Norah Colvin

Live Love Laugh Learn … Create the possibilities

Category: Celebrations

  • readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can

    readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can

    In Australia, NAIDOC Week is celebrated around the country each July. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. The theme of this year’s celebration, which runs from 8 to 15 July, is Because of Her, We Can!

    The purpose of the week is to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Islander Peoples and acknowledge their contributions to our country. This year’s theme recognises that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played – and continue to play – active and significant roles at the community, local, state and national levels”, roles that have often gone unrecognised.

    The 2018 poster, a painting by Bigambul woman, Cheryl Moggs, from Goondiwindi, portrays the courage and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. You can read, in Cheryl’s own words, the inspiration behind her artwork here.

    While most Australian school children are enjoying their mid-year break during NAIDOC Week, many teachers will be looking for ways to share the celebrations with their students when school resumes.

    Any time is a good time to incorporate learning about Indigenous cultures and histories. In fact, embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures is one of the cross-curriculum priorities in the Australian Curriculum.  Although I provide links to resources and suggestions that Australian teachers can use with their classes when celebrating NAIDOC Week, I’m certain many of the resources will be of interest to others around the world when teaching about diverse cultures and histories.

    The NAIDOC website has suggestions to get you started, and you can download a free copy of the 2018 NAIDOC Week poster from the website too. You can also check out their calendar for events near you. Refer to News for stories of women to celebrate.

    In the following video, Uncle Barry Watson, the Elder in Residence with Communities for Children in Logan City in south-east Queensland, explains the

    Continue reading: readilearn: NAIDOC Week Celebrations 2018—Because of Her, We Can – Readilearn

  • A bouquet of wishes

    A bouquet of wishes

    Do you celebrate your birthday? I do. I love to mark each one. I don’t even mind that the numbers are getting big now, though not quite as big as my grandchildren tease (he says 150, she says 954). I wouldn’t mind a few additional years to accomplish even more, or at least try. But I know I am lucky to have had so many. Not everyone is as fortunate. And we never know how many days or years we will get. For this reason, I think we must enjoy every day and treat it as a gift. That’s why today is called the present, after all.

    yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present

    This week at the Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills challenged writers to In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that includes a bouquet. You can explore the meaning of the word or gather a bunch of flowers. Go where the prompt leads.

    You could say that the prompt was beautifully timed to coincide with my birthday, although I hadn’t considered the connection and was struggling for a response until I received these beautiful flowers from my daughter and her partner.

    a bouquet of wishes to make your day

    It made me think of all the times in our lives when bouquets of flowers are given and received: to share love in both joyous and sorrowful times, or to simply say, “I’m thinking of you.” We are often urged to, regardless of the occasion, “Say it with flowers”. Flowers, chocolate and wine are always well-received. (I was going to say “go down well”, but I thought you might think I eat the flowers too. I don’t.)

    I tried to “find” a story of a young boy gathering wildflowers for his teacher on the way to school, but he wasn’t willing to cooperate. Instead, I’ve gone for a BOTS, except for the ending. I hope you enjoy it.

    Carrot Ranch flash fiction challenge - write about a bouquet

    A Special Bouquet

    As expected, they found her in her garden with a bouquet of fresh-picked flowers: daisies, forget-me-nots, peonies, zinnias, sprays of bleeding hearts and honeysuckle, a bottlebrush or two, a bunch of gumnuts and some greenery—to make each colour shine.

    Her garden was her sanctuary, her confidante, her joy. She said families were like gardens, with beauty in variety. Every special day—birth, birthday, wedding, or funeral—she arranged a meaningful bouquet. In ninety-five years, she’d seen lives come and go. The last of nine, no doubt now who’d be next. How could she know this was her day?

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

  • Rough Writer Tour: Happy Trails

    Rough Writer Tour: Happy Trails

    And so, the Rough Writers Tour Around the World is over. We’re back at the ranch with the lead Buckaroo Charli Mills, wrapping up the first adventure. This tour might be over, but the journey has just begun. Charli says, “Through writing together on projects of creative expression, we are on the trail to happiness. We ride the trail of peace.”
    I respond, “The pen is mightier than the sword. Together our voices are stronger than one, but we don’t speak as one, we speak as a collective of individuals, supporting, and receiving the support of, an amazing leader. Doubters may have considered your vision a puff of cloud easily erased. But it is a rainbow of inspiration under which unicorns dance, writers write and readers read. How delighted I am to have shared in the journey.
    If you haven’t yet, come and join us at the Carrot Ranch. There’s always room for more in the posse on the trail to happiness and peace.

