Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain - Challenge 4

Your challenge is

Is safer-at-home making you feel like you need more space?

Look up! There’s plenty of space there! And this week there are meteor showers!

Check out these websites:

https://www.space.com/16149-night-sky.html

https://earthsky.org/?p=4478

The annual Lyrids meteor shower runs from April 16 to 28, and will peak in intensity on Wednesday, April 22. The best viewing time will be between midnight and dawn on Wednesday, with fewer meteors on the mornings before and after. The Lyrids can produce up to 18 meteors per hour, with occasional fireballs. A nearly new moon will leave the skies nice and dark for this year's shower.

There are three planets up before dawn this week: Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. Enjoy them while watching for meteors.

What to do: Stay up late (or get up early) at least once during this week and observe the sky. Prepare ahead of time by visiting the websites above and making notes about where to look based on where you live. Learn about the meteor showers. This is a fun family activity!

How to submit: Report on what you saw. Were you able to see a meteor? How many? Have you ever seen a meteor before? Tell me what you learned about the Lyrids meteor shower. Were you able to see Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars?

DEADLINE: Saturday, April 25 at 11:59 PM

Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain - Challenge 3

Your challenge is

Learn about the different types of bridges by watching this short 

and fun video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C3VG0RdNPo

and by doing the quick, online PBS bridge challenge

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/bridge/challenge/index.html

Now, build a bridge out of materials you find around your house. 

Recycling bins are a great source of materials, but  be sure to 

follow all COVID-19 precautions.

Take a picture of your bridge and share it. Be sure to say what type of 

bridge you built.

DEADLINE:  Wednesday, April 15 at 11:59 PM

Essay Contest for Grades K-3

My former student Gitanjali Rao facilitates and organizes a Kindness Essay contest every year on behalf of Children's Kindness Network  moozie.org . 

Children in grades K-3 are encouraged to use their creativity and write an essay on "What kindness means to them."  

Exciting changes this year: Added 4 separate categories this year from K-3rd grade. The contest winning prize has been increased significantly. The contest is free to enter as always. 

  

Details of the contest can be found here

https://moozie.org/kindness-essay-contest/  

What better way to spend time during these unknown times thinking about kindness, spreading kindness, and sharing it with everybody!  

Deadline is May 15, 2020.

Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain - Challenge 2

Your challenge is

Interview 2 people.

The first person must be someone within your residence. 
Guess what? Your parents had lives before you were born! Try to find out something about a parent that you didn't know.

The second person can be anyone.
Is there an elderly person you know who would really enjoy a phone call, or a neighbor down the street you haven't been able to see lately? 

You can conduct your interviews over the phone, using Skype or another digital platform, or in person . . . from at least 6 feet away. Do not violate local, state, or federal orders and guidelines for social distancing. Remember, the CDC now recommends face coverings when you are in public.

What kinds of questions will you ask?
Ask interesting questions and you will receive interesting answers. 

After your interviews...

Prepare a written report of your interviews in whatever format you like; or

Prepare a video report of your interviews in whatever format you like.

DEADLINE:  FRIDAY, APRIL 10 at 11:59 PM
HOW TO SUBMIT: Via email and post in the comments section below that you completed the challenge

Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain - Challenge 1

Your first challenge

Find a product in your home that you or someone in your family uses most every day.
Examples: detergent, cosmetics, deodorant, hand soap, toothpaste. Be sure your product has a visible list of ingredients.

If possible, take a picture of your ingredient list to share with Ms. Jennifer.

Now, do one or more of the following to complete this challenge. 

(1)  Alphabetize the ingredients. Count how many letters are in each ingredient. For younger students or reluctant learners.

(2) Find the average (mean), mode, and median of the number of letters in your product’s ingredients. Need help? This website covers all three math terms in an understandable way.  For the math-lovers.

(3) Research one of the ingredients in your product. What is that ingredient used for?
Why do you think the ingredient is in your product? Answer this question by writing a paragraph. For the curious minds.


DEADLINE: MONDAY, APRIL 6 at 11:59 PM
HOW TO SUBMIT: Via email and post in the comments section below that you completed the challenge

Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain - How It Works

Watch for a Challenge
Every few days, I will post a challenge on this blog.
Each challenge will have a deadline.
The challenges will span all kinds of topics.
Each challenge can be adapted to meet the age, interest level, and attention span of a child. For younger students (grades K-3), parents probably will need to assist.
Most of the challenges are best suited for students in grades 4-8.
Older students who want to participate should feel free to do so, and take the challenge in the direction it leads them. I'm particularly interested in posting quality content by older students to give them a safe, creative outlet.
Students are not required to complete every challenge.

