So far...this will take awhile. As we get the dolhouse ready.
Estimated done date, Dec 1

My model from which I'm working...




All these images are from a terrific article here.....

When you have a very cool collection of "multicultural clothespin dolls" they obviously need a house. A nice dollhouse and I found exactly what we want to adapt. In fact I had this as a child. I think.

So here's the day as we build the dolls a house for my 1st graders. I'm a bit in "recovering" mode from the AM med. chores. I'm enjoying the work as it goes. My builder commenting there is "No Way" he's decorating the walls. So tomorrow I'll do that. Or my girls will.

I'm off to odious tasks of the day....but I've meant to ask.
This hawk is sitting on my back wall and in nearby trees trying to catch a kitten. Or at least I think trying to catch one. Do you know what it is?

I can't find a photo to match.

Make a wish.......I want to see my baby home from CalTech.
Soon, this is me waiting, it's agony.


Last Night I realized one of my two fish tanks was "in trouble."


I have one at home I made to learn how to keep an aquarium alive. A Community Tropical Freshwater aquarium. The second aquarium , the Pink Tank, is at school.


It's doing brilliantly. At the moment. I'm sure I'll go over there in awhile and goof it up.
My first graders have enjoyed it, me too. We log what we add and do, try to figure out things like PH and nitrogen levels or nitrate levels and ammonium levels.



It's funny but it takes a good while for the tank to get "in balance" so that it can break down the wastes. I kind of am learning as we go. But we keep records and journals and mostly talk about it and observe.


But....anyway, at home I went to change the water last night, once a month I change it out about half now with filter change, realizing it smelled awful.
Nothing dead but not good.
And very hot. I think the heater was too high. Hang with this... it has a point...or a laugh.
I cleaned it, changed water. Really there is an issue. Very depressing night. Bad dreams. Awful. I do not like for things to go wrong in my animal world. I'm not sure why but I keep lots of critters. Heidi my friend says it is the Appalachian in me.

So this morning I was home. I missed a day or two of work. well three, okay, a lot.
At the worst possible time. But in two weeks I've learned of serious issues in heart, kidney, system and I'm trying to figure it out. Lower stress. My Mom says when I'm faced with tough times I like to renovate, tear up the closets, go get a pet, or otherwise create something.
This is what she said as i said...I think the fish tank still looks bad. So I vacuumed the rocks. Bad smell. Re-vacuumed, more water.
Then as she was sharing her perspectives, my friend Heidi brought my birds from school.





To stay for a week or so, school is too cold necessitating immediate critical cage cleaning and lots of things to get them resettled. My cats simply going insane.
The birds, three Spice Finches are now settled and chirping. Get finches. I'm building a hutch. I hope too. Out back.

This done. (The class also logs in about the birds and I have nice journals where everyday we write a sentence or two, descriptive writing about their room animals activities. Right now they are eating millet. It is the cheeseburger of bird food. So of course this is what they want to eat.)


I stopped after picking up my middle daughter to get millet, bird food of champions, and bought live plants for my fish tank.

I have it in my mind the problems would be better with "live plants". So those purchased, went home to stick them in the now smelling better tank. And out came the plastic ones to get dumped in my sink. In this house after twenty years of life without dishwashers or garbage disposals, I do now thankfully have a wastub sink. So I'm cleaning the new plants and the sink is running water away so poorly. And I'm wondering and see something there in the drain.....and it's one of my African frogs which probably rode out on the bottom of the plastic plant. He's holding on for dear life. These frog are very dear to me.



Well this is AFTER the rescue. You can't film some stuff.



I get my finger there and get him out, of course he jumps and after a really valiant effort to escape i get everything in the right places. So now I'm waiting for the tank to cycle, clear, waiting to see if the things that brewed up this issue will abate. waiting.

I'm supposed to be baking pumpkin pie, awaiting my daughter, and am instead giving the birds a bath and casting a frog down the sink. But.......that's my life.
Happy Day before the feasts o plenty.

I'm not even going to mention the guy I brought over this morning for a shower in the casitas and a shave, clothes washing and trip to the bus station with ticket money so that I hope he can get to San Diego and his sister. Which is why Mom mentioned my issues. I'd seen him on the highway off ramp yesterday and by the grocery this morning. Boy was he a mess. ah well...

