Lucy's Library Blast
March 12, 2018
Book Club meets Thursday at 8:00am.
But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?
15 Lush Nature-Based Fantasy Novels to Celebrate Spring
These books draw their inspiration from nature: from dark, dense forests that are rich with legends and fairy tales to sandy beaches to gorgeous gardens, these books will remind you of the vibrancy of nature and the value of a lush, fantastical setting.
NEA
Curriculum Resources for All Grade Levels Explore Irish Culture & History
Resources include videos, arts & crafts, printables, worksheets, interactive maps, and tutorials. They will help your students learn about and explore Irish culture, history and traditions, including Irish folktales literature, recipes, Celtic art and mythology, the Great Potato Famine, and more.
Read Write Think
The Irish have observed St. Patrick's Day as a religious holiday since the island's conversion to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. The first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City took place on March 17, 1762, giving the Irish soldiers serving in the English military the opportunity to reconnect to their roots. Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of varied backgrounds around the globe.
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/today-patrick-20451.html
TeachHub
Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, right? Well, in the spirit of shamrocks and leprechauns, here are ideas to celebrate the wearin’ of the green in an educational way.
Fun Fact About Spring
1. In ancient Rome, a year started in March and was 10 months long.
2. March was named for Mars, the Roman god of war and father of Romulus and Remus, mythical twins whose tale tells the events leading to Rome’s founding.
3. The month is aptly named as far as the United States military is concerned. Nearly all major U.S.- NATO operations since the Vietnam invasion have launched in March.
4. March is for math! Pi Day (3/14) was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw in 1988. You can find fun ways to celebrate Pi Day at www.piday.org.
5. March may be named for war, but its flower, the daffodil, symbolizes hope. Its birthstone, the aquamarine, represents courage and bravery.
14 Mathtastic Pi Day Activities for the Classroom
The day that brings out the inner math geek in us all.
Nic Stone talks about A Wrinkle in Time
In the months leading up to the release of the A Wrinkle in Time movie, authors of middle grade and young adult titles were asked to revisit one of the first four books in Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet. For March, Nic Stone (Dear Martin), looks at A Wrinkle in Time.
My first time reading A Wrinkle in Time, I... didn't get it. It was fifth grade, maybe sixth, and all I really knew was that this girl Meg Murray was trying to get her dad back and there was a bunch of stuff in the book that felt... funny.
I liked Meg though.
I liked her fire and her fury and her fierce determination.
She reminded me of me (even though that whole Aunt Beast encounter was mad strange and all I understood about a tesseract was that the aftereffects didn't seem real fun).
Then, after the film was announced, I read A Wrinkle in Time aloud to my four-year-old. As I reread, many of my original sentiments were reaffirmed: the creatures on Ixchel are strange (though I now appreciate Aunt Beast's care for Meg) and I'm still totally fine with never experiencing fifth dimension travel. Ever.
But.
There's still Meg.
Meg, who understands very little about the things happening around her and who is subjected to negative forces on almost every planet, Earth included. Meg, who, despite that lack of understanding and those negative forces, keeps fighting, her heart and mind fixed on what she believes in.
To me, that's really the point of A Wrinkle in Time. As an adult, I find myself constantly faced with things I don't understand: evils like racism, sexism, homophobia, fear of the other. Black Thing(s). ITs in various iterations.
But hope is out there waiting to be found.
Joy. Love. Peace. Friendship.
I believe they're there. And--okay, fine: even if I have to travel through the fifth dimension to find them (ugh!), I will.
It's certainly what Meg would do. --Nic Stone
Congratulations, Farrah!
I am excited to announce that the Belmont judges have chosen our own Farrah Northern as a finalists for this year’s poetry contest. Congratulations to our poet Farrah Northern for being chosen as a Finalist for her poem A Woman's Life! I will get permission and print a copy of her poem in a future blast.