Now What?

When you complete your challenge, share your work product with me via email.

Then post in the comments section below that you have completed the challenge.

How do I get points?

Every time you complete a challenge, you earn 1 point.

I will be keeping a running total of points earned.

I will give extra points for exceptional work. 

Sometimes there will be Instant Challenges and other surprises.

Students with the most points will win prizes when the world gets back to normal.

Overlap with 4-H Stay at Home Bingo
If you are a student in one of my 4-H classes, some of the Stay at Home Bingo challenges will overlap with these challenges. (Hey, I'm only one person, and I still have a full-time law job to do!)  But the good news for you is that your efforts will count twice towards different sets of prizes.

Introducing Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain Challenges

We are in unprecedented times.

Like everyone else, my normal schedule is out the window. I'm lawyering from home. All six of my classes have been cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future. I miss my students, and I miss seeing their families before and after classes.

Most of my students have not attended their regular schools in nearly a month, and they have not had any formal online learning through the public school system. Some students have fallen into the habit of gaming or watching Tik Tok videos for hours on end and, to some degree, I'm ok with that. This new normal is a lot for all of us to handle, and kids need to process in their own ways.

At a certain point, however, we need to encourage our children to engage in some intellectually enriching activities. Many of you are doing that already, and you are amazing! However, if you haven't been able to make that happen on top of finding toilet paper, avoiding humans while obtaining grocery items, pushing down the panic, and working from home (if you're lucky enough to still have a job), don't beat yourself up. No judgment on this end.

I want to help, and I want to connect with my students. Starting this week, I will be posting Ms. Jennifer's Just Use Your Brain Challenges for my students or for any kids anywhere who want to participate. What does that mean? Every day or so, I will post activities for students, including contests. What are the prizes? I have no idea; we'll figure that out when we aren't all hoping the prizes are Chlorox Wipes and a better stock portfolio.

I will post the challenges on this blog every few days. I plan to post activities spanning many different subjects and ages.

Stay safe, and I look forward to hearing from your wonderful children soon.

"You create your life, and you can recreate it, too. In times of economic downtown and uncertainty, it's more important than ever to look deep inside yourself to fathom the sort of life you really want to lead and the talents and passions that can make that possible."

-Sir Ken Robinson

Where Am I?

Update on Teaching:

I am teaching four STEM classes through the University of Tennessee Extension program, including STEM Fun and Crime Scene Investigation.    These classes are open to all public, private, and home-school students residing in Williamson County, Tennessee.  Classes begin in the fall of each year and run through May.  For more information, visit:

https://extension.tennessee.edu/williamson/pages/4-h-youth.aspx

https://facebook.com/WilliamsonCoExtension/

I also teach the Youth Public Speaking program at A Grade Ahead in Franklin, Tennessee.  This program is open to students in grades 3 through 8.  The program runs for 10 weeks and culminates with a performance at the Brentwood Library in front of parents and classmates.  For more information, visit:

https://academy.agradeahead.com/locations/franklin-37067/

Contact owner Krishna Reddy at agradeheadtn@gmail.com.

I have limited spots open for private mentoring and writing enrichment sessions each year.

Keep learning!

Jennifer

Silverstein, Dickinson, Emerson, Thoreau and . . . Underpants in Cincinnati?

A huge fan of Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore in Cincinnati, I returned last week to enjoy the ambience of this independent gem where authors and illustrators have signed the walls . . . literally!  

 
For all the boys out there under age 12--my buddies from our No Girls Allowed workshops-- I promise you that on the wall is a huge pair of white underpants signed by Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey himself!  Yep, that's Captain Underpants on a pair of underpants with the Blue Manatee! 

 

 

In this bookstore, kids curl up in cozy chairs and tents to read, surrounded by vibrant, interesting décor.  There's a train in the preschool section that little ones can actually enter and exit.  And they did, squealing, with books in hand!

 

I gushed about this bookstore last year on this blog while featuring some of my favorite independent bookstores.

 

You can't miss the Blue Manatee Decafe right next door, where the shadowbox tables invite families to play I-Spy while sipping delicious handmade coffee, cocoa, or smoothies.  No electronics!

 

Blue Manatee Books is one of the only places I've been where I enjoy seeing the bathroom walls!  They are filled with posters from book launches over the past years and are almost a destination in and of themselves.