Do you think the Native American perspective on Thanksgiving would teach us all something?
Something to make us stronger?
Do you know this book?

The People Shall Continue (Paperback)
by Simon Ortiz (Author), Sharol Graves (Illustrator)

I wrote a little about it a year ago.....

I am a teacher, in 1st grade, that has used my copy of this book in November for 12 plus years in multiple grade settings and really love it.. It was sold by The Children's Press out of San Fran which put out excellent tales of bi-literacy and stories from minority and immigrant cultures. I hope they still are going strong.

In this story, one that stood the test of time for me, a kind of poetic Prufrock unfolds...a song really of Native American tradition in our world from then to now...a sad song...a flowing tale of bittersweet truths and perseverance....I usually read it with a child gently keeping a rhythm of a drum I was given a few years ago by a Native Sioux family.

What does it teach to make it worth the reading journey?

The relationship to the earth, nature, care of this relationship, responsibility to care for our children and their life spaces and places, the traditions of tribal members in the beginning prior to times when native cultures were literally pulled to pieces (tho that tone is not struck in this sensitive story), the arrival of the white men, the change this wrought, dissension, unrest, new religious practice, relating to the American government, scattering of tribal culture, reservation life, suffering of Native peoples, ultimate desire for unity and peace. It's really an elegy.

Why do I use it? I think this text alone is one of the most powerful ways to try to bring into the primary room a kind of talking back story, a kind of story like understanding about history and past and awareness that will take many years, many stories, many kinds of experiences to be able to fuller absorb and understand. It's a validation of something. It's a story of message, of empowering by acknowledging, it's a story of the kinds of things history can deny or do a great job of telling in another way.

I use it to bring to the story of the first Thanksgiving the story of the giant change these times signaled to Native American's...and to begin talk about indigenous peoples, immigration and all the complexities of societies and communities.

The tone set inside the text is unique...listen...

" But one day, something unusual began to happen.

Maybe there was a small change in the wind.
Maybe there was a shift in the stars.
Maybe it was a dream that someone dreamed.
Maybe it was the strange behavior of an animal.
The People thought and remembered,

"A long time ago, there were Yellow-skinned men
who came upon the ocean to the Western Coasts"
The People Thought and remembered,
"A long time ago , there were Red-haired men who came upon the ocean to the Eastern Coasts"
But these visitors had not stayed for long.
They met with some of the People
and soon they left upon the ocean for their homes.".......

You can see the way the story unfolds the perspectives of these events and allows a teacher to drop in the facts and the fictions, the then, now and the kinds of pieces needed to bring students into awareness of cultural perspectives. It's a treasure, hope you can find and use it with a child..

When I worked at Warner the need to be heard on personal history, on suffering was so great. My children were learning lifetimes of Native Perspectives.

I remember wondering about this holiday. And from my notes one father, a Cahuilla said, “It is a time to remember, for thanks we have survived, for teaching the children.”
I expected something else maybe. He went on to tell me of his families contribution to America.

A time to remember.

Here are a few things we made today.

This week the student dolls began to appear.
These came with this story from “The Fish.” one of my student's pen names. His grand mom gave him a hand making.

“ These are like we make in Mexico. My Grandmom made dolls when she was little everyday. She dressed them in the way we dressed in her town. “

I stopped here to ask the name of the town but my student wasn’t able to answer so he has to go home and try again.

“She could not buy the dolls and they make everything so she was the one that made them for all the children. She used pieces of clothes that were worn out and little things she found. My grandmom likes this. “

I went on to ask my student about his grandmother. She is close to him. He mostly nodded. But he is 6 and I know from this he is listening to her. So in one home the Molly’s Pilgrim project allowed a little boy to know a bit more about his grandmother’s childhood, and what she can make.

Jasmine who comes to me several times everyday and who considers my 1st graders “her kids” coming from a 6th grade and remarkably good at just being in the space-at being just there and a help always…made this doll. She said to me, “It is a kimono doll.” And indeed it is. Of the curly blond hair it’s probably what came in the kit I made them. Why a Japanese doll I asked? “I’d like to go there one day.”
Ah a doll to inspire a tomorrow. I like that. To see the world, even better. How can we do that?
Indeed.

