Student Poetry, Project, & Family Stories (Closure Day #14)

Here's a very creative way Jose shared his acrostic poem.  Well Done!
He sent it as a Word file which was great.  Or you could take a picture
of it.  What ever works for you.  Whatever your technology allows you
to do!...The sky is the limit.  Also, I know many of you worked on
a PowerPoint for Mrs. Rex.  You could always get creative
and write a Graphic Novel and put it on PowerPoint.  (If you
don't have PowerPoint software, you can try Google Slides (I think
that's what it's called?  Ask Mrs. Rex, she'll know).  Anyway, you write
the story, and then search the internet for pictures that goes with your
ideas.  Or draw them yourself! 

Happy Grumpy Thursday All!...Here are some things kids have been working on.
Please check here once in a while to get some great ideas about what you could be doing to enrich your self-learning at home.

It's April
Happy April Fools
Everything's a prank
Even for today

Today is the day
No matter where we are now
We are here to stay

So let us look up
Many ways to prank people
Because it is fun

So make it all great
And that is all for today
So prank, prank away

Bella 

~The funny part is, the kids did give me a 'heads-up' that they were going to prank me.  To which I replied, "Bring it!"  So I was actually quite nervous about it because I know how devilish and creative they were, a bad combination for any teacher!...So I asked Bella what their plans were, and this is what she wrote:

The prank we were working on was Jacie's idea. We were going to put sticky notes all over your desk and everything on it. My other idea was to turn the staples over in the staplers and tape the red light on your computer mouse. But we did have a good conversation (pretty much everyone talked about it) at lunch some time in January. It kind of led on into recess, too. It was a good conversation. And if you are wondering, we were only going to do it to you(sorry, I guess). But just in case if you wanted to know, here you go. Bella 

The Playground

I remember when I was seven

The beehive at the playground

The old, broken swings

That Pop-pop had made

We danced , and we slept

In that old, wooden place

And we played pretend games

From princesses to pirates

We had no time to waste

Until everything changed

At the end of summer

It went three to two

As fast as I could tie my shoes

My sister did not mind it

And neither did I

But my brother was in a serious school

And for playtime

And that was our last goodbye

~Bella 

This student took the challenge of figuring out
who Eiffel was just from the picture I sent everyone.
Then she took it on herself to write this short summary of
his accomplishments on her white board.  Then she took
pictures of it.  This is a very creative way to do work!
Nice job.  I hope others will do the same.  Get a white
board at home if you can!

This is one of the mystery people who once walked the mountain up in Albrightsville northern Carbon County.  This man is one of the characters in the story I'm currently writing.  What sort of story could you create about him?  After everyone had a chance to think and write about him, I will then share what the REAL stories are about this mystery person whom I'm going to tell you a little for now: His name - Joseph Gambler.  He was PA Dutch.  He couldn't read or write.  So his name was probably "Kempler" and with his Dutch accent it sounded like "Gambler."  That's all I'll say for now.  Create a story based on this mystery man who lived in the wild country of the Pine Swamp and Hickory Run from the 1840s to the 1880s.

Are you happy or are you sad?
Are you glad to be sad, 

Or are you mad to be sad?
You tell me, 

Just write it on a note pad.

~Tori 

The day is new, 

The sky is blue, 

For the birds are happy, 

Its time for my nappy, 

The virus is growing, 

So let’s stay safe... 

...but "Keep Going!" 

(Like Rabenold always tells us to do!)

Miss you all. 

Hope to see you soon! 

Brynn 

FAMILY STORIES - 

One from Bella, Cassidy, Brynn, and one from Mr. Rabenold! - 

These are a few of the surviving cement ornaments I made during my summer
"vacations" at my Aunt Miriam Haas Parker in Center Valley.
See the story below.  I want to thank these three students for sharing their
stories here.  They sparked my own memories from my childhood that
are not earth shattering, "hold the phone" kind of memories, but all the same
are interesting pieces of my life that I had not thought about in a while.
And that is the joy of interviewing people...both the interviewer and the
subject will benefit. 
(AND YES!...That's my nosey dog Solomon True (Sol. T. Dog) coming out
to see what I was up to!)
What's altogether interesting and random about this story posting today?
My cousin Kathy who works for the US Navy in Italy sent me this
link from August 1984 - from the Morning Call - A story about
My Aunt Miriam and Uncle John's ornament business!  
Cousin Kathy sent it to me today!...How ironic. Click Here.

I think we should all take advantage of our down time to talk to as many people in our families and record little memories.  They don't have to be these big epic adventures.  I think the stories of the following students did a really nice job embodying this idea.  And the thing I've found in interviewing people about their memory is this: Don't expect much!  Just listen.  Take notes.  Then listen to the story in your notes.  Then ask yourself what you want to know more about.  The person giving you the story won't always remember everything right away.  If you return to them again after some days pass, and tell them what parts of the story you liked, you'll be surprised at what other memories this may lead to.  I hope everyone starts practicing being a Historian and interview people.  Be diligent, thorough, and interested in them!...You'll be surprised what gems of stories you will uncover.

~~~

When my Dziadzi (Great Grandfather) was 14 years old in 1951, He used to work in a vegetable farm with some chickens too. When he used to have to use a chemical powder to spray the plants to keep the bugs away and he had to hand crank the sprays. It was early in the morning, so it was a bit wet so when he sprayed the plants all of the residue would stick to them.  Also, they used to ride their bikes 4 miles to work. At night he would collect the chicken eggs. He was paid 25 cents an hour.

My Grammie has a story too, When they used to go to the game preserve in 1970, the road was dirt and the animals were basic, and when they were finished with the zoo, they would eat the sandwiches they packed by the stream and after they ate they would go into the stream to look for crawfish and they would be in the stream for a long time! When they were done to leave the zoo, there was a pull off area to leave the road and the whole family would climb the big hill to climb the hill to “Their tree”. and they would eat crisp apples from an apple orchard on top of the hill and then they would roll down the hill to the car and they would drive home. 

~Cassidy L - (You know Cassidy this is full of vivid memories to me, because it is so relate-able.) 

