Book Bonanza

Today was the perfect spring day. This morning we went to the Westview Presbyterian Spring Sale. The sale was filled with a wonderful assortment of items at rock bottom prices. I mainly bought books for the classroom (see below), but I also bought two sets of vintage Italian postcard books, some vintage cookbooks, and an old plant stand that even came with matching pots in a charming shade of Grandma's mint green kitchen. The man charged me $1 for the plant stand, but I gave him $2 out of guilt. 

(Below) Signs of the times: Westview rents out space for Highland dancing and yoga. 

(Below) Some of the books I purchased at the rummage sale and a nearby yard sale. I bought at least 20 books and spent not much more than $6. Books included everything from Harry Potter books to science and art books. 

Close up.

(Below) Detail from book on rocks and minerals (which I still have to teach this year.)

(Below) Detail from a children's anatomy book. Charming and factual all at once. 

(Below) My big score. I found three beautiful classic adventure stories (hardcover), and three current books that the kids will gobble up. I know Kenneth Oppel's Firewing will go down well in our class. 

Detail from the inside cover of Treasure Island. 

(Below) Close ups of the covers of my vintage treasures. 

Yard Sale Season Hath Begun

We went to three sales today. The pickings were slim, but the clutter was interesting. At the last sale, Duncan was asked if he likes jumping on trampolines. Is the Pope Catholic? The man running the sale turned on a machine and the trampoline inflated in seconds. It had a musty garage smell but was nevertheless full of bouncy fun.

I didn't buy the trampoline, but I did purchase a bag of accessories for Rosie, our class gerbil. Check the recessionary price.

Birdbath 'o stuffed animals from the trampoline sellers. 

The game of Therapy sits atop Cranium while a horse looks on. 

Psychotherapy on the cheap.

At the second sale, the owner was getting rid of a lot of musical baggage, including old newspapers following the trial of Mark David Chapman. Sad and creepy clutter: yours for $5.00. 

On a slightly happier note, she was selling a Bob Marley snack table. Irie!

The first sale was on our street. It was a bit grim: a few books and DVDs spread out on the front lawn. I picked up a huge poetry anthology for .50 and How to Draw Birds for a quarter. 

It's old, but filled with tons of poems. 

How to draw water birds.

(Below) More hoppy snaps.

Electric Company Theme Song

I  used to watch this show when I was a child. I still remember enjoying the song, but the intro now cracks me up, especially the psychedelic graphics. 

I hope someone posts the Zoom theme song on YouTube some day. Until then, enjoy!

Dream Space For Teaching

Yesterday was Easter Monday. I took Duncan to Edwards Gardens for a poke around. Inside the main building I discovered a children's botanical classroom and my jaw dropped. This was one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever seen. The room was filled with plants, books, and objects from nature. They used a grow table for fish aquariums and the room had a lovely glow from the natural soft light. I love this room! It was locked, but I still managed to take a few snaps through the window. One of my goals as a teacher is to
create a classroom environment that encourages learning, inspires students, and is as comfortable as possible. 

(below) Duncan flips through a book in the Weston Family Library. (bottom of page) Boxes covered with lamb's ears. What a great idea.

Treasures at Bluffer's Park

This afternoon we went out to Bluffer's Park to do a little scavenging on the beach. At the end of the foot trail, you'll find a little lighthouse surrounded by rocks. It was here that I almost stepped on a pile of twigs and feathers which turned out to be the home of three large Canada Goose eggs. This was a very exciting moment for the three of us. Duncan had never seen eggs in the wild and it was so magical being able to get so close to nature like this. Ken had a bad feeling that the nest had been abandoned, since there was no mother goose coming after us like a scene from The Birds. I hope the eggs hatch. 

Hinterland Who's Who has a page on the Canada Goose, including a picture of a nest with eggs.

go to www.hww.ca and enter Canada Goose in the search engine. I couldn't get this connection up as a hot link. 

Place-Based Art Here and There

Last summer we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton which, at the time, had an exhibit of placed-based art by a variety of sculptors. I enjoyed the fact that you could be walking around in the middle of a forest and stumble upon something completely unexpected, like a giant block of wood growing out of a tree stump...

or rivers of twigs streaming out of large urns.

Back in our neighbourhood yesterday, we discovered a tree (Catalpa?) that had dropped hundreds of blood red seed pods all over the owner's front lawn. I'm not sure if the owner was trying to mulch around the tree with the seed pods, or trying to do something artistic with them, but the image was still striking. 

Duncan let me borrow his little wagon and we carted some seed pods to the park and back home. They make a nice, percussive sound when you shake them. We're creating soundscapes in our class right now. I'll bring them to class in case anyone can use them. 

Placed-Based Artist Andy Goldsworthy

Last summer I was involved in a TDSB Summer Institute called Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom. One of the instructors brought along a documentary on British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who makes site-specific sculpture and land arts. Some of his work is permanent and some is intended to weather away with the elements. I'm thinking about having the Green Team at our school create an installation along the same line. When I was out on yard duty in the winter, I was always interested to see how much kids of all ages love creating snow forts and sculptures. Enjoy.

Art By The Yard

It's hard to believe that between my last post and today, we had a snow fall in April. Today was the perfect spring day so we had a go at creating little sculptures out of the stones and rocks we picked up at the beach last week. I think children learn best when they can get their hands dirty and try things out. We've been letting Duncan use scissors for quite some time and today he began using wire cutters. When Duncan was a baby, we took a baby signing class and the instructor pointed out that we should never tell children that they are not playing "the right way." This was good advice: let children create their own understanding of how things work... and just let them play.

An Orange-Coloured Day

April may be the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, but today was fantastic. I took my son down to the beach. He'd been there before but could not remember it. He had fun digging in the sand and throwing stones into our great lake. I couldn't resist picking up unusual looking driftwood and beautiful stones. Later this week, I'll see if I can tempt Duncan into making some sort of wire sculpture with them.
 Who wants to spend a day at the mall when you could have this?
                                                                                                        

The Caribou

For your viewing pleasure - the caribou. I love how slow moving and peaceful these clips are. They really make you feel for the plight of the animals featured. They're also oh-so Canadian.

 

Hinterland Who's Who

If you were a child in the '70s/'80s and watched a lot of TV, you no doubt remember the Hinterland Who's Who commercials. They featured a piece of eerie flute music and a man with a lulling voice who talked about endangered species. I'm sure I saw them all. 

Hinterland Who's Who has been updated. They have a terrific new website with current information, pictures, and even lesson plans for teachers. If you click on Media Gallery and then select "Vintage," you will find the old clips. Soak in a warm, bubbly bath of nostalgia.

Go to

www.hww.ca