How?

Tell me about your doll I asked.

“She is dressed for a very important dance..the quinceanera. We like this in our family. I am going to have a party then and wear a dress with a big skirt. In our family we have this party for the girls who get presents and are so pretty.”

This student literally rolled the contents of his doll making things around a pin, no family involved. He not only did not show it to his mom, his mom has never shown herself at school.kind of like my son does. Walks himself wherever he goes and has a savvy unlike other students in my room. With work together we made this. I don’t think we have a why.

Of this he said, “That’s how it looks right teacher?”

And so I made up a little story about a Gingerbread maker that had a face of a lion that made the cookies for holidays of little lost children. A special job in the Land of Green Dresses. She was rather interesting in her black curls and a really good baker. One bite and a child was able to wish any wish…….

And the wish of my student…….”I wish I could have another cookie.”

Well here she is. The doll with a doll stand jammed on her head. By a worried little boy who said it took “A lot of work to get that onto her head.”

This is my child who asked me if I was “Going to be happy today.” I could only answer…
"Well I’ll try.”
Of this doll he said, “ In Mexico This is how the Momma looks.”

Okay.

This child presented her doll with a smile and silence.

So I have dubbed her “Silent One” I asked if she was thinking. “Yes,”
What is she thinking about? “She’s thinking in her mind.”

Yes. Of course.



Years ago I taught in Greenfield. I taught a student, Steven Cole. I would like to know 20 years later how he is, where he is. He was such a nice kid. In 4th grade we were at that time working so often on writing. Essays I think at the time. I had a rather long test, essay format. We had worked a great deal on using the question to formulate the answer, I’m sure I allowed notes. The question as I recall it was to describe the life of the California Indians from the perspective of one tribal group.

To this Seven Cole on a two page answer sheet wrote, “Rough.”

I was unable to fail him. It just made me laugh. I am THAT KIND of teacher.

This was a wonderful doll. I looked at my student bringing it in, so happy. I asked her about this….did it represent the family, how did they get their ideas?
She looked at me, “Ask my Mom, she made it.”

And so…….I did.
“I made a teacher for you. From a village."



For now these are the Pilgrim dolls that have come to our class first Thanksgiving. Next week we will try to build them a little community.

To share their stories and write some more.

You may know Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele virtuoso.

I sat next to our family friend, his aunt I think, tonight taking her with my son to SOHO nightclub in Santa Barbara to see him play. his third appearance at the club. It's a great venue. Smalland intimate. I'm no longer either but it's a lot like a place I worked younger. It would be better to be there and be thirty, unmarried, without fever and illness...but, hey. I did it. Better too if there were not a flight of stairs to climb. Sheesh, I'm struggling.

My Life [EP]
Jake Shimabukuro (Artist)

And he was better than this CD and I like this CD, just now listening on my way back home. It's just in person the music he plays is so strong, vibrant, percussive and shows the enormous range he brings to his playing. this is not traditional ukuele. This is what makes me hear threads of Chet Atkins. Threads of the blues even. Threads of bluegrass. What he does is re-define what this can do. We were gifted with a very rare ukuele by his aunt. By a Hawaiian master maker.
Annette Okamura (his relation and my company last night) takes you under her wing, you are never forgotten.

Once I heard Stanley Jordan in France do this kind of virtuoso boundary breaking with his guitar. He played such incredible harmonics I'm still in shock and he too played While My Guitar gently Weeps. I'm at school or I'd put the YouTube version of that tune that has over 3 million hits of Jake. In Central Park no less. Go listen. Weep some more. Might as well cross off ukulele as a possible instrument.