 

While enjoying the downtown Duke Energy Children's Museum later in the week, I was delighted to see a Shel Silverstein poem on the wall of a treehouse in The Woods exhibit:

 

Later, at Panera Bread near Fountain Square, I noticed that there were quotes by Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau on the walls.

 

Who knew there was so much literature in Cincinnati?  

 



Read This Summer and Get Stuff for Free

Thanks for allowing your kids to participate in our summer book clubs and writing workshops!  Don't forget that your kids--even teens--can earn free books, coupons, and Sounds tickets as well as a chance at winning some big ticket prizes through local library summer reading programs.  Even if you don't live near us, your local library may offer a program.  Check it out!

 

Williamson County Public Libraries

Kids:

http://lib.williamson-tn.org/srp2013/srp2013-kids.html

Complete 6 activities to earn a free paperback book and 12 activities to earn a book bag.  Activity logs are available for readers and prereaders.   Programs ends on July 26.

Teens:

http://lib.williamson-tn.org/srp2013/srp2013-teens.html

Got teens?  The Williamson County Public Library also has a summer reading program for them.   For every book you read, you receive a coupon to a popular local business and up to 3 entries into the grand prize drawing.  Two grand prizes winners are selected from the entries at the end of the program and receive an i-Pad mini.   The program ends with a concert by Indie band Abernathy on July 13.

 

Brentwood Public Library

https://brentwood-tn.org/index.aspx?page=859

Kids:

Kids set their own personal goals for the summer and keep track of the books they read and/or minutes they read.  If they meet their goal, they earn a certificate and a special prize.  The first day children can redeem a prize is July 15.

Teens:

Teens complete activities on a Bingo card to earn entries into a grand prize drawing for a mini I-pad.  Program ends on July 31.

 

Davidson County Public Libraries

http://www.library.nashville.org/summerreading/

Kids & Teens:

Complete 5 activities to earn a prize and 1 entry into the grand prize drawing.  You can complete up to 15 activities which will earn you 3 entries in the grand prize drawing.  Grand Prize for kids is a trip to Dollywood or a Target gift card.  Grand prize for teens is a Kindle and a $100 Visa gift card.  Programs ends on July 13.  You can register for the Davidson County library program on-line and track your books--even review them on the library's website for other kids!

 

In addition to your local library, Barnes & Noble still offers a summer reading program for kids in grades K-6.  You can pick up a hard copy log at any store.  Kids read 8 books, record them in the log, and write a brief recommendation for each book logged such as "I think my friend Sara would like this book because she likes to read mysteries."  When kids return a completed log to a Barnes & Noble store by September 3, they receive a free book from a list of titles. 

 

Don't forget about the many programs for children and teens offered by libraries and book stores  during the summer such as magic shows, science programs, and dance.  Most of these programs are free of charge but may require advance registration. 

 

Happy summer and happy reading!

You Help Us and We'll Help You!

Want something free?  So do we!  

We want to keep the cost of our programs as low as possible and you wouldn't believe how expensive advertising is in Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin!  Help us spread the word about our summer program by referrals.  Maybe you'll win a free workshop out of it!

 

Here's how:

Beginning on 5/24, for every person or business you get to "like" Spark READiness on Facebook, we'll enter your name in a random drawing for a $50 gift certificate good towards any of our summer 2013 offerings.  Be sure to tell the person or business to post on our Facebook page that you referred them; otherwise, we won't know who gets credit for the referral.  No limit on how many referrals you can make!   If more than one of you refers the same person, we'll give credit to the person first named in a post.

 

Just think, if you win, the Summer Writing Program suddenly becomes $50 for a full summer of intensive writing support!   That's crazy!

 

Link here to our summer schedule.

 

Good luck!

 

How Well Does Your Child Write?

You asked for it!

Many of you have expressed an interest in summer writing support for your child with the following in mind:

∙ the 5th Grade TCAP Writing Assessment;

∙ the transition from elementary to middle school writing;

∙ the transition from middle school to high school writing; or

∙ simply getting the ideas of out of your child's head and on to the page.

You’re concerned about sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, punctuation, and overall writing ability. Basically, you want to be sure your child has the writing skills it takes to be successful at the next level. But we know that most kids do not want to spend their summers being tutored or completing boring, tedious writing exercises.  HELLO, it’s summer! Do you blame them?

Try our solution! Here’s how it works:

∙ Sign up and attend our Summer Start on June 6 at Firstlight Arts Academy at 6pm.   Out of town that week?  Let us know and we'll work it out.

∙ On June 6, every family will receive a packet of instructions and the first of 4 writing activities. Each activity contains at least 2 writing prompt options for your kiddo.  At least 1 of the 2 options includes writing prompts based on popular music, movies, sports, or a tv show. This "popular culture" option draws in even reluctant kids. You can focus on creative writing or composition. It's up to you, and a different focus yields different results.

∙ Students write at whatever pace works for your family. No deadlines.

∙ Once your kiddo is done with the first writing activity, you email it or snail mail it to your instructor, who will then review it and provide specific and helpful comments in writing for you and your kiddo to review.

∙ After a student finishes #1, he or she moves to #2. The process repeats.

∙ During the summer, you will schedule at least one face-to-face meeting with your kid’s instructor for feedback and suggestions at your convenience. You have the option of scheduling more than one face-to-face meeting. No trying to fit something else in on a certain day that doesn’t work for you! Students may meet with the instructor with or without a parent present.

∙ Ideally, your child will finish 4 writing pieces and receive 4 written evaluations including a summary evaluation at the conclusion of #4. But, if your child doesn’t get them to all, it’s not the end of the world. This is supposed to be helpful to you and to your child--not be a burden. However, we can only help if we’re given something to review, so do encourage your child to write so you don’t waste your money. The end of the summer ends the program.

If, any at point, your instructor feels that your child needs support on a particular skill (let's say, grammar or punctuation), you may elect additional support for an added fee but it is not required even if suggested by the instructor.

Who will be working with your child?  Jennifer Stockdale, the owner of Spark READiness, who has a degree in English from Emory & Henry College, where she was the valedictorian of her class and the Outstanding Junior and Senior in English, and a law degree from The University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was an editor of The Tennessee Law Review, a member of the Constitutional Law Moot Court Team, Chair of UT’s Undergraduate and Graduate Judicial Board, and in the top 20% of her graduating class. Her legal position requires detailed, complex, and accurate writing and editing every day, and she has been doing it for 14 years. She has taught and tutored college level and college remedial Composition I and II, as well as Legal Writing, in addition to teaching book clubs and creative writing Spark workshops.  Her resume and recommendations are available upon request. 

What is the cost? $100 for information session, 4 writing activities with 2 prompts each (to be given in sequence, #2 after the completion of #1, #3 after the completion of #2, etc.), written evaluations of all completed activities, and at least one face-to-face meeting with instructor.

Limited spots are available to ensure the quality instruction you deserve.  Once all spots fill, we will establish a waiting list.

Any questions? Please post here, on our Facebook page, or email us at sparkreadiness@comcast.net.

 

Magic Treehouse Book Club Celebrates Shakespeare

On April 18, our Younger Readers Book Club met to discuss Magic Treehouse #25, Stage Fright on a Summer Night in which Jack and Annie whisk away to merry olde England and meet William Shakespeare.  I chose this book because April 23 would have been Shakespeare's 449th birthday, so we made it a book club and a birthday party all in one!

Back in 2008, before Spark READiness was officially Spark READiness, I hosted an enrichment workshop on Magic Treehouse #25.

 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to 2013, and I'm still on a mission to bring Shakespeare to young kids in a fun, relatable way.  Our Younger Readers Book Club, with kids ranging from kindergarten to second grade, had a great time discussing Magic Treehouse #25. 

 

We watched Taylor Swift's video for her song Love Story and talked about how the song is based on one of Shakespeare's most famous plays.  (The boys didn't like all the talk about love but they perked up when I told them about the fighting and dying in R&J.)

 

We sang happy birthday to Shakespeare and enjoyed cake.  Why not?

 

 

We learned about words that Shakespeare invented and talked about some of the most famous quotes from his plays.  Then, we used feather quills to write those quotes on our wooden scrolls.  It was messy and fun!  And isn't that what Shakespeare's plays are all about -- our complicated, funny, sometimes tragic lives?  (Good news:  The only tragedy for us was that book club had to end.  Well, and maybe that the paint took a while to dry.)

 

Next Magic Treehouse Book Club:  We're heading to Hawaii!

 

 



 

 



In Their Words: Why Kids Like to Read

© 2012.  Photo by Lisa Ehrie, Thirteen Photography

It has been a joy to reread our contest entries as we featured the winning writers over the past two weeks.  Thanks again to everyone who participated in our 2012 Freedom to Read Contest.  As you recall, we launched this contest in connection with the national book community's 2012 Banned Books Week to celebrate the freedom to read in our country.  We awarded our winners $175 in gift cards to Parnassus Books, a local independent bookstore, and mailed bookmarks and pens to all participants.

