The [bad] Call

Hi!
I just got a call from Encore and they said that they are unable to get the book : ( He said they are all sold out and aren't supposed to get anymore copies.

So, now I have two choices:
1) Find a completely new book and go back to Encore in hopes of being able to buy it
or
2) Try and buy Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the Mexican Hat Dance elsewhere(like Amazon or Barnes and Noble).

Not sure which I'm going with, but I'm seriously debating just going with a different store. I mean, I love Encore and I get the teachers discount there, but it's SO hard to find the books....

I'll keep you updated,
Hannah

Final Mexico book....

Hi all!
I just wanted to do a quick post to let you all know that I ordered my final Mexico book that I needed today. It's called Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the Mexican Hat Dance. It is by the same authors as Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola, a book that I used last time for my Ireland session. I'm hoping that it will come in before the session starts. However, it shouldn't be a problem because I have about 3 weeks and Encore(where I ordered it) tends to have orders in pretty quickly.

As far as college news is concerned, I have none : ) Lol! I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I hear something.
Thanks!
Hannah

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

I just wanted to wish you all the very happiest of holidays!!
Hannah

Back to soon?!

Yes, I AM back so soon! Lol! I just wanted to announce that I recieved my acceptance letter from Castleton State College today in the mail! So, that's 2 down, 2 to go. I will definitely keep you all posted for as long as you're interested(or at least seem interested : P).

Thanks for all the support and kind comments!
Hannah

Announcements!

I am so sorry that I haven't been around very much lately. As far as my blog goes, it probably seems like I've dropped off the side of the planet! Lol...please forgive me!!



Anyway, Hannah's READ Program is on the winter hiatus before it starts up again in January. I actually just had a meeting with the principal of the WRS school(where I have done and am going to do Hannah's READ Program). I have NEWS!! I will be starting Hannah's READ Program back up in January!!! YAY!



We return from Winter Break on January 4, 2010. The sign-up letter will get sent home with the kids on Tuesday, January 5. It will be due by Friday, January 8. The program will then officially begin on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 12 and 13. These are the days when the first book/actvity will be sent home and I will start "teaching" in the classrooms again. All materials are due back to me by Tuesday and Wednesday, February 9 and 10. February 22-26 is our February Break, so I can't have the celebration the week following the end, like this time. So, Monday or Tuesday, February 22 or 23, I will send home the RSVP for the celebration. The celebration will be held on Monday, March 1. It is a little different this time, but basically the same. Sorry that this is so much information being thrown at you all at once!

On Thursday, February 11, I will be presenting to WRS' PTA. This is a follow-up from last spring when I presented. I have so much to update them on now! Lol! This presentation will also double as the presentation I have to do to meet the honors program requirements. Mr. Streeter will come to it, too. It has to be a 20 minute Smartboard or Powerpoint presentation.

On other topics, a lot of you probably know this already(because it was too exciting NOT to tell you!), but last Thursday I got a phonecall...it was telling me about my acceptance to Colby-Sawyer College!!!!



Now, this is not necessarily my first choice, but it is the first school I've heard from out of the 4 I applied to. I also recieved the Presedential Scholarship which entails a $48,000 four-year scholarship : ) This means I definitely have $12,000 covered every year, if I choose to go there!



Just wanted to keep everyone updated and to know that I am still here! Does anyone else have any exciting news to share with me? : ) I'm all ears!!
Talk to you again soon(yes, I will be trying to return to the blogging world)!
Hannah

Kreativ Blogger Award!!

Geez! I guess the awards are going around right now!! Lol....

Lori @ Some of my Favorite Books cheated : p and passed out the Kreativ Blogger Award to all her followers. So....I got it too! Not sure if it really applies, but I'm taking it anyway!



I totally agree with Lori, it's a really beautiful award! So, with this award, I am supposed to tell you 7 of my favorite things, I believe. I am tight on time at the moment, so I will come back and post my 7 fave things later!

Right now I just wanted to flaunt my newest award : D
Thanks!
Hannah

Honest Scrap Blog Award!!

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I just recieved the Honest Scrap Blog Award from Renee at Black 'n Gold Girl's Blog! This is my second blog award and I'm thrilled about it!



As a part of this award I have to tell you 10 honest things about me and pass the award on to 10 more bloggers!

1) With my very busy schedule, I can read about 200 pages in 2 days time.
2) A couple of my favorite shows, that I HATE to miss, are Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, Dancing with the Stars, and American Idol.
3) I really don't like science, but choose to challenge myself anyway. Hence, the AP Physics I'm taking right now!
4) I hate leaving messages for people when I can't reach them on their phone. I always sounds SO stupid : D
5) I was just the "Donkey's head", while my sister was the "Donkey's butt" in our high school's production of Kiss Me Kate.
6) I have been out of the United States 5 different times and have been to 10(I think!) different countries.
7) I have also been to over 1/2 the U.S.
8) I LOVE ice cream!!
9) I want to go to college for Elementary Education.
10) I have a gorgeous dog named Maddie. She is part lab and part husky, so she has one blue eye and one brown. Very cute!!

Okay enough about me....here's the award passed on:
Cheryl @ Squirrel's Treehouse
Jessica @ BookingIt
Lee @ Butterfly Blessings
Camy @ Camy's Loft
Missy @ Life with Missy
the lovely ladies @ Love is the best medicine
Margaret @ Margaret Daley
Ramona @ Ramona's Ramblings
Lori @ Some of my Favorite Things
Mimi @ Woven by Words

Congratulations to everyone who recieved this award! Sorry if I missed anyone, but if I did....there's always next time(as long as I get another award!!).

Thanks again to Renee for passing this wonderful award my way!

While I have your attention...quick news update!

The first session of Hannah's READ Program wrapped up last week. I spent 1 day per week for 4 weeks (about 25 minutes each time) working in the classrooms with the students. It was a lot of fun! Also, now I know better what they liked and didn't like for the next session.

Tommorow, I will be having the family celebration, the official end of the first session. It is Ireland themed. You should have seen us asking about "Irish stuff....Saint Patrick's Day stuff" at Iparty last night!! Lol! It's November...they certainly questioned us!

Anyway, everything is gold and green colored. I will have a very brief "speech", for lack of a better word. Then, we'll have a very special Irish Step Dancing(hard shoe) performance by my sister Alicia! After, I will hand out (very appropriately colored) green certificates of achievment to the 17 participants(at least the ones that are there). Alicia will then either have another short dance (soft shoe) or teach the kids and adults a step. Finally, we will have a tasting of Ireland. This includes:
Irish Soda Bread
Champs(Irish mashed potato with a "well" of butter)
Irish Tea Cookies
Irish Tea
I, with the help of mom and Alicia, am making all of the food tonight.

Okay, so there you have it! Lol....sorry! I tried to be brief, but you know how it is! Once again, congrats and thanks! What would I do without such loyal followers?!?!
Until we meet again,
Hannah

Not enough time in a day!

I can't believe that it is already November 7! I can't believe that it's been this long since I've posted! I'm SO sorry....it has been really crazy the past week or so, especially because of the musical.

Anyway, there is just not enough time in the day! It is impossible to get everything done that I want to. It is a constant juggling act! I know many of you know how I feel...



Sorry that this post has been so delayed. I will, in fact, get a new "mystery post" out very soon from P.J.

Thanks!!
Hannah

One Lovely Blog Award!!!

