temporary" job, married this friend, learned my way around a new town and a new city, and finally... applied for, interviewed for, and accepted a "permanent" job at the same university that hired me temporarily.  It has been a very busy two years! 

Despite all of this change in my life, several things have remained constant- my love of teaching, my love of mathematics and science, and my love of games.  Luckily, my friend and husband feeds my love of games by shopping for them at thrift stores (even when I cannot be with him to help!).  This evening he totally scored big time with a "new to me" old favorite!  While shopping the Goodwill Store in Dayton, TN he discovered The Captain's Mistress Game for $1.99.  I found it on Amazon ranging from $35 to $46. 

It seems the game is hundreds of years old and that Captain Cook was so enamored of the game during long voyages, the crew began calling it The Captain's Mistress.  However, the game is not unfamiliar.  You see, it is simply the game of Connect Four played in a beautiful wooden box and instead of checkers, players use light and dark colored wooden spheres. 

Connect Four was one of my sister's and my favorite games to play as children.  It was also a perennial favorite of my third graders in St. Louis.  But the familiar Connect Four is hardly affordable (over $26 at Amazon) when you're attempting to purchase several sets so that many students may play.  What is a teacher to do? 

While teaching in St. Louis, collected a picnic basket full of travel games.  I purchased six or seven Four in a Row games from an "everything is a dollar" type store.  That meant that for $6, 12 of my students could enjoy Four in a Row during indoor recess or math class.  These games were small (about the size of an adult's hand) and the "checkers" were tiny.  To make keeping up with the small pieces easy, I place them in Ziploc sandwich bags. 

Are you not certain about the efficacy of using games like Connect Four or Tic-Tac-Toe in your classroom or with your children?  Constance Kamii and Mariko Naghiro share their thoughts about the Educational Value of Tic-Tac-Toe for Four to Six Year Olds here. 

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

Last night's discovery (Plate Rack Book Case) started me thinking about the reading, literacy, and children's literature classes I have taught over the course of the past ten years (Yep, this is my tenth year teaching undergraduates and graduates!). Every semester I share with my students the importance of displaying books for children so that the covers are visible. Children (and adults) judge books by their covers.

So just how does a teacher (new or seasoned) display their classroom collection in a manner that is pleasing to children and young adults without breaking the bank or taking up valuable floor space? Put your mind in the gutter. The rain gutter that is!

Making a rain gutter bookshelf is a fairly inexpensive (financially and timewise) endeavor. I just checked Lowe's and a 10 ft run of gutter is $6.96 and end caps are $1.36 each. Two 5 ft sections will cost you less than $15.00. Bargain! This idea has been around for several decades (This spring marks my 20th reunion from undergraduate school!) yet I have only seen them used in a scant few classrooms. However a recent Google search for images revealed several incredible links. Seems lots of moms and dads and folks who are homeschooling are using this idea!

(Photo via Trelease On Reading)

Whether your a mom, a teacher, a dad, a paraprofessional, a principal, or a favored grandpa consider using rain gutters to display books for the children you love and care for.

Home Stores A 2 Z has a delightful description of using guttering around the top of beadboard in their son's bedroom. Amazing!

Mama Notes blogs her experiences using rain guttering in her son's room. Great pictures.

Raising Olives has a great step-by-step tutorial with lots of pictures (a plus for me!) for building these handy bookcases!

Another how-two can be found at Disney's Family Fun website.

For teachers (usually early childhood) with lots of bookcases and cubbies, this teacher's husband added rain gutter bookshelves to the pegboard on the backs of these standard furniture pieces.

For teachers wanting a rationale (A way to explain to your principal just why you want to screw gutters to the wall on the INside of the classroom!) Jim Trelease hosts a great article written by a principal and kindergarten teacher, The Rain Gutter Literacy Revolution. Additionally Trelease shares excerpts from his Read-Aloud Handbook on changing the print climate in our homes, classrooms, and libraries (Trealease, 2001, Chapter 7).