Thanks to Jackie Jones of Franklin, who assisted us with this contest and who has supported Spark READiness from the very beginning.  We also want to thank again our outstanding panel of  judges who generously donated their time to read all of the contest entries, score them, and make comments:  Carol Owen, Sean Martin, Amy Everhart, and Joell Smith-Borne.  Each judge read and scored every single contest entry.

Below are some of our favorite statements and thoughts on reading by our contest participants themselves.  So have faith, America, there are kids today who do like to read!    Here are some of the reasons why, in their own words:

To me, the best part about reading is that it takes the reader on fun adventures that no one can stop or take away. 

~Nadia, age 10

No matter what problems you have, what you've done, or where you are, when you read a book all of that goes away.  

~Olivia, age 11

When you go into a book, you feel as if you are free of all the limits that the world puts on you. 

~David, age 10

Reading gives us a sense of strength, power, and independence.

~Cassidy, age 11

Reading is to me is like getting a life you could never have otherwise.  

-Brynn, age 10

Reading gives us the power to look at the world differently and make a difference

~Danielle, age 10

There are no rules in reading.  When you read you can be whatever and whoever you want. 

~ Jack, age 11

Keep reading!  If you liked our contest, let us know by making a comment here or posting on Facebook.  

Meet Olivia Williams, Honorable Mention - 4th & 5th Grades Category

Olivia Williams received an Honorable Mention award in the 4th and 5th Grades Category of our 2012 Spark READiness Freedom to Read Essay Contest. Students in this category were asked to respond to the following passage and instructed to cite any sources they consulted.

Frederick Douglass said: "Once you learn to read you will be forever free." Who is Frederick Douglass? What do you think he meant? How can reading make a person free?

     Frederick Douglass was a fine man, indeed.  He demonstrated empathy for others, courage, and a love of literacy.  He worked very closely with Abraham Lincoln, another fine man.  In the Civil War, Frederick strongly desired two things:  the war to end all slavery and for African Americans to be allowed to enlist in the Union army.  It is evident that Douglass cared a lot about African Americans.  He even worked with his friend, Lincoln, to improve the treatment of black troops.

     Frederick Douglass also had courage.  When he attended Lincoln's inaugural address he was the only one who was African American there.  That took some courage!  Douglass definitely made his mark on history.  Most historians even believe he was the most influential black man in his era.

     When Frederick Douglass said, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free," I think he meant a few things by it.  One, when he stated, "Everyone should read," he literally meant that no matter what race, gender, age, height, or talent, everyone needs to be able to read.  Not reading won't get you anywhere in life.

     Two, sometimes getting wrapped up in a good story, makes you feel like you're a character in that book. It makes you feel like you can be anything, like you are free.  Reading is a majestic, magical substance that you can have in your life, if you only read.  Reading is the key, reading is the path, reading is the way.

     Three, he meant that to live in that time, it was a black man's dream to live in a white man's world.  They would be able to work and communicate just like everyone else did.  Education would be the key.  They would live it, learn it, love it, and well, be forever free.  

     Reading can make a person free because when you read, it transports you somewhere.  I believe a book is like a mystical, amazing world.  When you read, you get to be a part of that world.  No matter what problems you have, what you've done, or where you are, when you read a book all of that goes away.  You get transported into this amazing, beautiful world with a clean slate.  Every thought disappears and everyone starts new.  The best part is, in that world, you can be anything you wish to be.  Everything disappears the moment you lay your eyes on the words in a book.  You make the story; you make your life theirs; you make the choices.  You may get as vivid as you want with it.  Let your imagination run wild.  You'll be surprised what you come up with.

     In conclusion, Frederick had empathy for others by trying to help African American troops get treated nicer, and better.  He displayed courage because he was brave enough to speak up for the blacks and to come to Lincoln's inaugural address.  Douglass showed a strong love for literacy by saying that quote, encouraging slaves to try to get educated, and being influential on learning.

Source:  Tennessee Social Studies Textbook.

Olivia is a fifth grader at Crockett Elementary School in Brentwood.  She is eleven years old.  Olivia likes to sing, dance, and act. She also enjoys reading books, writing stories, going to church, and spending time with friends.  Her parents are Kevin and Kathy Williams.

Judges called Olivia's entry "outstanding."  As one of only two entries recognized as Honorable Mentions in the 4th and 5th Grades Category, Olivia received a certificate honoring her achievement.   

Congratulations, Olivia!  Keep reading and writing!