~~~

My family is a huge one. Ever since my great grandma, Gigi had 12 other siblings. She died 4 years ago, but it's okay because she is with pop-pop now (her husband). She and her family lived in an old hotel. We live on the Mahoning Mountain. It is around 200- 250 years old. the garage next to it was actually built by my great- great- uncles, and it used to be a car garage. 

My great - great grandma and grandpa came from Czechoslovakia around 1910. They came on a ship to Ellis Island, New York. They bought a house and got several acres to start a farm. They had about 40 cats and 20 dogs at a time. They only had one electric circuit in their house. Nobody lives there now, but that house is my neighbor. I love looking at it. My Gigi was born 1938 and was the youngest child. Her oldest sibling was 20 years older than her!!! WOW!!! 

There is no Zhona today. Gigi got married and had 3 kids. My great great grandma was born 1896 and my great great grandpa was born 1891. Those three kids were my grandma, my great aunt, and my great uncle. Then my grandma had my mom and my aunt, and we got more people out of my great uncle and aunt. then they had kids and one of them is me. It might sound small, but imagine all the families that came into one by getting married. And some got a second husband or wife. So, that makes a bigger family. And they spread out, too. Some live in Tennessee, all the way to California. That's how my family started in America. 

~Bella 

~~~~~
I interviewed my grandmother, (my dad’s mom, Ruth-Ann who is Mr. Rabenold's cousin through the Nothstein family!) 

Her favorite memory is when, "She and her siblings went to their grandparents one week at a time every summer. Her two aunts would be there too. Her one aunt was 1 1/2 years older and the other aunt was 3 months younger than her. They would make tents out of blankets over the wash lines in the backyard. 

They also played school, and her one aunt would always be the teacher. Her grandmother also gave her flour and water to make pies. She sometimes went to church softball games. with her grandparents." that is all that she said. 

~Brynn 

~~~

This is what Mr. Rabenold replied to Brynn about her story above:

"These are good memories.  That kind of life was similar to my growing up too.

You had less busy things to do then.  And people spent much less money on big vacations. 

So, to give their kids "mini-vacations" you would go stay with an aunt for a week."

I got to stay with my sister (12 years older than me and married) over the summer and over Christmas break.  

She lived in the back piece of a mountain, with a small farm with horses, at the end of a two mile dirt road.  It was a paradise.  

We would go explore Fawn Run creek and catch baby trout in our hands.  We would build a dam on the creek to make a fishing hole.  It also became deep enough for us to swim in it too!  The water bubbled up from the ground deep into the woods, it was and still is one of my favorite hikes to take.

There was one spot of quick sand there too, where the water bubbled up from deep in the ground.  As a result the water was always cool and refreshing.  

We used to tempt our fate to see who was brave enough to sink in up to our knees or our hips.  If you got deeper than your knees you needed help to get pulled out.  My brother Rick would be there sometimes, and the neighboring farm was where my sister’s husband’s family lived and they had a brother and sister my age.  

So, we would ride horses in the woods and go on “snake roundups.”  We each took a horse feed bag and went out to see who could catch the most snakes!  Mostly ring neck garter snakes.  Only once did you find a poisonous copperhead, but we were too afraid of it to catch it in our bags.  These are the same mountain woods I go to “get lost” on my hikes.  The Lehigh River wraps around some steep cliffs known as the Devil’s Elbow.  You can find it on Google Earth near White Haven.

I'd also go to my Aunt in Center Valley who made cement lawn ornaments.  They sold a lot!  I got to run the cement shaker that got the cement settled into the molds.  I'd help Uncle John mix and pour the cement and make deliveries.  And work the air gun to paint things.  Each year we got to make one or two things to keep for ourselves.  I made an elf that played a drum (I still have it).  A frog playing a clarinet.  A turtle, a frog, and some little ducks, and an elf laying on his belly.  (See the picture at the top of these stories!)

Thanks for the memory from you Grandmother, it made me think about my childhood too!  

~Mr. Rabenold

~~~
The End

"Catfish Pond" - Deep in the woods between Route 940, the Pa Turnpike, and the Lehigh River.  There is no easy way to find this place.  There are no direct trails or roads.  It's at least a 30 minute walk from an old dirt road.  Maybe a 30 minute walk from the Turnpike (if you knew where to park).  So to me, this is one of the most isolated places I know.  If you ever heard of Walden Pond, and how it was an inspirational place for writers and poets, then you;ll understand what this place means to me.  What's you favorite place?  Why?  Where is it?  Go there!

Also, if you're looking for some art inspiration, why not try something like what this kid is doing?  Be creative and think of things you can line up and trace.  Does it matter where the sun is?  High in the sky, low in the morning or afternoon?

Experiment with the shadows.  Be scientific about it and chart data as the shadows change through the day.