Hello everyone!
I have been awarded my first ever blog award! WOOHOO!! It is called the One Lovely Blog Award : ) I was awarded it by Mimi from her blog: Woven by Words. I have only recently started visiting her blog, but it is very cool! I can't wait to see what else she does on her blog : ) Thank you, thank you, thank you Mimi!!



Above is the actual picture of the award! It's really official, eh?

So, here are the rules to the "One Lovely Blog Award":

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I don't think that I actually have 15 blogs to give it to, but I can think of a few special ones : )

Craftie Ladies of Romance
Craftie Ladies of Suspense
The Seekers
Squirrel's Treehouse
StrongWomenBraveStories
Life with Missy

That's what I have come up with : ) Thanks to everyone for reading! And a big thank you again to Mimi! Visit Mimi at her blog(I can't get the link working, but here is the url) http://wovenbywords.blogspot.com

News...

Hi everyone...
My sister and I have been experiencing some flu/cold like symptoms since last Friday. These include:
fever,

headache,

and incredibly bad cough.

So, we went to the doctor's office and they think that we both have croup. So, we couldn't go to musical rehearsal tonight, no school tomorrow, and no bonfire tomorrow night either. It is Homecoming week at our school, so the bonfire is tomorrow night. Seniors light it, so I'll be missing that : ( Hopefully, we'll be feeling better by Thursday. If so, Mom'll let us go to the dance : ) Woohoo! Partay! : )

So, that's the news...hopefully I'll get a new post up tomorrow for all you impatient people *cough Lori! cough* Anyway, headed to take a shower and get some sleep probably.
Night!
Hannah

Feeling frazzled...?

THIS is how I feel! : ) I am definitely in the "feeling frazzled" mood. I realized this morning that the next draft of my thesis paper(a.k.a 2 1/2 pages) is due on Wednesday. I still had to finish writing it, have advisor proof it, make changes, and have advisor sign it! Ahhhhh! That's near to impossible! So, I wrote it and proofed it this afternoon in about 2 hours. Then I drove right up to my advisor's house and dropped it off for her to proof tonight! She'll return it tomorrow. I'll make changes tomorrow night. Then, she'll sign it after school on Tuesday, so that Wednesday morning I'm prepared to hand it, the whole while making it look like I have everything under control and that I TOTALLY knew it was due on Wednesday : )

On top of that, I have 2 scholarships due on October 31 and November 2. My first college application is due by November 15! And I still have to check when the official deadline is for one college because it's rolling applications(no set early or regular applications!)....

Frazzled....that's the word for right now....

Have a great Monday!!
Hannah

Top Secret Interview!!!

TOP SECRET INTERVIEW WITH BOTH FIRST GRADE TEACHERS

Today, we have a very special edition for you. Both first grade teacher have agreed to participate in an interview. We will remind you that the teachers are working with Hannah Cerasoli on a hidden topic, maybe they will be able to give us more information. Without any further wait, the interview:

P.J. - Mrs. Langley, Mrs. Ehret, thank you for joining me today.

Mrs. Langley - No problem, P.J.

Mrs. Ehret - Yes, glad to work you in.

P.J. - So, you both know Ms. Hannah Cerasoli.

*Both nod in agreement*

P.J. - Can you tell me about what she is doing?

L - Yes, we can. She is working on a project called Hannah's READ Program(Reading Encourages Academics and Diversity). It is for her high school thesis project. She is working with both of our classes. She comes down once a week, for each classroom, to work with our students and teach them about the culture she has chosen. Right now we're looking at Ireland. It's very interesting!

P.J. - So that's why we saw her going into the school in the middle of the day! I see know... That sounds like a very interesting project she has going.

E - It is really exciting to see it actually get started. She has been to both of our classrooms now, so the kids know that she will be coming and those kinds of things. Mrs. Langley did a nice job of explaining the program, but she left out the fact that the kids who signed up get to take home a book and activity every week! They are all centered around Ireland. Hannah hand picked all the books and created all the activities from scratch, though she told me her sister helped her brainstorm the games!

P.J. - Wow! That's pretty impressive, isn't it? She must have a lot of time invested in this so far. So, how many kids are doing it?

E - She has 7 out of 11 kids taking part in my classroom, I'm not sure about Mrs. Langley's room though. I wish the count could have been a bit higher for her, but I think she's pleased with the turnout.

L - Yes, I agree, Mrs. Ehret. I have 10 out of 12 participating. The kids all seemed very excited when she came yesterday.

P.J. - I can imagine so! If I was a kid, I would have been all over this! So how are you feeling about it thus far? Any last thoughts?

E - I think that Hannah is well on her way...she seems on top of the project and excited herself. I think that it is a great experience for her to be able to have. I'm excited to see what else she has up her sleeves!

P.J. - Thank you Mrs. Ehret. It sounds like Ms. Cerasoli is doing well with the whole thing.

L - She is, as far as I can tell. I was glad to see how well the kids responded to her. They seemed happy about the project and excited to be meeting someone new and doing something different than the regular routine of things. I, too, can't wait to see what else is coming!

P.J. - Thank you both very much for taking the time to meet with me. It has been an enlightening experience.

I am still trying to get ahold of Ms. Cerasoli for an interview. We now know what was in the crate, but there are still some unanswered questions. I will give another update when I have another update. If anyone has any information that might help me find Ms. Cerasoli, please let me know.

Stay tuned for my next post where I'll tell you what I found in one of the infamous crates that Ms. Cerasoli has. Remember, we still do not know exactly what she has in them!

P.J. - private investigator

News flash!

HANNAH CERASOLI SEEN AT THE WHITE RIVER SCHOOL

The news is in, folks. The notorious Hannah Cerasoli was seen entering the White River School earlier today. She was seen carrying a blue crate with a plastic bag covering it, probably so the paparazzi could not get a glimpse of what was held in the crate.

We followed her into the school, in hopes of seeing where she was going and what she was doing, but she lost us before we could figure it all out. Our next step was to try and get an interview, which might give us some new clues in this, now, investigation.

The secretary for the school, we'll call her Mrs. Smith(name changed for privacy reasons), told us that she knew Ms. Cerasoli was heading to Mrs. Langley's first grade classroom. This was her first day of 5 working with Mrs. Langley's first graders. However, she did not know what the purposes of Ms. Cerasoli are at this time.

Mrs. Smith did give us two leads, though. She told us that Mrs. Langley was probably willing to give an interview and that Ms. Cerasoli will be back tomorrow(October 14) again. Maybe we'll catch up with her then.

In the meantime, stay tuned for our special top secret interview with Mrs. Langley - first grade teacher. What is Ms. Cerasoli up to? Why is she trying to hide it? Stay tuned to find out in this newly opened investigation.

P.J. - private investigator

Ready....Get set....GO!!!!

My title is in honor of the START of Hannah's READ Program!

I am starting tomorrow and Wednesday. Mrs. Langley's class is tomorrow and Mrs. Ehret's is on Wednesday. Mrs. Langley is at 11:15am and Mrs. Ehret's at 9am. You all can be thinking of me!

I'm almost completely ready. I have my lesson basically planned and finished for the next two days. I have everything copied. I have to finish "stuffing" the kid's folders, so they're ready to hand out tomorrow.

I think that I'm most worried that the parent's and kid's won't like it. I don't want to fail this...I have so much invested in it and I am very passionate about it succeeding. Mrs. Haynes was trying to reassure me that it's going to be great and everyone will love it. I think that this next week is going to be the slowest week of my life though! Having to wait for all the first feedback forms to come back *bites lip in anticipation already!* We'll have to see I guess....