How he does what he does is due to levels of musical craft and his real talent-hard work. 1% of 1% of the world combines talent and facility with an instrument with his interpretive skill, you look forward to what he will do one day. One day. He interprets music, and the depth is mesmerizing in person. Was for all of us at Soho.
He played tonight most of these pieces on this CD with other signature tunes. And that was a treat, my favorite oddly enough from this CD Going to California, dare I say it a Zeppelin piece. It was fantastic. But my favorite piece in the show was a piece where he attempted to sound like a koto, the traditional Japanese instrument, and he played a piece called Sakura a traditional song, it was absolutely beautiful. Do you know this tune? Follow that link. I wish I COULD link to his interpretation. For Annette who plays this instrument it was deeply moving. Do you know how amazing his talent to be able to take a ukulele and make it sound like a koto ? Fantastic.

The person I took, who bought me dinner at the best Chinese restaurant when I wanted to treat her to the evening of music while I can, is related to him and this was a treat for her. Both from Hawaii, but of Japaneses backgrounds deeply steeped in both worlds along with the fabric of America. She is a teacher, a piano teacher, uniquely able to play so many fine, rare instruments offering him her Koto after we listened to him tell how expensive they are and how much he enjoyed one he heard while recently in Japan. I was lucky, I know not many have their son easily taken backstage and introduced to such a fine player, but I had Annette Okamura to get the job done.
My son a guitar player. An artist.

A gracious and gifted musician that redefines the instrument showing it doesn't have any limits really at all. I'm very glad I picked up the CD and took the road up there to see this performed tonight. It's worth more words but I'm so tired. A delightful evening. Excellent present. Music of the heart.

You might try this while working with students as your music of the month.

After making examples of the Pilgrims...all kinds as described in blogs here today and over the weekend

• Plymouth Plantation and a "Molly's Pilgrim"
• Photo Gallery Clothespin "Molly's Pilgrims"
• Making Molly's "Pilgrims"
• Molly As Our Pilgrim -Part Two-"Religious Freedom"...

I am now practically preparing this project for my students and parents. I work in a 100% free lunch and breakfast area meaning the incomes are not enough to afford much. Students in my room need shoes. Students in my room might sleep on mattresses on floors. Students in my room may well not yet have more than a sheet for a curtain. And they never have eaten at a resturant that serves a salad as a course. They marvel at things like blocks. School for them is very exciting. This project asks that they make over the next week a "doll" at home with family to represent who they come from, ancestors, the immigrant that came here, the country of origin. I leave this a bit open to artistic interpretation and try to get the dolls out for the parents to look over. I have wonderful parents. They'll enjoy this. ( as much as we enjoy any project for homework!)

I'm sending a baggie with a clothespin and stand and a pipe cleaner to make the arms.


I think getting that part a bit of a pain for a parent. They come in bags of twenty at the craft store. Then I put in a few basic pieces of fabric. That part cost me about 6 dollars. No pain there. I'd say all told it costs about 30 to get this together.




I have to help. It's too hard to for my families. At this time of the year many cannot afford the luxuries. But if we build good dolls and they want additional supplies I have a basket for that. If you made your child about ten of these and perhaps took wood scraps and built a doll house you have all they need for a seasonal gift, plus throw in some crayons. And a pack of paper. It's all you need. I really advocate making.
Opps........I'm having a Parent night soon and we will revisit the dolls and make some as well as paint the children's portraits. Talk about how to help children, saving to get technology and sharing our classblog.

Here are a few shots of me getting this project ready. More to come when I get their part back.

Oh I made them muffins too, pumpkin, yum.

Native Princess

I was thinking of building a model Plymouth plantation today avoiding my work...at school...
and I found this site. You really need to look around and click into the parts, it is absolutely great. Such a remarkable archive. I've been into Molly's Pilgrim. Just in case I actually do this with my class, I'll stock up on popsickle sticks I guess. Just the same I realize I need a doll house for my classroom. To hold our new dolls. So I'm getting the wood to build it over the Thanksgiving Break. Just struggling to find the right thing. I found a site here. I think this is a good place to start thinking, it reminds me of childhood. I can see myself painting the outside walls.(THE LUNDBY GOTHENBURG DOLLHOUSE)
Just enjoying the break. I wish we had another day or two and some sheets of masonite and maple boards. And a good router.

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project

So I'm getting flack that my Pilgrim boy looks too Depp.....