  • Learning fun with Mother’s Day activities in early childhood classrooms – Readilearn

    Learning fun with Mother’s Day activities in early childhood classrooms – Readilearn

    Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May in many countries, including Australia, the United States, and Canada. As the day approaches, teachers often look for easy-to-make gifts for children to give to mothers or other carers.  In this post, I share inexpensive suggestions that are easily incorporated into your class literacy and art programs.

    Before beginning to work on gifts for mothers, it is important to have some knowledge of children’s backgrounds so you can treat with sensitivity the diversity of family situations that may be represented in your classroom and adjust the program accordingly. For example, when you are already part-way through an activity, it is no good finding out from an upset child that his mother has passed.

    It is best to find out this information at least a few weeks before commencing the activities to allow time for consultation with families if necessary. An easy way of doing this is to ask the children to draw a picture of the people who live at their house. Children can then show and discuss their pictures and their families, including those who have two homes and two families.

    Your school librarian will be able to suggest picture books to read about diverse families, or you can find some on this list.

    You could introduce the activity by saying something like, “Mother’s Day is a day on which

    Continue reading: readilearn: Learning fun with Mother’s Day activities in early childhood classrooms – Readilearn

  • Everything Susan: Rough Writer Tour Around the World

    Everything Susan: Rough Writer Tour Around the World

    From autumn in Australia, we fly to spring in Orillia, Ontario to visit with Rough Writer Susan Zutautas on the next leg of the World Tour. Susan tells us about her beautiful location and the place of flash fiction in her writing process.

     

    Continue reading: Everything Susan: Rough Writer Tour Around the World

    Also – just in – The anthology won a silver in the Literary Titan Book Awards April 2018. How exciting is that!
  • Celebrating individuals in your classroom using stories – Readilearn

    Celebrating individuals in your classroom using stories – Readilearn

    While a classroom is filled with a group of unique individuals, it can be easy sometimes to get caught up in treating them as one, with one set of needs, expectations and rules. Everybody do this, everybody do that—a bit like Simon Says but not always as much fun.

    It is useful to pause sometimes and celebrate the uniqueness of individuals in your class.

    International Children’s Book Day and Hans Christian Andersen‘s birthday on 2 April provide excellent excuses for reading and celebrating children’s literature, as if we needed any. We can also find stories that help us celebrate individuality.

    The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Andersen

    Hans Christian Andersen was a prolific writer of fairy tales, many of which are well-known and have been made into movies. One of my favourite films as a child was about Hans Christian Anderson with Danny Kaye in the lead role. I was particularly touched by the story of The Ugly Duckling which Andersen told to a sad young boy whom no one would play with. You can watch the scene here.

    The story is a great starting point for discussing individual differences,

    Continue reading: #readilearn: Celebrating individuals in your classroom using stories – Readilearn

  • #readilearn – Learning literacy and mathematics with Easter classroom activities – Readilearn

    #readilearn – Learning literacy and mathematics with Easter classroom activities – Readilearn

    The celebration of special occasions such as Easter may bring interruptions to the usual class program with preparation for special events and performances such as Easter Hat Parades. It may also signal time to inject some fun into the program. But involving children in Easter activities doesn’t mean the learning has to stop.

    In this post, I explain how using readilearn early childhood teaching resources keeps the children thinking and learning while having fun with Easter-themed resources across curriculum areas. (Note: All readilearn Easter-themed resources can be found here.)

    Cultural studies 

    An inclusive classroom acknowledges all traditions celebrated by its children.

    Find out whether Easter is one of the traditions celebrated by the families of children in the class and discuss how it is celebrated.

    If you have already investigated Family traditions and celebrations, you will know which children celebrate Easter and which do not.

