Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

Would you rather be a poet or a rapper?? To some of us...there's little difference. How many times have you heard a lyric in a song so poignant and poetic that it rivets your soul? Like some of you, I can listen to a song and travel back in time. So...being a kid of the 80s/90s and loving all genres of music (like I love all genres of books), I thought I'd collaborate and combine my two great loves: poetry and music...specifically rap music! I came across the idea a couple of years ago via Book Riot's post: Poetry Line or Rap Music. We begin the lesson with a few foundation questions via a Gallery Walk! With 8 poster size sticky notes and the following questions, we were able to build a foundation for the poetry vs. rap: 1. What are some characteristics of poems? 2. How do you encounter poetry in your everyday life? 3. What is poetry to you? 4. What makes a good poem? 5. What makes poetry easy? Difficult? 6. If poetry was a food, then which food and w...

Today's Friday...in April! What does that mean???? THE COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE YEAR HAS BEGUN! via GIPHY I self-medicate with classical music! Lol...NOT! There are bountiful benefits in appreciating classical music: 5 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Classical Music! From the time I was 10, I've known music intimately. I played with my high school orchestra, the Houston Youth Symphony , and I played at Baylor University (Hey, Dr. Hardie ). It is my first love...AND believe it or not, I used to be pretty darn good. I even brought my cello out for the kids a couple of Christmases ago... BE FOREWARNED... it's wretched. I told ya! :) Nevertheless, I've injected my kiddos with small snippets of "classical music" appreciation via 2Cellos ! Luka and Stejan were former competitors, who took their zealous love for cello-playing, and blew the stratosphere by combining their talents into the DYNAMIC DUO! Why do I love these guys? Aside from my obvi...

So I've come across the book Emily's Blue Period by Cathleen Daly with illustrations by Lisa Brown. It's a clever combination of my favorites: art, family, heart-felt emotions and perseverance. Without giving away too much Emily goes through a "blue" period to mimic her temporary obsession with Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and to counteract the upheaval in her family. On a personal aside, I LOVE Picasso. Who else but he could divide his work into these distinct periods: The Blue Period (1901-1904), which were sad looking paintings using blue and blue-green colours. The Rose Period (1905-1907), which was a more happy style with orange and pink colours. The African- influenced Period (1908-1909) and The Cubism Period (1909- 1919). In my 30 seconds Book Talk : Emily's a young artist. She's impressionable in ways that make her uniqueness shine bright. However, she begins to mimic famed artist Pablo Picasso's "blue period" just when...