Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education

This week, the girls and I returned to poetry for a respite. We are still revising our fantasy stories, but needed a little spark of energy.  Since the school where I teach is a school for girls, in fact it is the oldest girls’ school in New Jersey, I am keenly aware of the need for raising confident and resilient girls. Our school’s motto i...

Children love fantasy.  Their minds are young and open to outrageous ideas and imaginative wonderings.  Fantasy also helps them deal with stressful situations and allows them to feel empowered. This week with my summer students, I focused on three core elements of writing fantasy stories: portal transitions, living statues, and magic rules.

First, ...

This week, I shared one of my all-time favorite childhood summer pastimes, running under the sprinkler.  I have a fear that this is becoming a relic – an ancient ritual that is now supplanted by indoor air-conditioned video-gaming.  I wanted to show my students a simpler time when backyard fun reigned supreme. I can still hear the rhythmic clack-clack-clack of an os...

This week’s teacher-student collaborative writing went to the beach.  I shared an image of a giant translucent bubble sitting on the edge of the shoreline.  The photo serves as launchpad for another creative writing journey designed by my third and fourth-grade students. I was hoping to engage these reluctant writers with a magical image that they could use as a blueprint for...