    For children who don’t celebrate Easter, be sensitive to the expectations their families may have for their participation.

    My personal view is that it is beneficial for children to learn about the traditions of others but that they can opt out of activities and celebrations if families wish. In my experience, few families have Continue reading: #readilearn – Learning literacy and mathematics with Easter classroom activities 

  • Jump on board the Congress of Rough Writers Round the World Tour

    Jump on board the Congress of Rough Writers Round the World Tour

    Do you remember the moment you fell in love–the moment the passion ignited, and you knew life would never be the same again?

    I remember the moment my love affair with flash fiction began. Like many love affairs, it took me by surprise, lifting me up with its power to seduce, challenge and excite in a whirlpool of emotions.

    That moment occurred exactly four years and one week ago when, on 12 March 2014, I published my response to the first flash fiction prompt posted by Charli Mills at the Carrot Ranch. Charli challenged writers to In 99 words (no more, no less) write the aftermath of an avalanche of any kind from any perspective.

    Flash fiction was new to me. I’d written short stories, children stories, poetry, songs, and educational books and resources, but never flash fiction. However, I do love a challenge and had been anticipating having a go at flash fiction after Charli’s announcement a few months prior.

    This is my response, my first ever attempt at flash fiction:

    Avalanche

    The trickle began; imperceptible, unheeded and ignored.

    Needing more attention, the volume swelled and quickened pace.

    Still no attention was forthcoming so the surge became more urgent and incessant in its plea.

    “Slow down! Stop me!”

    To no avail.

    The avalanche engulfed her.

    Heat flashed through her body, from feet straight to her head.

    Heart pounding loudly, “Let me out of here!” it pled.

    With reverberations magnified in each and every cell,

    the heady swirl became too much –

    she trembling choked. “I’m dying?”

    But no:

    B-r-e-a-t-h-e   s-l-o-w.

    B-r-e-a-t-h-e   d-e-e-p.

    R-e-l-a-x.

    S-o-o-t-h-e.

    B-r-e-a-t-h-e . . .

    The panic abates.

    I was just one of five to respond to that first prompt. Four of those writers, including me of course, are still regular visitors to the Carrot Ranch, are members of the Congress of Rough Writers, and are contributors to the Congress of Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology Vol 1. That’s pretty awesome, I think.

    Carrot Ranch Anthology with 5 star review

    Watch the trailer here:

    Over the years, the number of Congress members has grown to thirty-two and the number of participants in the Flash Fiction challenges swells to more than fifty some weeks.

    from little things big things grow

    What an amazing achievement: from small things, big things grow. Charli’s vision has not wavered from the outset. She held to her path through all manner of life’s storms. Battered but not beaten, she persisted when lesser mortals would have caved. She continues to welcome, encourage and support all writers with her vision to make literary arts accessible to all. With the publication of this anthology, a digital compilation of entries in the inaugural Flash Fiction Rodeo now in production, and Anthology Vol 2 in the pipeline, she shows what is possible through vision, determination and growth mindset.

    During the four years I have been participating in Charli’s challenges, I have learned a lot, not only about writing, but about life. The warmth and encouragement of the community of writers that have gathered around Charli is uplifting. The synergy and combined effect of all our stories, written and shared in a safe environment, raises us up together to walk on each other’s shoulders.

    In 2015, I wrote this about what I had learned from writing flash fiction. The learning continues with my own “yet’ mindset.

    Carrot Ranch anthology a brilliant idea

    About the Anthology

    Thirty writers began with 99 words and forged literary feats. Vol. 1 explores the literary art of flash fiction, beginning with the earliest compilations at Carrot Ranch and later pieces based on a new flash fiction prompt. This is not your typical anthology. It continues with longer stories extended from the original 99-word format and essays on how flash fiction supports memoir writing. Based on the experiences at Carrot Ranch, the concluding section of Vol. 1 offers tips to other groups interested in using the flash fiction format to build a literary community.

