Thursday, December 24, 2015

Happy Holidays

No matter what you believe, the music from England's King College Chapel is incredibly beautiful and worth listening to during the holiday season.  I leave you with this rendition of "Once in Royal David's City, from Christmas Eve, an annual tradition from my childhood listening on the radio.

And it turns out, my colleague posted it on his facebook page today as one of the top ten Christmas carols of all time.  Enjoy, have a restful and healthy and happy holiday, and see you in the new year, 2016!!

King's College Chapel Christmas Eve


                                         
                                                                 Greatest Gift of All
                                                           The Spirit of Christmas 2015

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

My Dear Companion

This week in music class we sang a song called "My Dear Companion".  We discussed the song's meaning at the beginning of the class, and then sang it together as a group, working on our sightreading skills and discussing the repeated patterns in the song.  The song is about someone who has gone away and does not return and the person who is singing is very sad that they are gone.  I used this as a way to have students write a letter to someone who they care about who has left, gone away, moved, died, or who they had a bad fight with.  I have some wonderful letters to share, including some pictures as well.  Thank you for reading my blog!! and Enjoy my students' great work!

Dear Lily,
I saw pictures of you on facebook. I can’t believe you were Clara in the nutcracker!(Okay, well maybe I can believe it.) Did you have to dance with the nutcracker? I miss going to your house and playing with our american girl dolls. I also really miss playing store.(Remember the money writing contest?) I wish you could visit more often. Maybe you could come this summer! So anyway, back to the nutcracker, what was it like to be the star of the show!?!?! Did you like being Clara? (Actually, don’t answer that. I already know.)How surprised were you when you found out that you were the Clara?!  I’m so happy and proud that I can say “my friend was clara in the nutcracker.” 

So… how’s life? I haven’t seen or heard from you in like FOREVER so I need to catch up. Anyway, time to talk about my nutcracker. It looks like it’s been a great nutcracker year for both of us! I was a party girl, angle, and the black sheep (the black sheep part got me my first solo!) It was really fun being a party girl because my dance teachers 3 year old daughter was my sister in the party scene. Too cute! I’m sooooooo sad the nutcracker is over though. I didn’t want to take off my costume! Me and another girl at my dance school were the oldest angels so we had to keep the younger ones behaved. Of Course, we didn’t do a good job of it. The other angels lost two head pieces and two candles so we had to go without. But since we were at the front, that just made us look like the leads😀. 

   Are you still into American Girl Dolls? Remember when hurricane sandy hit and we got to sleep over? Also, do you remember when the bus was late because of snow and we went sledding at your house? Or what about the summer you came to visit and we built that awesome fort? I wish we could do more together and visit each other more often.


Love,
   Maya Neel

P.S. we have a new family member ;) 
P.P.S. please wright back!


12/14/15

Dear Rowan,  
Ever since I saw you last trip I have missed a lot of things you taught me. One of them is teaching me how to do the rubik's cube. You have a lot of rubik's cubes. I have to say my favorite one is the 1X1 it is really “hard”. Also I have missed playing ghost in the graveyard where you count to twelve and then the grave keepers have to find the ghosts. Remember that time when we were playing ghost in the graveyard and I hid on the top of the basketball hoop so no one would tag me, and you hid in the bushes and no one could find you, that was fun. Another memory I miss is going on the roof of the garage. That was fun because when we did it we jumped to the neighbor's garage roof. Also there was the time when you taught me that game where there was the desert and the cards and  you could not get dehydrated or you would die. Remember that time when you came to Maine and we were at the beach and we were really bored so we built a sand castle and it was at least six feet tall. My favorite memory is when you came from springfield and it was the first time you saw the ocean and you were so happy. It was kind of funny. When you first saw it you were kind of scared and then you went in it and you loved it. My last memory is when you showed me all your rubik's cubes. You have the megaminx, the pyraminx, the egg, the mirror, the 1X1, the 2X2, the 3X3, and the 4X4. I still think it’s amazing how you can solve all of them except the pyramix. How do you remember the algorithms?
I thinks it’s kind of cool how are parents are best friends and we are too. I don’t know the next time we are going to visit Springfield but I hope it's soon. Also I heard that you guys might be moving to massachusetts. If you are where are you moving? If you do move please bring your rubik's cubes, they are fun. Also next time you visit bring the desert game, and teach me how to solve the megaminx rubik's cube. Lastly bring any games or toys, they are always really fun and exciting.
Sincerely,
Damon Whitcomb
P.S How's solving the pyraminx rubik's cube going?

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

The Gift of the Magi

In my creative drama class I had the idea to take the story "The Gift of the Magi" and read it aloud to my class.  We had an amazing discussion about this timeless story by O. Henry, and then we read it together as a reader's theater.  There are many words that are in that story that are not really 6th grade words, but we talked about those as well as other important subjects.  Most of these students are not familiar with the bible, so I explained the title to them..who was the "magi"?  They were the wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus.

What is the meaning of this story, I asked them.  Why are they, the two main characters in the story the "wisest of all"?  Many ideas came up from this discussion, and it was magical.  They are the wisest of all because they know that love is the greatest gift of all, so it doesn't matter that she cannot use the combs for her hair or he cannot use the watch chain for his pocket watch.  They are wise, because they know this and they practice this all the time. There are tiny subtle examples of their love throughout the story.  For example, how she greets him at the end of the day.  How they treat each other, no matter what.  How he says to her there is nothing that could make me love you less, no matter how short your hair was, or how you changed your looks.  It is one of my favorite stories of all time, and certainly one of the best stories ever written.

The most interesting comment that day was from a sixth grade boy who said, "It isn't really fair, how it works out.  Her hair will grow back, and eventually she will be able to wear the combs.  But he will never get his pocket watch back, so he won't be able to ever use the chain."  I explained to him that that is what makes them so wise.  They know that giving the gift is the greatest satisfaction anyone can have, and it has nothing to do with what is even or fair or equal.  Does it matter to him that he can't use the pocket watch but eventually she can use the combs when her hair grows back?  No, because, of course, he loves her so much that to him, the greatest gift is that she loves him so much that she would make such a sacrifice for him, and he loves her so much that he would sacrifice his only expensive possession for a gift for her.   When you love someone that much, you will make any sacrifice for that person, and you never need to have things be even or equal on both sides.  Love is infinite, and that is what this story tells us.  Let us remember this during this time where commercialism and stress seep into our everyday lives and confuse the most important message of the season.   LOVE!