A HUGE thank you shout out to everyone who has supported me up to this point in the process. It's been a long, challenging road, but it's going somewhere now! So:




Hannah

I am so drained....

Yes, I am! I have been working for a couple hours, pretty much straight, on making my activities. I have 3 of the direction sheets typed up. And I have a TON of copying. Luckily, I can do that on WRS's copier...lol! However, that meant that I needed to have everything done for tomorrow to copy! AHHH! : O If I don't, I would be doing it on Monday and I start TUESDAY...so that idea's out I'd say! : )

Anyway, just wanted to tell everyone that I am definitely still working hard on this...
Hannah

"It's slowly climbing!"

Lol! The title of my post is a quote from Mrs. Haynes this afternoon when I told her this good news....

I recieved 2 more contracts today!!!!

I have told the teachers that I will literally accept any kids who want to participate at any time. The deadline was for my organizational purposes and for my sanitys sake! Lol...However, if I go into the classroom and they have fun. They can still get their parent/guardian to sign the contract and I will fix them up a folder. Pretty simple I think!

So now, my count is a little different. Not only did I find out I had 2 more today, but also that one of Mrs. Langley's kids are moving next week, so that's why they couldn't do it. : ( So the official count now is... 16/23 participants!!! I personally am so happy with this! Mrs. Langley has 3 not participating and Mrs. Ehret 5. I'd say that's pretty good : )

I also figured out times now. Mrs. Langley's class is Tuesdays at 11:20am. Mrs. Ehret is Wednesdays at 9:05am. Please keep us in mind at those times! I'll be needing all the help I can get I'm sure : O

Anyway, sorry to talk your ear off, but I just wanted to update you again!
Thanks, the support means so much!
Hannah

The OFFICIAL Count(at least for now)!

I'm here to report that I have 14/24 students/families participating in Hannah's READ Program.

There are currently a few timing complications, but other than that I'm really excited!

Just a nice short post for you all!
Hannah

Activities!!!

Hi everyone!

I'm soooo excited! This weekend Alicia helped me create all 4 of my activities that I will be using for the program, at least on paper. They still need to be "made", but that won't be too difficult. They go as follows:
- Coloring Irish designs to go with A Fine St. Patrick's Day
- A game involving fake potatoes, "buckets", and a spinner : ) to go with Fiona's Luck
- A personalized board game where you are trying to learn/practice your Irish Step dancing before the big show like in Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola
- And finally a writing activity. There will be 2 questions, Is there anything in your family that has been passed down from generation to generation? If YOU could pass something down, what would it be and why? Or something along the lines of those questions. Goes with the book The Saint Patrick's Day Shillaelegh

I don't know if any of that actually makes sense, but they should be great!

I recieved one more contract from Mrs. Langley today and did not have time to check in with Mrs. Ehret, so I don't know if she got anymore.
Thanks!
Hannah

Another update!

Hi!
I just got home from play rehearsal. They let us out almost a half hour early! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola came in tonight! So, I officially have all 4 Ireland books and 3/4 Mexico books! I am so excited! Lol....

This weekend my goal is to try and get all my ideas for activities down on paper. Then I will know what materials I need to put them together.

I will also be emailing Mr. Ashley next week to give him a quick update of the project before PTA meeting on Thursday. Hopefully, he will be willing to read it to them so that they also stay informed on what is going on. I should be able to give him a final count of participants by then too. I did tell him today how many I have.

Tonight I was able to make my Feedback Form. It is completed and ready to print out. Just like the contracts, I will print them out in a different color for each class(since I will include the day they need to return the materials, which are different for each class). I also got an official list of the participants so far typed up. I will continue adding to this until Tuesday, then give a typed copy to Mrs. Ehret and Mrs. Langley for their records.

The official count so far is....12(classes combined) families! Mrs. Langley and Mrs. Ehret are actually split even down the middle with 6 in each class.
I just wanted to update you semi quickly!
Hannah

Just a Quick Update....

I just wanted to let everyone know, quickly, that I now have 5 kids/families officially signed up for the Hannah's READ Program! : )

I am getting so excited now! It really seems like it's taking on some shape. From the people who have signed up, I have heard that they are all very excited about the program and I know the teachers are too.

Also, the other night Mom helped me order the book Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola from Barnes and Noble over the phone. They should be in sometime at the beginning of next week probably. I am, also, looking into different Mexico books to use as my 4th Mexico book. Saturday Market is still backordered at Borders. This makes around 2 months of waiting for it. Plus, it's only one copy! So, I need to find something else to use. Luckily, I will not be starting the Mexico session until January.

It's coming together, people!!
Hannah

Open House

Hi everyone!
Last night was Open House at the elementary school where I am doing the program. I copied the parent letter and contracts to hand out to the parents and kids. I, actually, stayed in the library for the whole time. Mrs. Langley and Mrs. Ehret handed the papers out in their classrooms, which made it much easier for me to not be in two classrooms at once! Alicia helped me make signs to put up in the classrooms which read "Come into the Library and talk with Hannah about the READ Program" or something along those lines. Unfortunately, only one parent came to talk with me. However, she signed up for it on the spot even though it isn't due back until next Tuesday! I was joking that I should frame it because it is the first sign-up! Lol!

I understand why a lot of people probably didn't have enough time to talk with me about it. Chances are they didn't have time to read the letter until they got home. The teachers said that they are willing to remind the students and parents about signing up because they are as excited about this as me!

Anyway, I would say it went well. I know of at least one other family signing up. They visited my mom(she's a kindergarten teacher, so all of the kids I will be working with had her last year and already know me) and told her that they were definitely signing up for it, but they didn't have time to do it right now. So, that's exciting....

Time is always the issue, isn't it?! Don't I know it....lol! Today, mom and I are trying to get to the bottom of what we think is a flare-up that I'm having with the rheumatoid arthritis. I have a lot of cold-like symptoms including a headache nonstop for a week now : / Anyway, hopefully we'll have some answers by the end of the day.
Thanks!
Hannah

Parent Letter....

I just finished the parent letter to be given out at Open House on Tuesday night. I am so glad it's behind me! I was dreading writing it for some reason, but it's done now. : )

Mr. Ashley approved all my dates!!! YAY!! We also figured out a date for the family celebration at the end of the program, which is Wednesday, October 18. I am so excited that things are being finalized....well, finally!

The meetings all went great this week(obviously). Now, I can start thinking about activities to go along with the books(well, not START thinking....I already have some ideas).
More to come!
Hannah

Meetings

Yesterday and today, I have been busy preparing and meeting with Mrs. Langley and Mrs. Ehret about my program.

Both meetings went well. They are both very excited for the program, as am I. I was able to sit down one-on-one with each of them to talk about details including actual dates, the rotational system for the books and activities being sent home, and what book titles I am using.

I emailed Mr. Ashley today to find out when a good day was to meet with him. I have to run over the fine details with him now. After all, he has the final say!

I feel like I am making more and more progress every day. What's on the agenda now is activities, ordering last 2 books, writing parent letter, and preparing for Open House next Tuesday. Luckily, Mr. Ashley is allowing me to be at Open House to introduce myself to the parents and children. I will have the parent letter and "contract"(I use that term lightly, but nothing else really applies) with me then. That way I will know quite soon after next Tuesday who will and won't be participating. I am definitely hoping for 100% participation, but I'm doubting that it will happen. Whatever I get, though, is very exciting!
Check back....another update coming soon!
Hannah

Busy, busy, busy...

