Friday, January 13, 2017

Lesson 460: Sweet dreams, Sweet Pea

Good evening, Readers.
It's Friday the 13th!


As of this writing, 
all is well at the Lamp Post--
but there are approximately three hours left in this day.
You never know.

I've been thinking a lot about dreams today
as I reminded my students why we were having Monday off of school--
Martin Luther King Day.
I told them to read over his I Have a Dream Speech,
and think about it on Monday when we weren't in school.


My classes are studying fairy tales.
This week we read the Hans Christian Andersen tale,
Princess and the Pea.
If it's been a few years and the story is a bit foggy,
here are a few cool artist renderings to remind you.

the princess and the pea by Susan Batori, via Behance:

A girl, 
claiming to be a real princess,
showed up at the King's castle one stormy night,
seeking refuge from terrible weather.

Illustration by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone for "The Princess and the Pea", from 'A Book of Fairy Tales', published by Dean & Son Ltd. of London, 1977.:

The royal family took her in 
and gave her a place to rest for the night.

princess and the pea. this has a whole new meaning to me...:

Unbeknownst to the princess,
the  King and Queen decided to conduct an experiment 
to test if the princess was a real princess as she claimed.


Princess and the Pea:

They placed a single pea beneath 20 feather beds
stacked upon 20 mattresses.

I like the ladder in this one:

As the story goes,
the princess was awake all night,
unable to sleep because she felt a lump in her bed.
Only a real princess 
would have skin so delicate to feel it.

Princess and the Pea (AP art concentration):

It was most interesting to me to see the students' reactions to this.

Princess and the Pea (memo to self: if I ever have a daughter, get her pic done like this):

As scrappy, 
independent,
do-it-yourself-ers--
my American school children responded with the following:

Oh PLEEEZE!
Give me a break!
You've GOT to be kidding!
Get over yourself, Princess!

American kids aren't sold on royalty,
entitlement,
and pretentiousness
in the least,
no matter what the nightly news reports.

My kids could have slept like rocks
through a lump made by a bowling ball,
evidenced by the drool.

gemma capdevila:

I came into work a half an hour early 
every day this week,
to tape peas underneath all of their chairs.

I began class by asking them if they ever wished they were royal,
or wondered if they had royal blood running through their veins.

I'm proud to say that ALL of my students 
FAILED this test!

Upon revelation at the end of class
that they had been sitting upon a pea,
undetected by their tough American hineys 
for the entire class period,
we cheered
and clapped
and high fived!
We celebrated the fact that we are not royal
and better yet--
hardworking American kids instead.

There is hope, Readers.
I can assure you of that.

The Erie snow leopards aren't dreaming of spring just yet.

Kid leopard By Tsybina Natali - It runs on the skeleton and steel wire frame. May lie, stand, sit. Head tilted to any position. Pads with plastics. Eyes author handmade - glass. Filled with synthetic padding and a metal granulate. Its growth was not excluding the tail. Height 23cm, length 25 cm wit...:

We are smack dab in mid-winter 
and are trying to make the most of the wintry weather.


Sledding is always fun,
not to mention a great workout.




Skiing and snowboarding are really cool, too,
although Eloise does neither.
She just spectates,


with a camera, of course.


Tubing at Peek-n-Peak is a fun activity.


There's a nice escalator that gives you a ride back up
after your icy plunge downhill.


The snow melted quickly after a fast,
mid-week warm-up,
so we are neck deep in flooding and mud tonight.
Instead of dreaming of snow activities,
we are looking for other things to do.

If you're bored, Erieites--
you can vote for new Monopoly game pieces.

Monopoly Board Game                                                                                                                                                      Más:

This truly is worth checking out!

Vote for your monopoly game pieces

You can vote for 8 pieces.
I picked the following:

hat
key
typewriter
camera
cowboy boot
pocket watch
ducky
&
rabbit

Weekend homework:
Let me know which pieces you voted for.

It's time for nighty-night, Readers.
Eloise suggests you find a fairy tale and read it.
Does the royalty annoy you?
Good!
It does me, too.

Still, fairy tales spur thought,
and that is a good thing.

Take it from Einstein.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales." - Albert Einstein. Reading by/for/with children is always good, I've noticed this with my daughter as we read to her from the tender age of 1 year old.:

Here's an interesting read on Einstein and fairy tales if you are interested:


In honor of the Man of the Week,
Hans Christian Andersen,
I'll summarize with this quote:

"The most wonderful fairy tale is life itself." - Hans Christian Andersen:

True 'dat.

Sweet dreams,
Sweet Peas.

ELOISE

GENUINE ORIGINAL DESIGN Baby girl boy newborn unigender green sweet Peapod Pea Pod cocoon photography props shower. $52.00, via Etsy.:







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