View as slideshow ()

Bacon's Landing of the Pilgrims

Molly's Pilgrim is a wonderful story, book, known pretty widely for its sensitivity to the issue of "becoming an American." In a nation of immigrants this book celebrates a child that has come to this country and made her way into "public school." Based on the author's real life....Her 3rd grade classmates struggle a bit with the differences of this child from Russia, her differences separating her from feeling fully a part of things she has not fully understood through the personal experiencing and growing up with it, like here the holiday of "Thanksgiving." Some classmates are rude and inconsiderate to her. It isn't an easy thing to do at all becoming "free" and Molly is feeling the issues that are very visceral for kids. Feeling like you fit in. Because as an immigrant child you are making your way into the culture and traditions often times of a country that celebrates its history and story as if everyone already knew it.

At times we can be in America rather insensitive to those who are making their way into our "experiences" without realizing that things can be very different in the rest of the world.

Molly comes to Thanksgiving and as most know she is confronted with a project to help build a re-creation of the 1st Thanksgiving. Children are making Pilgrims and/or Indians a la the story we know. If you go to this site you find a very interesting collection of information, or this site to see the costumes/clothing, houses and re-creation of Plymouth. Molly is just learning this history. So she takes this home to interpret it for her mother. Immigrant children are often the bridge for parents. They are the ones sent out to be the bold adventurer in the new world. It matters. Families depend on them.

She is asked to design a doll to contribute to the re-creation. It's funny because assigning children these doll making activities is USUALLY assigning a parent the task of figuring this out...below I'm going to help that a bit. So it is to Molly's mom the true genius of the written story is seated. Her interpretation of this project changes everything.

Molly's mother sends in a beautiful Russian doll created from the clothespin.
Molly fears rejection. It's not a pilgrim as the class expects in black and white severity. But her mother and teacher celebrate Molly's status as a true pilgrim. She is the immigrant that makes our country so rich. And without this America would be very different place. It would be lost. In my family the reaching back to understand the sacrifice and the life of our family that helped build America is a story we tell at Thanksgiving. Last year my Aunt Sarah died right at Thanksgiving and we lost the ability to find any meaning in that time.
I became, well, lost. Perhaps it underscored how much of the family is gone. This was the person I was named for. She died penniless, working all her life, just surviving. Yet she was ever good and caring. My model. This year perhaps we will be able to tell the stories of my great grandmom who worked in a seed factory at twelve to help her family, as an immigrant to America in a big city, Philly. She bought herself a little copper bracelet that I have from a catalog. Theses are the riches we have. A history of survival. It was her small indulgence that came to me to hold. Her childhood was lost to work, 12 hour days at 12. Her name was Sarah too. The Sarah's in our family sacrificed their lives to the next generation and I'm taking a bit of a second to say that I hope my children are able to have good and happy lives.

This story of Molly is partially found here though I have seen it illustrated in other ways...


Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
From the Google reader site....

Molly and her family have moved to America from Russia.Her mother says they moved to find freedom. But the children in Molly's third-grade class make fun of her accent and clothes. That doesn't seem like freedom to Molly at all.At Thanksgiving everyone has to bring a Pilgrim doll to class. The doll Molly's mother makes looks like a Russian peasant girl. It doesn't look at all like the Pilgrims Molly has seen in her schoolbook. Molly is afraid she'll never fit in with her classmates now.

And just so you know...( and I like the part that her father, Ms. Cohen's, is a friend of my Uncle Jack Alexander...that's just pretty cool too...a fantastic story teller and fun to listen to!)

Well, I am certainly teaching a class of immigrant children.
And I like to ask in the mommas to the room, mommas picking up their kids, I ask them to come in to see a few dolls I've made. I try to make dolls from many different places/styles as samples, along with two traditional Pilgrim and Native American dolls. Inspiring their next "project." They can read the story of Molly's Pilgrim then too. We share it together sometimes. I have a copy in Spanish too! I ask if they celebrate the holiday and invite them to the children's banquet we hold the day before break. Each child brings their favorite dish. While I would LIKE to recreate the Plymouth colony too, over the years I've realized that story contains so many problematic issues.
And I try to capture the spirit of it instead.