I have had such a busy time lately! Tonight alone has been enough to drive me insane!

I had a 3 hour sance rehearsal for the musical tonight(ughhhh! But we were told not to complain because the dance instructor is taking valuable time out of her hectic schedule too, valid point). Then, after getting home from that after 9pm, I had to register for the ACTs! I will be taking the SATs on October 10 at the high school and ACTs on October 24 at the Claremont high school. So busy!

I am hoping to go and pick up the other 2 titles tomorrow morning...I'll be sure to let you all know!

In some rather unfortunate news, Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola is still very low in stock at Amazon. There are 3 left in stock. I may end up going with Borders, but have found better service through Amazon in the past.
Keep following everyone, I really appreciate it!
Hannah : )

THE Phonecall

That's right! We got THE phonecall from Encore this afternoon.

THE OTHER 2 BOOKS ARE IN!!

Yay! I am so excited to go and get them(though it will be at least Wednesday until we get there). Just one more to find and order...somewhere : )
Catch you all later!
Hannah

Link to The Seekers

I've added a link to a blog that I follow called The Seekers. This is one of my very favorite blogs! It has "writing, contests, publication and everything in between." It a very cool blog. Recently, 3 of the Seekers have come to my blog and 2 are now followers, actually : )

Welcome Ruthy, Tina, and Myra! I hope that you will come and follow my progress as much or as little as you wish.

Everyone else - you should definitely hop on down to my links and go give Seekerville a visit. I'm sure you will enjoy your stay. The people are very welcoming and chances are you will see me too!
Talk to you all later,
Hannah

Exercises

I told you that I would come and update you all later about my exercises! Lol...Here they are:

1) Roll the scar and surrounding area with a golf ball on a flat surface. I have to do this 4x/day for 5 minutes each time. I will have to do this until at least Thanksgiving.
2) Put palm flat on a flat surface, like a table. Push firmly on it. This will build up the strength. I have to do this the same amount as the first one.
3) Pull fingers in to the top of my hand. Not bringing in to a full fist, just to the top of my hand. !0 reps multiple times daily.

This is going to be such a long process, you better believe it!! I'm dreading it...
Anyway, I think we're headed out to the shopping center.
Stay tuned...more to come!
Hannah

Yay...it's the weekend!

Hi everyone!
Man, another long week! Is this how the whole school year is going to be? Hope not....

Exciting news....4 out of the 6 ordered titles have arrived and are sitting next to me as I type! They've finally come! Actually, they came within 2 days of ordering, but it still feels like forever, lol! The 4 that came are:

A Fine St. Patrick's Day
Fiona's Luck
Day of the Dead
Adelita

I am super excited! I feel like I am finally making progress and moving forward with the project.

Mr. Ashley contacted me about presenting an update at PTA this past Thursday. I sent him an email with everything I have been updating you all with. He told has not had time to email me back, but he talked to Mom and said that the update was definitely sufficient.

I started my physical therapy this past Thursday. *sigh* This is going to be so hard for me! The therapist likes to see patients twice a week for 45 minutes each time. This time was the first time so we mostly did paperwork and questions, but she didn't hesitate to give me exercises AND homework. I have a packet to fill out before Monday, when I go back again. I will tell you my exercises in another post, since this is already so long! I also got the stitches out of my left hand/wrist on Thursday. I can take the tape stuff off on Tuesday and start getting it wet, finally! This has been such a long process, but I know it will pay off.
More later!!
Hannah

Woohoo!!!!

Lol! That is me celebrating! The books have been ordered(actually they will really be ordered tomorrow from Encore). I am so happy! I ordered the 4 Ireland books and the 3 Mexico books that I am positive about.

There were a couple problems, though. 3 books are definite. 3 books I will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday if they were able to be ordered. 1 book could not be ordered at this time. Luckily, it is not out-of-print, Encore just can't get it right now.

I'll keep everyone updated about the books.
Hannah

The final Ireland book

Hi!
Exciting news! The final Ireland book came into Encore yesterday. Now, all I'm waiting for is the backordered Mexico book from Borders.

I have decided to switch the order of things and do Ireland and then Mexico due to the complication with the last Mexico book. It won't change much. Basically just the order I need everything done in.

I will be talking to Mr. Ashley about having a time on Open House to talk with all of the 1st grade parents about the program. That will probably be the easiest time to talk with them.

My hands are feeling ok. This was definitely a LONG week, as it probably was for all of you too! I start physical therapy for my right wrist/hand next Friday(September 10), which is the same day I get the stitches taken out on the left side.

Always something, right!? How was everyone's first official week of school?
Hannah

Carpal tunnel...

Hi again...
I just wanted to show you all a couple pictures that I looked up on Google.
For those of you who haven't seen me, this is what I look like basically:

I have to wear a Corflex wrist brace. Underneath I wear a glove and bandage under that. This is what it looks like with stitches, basically:

Alicia thinks this is wider than mine actually is. Gross, eh!? Lol.... This is what it should look like after it is fully healed, basically:

Amazing what they can do with modern medicine, isn't it? In two weeks I go and get the stitches out of my left hand, while also starting physical therapy on my right. I will be sure to keep you updated about what's going on.

Hannah

Saturday Market

Hi everyone!
Saturday Market is the title of one of my Mexico books. I am still waiting on it from Borders. I went yesterday and asked about it, since it's been about a month since it was ordered. They told me that since I ordered it, it has become backordered. This is not necessarily good, given the timing. I'm just hoping it comes in sooner than later!

I'm doing pretty well. Tomorrow will be my first day at school since having the second surgery. I'm a little nervous : /

Talk to you all again soon!
Hannah

Surgery

Hey all!
I'm just updating you to let you know that I am done my surgeries(for now). I am very sore, but finally on the road of recovery : )
Talk to you all again soon,
Hannah

Mrs. Haynes reviewed the books...

I got the books back from Mrs. Haynes today with her comments. I plan on deciding on book titles this weekend and then getting them ordered ASAP. As soon as I have ordered/picked the books I will update the blog.

Come and check back for the grand unveiling! Lol!
Hannah

I'm here to wish you all a....

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by my classes. They seem much more exciting to me after hearing the teachers talk about them more specifically.

Hope everyone had a great day!
Hannah

P.S. Tomorrow is the surgery on my left wrist. I probably won't be updating the blog for at least the weekend...probably longer.

Right now....

In the next few minutes I am headed to school to bring Mrs. Haynes some of the books that she hasn't read yet. I have had a few people read the books so far including Mrs. Haynes, Mom, Alicia(my sister), and myself. I feel like I get a good range of comments this way.

I have been working on the project a lot lately! Not only because it is right around the corner(ahh!), but also because I am going to be very limited in what I can do coming up. This Thursday, I am having the second of my carpal tunnel surgeries. My right hand is doing pretty well. It's healing, but the process is very slow. I have restrictions for 4 weeks right now that have to do with writing, typing, how much weight I can lift...things like that. The start of school is going to be difficult, I think! Today, I am meeting with my guidance counselor and the school nurse to make my accomadations for the first full month of school at least.

More updates to come...stay tuned!
Hannah

More books!!!

