Jessie Voigts's Blog, page 58
September 13, 2022
The One Book You Must Read This Year: A Deep Look into a Disappearing Culture
Once in a great while, you come across a book so compelling, interesting, and important that you want to share it with everyone. Such is the case with the latest book from author Amy Chavez, entitled The Widow, The Priest and The Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island, published by one of our favorite publishers, Tuttle.
This extraordinary book is a glimpse into the history and daily lives of the people living on a small ...
September 12, 2022
Through the Eyes of an Educator: Finding Inspiration
"...the ground thaws, the rain falls, the grass grows…the seeds root, the flowers bloom, the children play. The stars gleam, the poets dream, the eagles fly…the earth turns, the sun burns…the breeze warms, the girl smiles, the cloud moves…the tides change, the boys run, the oceans crash. The crowds roar, the days soar, the babies cry." - Without You, RENT
In the northern hemisphere, we’re in the last few weeks of the official summer season and as always at this time, t...
September 10, 2022
Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes: The Pere Marquette No. 18
The approximate 6,000 ships that have succumbed to raging storms attest to the power of the Great Lakes. As I traveled, writing and compiling information for my three-volume travel series, Exploring Michigan's Sunrise Coasts, Upper Peninsula Coasts, and Sunset Coasts, I heard or read the tales left behind by those ill-fated ships. They add a somber, but compelling backdrop to Michigan’s waterways.
The ferry Pere Marquette 18 before she sank. Photo published sometime b...
September 9, 2022
CARLA Presentation Series: Bringing Social Justice into Language Classrooms: Templates to Guide Instructional Planning
From CARLA, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota:
Goodspeed, L., Menke, M., Paesani, K., & Ruf, H. (2021, September 28). "Bringing Social Justice into Language Classrooms: Templates to Guide Instructional Planning."
This presentation describes the process of developing research-based curricular unit and lesson plan templates that support language instructors in the teaching of soc...
Travel with Awe and Wonder: Getting to Newfoundland Part Two: Muddling Through
This summer, my husband and I undertook a move. A relocation from Massachusetts to Arizona has been undertaken by others, no doubt. We decided to make things a little more interesting than a direct route. We headed north. Our circuitous route is winding us through Newfoundland, Portugal, and North Carolina. When one would think to take the southerly route from the Carolina’s to Arizona in the winter months, we will make Bugs Bunny’s famous right turn at Albuquerque to g...
August 20, 2022
Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes: The Plymouth
The approximate 6,000 ships that have succumbed to raging storms attest to the power of the Great Lakes. As I traveled, writing and compiling information for my three-volume travel series, Exploring Michigan’s Coasts, I heard or read the tales left behind by those ill-fated ships. They add a somber, but compelling backdrop to Michigan’s waterways.
The Plymouth, a schooner lumber barge with a seven-man crew, went down during the big storm of November 13, 1913. She was i...
August 16, 2022
Travel with Awe and Wonder: Getting to Newfoundland, Part I
This summer, my husband and I undertook a move. A relocation from Massachusetts to Arizona has been undertaken by others, no doubt. We decided to make things a little more interesting than a direct route. We headed north. Our circuitous route is winding us through Newfoundland, Portugal, and North Carolina. When one would think to take the southerly route from the Carolina’s to Arizona in the winter months, we will make Bugs Bunny’s famous right turn at Albuquerque to g...
August 15, 2022
Music for Reflection and Renewal
Whether you are at the end of summer in the northern hemisphere or the end of winter in the southern part of the globe, at times it seems to have been a very long season. A long season in the midst of ever-changing times.
In such times, it is good to find moments of quiet, times to refresh one's ideas, one's visions of hope and of connection. Then, to take the next step.
Here is music to help with those things.
Emily Smith was drawn to appreciating a moment of pause an...
August 13, 2022
Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes: The SS Eastland
The approximate 6,000 ships that have succumbed to raging storms attest to the power of the Great Lakes. As I traveled, writing and compiling information for my three-volume travel series, Exploring Michigan's Coasts, I heard or read the tales left behind by those ill-fated ships. They add a somber, but compelling backdrop to Michigan’s waterways.
The S.S. Eastland, in Cleveland, Ohio, around 1911.
The Eastland remains the oddest tragedy ever to befall a ship on Lake ...
August 12, 2022
Read This: There’s an N on Your Nose
One of the very best things about reading is starting. Whether it’s with your own kids, your classroom, or kids you know and love, watching them make connections and learn is magical. You might choose to read to them with books you’ve known and loved for years, or embark with new discoveries.
One such discovery for me is a gorgeous new picture book, entitled There’s an N on Your Nose. Written by Dennis Canfield and illustrated by Stella Mongodi, th...
