Wordy Wednesday {Malarkey}

I taught 8th grade reading and Language Arts. One of my biggest challenges was to get my students to expand their vocabulary. Many kids just wanted to complete their assignments in record time or at the last possible minute, and as a result their papers were full of weak, wimpy vocabulary. 

One instance when the lack of effort was particularly noticeable, I was quite frustrated. I knew a lecture would be tuned out immediately, so what to do for dramatic effect? Return the papers, calmly display the grade stats on the Smart Board, and then pose the rhetorical question, "Do you know what this is?" 

Answer:  MAAAAA - LARKEY! 

Well, that was an attention grabber for a couple reasons: 1. I am a soft-spoken person and typically did not raise my voice, and 2. MALARKEY is a fun word! Rather than saying something that would make me sound like an 8th grader (Your papers sucked), I told them  that their lack of effort was a waste of their time, my time, which was maaa-larkey (nonsense, rubbish). (They figured out the malarkey's definition by using the grade stats and my tone of voice).

So after that incident, in addition to the vocab words that the curriculum "encouraged," I found words and sayings to enrich and enhance their vocabularies, and those stuck with them better than the curriculum-oriented words. Make it fun, make it relevant, no more "cookin' my grits." That's just balderdash!

Wordy Wednesday {Wine}

Connections...they make life meaningful.

When I taught, I asked my students how they connected to the book they were reading. Did the book remind them of another book they had read or a movie they had seen? Could they relate to any of the characters? Did something in the book bring back a memory?

Fast forward from the classroom to today's grocery shopping. I love to browse in the wine shop and look at the labels on the bottles. And yes, I will buy a bottle of wine because I like the label. And that happened today.

The Stump Jump...an Australian sauvignon blanc. I like sauvignon blanc and the name made me smile. It connected me back to the days when I would visit my grandparents who lived on a farm outside of Bloomington, Illinois. My grandpa taught me a tongue twister and it went like this:

A skunk sat on a stump.

The stump said the the skunk stunk 

and the skunk said the stump stunk.

Grandpa could say the tongue twister really fast without any mistakes. I remember trying to say it with a top front tooth missing...that was a "dithathter!"

Cheers to childhood memories ~

Wordy Wednesday {Waffles}

Homemade waffles...my mom made them for my brothers, sister and me when we were young. That tradition has passed on to my family. Waffles are a Sunday morning favorite.

I have used only one waffle recipe and it's from a Betty Crocker cookbook I received as a shower gift in 1980. The only waffle iron I have ever used is the one Hubs and I received as a wedding gift in 1980. (No cool touch lid on that "dinosaur!") It's always a game to try to get the perfect pour to end up with four perfect squares...this one came close!

And then to finish off the waffles, Vermont maple syrup from Dakin Farm. Pour the maple syrup on to fill each dimple...let it soak in for a few seconds...a little bit of heaven in each bite!

Wordy Wednesday {Walk}

On a warmish 40 degree, sunny February day in the Miami Valley, I needed to mail some letters and get my big ole dog outside to burn off some energy. Put those two things together and the answer is a walk to the post office. 

We wound up with a wealth of Ws on our walk!

War Horse...my good ole Tahoe that we drove to Lincoln Park to begin our walk.

Whiney...my dog leaps into War Horse and is so excited to be going somewhere but he whines the entire way. He's such a nervous Nellie!

Windy...it's blowing hard. Flags are almost straight out.

Whoops...didn't wear a hat. Ears got cold...my bad. I would always tell my kids to dress warmly...need to follow my own advice.

Wander...no planned route to get to the post office; Hunter's nose created our route...to a certain extent.

Wonder...what does Hunter smell that makes him sniff so intently? A dog's sense of smell is amazing.

Who's walking whom?...my dog is a happy, excitable 85 pound lab. He's a big, strong guy and usually pretty good on a leash. But today, we're going every which way to explore this new territory that offers all kinds of new sights and smells. We zig and zag from one side of the street to the other!

Waving...the green Cricket mascot was on the sidewalk to attract attention to the Cricket store - the promotion is a free car charger. How would you put this kind of a job on a resume? Public relations liaison...marketing rep...

Worn out...we put in a good 3 miles at a pretty quick pace. 

Wet your whistle...big drinks of water for both of us when we got home! 

Wordy Wednesday {The Letter "W"}

Welcome to the wonderful world of the letter "W"...and always on Wednesday!

– ♥ –

Back in the day of raising little kids, my four loved to listen to music. One of their favorite CASSETTES (I told you this was back in the day!) was from the Sesame Street gang, "Sing the Alphabet." They played this over and over and over in their cassette player and whenever we went anywhere I had to pop it into the cassette player in the mini-van. 

So for "Wordy Wednesday" the very clever lyrics that Bert sings to the National Association of "W" Lovers...ah, memories! 

"The National Association of 'W' Lovers"

Music by Joe Raposo

Lyrics by Jerry Juhl

Copyright 1973 by Instructional Children's Music, Inc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukBp2XYFCRk

Bert: All right, all right, everybody. Settle down. Come on now. Welcome to the weekly meeting of the National Association of "W" Lovers. We are gathered here today to pay tribute to that great letter "W" and the wondrous sound it makes..."Wuh!"

Isn't that lovely? "Wuh!" Yeah, it makes the heart pound faster. All right.

Now if you turn to page four in the manual, we will sing the club's song. 

All right, everybody, turn to page four. That's it. All right. Now is everybody ready? Here we go.

(Music starts)

I'll begin. You can join in later. Here we go.

(Sung)

Oh, what is the letter we love?

What sound are we extra fond of?

It's not any trouble

You know it's a "W"

When you hear "Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh!"

Without this fine letter

You couldn't say "wash"

Or "witch," "wax," or "wiggle"

My gosh! Huh!

There wouldn't be "wet," "warm," or "walrus"

Oh wow!

There wouldn't be "wood"

Would there now? Uh-uh!

Without this great "Wuh" sound

Well, "wink" would be "ink"

And "week" would be "eek"

Don't you see? Of course.

A fine word like "waffle"

Would turn out just "awful"

Oh, "W's" grand as can be.

All: So what is the letter we love?

The sound that we're extra fond of?

It's not any trouble

You know it's a "W"

When you hear "Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh!"

(Music ends)

Bert: Oh wow! That was wonderful!