Hello again!
So, I am currently waiting for 2 books to come in! That is so exciting and such a relief to me. I will post a list of the books that I have for you now. Here they are:

Ireland:
The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing
A Fine St. Patrick's Day by Susan Wojciechowski
Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman
Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola
Shawn O'Hisser the Last Snake in Ireland by Peter J. Welling
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Samantha and Lola by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Too Many Leprechauns by Stephen Krensky
Lucky O'Leprechaun by Jana Dillon
The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh by Janet Nolan*

Mexico:
Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston
The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb: A Mexican Fable by Shirley Climo
Josefina by Jeanette Winter
Adelita: a Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie dePaola
Saturday Market by Patricia Grossman*

* = waiting for it still

I got a whole stack of these books yesterday from Encore, so I will read through them and let you know what I think! The about 8(I think) books that I've already read, I've really enjoyed.
Talk to everyone soon!
Hannah

Books!!!!

Hi!
I got my stitches out today...ughhhh! It hurts to have stitches taken out! Take my advice, don't get stitches. As expected, I have a lot of restrictions. We'll see how it goes....

I do have good news though! 6 books came in today. Unfortunately 2 of them were the India ones. If you have been following my blog, you know that I have switched from the culture of India to Ireland. If you didn't know...now you do : ) Luckily, I only ordered 2 out of 4 India books. 1 book was a Mexican one. The other 3 were Ireland ones. They all look quite promising, I would say. There are 5 more from Encore coming on Friday and another sometime next week(they forgot to order it). I had 1 from Borders today and 1 more is supposed to be coming. I will let you know when they all come in and/or when I make some decision! : )

Talk to you soon!
Hannah

It's been so long!

Hi everyone!
I'm sorry I haven't been on in so long! After my surgery it was a bit difficult to get used to typing one handed. So, to be honest, I put it off : ) However, I'm not putting it off any longer.

The concert went great! It was a beautiful concert. Shelsey is an amazing cellist and I told Mimi exactly that! It was so great to be able to see her and everyone else perform.

Due to all the trouble India has caused me, I am switching to Ireland. I know that it is late to be switching, but I feel that I need to. I am in the middle of ordering the Ireland books to "proof" them of sorts. I need to figure out which books I would like to use. I will be sure to get an updated list on here very soon of the books I am looking at or which ones I decide to use.

Very, very soon school will be starting. So, I will begin to collaborate with the first grade teachers. I need to sit down and figure a few things out from them : )

I think that's it for now...I'm keeping as usual, but I know that you all are too.
More soon to come!
Hannah

Updated Titles List

Here's the updated titles list that I promised:

Adelita : a Mexican Cinderella story by Tomie DePaola (M)
Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston (M)
Engines, engines : an Indian counting rhyme by Lisa Bruce (I)
Excuse me, is this India? by Anushka Ravishankar (I)
Josefina by Jeanette Winter (M)
Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore (I)
The little red ant and the great big crumb : a Mexican fable by Shirley Climo (M)
My mother's sari by Sandhya Rao (I)
Saturday market by Patricia Grossman (M)

Obviously, if there is an (M) by it, it is a Mexico title. (I) is India. Hope everyone is having a good summer. Enjoying the rain this afternoon? : )
Tomorrow is my carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist. I'll try to let you all know how it went, but typing might be an issue!
Talk to you soon!
Hannah

Just to let you know....

I added a couple of the libraries to my links. I also added the Vermont public libraries website. It's pretty informative and you can get to any websites from that page.
Check it out!
Hannah

Update of August 4th, 2009

Hello again!
Today I've been working hard on the program. This morning I met with Mrs. Haynes to seriously discuss which books I will use. I am glad to say that I have it narrowed down to 9 books combining both cultures.
Two of the books Mrs. Haynes has in the library, so she checked them out for me to look at. So tonight, mom and I spent some time looking for the other 7 books. I really hope to find them in store(or library), so that I do not have to order them. We checked at Borders first. They did not have any. Then, we went to Encore. They had had one of the books in store....4 years ago! So they did not have any either. The man there was very helpful though. He suggested that we look at the Howe Library. I was also given the opportunity to introduce my program to him and ask about any discount they could give me if I ordered through them. Since the WRS has an account with them, I will be able to order through that. Thus, recieving 20% off of the order.
So, we went to the Howe Library. The woman at the desk was very nice. She looked up all 7 books and they had 2 of them. I was glad to be able to see these two, since they were two I really wanted to see. I also found 2 more books that I wanted to take more time to look through. So, we asked about checking out. However, for an out-of-town resident to get a card it is $50 for 3 months or $120 for a year. Mom and I decided that we wouldn't get enough use out of the card. So, I got the titles and authors to look for the books elsewhere.
It was a bit discouraging, but I feel like we did make some progress.
I will try to get an updated list of books that I am looking further into tonight.
Thanks!
Hannah

News!

Hi everyone!
I have some really exciting news to share! The Weinstein family, through "the Brie Fund" has supported my program.Every year their daughter, Shelsey Weinstein, performs a concert in honor of her sister, Brieanna (Brie), who died of leukemia at the age of twelve.
This year, they invited me to the concert. She had me write up a short blurb to put in the program. She will also be introducing me onstage as someone that they've helped this year. It is such an honor to be a part of this. She actually sent me a list of the program this year. Here it is:

Fairy Tale Nikolai Medtner
Gregg Pauley, piano
Piano quartet in g minor, Mvmt II Johannes Brahms
Emily Smith, violin, Lindsay Selin, viola, Shelsey Weinstein, cello,
Gregg Pauley, piano

Blackbird John Lennon, arr. for guitar & cello by Han Kim
Han Kim, guitar & vocal, Shelsey Weinstein, cello
Love is Here to stay George Gershwin, arr. for guitar,
violin & cello by Han Kim
Han Kim, guitar & vocal, Emily Smith, violin, Shelsey Weinstein,
cello
Julie-O Mark Summer
Shelsey Weinstein, cello
Blue Laurie MacGregor
Mark Gebhardt, clarinet, Greg Pauley, piano, Shelsey Weinstein, cello
That's what friends are for Burt Bacharach
Larissa Pyer, voice, Greg Pauley, piano, Han Kim guitar & arranging,
Shelsey Weinstein, cello
Song of the Birds Pablo Casals
Greg Pauley, piano, Shelsey Weinstein, cello

I think it sounds really great! I think it is amazing that this family has time to put this all together every year.
Now, I will extend the invitation to any of you who would like to come and support the Brie Foundation. This is the information:

10th Annual Brie Fund PROGRAM
Friday, August 14th @ 7 p.m., Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover, NH

If you want to let me know that you are interested in coming, that would be great. Otherwise, it would still be great to see you there!
Thanks so much!
Thank you Mimi!
Talk to you all again really soon!
Hannah

My lists from Follett...

Okay so I promised you the titles from my Follett lists. First up is India's possible titles:

Amazing Mallika by Jami Parkison
Chachaji's cup by Uma Krishnaswami
Engines, engines : an Indian counting rhyme by Lisa Bruce
Excuse me, is this India? by Anushka Ravishankar
Lights for Gita by Rachna Gilmore
My mother's sari by Sandhya Rao

Mexico's possible titles:

Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston
Going home by Eve Bunting
Hanukkah moon by Deborah da Costa
Josefina by Jeanette Winter
Saturday market by Patricia Grossman

These are the posibilities right now. Like I said before, I will be meeting with Mrs. Haynes on Tuesday to discuss which titles out of these possibilities we feel should be used. Feel free to search these titles to find out more about them. You can use the Google Book Search further down on the page(found under my followers and above my links), of you want to make the search a bit easier.
Once the actual books are chosen, I will provide a link to the book on Borders or Amazon. So, you may not feel like researching the titles. It is up to you!

