Ms. Nancy's Library & Technology Blog

(Photo by Rawley; use with permission only, please)

Hi friends,

I haven’t posted on this blog in a very long time. I’m retired from teaching now and have moved on to other adventures (writing, gardening and working a bit). But I wanted to say hi. Be well, and I’ll still keep this blog online so the archives are available.

Have a great summer! Leave a note if you’d like.

Ms. Nancy

(“My Wyandotte” Photo by Nancy Ellen Row Rawley)

That’s me, patiently waiting outside, waiting for school to begin. I’m teaching preschool this year! Will keep you posted and I will, of course, share book lists. Let’s have an awesome school year, and yes, we will be flexible.

We will go with the flow.

Learn a lot, play hard, have fun. Peace!

xoxo

Ms. Nancy

(Southeast Portland, Oregon; photo by Steve P. Rawley, used with permission)

Hi kids, how’s the school year going? Do you know where you are? Do you know what season it is? Yeah. I get it. Some of the schools (including the district where I’m working) are switching to hybrid models, so students can do a combination of attending class in person, and also do some virtual learning. Or all virtual learning, if they prefer. 

Some schools have been doing this since the beginning of the Covid-19 situation, others are figuring out different styles and methods. 

We’re all in this together, don’t forget. Leave a message if you’d like!

Here are some books the students and I have been reading this year, all are recommended:

The Silver Crown, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (both by Robert C. O’Brien)

Fox in Socks, Green Eggs and Ham, Wacky Wednesday and The Cat in the Hat (all by Dr. Seuss)

Scooby Doo books

Pete the Cat books

James and the Giant Peach; Danny the Champion of the World; and The BFG (all by Roald Dahl)

Paul Bunyan, by Steven Kellogg

The Day the Crayons Quit (by Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers)

The Earth Dragon Awakes (by Laurence Yep)

Have a nice spring, be safe, play hard, learn a lot and have fun.

Best, always,

Ms. R

In case any of my former students drop by this blog… I’m teaching preschool at the moment. It’s kind of awesome, because even though you’re thinking to yourself, Self, the babies! They’re soooo cute. Aw, fingerpainting. Playing with the tactile table (ribbons, pasta, plastic marbles). Raising butterflies. Taking naps.

They are not babies.

They’re important, fierce, smart and on a mission. So don’t get in their way, man.

Hope y’all are well. Have a great summer, we’re almost there 🙂

Ms. Nancy

ps here are five of my top picks for preschool books 🙂 Bon appetit, not-babies!

“Bread and Jam for Frances,” by Russell and Lillian Hoban

“When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry,” by Molly Bang

“Corduroy,” by Don Freeman

“The Lion and the Mouse,” by Jerry Pinkney

“Frederick,” by Leo Leonni

“lake of fog”
Photo by Steve Rawley

Look, blogs are dead. They’re a thing of the past, and that’s okay. Facebook and all the other social media crap is alive and well and who’s archiving your stuff? Not you. Whatever.

But sometimes someone randomly stops by here and takes a look, and I want them to find something yummy. An Easter Egg, as it were.

So here’s a pretty picture by Steve, and some writing from me.

2016 was not a great year, for a lot of reasons, and I’m not the only one out there who is hoping for more from 2017.

So peace, love & Bobby Sherman, and I hope your world is everything you hoped it would be.

xo

me

Hope you’re all having a nice spring. Suddenly… it’s almost May!

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

Would you like to read a book by the sea? Or perhaps on a computer, in a warm cozy room?

My students and I are very fond of the TumbleBook Library. (Storyline Online is another good one for virtual storytime.)

You can access it by going to Beaverton City Library, then click on Programs and Events > Kids > Little Kids > Stories.

(Hint: They have stories on there for big kids, too, and books in Spanish, Korean, Chinese and other languages. Search under “Language Learning.”)

Have fun!

— Mrs. R

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

“The Secret of the Sea”

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me
As I gaze upon the sea!
All the old romantic legends,
All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,
Such as gleam in ancient lore;
And the singing of the sailors,
And the answer from the shore!

Most of all, the Spanish ballad
Haunts me oft, and tarries long,
Of the noble Count Arnaldos
And the sailor’s mystic song.

Like the long waves on a sea-beach,
Where the sand as silver shines,
With a soft, monotonous cadence,
Flow its unrhymed lyric lines;–

Telling how the Count Arnaldos,
With his hawk upon his hand,
Saw a fair and stately galley,
Steering onward to the land;–

How he heard the ancient helmsman
Chant a song so wild and clear,
That the sailing sea-bird slowly
Poised upon the mast to hear,

Till his soul was full of longing,
And he cried, with impulse strong,–
“Helmsman! for the love of heaven,
Teach me, too, that wondrous song!”

“Wouldst thou,”–so the helmsman answered,
“Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers
Comprehend its mystery!”

In each sail that skims the horizon,
In each landward-blowing breeze,
I behold that stately galley,
Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow