Heart for Writing

This is a time it is hard to think. My dad passed away yesterday. Forgive me for not slicing yesterday and this is all I have today. Please have us in your thoughts and prayers today and this weekend. Thanks.

I'm working on my lesson for poetry.  I was thinking of teaching about the Doors of Poetry. I had heard Georgia Heard speak some years ago and bought her book, Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School .  I plan to explain each of the doors and have some examples made out of construction paper to remind the students what the doors stand for. The six doors I plan to share are: Heart, Observation, Humor, Wonder, Memory and World. These doors are explained in Georgia Heards book.  I can give a short explanation here. Heart Door- things that we love. Observation, things that we observe in the world around us.  Humor Door - writing about things that are funny or humorous.  Wonder Door- includes things that we wonder about. Mmeory Door- is about the memories of your life. Lastly the World Door includes things that concern you and those things you think about in the world. I hope to help the students open the "doors" or "unlock" the...

I was talking about moving in my last slice. So today I thought I would write about Doris.  The girl who came in my life soon after I moved and became my best friend in Junior High, High School and college.  After several weeks at my new school, I met a new friend. Her name was Doris. She was very quiet and shy, like me.  She had "dreamy " blue-gray eyes and a welcoming smile. Her soft manners and shy approach are what drew me to her. She was never boastful or loud. I really liked the little things about her. Her deep faith, love for her family and her special treatment of me as a trusted friend, made her a friend for life.  Doris was always there for me when I needed her. We never had fights and somehow always had something to talk about. She lived nine miles away rom me. We both lived in the country so in order to visit each other in the summer, we would take turns riding our bicycles to each others' homes when we were in Junior High.  In Hi...

Have you ever moved?  Changed schools?  Felt left out? Life is not always so mundane.  When I was twelve years old, my parents decided to move. To simply pack up and move into another house, another school district, another place. I was devastated. Emotionally I wanted to cry. I was angry, fearful, disapointed and sad. I was leaving all the friends from school that I had ever known.  Why did this have to happen? After we moved, I started school. The first day was hard (it was March). I didn't know anyone. The children in my seventh grade class were nice enough but I felt all alone, quiet and shy. Cathy H., a friendly blonde-headed girl, walked up to me and said, "Do you wan to run around with me?" I had no idea. Another girl, Karen, who was quiet mentioned that I might want to get to know the girls first. She was right. After several weeks, I did find a friend that I did make a lasting friendship with. It goes to show that change can be hard but many ...

What can I say about writing? No one taught me how to write in school. I wish they had.  Writing has become so important to me. I hope I don't forget the memories and events that I want to write about. Seeing my mother in her 80's, she's 87 today, makes me realize that we don't remember all our thoughts forever. There are times, I even forget or don't remember exactly the way something happened and as I tell it, my husband will say to me, "No, don't you remember it happened like this... " The little things are what is most important.  Writing about our children; the words that they said, the actions that they took are most memorable. Some I have written but I wish I had much more of it to read to them and their children, my grandchildren. If you are young now, heed my cry, write down as much as you are able to now, because it will be so precious to you and someone in the future. If I could only read a diary from my grandmother or great-grandmothe...

I think my mind is messed up by this weather. Who ever heard of the 80 degree temperatures in March. Our average temperatures in March usually range in the 40's. So why am I thinking about summer? Wouldn't you? I don't have Spring fever.  I'm dreaming of summer!  I can't wait until summer.  I wrote about our convertible now I just can't wait. Blue skies, blue green grass,of course we'll have to mow you can wiggle your toes in the coolness of the grass, sweet smell of the yellow flowers, bees buzzing, butterflies fluttering here and there, balloons flying over head, the sun over all beaming smiling saying that all is right with the world. Hope it is with you. Happy Slicing! :)

Six words that describe me. I was reading a devotional this morning. It mentioned how would you describe yourself in a sentence with six words? Ernest Hemingway wrote his six words as: “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” How sad. In the Bible, Paul described Timothy as :“My true son in the faith” (1 Tim. 1:2 NIV). These are just a couple examples of ways it can be done. I have been contemplating this. What can one say in six words? I know that words can be very powerful in one sense and yet not say it at all. Here is what I hope to say: “Spent a lifetime loving and caring.” What would you say? How could you write a story in 6 words? A memoir? I think I will challenge my class to try this. Happy Slicing! :)