I will update you later!
Hannah

Take a minute and feed the fish!

Okay, I know that the fish on the right are completely random. However, they are really cool! I was playing around with the gadgets again(which is always dangerous because I find things to add!) and stumbled upon the fish. I think eventually I will remove them when they become tiresome, but until then they will stay for pure enjoyment.

How to feed the fish:
It is very simple. All you do is put your cursor in the blue box(a.k.a. the water). The fish will swim to your cursor. Then, you just click. You will see little orange granules of fish food.

Let me know what you think of the fish!! : )
Hannah

Upcoming events....

Hello everyone!
Summer is flying by, as I have pointed before! I am now moving toward making some more progress on the program.

Due to my carpal tunnel surgery on Thursday, August 6, I will be meeting with Mrs. Haynes on Tuesday morning to discuss book titles. The surgery will make it very difficult for me to work on the project, so I am hoping to get some things done early in the week.

Mrs. Haynes recommended a book today in an email. It is:
The little red ant and the great big crumb : a Mexican fable by Shirley Climo
I am going to look into it more. Also, the possible book titles are soon to come too.

More to come later,
Hannah

Quick change

Hi!
You might have noticed that the links are gone from my post before. Unfortunately, the links did not work. I will try to add the book titles as soon as possible. Mrs. Haynes pointed out that the links didn't work.

Thank you Mrs. Haynes!

Where is summer...??

I find myself questioning exactly this everyday! Where is summer? We have been on "summer vacation" for how long...? And there hasn't been that much sun! Anyway, can you tell I'm writing this as it's raining? Lol...
I have officially decided on the two cultures I will use! They will be *drum roll please!* Mexico and India. I think that they are two cultures very different from our own and each other which I feel is important. By the cultures being different from each other, the kids will have an easier time differentiating the two, I think. I have been looking at books on Follett, to see which might be appropriate to use. Follett is a very cool site. It has helped me a lot in my book choosing process.
Guess that's all the news for now! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
Hannah

I'm back!

Hi!
I am back from New York, have been for 2 days now. It was a good trip, though it felt long surprisingly.
Now that I'm back, I would like to get some work done before I leave on my next trip. I will be leaving on July 19, so it gives me less than 2 weeks. I know that one of my cultures will be Mexico definitely. However, I am still having a difficult time choosing the second! I want it to be fun for the kids(and me!), but it cannot be too difficult. If it is hard, it will make it difficult for me to pick and make activities to go along with it. It seems like such a big decision! : )
I'll be in touch!
Hannah

Vacation...

Hello!
I am leaving tomorrow to go to New York for 4 days. This is for the American Jersey Cattle Association's Annual Conference. It will be Mom, Donna, Grandma, Grandpa, Alicia, and I stuck in a car for about 5-6 hours(plus all our luggage!)! However, we have taken longer trips involving MUCH longer drives. I will not be posting anything new because I will be gone.
If anyone wants to share their summer plans and/or vacations, please do so in the comments! Where are you traveling to or doing for fun this summer?
Thanks and talk to you soon!
Hannah

Summer!

Hi everyone!
So, how is everyone enjoying their summer? Mine is going pretty well so far. I will be leaving next Wednesday to head to New York for about 4 days.
If you didn't notice, a couple things are different. I deleted the countdown until there is something more important to, well, countdown! I also added a new gadget. If anyone subscribes to "follow" my blog, it will show up under my followers. This is a very cool new addition.
Hope everyone's summers are treating them well. I'm sorry the teachers are all still in school! Soon, though, it will be over. Drop me a comment and I will be sure to reply!
Thanks,
Hannah

Special note...

Hi all!
Wow! Only one day of school left. Finals wrapped up today, couldn't be happier!

Quick update: The $500 came yesterday!! Yay! It's very exciting to know that we officially have the money. I will be writing a thank you note to Mr. Shoob and Mimi in the next couple days.

I just wanted to send out a very special note to everyone who has followed my blog. Some of you have been die-hard "fans" since the very beginning, where others have started after that. It doesn't matter when you started, though. I am so thankful for all of you the same. Without supporters, doing a blog would be rather pointless. However, I have supporters and it makes blogging so, so fun for me! Thank you so much!

I also wanted to put in a special side note for Mrs. Haynes. I appreciate you so much. You have been a tremondous help in every endeavor I have attempted. Some of the ideas might not have been the best, but you've stuck it out with me! I stand and applaude you for everything you've done. Thank you(I can't say it enough times!)!

Now, I know this sounds like the end, but it's really not. We are moving into the summer now, so I'm sure you all won't be checking as much anyway, but it is a bit of a breather(of sorts). I will still be sure to update new information, like when I buy the books and when they come, but it might not be as often as during the school year. I will have an official re-welcoming in the fall.

So, everyone have a GREAT summer, if I don't here from you. Please feel free to leave comments, everyone can now. I'd love to hear from people!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Hannah

Wilbooks

I went onto the Wilbooks website today to check it out. I do not think that it will work for the READ program. I was searching their "card catalogue"(of sorts) to see what they had for books. They did not have anything when I searched first grade reading level and India. When I searched first grade reading level and Mexico, all it came up with was one book on New Mexico. Obviously, that will not work! However, I will still add the website to the links, so that if anyone wants to check it out they can. It is a good program, it just will not work for my purposes.

I talked to my guidance counselor again today and she is going to work it out so that I do not have to go to homeroom next year on the days I come down to WRS. This means that I can leave at about 2:15pm, instead of 2:30. This will enable me to have about 20 minutes, probably, with the children. I still need to talk to the teachers about the details.

Thanks!
Hannah

The weekend!

Yay!!! It's the weekend! I am so glad. I just returned from taking the SATs. Boy, that was a LONG morning. I got there at about 7:45am and finished at 2:00pm. I really don't feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day now!
The poll results are in! They are as follows:
Mexico - 4 votes
India - 3 votes
Ireland - 3 votes
China - 2 votes
A great big thank you to all who participated. It was fun! Please post a comment to let me know what you thought of the poll. Was it a good thing to have? Should I continue it with other things? Also, if you have anymore comments regarding the structure or run of the blog, let me know here too.
I am going to go read now!
Hannah

Hi everyone!

Hi everyone!
The poll looks great! As of right now, there is a mere seven hours left to vote! Everyone should get in their last votes now!

I have been in a back-and-forth conversation with Mr. Ashley(WRS Principal) for about a week now. The invoice to Mr Michael Shoob(Executive Director of the Brie Foundation) was sent out yesterday. I recieved the confirmation today from Mr. Ashley. This is to recieve $500 for the READ Program by July 1. This is exciting news!

Today, I met with my guidance counseler. Among other things, we discussed my project. She gave me a website called Wilbooks(I will find out if it is two words or one). There is a special promotion going on right now that states: When you buy one book, they will donate another book of the same price for free. It's, basically, a two for the price of one deal. I will add the website to the links.

That's the new news for now!
Thanks,
Hannah (VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!)

Happy June!