Good information out on that, good to read and understand:

Deconstructing the Myths of “The First Thanksgiving” | Oyate Web Page

The History of Thanksgiving - Mayflower Myths

The Wampanoag

So I take this as an opportunity to build a town with the children.
Our community project.
(I'd like a big doll house too. I really, really want that. ) It allows us to construct the things we think are in a town. Homes, stores, police so on. Then we wander in a Pilgrim village reconstruction in a fold out book I own. Very cool . And look at towns through time. I take the children to places in communities, stores, fire station, police station, meat market, 97cent store. The basics. Lots to understand in 1st grade. And when done, fun to play with.

Check out this place to "buy" clothespin dolls...pretty cool ideas. They have a Native American selection....

I hope our dolls will represent "their roots." And I hope I can pull enough fathers and wayward builders into making us a cool doll house for the back of the room. I think this year I'll get it done. I need to get in the wood and try to ask...in one of my parent night. This is a perfect project to do with parents in a two hour night session, I do one a moth. to model ways o work with children. I'm not all that controlling about how this "comes out." It can be very creative. I'm so thankful when it is.
It will become something interesting. No?
Sometimes children make traditional Pilgrims/Native Americans. It just depends. One year a child made a Hula dancer. It was wonderful and part of her heritage.

Can't wait until we build the "village," learning about communities.

So what do you need to make a Molly's Pilgrim?
I'll show a few things and make a variety of dolls tonight to show how this starts.
In a week or so we'll look at what the children are doing.

First I think you need :



Glue gun and glue sticks.....



Well about the glue gun.

You can make this completely without one but I do use it to hold the clothes together. It comes in low heat and hot, go for low heat and probably not for your child to use, although all my life I coped with stuff like this very young and did fine. So it's probably a parent job.

Then you need the dolls which are those round headed clothespins. Mine came from a store called The Fabric Well on Saviers an old style awesome store for fabrics and stuff. It came in several options but they make "stands" now. Get that too.
I buy them for my kids and they collect up fabric pieces and hair and things they need in small baggies to do the project. Along with some directions.










Oh and you need markers or paint to make the face. We use sharpies. And they always look messed up! But I make the face first ready to throw away and start again if tears fall.


I bought so many to give them to my parents, but if you are looking for the clothespin, try a craft or fabric store. I think this project is widely done, so you will find them, don't get too discouraged if the first store isn't stocked.

I got various small rolls of fabric a dollar each.......supplied I think for the quilters.Of course for the traditional dolls get black and white, many use felt as it is stiff and easy to work with.










I saw this "fake hair" and got it but yarn or natural materials around the house are so easy to find.




So then I looked up a costume on-line.
I decided to start with someone coming from an area of Africa that I like where the arts, prints and craft are divine. So I looked up the designs on-line. Without a computer then a good library would give a model. Some like to work from "imagination" or memory of the clothing of their families.

My doll was not my ancestor, the immigrant of our family, it was a doll to suggest answers to someone that wanted to think the way they thought in "Molly's Pilgrim." And I have to work on mine, our real pilgrim...I need to "interview" my mom and do a little research...to get an idea of the "look."



Then I started with the head.
I was wrapping fabric basically and glue gunning. Looking at my "pattern."



Until we got to this.


My daughter Sophia working on a different design made this, she says a Portuguese immigrant.



So far here is what we have.
We will keep making, involve my kids....make some more and maybe a few within traditional lines and add to this page as we go....as we begin to construct something to represent the immigrant. For which we are Thankful this Thanksgiving, for this is really "us."









And now we have a new member of our group....







Tomorrow we'll see who joins this little set, look back here today, tomorrow, so my class has some examples to follow. I usually sit with one or two after school and help make them...because not all homes are ready to "accept the challenge."
Seeing a new doll evolve:



Put a bit of paint to whiten the face.



Found a picture.



Put on the hair with yearn and a glue gun.



Drew on the face. Added little pieces with the glue gun.



Folded over material to make the ostume.
I do use pipe cleaners for arms. Twisted around pin.



Here are some from today...

A Troy Polamalu...Samoan?

A Native America Princess, that my daughter will not give a face

This is MY RUSSIAN Babushka

A Pilgrim woman