New Visitor’s…Please read the two paragraphs at the end of this column before beginning your explorations in theater, poetry, children’s literature, movies, television, books, and the Arts. It will say New Visitor’s Greeting and be in boldface.
Educational Website…
Please, also, check out my educational website at aimtjp.wikispaces.com. No www. is needed. If you have any teachers or children in the family, they will enjoy it immensely. There are tons of immediately ready to use ideas in reading, children’s literature, Internet explorations, problem solving, and poetry on the opening screen and in the Public Dropbox.
Daughters…The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book For Older Girls by pediatrician Cara Natterson is being touted in every children’s self help resource you select. This second and updated addition follows the original that sold three million copies. The original book is not about sexuality and was aimed at the six to nine year-old-group. This new book is for girls ten and above and does contain those topics in addition to health, self image, and self esteem that the original covered. USA Today online has a nice interview with Cara Natterson.
The Car Of The Future: In Eight Months…All the car manufacturers announced today that next year’s cars will support every electronic device we have with wi-fi and 4 gigabyte speed. The federal government should demand that everything be voice activated before the driver begins driving. It is foolish to think drivers aren’t going to use their cell phones or text while driving. Hands free everything will help, but studies show the accident-prone numbers are high even with this feature in cars. That old adage of talking and chewing gum, also, applies to driving and talking. Show offs will probably have their 62-inch television in the car with them. They will be able to stream cable shows, the Internet, and anything else that will be invented in the future. Driver Be Aware!!!
Poetry…The Tercet Biography…The Tercet Biography allows you to pick favorite times of your life or of a famous person’s life followed by three descriptive words. The lines may or may not rhyme. Creating a progression of events from a person’s life is the challenge in this piece of writing. Have some fun while experimenting with descriptions of yourself and family members before you branch out in music, movies, and television. This form of writing is a great critical thinking challenge.
Allesan
Born on June first,
Kicking, crying, sighing.
Early on had the reading thirst,
Stories, poems, adventures.
Sports gave an early burst,
Baseball, basketball, football.
The piano is her voice,
Playing, teaching, enjoying
The weekly poetry suggestions would make good additions to your diary or journal. After a few poems styles are under your belt, maybe you will share some of your poems with a wider poetry and writing community.
Children’s Literature I…Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian is a book recommended by Nancy Legath. Mrs. Legath is a local and extremely creative first grade teacher. Nancy has a wealth of ideas for the primary grades that I will be sharing in the upcoming weeks. Here are Nancy’s reasons that readers, parents, and teachers should embrace Florian’s work:
“My students and I have recently discovered the works of Douglas Florian and we are having such a fun time reading his poems and enjoying his illustrations. Florian, a New York native, has written and illustrated quite a few award-winning books. Some of the titles include: Dinothesaurus, Insectlopedia, bow wow meow meow, and a set of seasonal poetry books entitled: Winter Eyes, Summersaults, Autumnblings, and Handsprings.
Many of his poems are inspired by nature. His poems and illustrations are fun, silly, whimsical, colorful, and spark conversation. As a child he spent lots of time at the Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, and in his backyard with a menagerie of animals. He learned how to look at nature as an artist from his father.”
Don’t forget to add Aliki’s Digging Up Dinosaurs to your library, too. The video narrated by LeVar Burton (Roots) of a dinosaur dig in a museum is outstanding!
Children’s Literature II…Imogene’s Last Stand by Candance Fleming and Nancy Carpenter is Caitlin Nahas’s follow-up to yesterday’s poignant recommendation of In Our Mother’s House. Imogen’s Last Stand is another great addition for Salute To Women’s Month and anyone’s library. I will be featuring Caitlin’s book suggestions and overviews in the children’s literature section of this column. Caitlin’s portfolio of ideas would make a good graduate course. It should be called: Equity: Women and Children’s Literature. Look for her soon at your local college or reading conference.
Here is what Caitlin highlighted to encourage you to read Imogene’s Last Stand:
- Imogene is a young girl in awe with history!
- Imogene is on a mission to save the Liddleville Historical Society, and revive history in the process. She will do this with or without the support of her community.
- The book is filled with famous quotes from Paul Revere to Chief Joseph.
- The inside front and back cover displays “Imogene Tripp’s Historical Tidbits.”
The projects that this book will support will place readers in history and have them examine the issues that they can tackle to make a difference like the woman and girls before them.
Observations I…Here are my Observations for Tuesday:
1. The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is touting the 1500 volunteers that help with the tournament. I never heard of a volunteer paying to be a volunteer. They charge their volunteers $100 to work for them. That is a profit of $150,000. That little child carrying Tiger’s sign is probably paying double. Does the Master’s and more prestigious tournaments charge even more. Shame on you Professional Golf Association!
2. Even if you are in the middle of an argument, you are still in trouble.
3. Pistachios are the most beneficial peanut in the form of nutrition. Trader Joe’s shell-less and lightly salted are the best. Almonds are pushed, because they fill up your stomach and help you to eat less.
4. Why is it called a cell phone, if prisoners are not allowed to use it?
New Visitor’s Greeting…Welcome to Let’s Talk, a freewheeling column on movies, theater, television, books, educational practices, current events, and the Internet. If you are a first time visitor to the column, I recommend that you start with the About topic in the Index Bar at the top of the page. Follow About with the Let’s Talk column in archives. It was the first column of the New Year. Proceed to Let’s Talk II and then work your way up to today’s column. These columns will introduce a plethora (a better word choice than myriad) of new ideas and old delights you may have missed. It will give you a strong foundation for some of the issues we are introducing and following up in newer columns.
New visitor’s comments are welcome, too. They are immediately placed on this page in the contributor’s comment section or are shared with the column’s readers on Sunday. You are welcome, also, to suggest topics for discussion or enlist help from the site’s family of readers. I am a compendium of useless information. Challenge me, please, with great theater, travel, history, books, movies, and educational issues that would interest a wide audience of readers. The “compendium comment” was stolen from Orson Bean. Bean used the quote many times on television talk show interviews. Please recommend my column to your friends and other lovers of discussion.
Let's Talk Philadelphia...Thomas J. Palumbo, Ed. 