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to say: HAPPY JUNE!!! If you still do not know it, today is June 1st. This year is going by so fast already...
Hannah

Reminder:

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give you all a friendly reminder that there are only 5 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE!!! I have been pleased with the amount of votes so far, but if I recive more that's terrific!
Thanks for the support,
Hannah

New change for commenting...

I know that there have been posting problems of comments for anyone without an account on blogspot or a Google account. I believe I have fixed this problem! To my knowledge, anyone can now post a comment on this blog. I know of a couple people specifically who this will help. It makes me happy to know that I fixed this problem that has been bothering me since I started the blog!
Happy commenting to all,
Hannah

Countdown!

Readers,
If you know the blog and have been faithfully following it through all of the changes and renovations, you will have noticed that the countdown gadget is back! Yay! I really liked having it. However, I could not do anything if it was having technical problems. I checked back on it today and I believe it is fixed now. We will try it again. I will keep an eye on it to make sure there are no more problems. As I mentioned before, please let me know if you are having any problems with the blog. I will try to get them resolved for you as promptly as possible.
Thanks for reading,
Hannah

Follett Account

Hello again!
Yesterday, Mrs. Haynes and I were busy working again. She helped me set up and account on Follett. Follett is a book website for teachers, librarians, and educators. You can search for nonspecific books. For example, we searched India, K-3, and fiction. We recieved over 80 books. It should help me narrow down to some specific titles for the project.

I have added the website to my links, in case anyone wants more information.
Hannah

Oh dear!

I have been on, once again, to check on things. I noticed that there are 3 votes for the poll so far. It's a three-way tie! Oh no! This could be an interesting ending, folks!
I'll be checking in,
Hannah

A friendly reminder!

Hi all,
I have not been to the blog since Friday. I noticed that, still, only one person has voted on the poll. Just to remind you: THERE ARE ONLY 11 DAYS LEFT TO VOTE!!! So, you have less than two weeks to vote.
Thanks and, as always, vote, vote, vote!!
Hannah

Bad news...

This morning I came onto the blog, just to check things out. I noticed that the countdown gadget was still not working properly so I went to check it out. I found that it was recomended that I remove the gadget because it was broken. It is not just my countdown, it is the gadget as a whole. I'm sorry that it was here and now it's not!
Let me know if you are experiencing any problems with the gadgets, please.
Hannah

Another Addition!

I was playing around with the "gadgets" again tonight. I stumbled upon a very cool thing. Since my program is all about books, I searched the "gadgets" for books. One that I found is the Google Book Search. It is located on the right side of the blog, underneath the poll. It is operated like a normal Google search. The only difference being that this searches books specifically. I might get rid of it if does not seem useful to me, but for the time being I thought that I would try it.
Feel free to try it out and let me know what you think!
Hannah

So exciting!

Hello all! I am back again tonight...I checked up on the blog today because I was curious to see if anyone had been able to come onto the blog. Someone did because they voted on the poll! The "gadgets"(as they are referred to) are so new to not only you readers, but also to me! I think that they are very fun. A big thank you to all of my faithful readers out there! This blog would not be half the fun it is without you!
Signing off,
Hannah

Changes...

As you can probably tell, I have been busy changing and adding a few things on the blog. I am pretty excited about it, actually. Here is a list of what I did:

First of all, I added a greeting at the top under the title of the blog. If any new readers join I want them to feel welcome.

Underneath the header/greeting, I added a countdown for important dates. Right now(since we do not have any more due dates this year) that date is the last day of school.

To the side, I added a poll. This will help me decide what cultures I choose to use next year. Just to let you know, the poll does have a closing date. It will close on June 6th at 8:00 PM. This gives you two weeks to vote. However, if need be I can extend the close date.

Below the poll, I added "Hannah's links". I will continue to add to this list whenever I get some new links that I have used.

I believe that is everything. Isn't that so cool?! I learned about adding gadgets from my french teacher today on our blogs. I will definitly be having some fun with this!

Vote, vote, vote!!
Hannah

How the time has flown!

I cannot believe that it has almost been a month since my last post! That is just crazy! Not to worry though, I have been diligently working.

First, I have officially started my request/applying/asking for money process. I presented my Smartboard presentation(from my parent presentations in March) to the White River School PTA on April 14th. They seemed impressed by the idea, which makes me very excited. They decided to give me $150 now. They also told me that if I needed more financial help in the fall, they would probably be willing to donate again! I was so excited to hear this news. I have some other huge news about donations. I have been in contact with Mimi and Mr. Shoob through the Brie Foundation over these past few weeks. They have decided to fund me with $500 towards the program! I was delitedly shocked by this news! I am so very thankful for these donations. They will enrich the program greatly.

I believe that I have made a final decision on how the program will run next year! I plan on completing two sessions. The first session will run soon after school begins. It will run 3-4 weeks. At the end of this session, I will provide a questionaire/feedback form for the parents. The second session will run right after we all get back from Christmas vacation. I will use the time in between the sessions to make suggested changes from the parents and work on making the program the best it can be. I am still undecided on what my two cultures will be however.

I have continued to work on my thesis paper. I was having trouble making the last entry "work right" or flow well. Mrs. Haynes and I spent quite a bit of time towards making it the best paper it could be. I just recieved it back from my thesis reader on Wednesday. I recieved a 19/20 on it! She would like me to include a conclusion on it now instead of waiting for the end. That is a simple fix, I think I can do it!

There is my update for now. I know it is long, but I have not been on in so long! I will be making some updates to the website soon, possibly tonight. So...stay tuned! Thanks for reading!

Just a quick note...

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am putting my plan into action now. I had mentioned before that I wanted to present my Smartboard or part of my Smartboard presentation to the White River PTA. I have emailed Mr. Ashley and Jeanette Leavitt to ask if I can be on the May agenda. Mr. Ashley is the school principle, so he must be asked to be on the agenda. Jeanette is the President of the PTA, so she must be asked also. I have not heard anything back from either one yet.
I have also emailed CLiF(Children's Literacy Foundation). I took this straight from the CLiF website explaining the foundation:
ABOUT CLiF
The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to nurture a love of reading and writing among children throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. Since 1998 CLiF has served more than 75,000 children in more than 320 communities across every region of the Twin States.
CLiF targets two groups of children from birth to age 12:
Children in rural communities where resources are limited
Children who are at high risk of growing up with low literacy skills

They actually came to the White River School recentley. Unfortunately, I was not able to go, so I was not able to talk to the man who came through the foundation. CLiF is run solely on donations. So, I emailed them to ask for any suggestions. I have not heard back from them either. If anyone wants to look into CLiF more, the url to the website is:
http://www.clifonline.org/index.cfm
I will let everyone know when I hear back from any of these people. Hopefully, it will be soon! Sorry, this turned into a not-so-short note!

News, news, news!

I have been working on the funding for the project. More specifically, I have been writing the letter that I will send to the stores, organizations, and foundations. I used my proposal of the project for the outline. Then, I cut out some things, added some things, and left some things exactly as they were written because I did not feel that they could have been written any better. Basically, I edited the whole paper to make sense to the places I am sending it.
The other progress I have made is that I have recieved some contact information of people and other news regarding my possible financial sources that I am asking. What I now have is:
- Contact information of Kay Ross, who is the President of the Rotary.
- Contact information of Trisha Kent, who is on the Chamber of Commerce.
- Another possible source, but I still have to look into it.
- The possibility of Price Chopper donating "things" for the end celebration.
I was very excited to have these things happen. I feel I am going strides in the right direction now. As you can see, I have a couple new sources. I have already edited the last post to add them to the list of possible financial support. I really have worked over vacation!