    Charli Mills, Series Editor, Publisher & Lead Buckaroo
    Sarah Brentyn, Editor & Contributor

    The Congress of the Rough Writers (contributors):

    Anthony Amore, Rhode Island, USA; Georgia Bell, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Sacha Black, England, UK; Sarah Brentyn, USA; Norah Colvin, Brisbane, Qld, AU; Pete Fanning, Virginia, USA; C. Jai Ferry, Midwest, USA; Rebecca Glaessner, Melbourne, Vic, AU; Anne Goodwin, England, UK; Luccia Gray, Spain; Urszula Humienik, Poland; Ruchira Khanna, California, USA; Larry LaForge, Clemson, South Carolina, USA; Geoff Le Pard, Dulwich South London, UK; Jeanne Belisle Lombardo, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Sherri Matthews, Somerset, UK; Allison Mills, Houghton, Michigan, USA; Charli Mills, Hancock, Michigan, USA; Paula Moyer, Lauderdale, Minnesota, USA; JulesPaige, Pennsylvania, USA; Amber Prince, North Texas, USA; Lisa Reiter, UK; Ann Edall-Robson, Airdrie, Alberta, Canada; Christina Rose, Oregon, USA; Roger Shipp, Virginia, USA; Kate Spencer, British Columbia, Canada; Sarah Unsicker, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Irene Waters, Noosaville, Qld, AU; Sarrah J. Woods, Charleston, West Virginia, USA; Susan Zutautas, Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

    From the back cover:

    Witness great feats of literary art from daring writers around the world: stories crafted in 99 words.

    Flash fiction is a literary prompt, form, and tool that unites writers in wordplay. This creative craft hones a writer’s skills to write tight stories and explore longer works. It’s literary art in thoughtful bites, and the collective stories in this anthology provide an entertaining read for busy modern readers.

    Writers approach the prompts for their 99-word flash with creative diversity. Each of the twelve chapters in Part One features quick, thought-provoking flash fiction. Later sections include responses to a new flash fiction prompt, extended stories from the original 99-word format, and essays from memoir writers working in flash fiction. A final section includes tips on how to use flash fiction in classrooms, book clubs, and writers groups.

    CarrotRanch.com is an online literary community where writers can practice craft the way musicians jam. Vol. 1 includes the earliest writings by these global literary artists at Carrot Ranch. Just as Buffalo Bill Cody once showcased the world’s most daring riding, this anthology highlights the best literary feats from The Congress of Rough Writers.

    The Congress of Rough Writers Anthology Vol 1

    In case you haven’t got yours yet, here’s where to purchase

    The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 1 is available through distribution in 17 countries worldwide. Buy direct from our Print on Demand distributor at Book Baby.

    Preferred Seller:

    The-Congress-of-Rough-Writers

    Also available from:

    Amazon Global Digital
    Amazon Global Print

    Be sure to check out other stops on the Congress of Rough Writers Tour Around the World.

    We have already visited

    Sherri Matthews UK

    Luccia Gray in Spain

    Sacha Black in the UK

    Ann Edall-Robson in Canada

    Anne Goodwin in the UK

    Geoff Le Pard in the UK

    Next week we will visit Irene Waters, another Australian. (You’ve travelled so far, we want you to make the most of your journey!)

    The tour continues through April and into May. Be sure to not miss a stop along the way.

     

    Thank you blog post

    Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

  • Rough Writer Tour stops in Canada with Ann Edall-Robson

    This week the Carrot Ranch Round the World Tour stops at Alberta in Canada with Ann Edall-Robson, celebrating Family Day, no less.

    Read how Ann became one of the Rough Writers and how writing flash fiction adds to her writing process.

    Find out what she writes about this beautiful little cottage.

    Thanks, Ann. It’s a pleasure to ride the Ranch with you.

    Salute to the Congress of Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology Vol 1

    Source: Ann Edall-Robson’s – Ann Edall-Robson

  • The Congress of Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology Vol. 1 or Flash Fiction: My (Small) Part In Its The Journey. #Carrotranch #congressofroughwriters #anthology

    Carrot ranch tour

    I am so excited to be in the company of many wonderful writers in this first anthology of flash fiction by Rough Writers at the Carrot Ranch. Geoff Le Pard is one of those writers and kicks off the promotional Around the World Blog tour. Hop on board to meet others of the talented writers and find out to purchase your own copy of the book.