What do you think? Have you tried this at home, church, or school? Send me a picture. Let me know if this has worked for you. Have fun and keep reading!

Trelease, J. (2006). The Read-Aloud Handbook, 6th ed., New York, Penguin Books

Plate Rack

While looking at a variety of ways to store and access wrapping paper (an odd pursuit on a Wednesday evening) I came across an interesting article at Martha Stewart. There she used an "ordinary plate rack" to display children's books. If you cannot find an ordinary plate rack, Martha provides directions for building a plate rack.

Xplor

Attention elementary school teachers and parents. The Missouri Department of Conservation has a new magazine appropriate for children ages 7 - 12. This magazine is published 6 times a year and highlights Missouri's outdoors. The photographs are awesome. Visit the Xplor website to subscribe. You will also find awesome activities, video, photos, and electronic copies of the magazine. A great addition to any science curriculum or reading center.

And don't forget, the Missouri Department of Conservation also publishes the Conservationist 12 times a year. You can subscribe via the MDC website.

Best of all, both of these amazing publications are free to Missouri residents. For a nominal fee, you can have the magazines delivered out of state ($5 for Xplor and $7 for the Conservationist). Check them out! I insist.

I'm Back!

It has been entirely too long since I have posted to the Galactic Apple blog. I am sorry! Shortly after my last post I caught H1N1. The flu wasn't so bad. It was the three months of pneumonia that knocked the starch out of my britches. It has taken just about three months for me to feel almost normal. I am still working on increasing my lung capacity and my stamina. There's hope for me yet. I am back in the saddle and plan to post to the blog on a regular basis. Hold me to it!

Teacher Appreciation

I wanted to take a minute to tell you about one of my favorite book stores, Half Price Books. A good friend of mine introduced me to this wonderful book store about a year ago and while it isn't as ginormous as the Dixon Street Used Book Store in Fayetteville, AR. Half Price Books is pretty darn impressive and they have a much larger young adult and children's book section than Dixon Street.

Friday, October 9 through Monday, October 12, Half Price Books are offering a 20% discount to teachers and librarians. There's a Half Price Books in Kansas City, MO and another in Overland Park, KS (my personal favorite). To find a location near you click here.

If you cannot make it to a Half Price Books this weekend, like many other book stores, they offer a 10% discount for teachers 365 days out of the year. Just bring your ID.

1 Dollar!

It has been too long since I have taken the time to post! This semester has really been keeping me on my toes. But I did take a few minutes for myself last week.

I was downtown in the 'Burg and had a few minutes to spare before heading to La Sous Terre for lunch with a colleague and friend so I decided to swing by the Salvation Army, one of my favorite places to shop! I hadn't been there since Christmas, just after they moved to a new location. I looked through the knick-knacks, sheets, and glassware before heading to the books and games. Bingo! There I found the Chess Teacher! For $1.00!

Years ago, when I was teaching in St. Louis our wonderful math & computer lab teacher, Ms. G., had some great games for kids to use. One of which was the Chess Teacher. I loved this chess set because the move for each different piece was displayed on the base of the piece. I never played chess as a child and attempted to learn as an adult a few times- the hardest thing was remembering if the horsey-shaped pieces went in an L shape or diagonally or what! Too many pieces and too many different moves.

Since Orion has been expressing an interest in learning to play chess I have kept my eyes peeled for a chess set like the one Ms. G had. Unfortunately I couldn't remember the name and most retailers just looked at me. But lo and behold, there it was! On the shelf! With a price tag of a buck! And all of the pieces and instructions. What a deal! What a find!

Parents and teachers, if you're interested in learning to play chess or teaching your children or students to play chess, you have to take a look at the Chess Teacher. You can find it new for about $12.50 at Amazon and $16.00 at Boardgames.Com. You can also check out eBay as they have a few versions starting at about $4.00 (don't forget shipping & handling).