Donation sources

I have been talking with my mom, aunt, and Mrs. Haynes recently about where I am going to apply for money donations. Today, my mom helped me make a list of all of the sources. These are the ones we have come up with so far:

BJ's Wholesale Club
White River School PTA
Mascoma Bank
Members Advantage Credit Union
Walmart
Borders
Encore! Used and New Books
Staples
Shaws
Rotary Club
Lions Club
Chamber of Commerce
Price Chopper
Another possible source that is still being looked into

The places like BJ's and Staples might be willing to donate food or paper goods for the final celebration(BJ's) or free or reduced copying or supplies for activities(Staples). The other option is that they might donate some money.
Borders and Encore will, hopefully, give me a discount on the books, since I will be ordering so many and the cause.
This is the focus for my project over the next week because I will be on school vacation. I plan on getting a finalized letter to send to all of these places. The letter will be a lot like my initial proposal for the project, but I intend on tweaking it a bit.
This is keeping me very busy for the meantime!

Books

Since the next due date for my thesis paper is due on March 4th, I have begun looking into different books for my evidence/proof. Mrs. Haynes was able to find a few for me to use.
These are the books that I have been reading for my paper thus far:

Sociocultural Contexts of Language and Literacy by Bertha Perez also with Teresa L. McCarty, Lucille J. Watahomigie, Maria E. Torres-Guzman, To thi Dien, Ji-Mei Chang, Howard L. Smith, and Aurelia Davila de Silva

7 Keys to Comprehension by Susan Zimmermann and Chryse Hutchins

The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

These are the books that will be useful for narrowing down the search for books and activities to use with the kids:

Ready, Set, Motivate! How to Capture Young Readers with Visual Aids by Jennifer B. Coleman

The Kids' Multicultural Art Book: Art & Craft Experiences from Around the World by Alexandra M. Terzian

Discovering World Geography with Books Kids Love by Nancy A. Chicola and Eleanor B. English

I am starting with these. I have been looking through and reading them and they seem like they will work very well. The Read Aloud Handbook has newer copies of it, so I am trying to find the most recent, now. I am always looking for more book titles, so if there are any ideas of books for me to use for reasearch or for the kids, or titles that would work for the actual program, let me know. Thanks!

Update...

Recentely, I have begun to work more seriously on the details of the project. For example, I have a basic budget worked out. Mrs. Haynes helped me make it on Excel(since I have not had much experience using it). It was really cool! We were able to make formulas, so that whenever I change a certain number, all of the figures change. For example, if the formula is:
number of book titles * number of kids = total number of books needed
So, if I change the number of kids from 30 to 28, the total number of books will change also. It is really helpful, so that all of the math will not have to be redone everytime. This is only a "rough" budget. I will continue to work with it until I feel that it is sufficient.

Part of READ logo!

This little girl on the book is part of the logo for my book project. The rest of the logo is the word READ in all capital letters. I will be getting that put up on here soon.

I feel that this girl portrays exactly how I feel. She has a look about her that says that reading is the greatest thing. She looks like she is strong, powerful due to her reading abilities. I love the look of it!

What next?

Now that the parent presentations are behind me, I find myself questioning what I am going to do next. The next steps to my project are to outline a budget and apply for grants. The budget I will put into an excel document. Mrs. Haynes says that it will not be too hard, so we will probably do this next week. As far as the grants, I am looking into places where I can apply. I know one place I will present to is the White River School PTA. I intend to use some of the slides from my Smartboard presentation. That will be in April.

I recieved my first draft of my thesis write-up back yesterday. My thesis reader likes the idea for my project very much. I passed with distinction. I am very excited about the approval!

Parent Presentations

Tonight was the parent presentations. I think that overall they went well. I think that I did well, too. I recieved a lot of compliments on it as I was handing out the bookmarks we made. The bookmarks have the logo of the program on them. The logo is READ (in all capitals, each letter is a different color: red, yellow, blue, and green) and a little girl standing on an open book with her hands on her hips. It is really cool to be able to say that I have a logo now. Anyway, I am glad that the presentation is behind me, but I think that it was an okay experience. Plus, now my project is out there. A.k.a. everyone knows about it. I think some of the other parents and my peers are excited about it like me now!

Done!

I am done! I just completed my Smartboard presentation for the parent presentations tomorrow. I am very excited because I think that it turned out good. All that is left is to write note cards for me to use as prompts and to keep me on track tomorrow during the presentations. That is very important to get done now.

Presentations and name

Finally, I have a name for my project! I intend to call it READ, which stands for Reading Encourages Academics and Diversity. I think that this name it nice because it will mostly be known as the READ program, so it is short and catchy. However, it also has the more meaningful/official name. I like it and am getting more and more excited about the program all the time.
The parent presentations are just around the corner now. They are on Sunday. I am nervous, but also excited because this is the first time I really get to show everyone that I am serious about what I am doing, I like what I am doing, and it will be very benficial to the school. I think it will go well, however, I still have a lot of work to do for it.
All week, I have been working afterschool with the Smartboard putting my presentation together. Yesterday, Mrs. Haynes and Donna helped me organize my ideas and I was able to get a lot accomplished. Today, though, when I went back to work on it more, the flash did not work on some of the special effects. This was very disapointing because all of the work I did yesterday was almost all gone. So, today I had to spend with Mrs. Haynes trying to figure out the problem and try to fix it. We found a solution, so I will continue to move forward with it now. I am going to get as much done tomorrow as I can and finish it on Saturday. On Saturday, I will also practice it over and over and over!

Presentation and title

Tonight, I have been working on organizing my ideas for my presentation. They are one week from Sunday, so this coming week I will spend putting the presentation on the Smartboard. On top of just putting together the presentation, we have been working on possible title options for the program. We have it narrowed down to two that we like, so I emailed Mrs. Haynes to see which she prefers. I am looking forward to hearing her response.

Smartboard

Yesterday Mrs. Haynes showed me some things on the Smartboard program. They were all kind of basic things, but still very cool. I think that my presentation will end up being more fun with the Smartboard animation and its assets.

Working hard...

I have been working hard on my project this week. I have emailed my thesis advisors to let them know about my new email and blog. Currently, I am waiting for their replies. I have been thinking about this blog more and I really think that it is a good idea. It is a different way than simply journaling my progress. I will begin the organization on my Smartboard presentation, hopefully, this weekend. I think that I will also be able to use this Smartboard presentation to present to the PTA at the elementary school and any other places where a Smartboard is available. Other than my Smartboard presentation, I am trying to come up with a name for the project. A possible idea, that has been thought about the most, is Hannah's Bananas. The Bananas stands for Books are nice and necessary and super. I do not know if I like it completely. I also think that I want to change the super to some other 's' word. It's a lot to think about.

First post!

Today I made my blog. I am going to use this blog as my journal for my honors senior project. I thought that it was going to be difficult to start the blog. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not hard at all. Yesterday, I set up my gmail account. Now that was tough! Mrs. Haynes and I could not find an account name that was not already taken. We were able to find one eventually, so it is set up. I am going to email my three project advisors to give them my new email and tell them that I started this blog. This week, I am going to start putting my Smartboard presentation for the parents together. I am excited for the opportunity to use the Smartboard. The parent presentations are going to come very quickly and I have a lot of work to do on it.