100 words for grown ups

This week the challenge was a picture:
All the details can be found over on Julia's blog at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week65/

At first I thought I might do something to do with the Ash dieback disease, but I couldn't possibly make light of what is such a potentially serious situation.
So instead I have used the picture to inspire some serious "Girl Power."

I have parent evenings coming up over the next three weeks so will be pretty busy with those and not sure how much time I will have to do the next couple of prompts. I recently sent the synopsis and first part of my nanowrimo to have some feedback from a publisher who were running a charity event .
(Further details here http://www.justgiving.com/MeetandCritiqueVintageBooks ) so am looking forward to hearing back from them with some pointers for improvement.

Other than that, my Grandfather has pretty much got up to the present day with recording his memoirs and I am busy typing up and getting into order. After parent evenings I am going to print out a draft for him to go through, then to get some copies bound. (I have never had anything made into a book - well only my dissertation a long time ago and I don't think that counts! Will be picking people's brains about how to go about getting A4 pages put into book size for binding...

Enough prevarication.
Here is my piece for the challenge.
You can read the rest at http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=170427&type=basic


Comments/critiques welcomed.

Orange Spot

Muriel scrubbed her hands. “That’ll show them, bloomin 

beaurocrats !”  

The letter had  clattered through the letterbox  the previous morning.

“sustainable forestry... carefully selected.... replanting programme...”

 “Yaddayaddayadda.” She  tossed it into the stove. “I won’t let them, I’ll show’em!”

All her life she’d lived there, surrounded by  the trees she’d come to regard as friends.  They’d grown old together.

 Family gone, schoolmates  forgotten: each  tree held a secret from her past. Stolen kisses, sips of beer, engraved letters, the first time... she hugged her knees closer and laughed out loud.

 The truck rolled into view and she sat back to watch...

100 words ...returning...

I haven't done one of these for ages. Have been exceptionally busy since term started. (Goodness, how I hate that excuse! But I really have!) 

I have been working with my (92 year old) Grandfather to help him write his memoirs. Each week I visit him (he's in a nursing home) and download the next lot from the dictaphone. I then type it up before visiting him the following week and sorting out parts which I couldn't quite make out.

So far we have covered his war years and his working life as well as what he could remember from his childhood. It has been absolutely fascinating.

As we draw near present time I will have to embark on the editing process; so far I have been pretty much typing up verbatim. The aim is to eventually make it into an e-book for all the family to read and maybe to get a copy professionally bound for him (Thanks to the lovely SJ for that suggestion)

I am going to go through his photos and scan those in to be inserted at appropriate places and have also been adding links to elaborate on various things that he has mentioned.

Oh yes, been teaching my (enormous) mixed age class of 35 year 4 and 5's too!

And been starting to look through my nanowrimo I did in June to edit that.

Parents evenings are looming and I STILL haven't got the decorating done. 

But I am NOT bored which is always a good thing (in fact I don't think I can remember the last time i was bored to be honest. Sometime before becoming a parent perhaps?)

Anyway enough of that. I will endeavour to do some more of these as it is a great way to practise my writing. Still no luck with any competitions...

Here is this week's piece.

Link to Julia's place is http://jfb57.wordpress.com/tag/100wcgu/

Find the others at http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=168507&type=basic

Mists of time

As the steam rose from her mug, June stared through the once clean windows . The pain would pass, they told her, we’ll keep in touch.

That had been in Spring.

Words spoken after her darling Doug had finally lost his battle.

Summer had been and gone, the pain remained sharp as ever.  Promised visits not made. “Call soon. Must dash. X ” the text had read.

 Autumn brought its muted hues, lace cobwebs jewelled with crane flies. A golden anniversary remembered alone.

A buzz from a drawer: “Plane booked. All 2gether 4 Christmas x”

And winter will bring them home.  

Thank you for reading. I will be on half term next week so will visit the rest then. I am hoping to put some sections of my nanowrimo on here; comments, as always, welcomed.

100 words for grown ups week 43

This week the challenge set by Julia at  http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week43/#comment-10744 is

….The flame flickered before….

I was thinking along the lines of the Olympic flame as I was amongst the crowds today cheering ! However, sitting enjoying the sunshine this afternoon a different idea started to flow so, here it is:

The right time

As Leanne reached for the bottle and her dress slipped ever-so-slightly, Grant knew it was the right time... “Are your parents home?”

“Not ‘til late.”

“Wanna...?”

She gently kissed him. Their picnic lay forgotten as they set off.

 The mid-afternoon sun found the empty bottle, its rays igniting the carelessly abandoned.  The flame flickered before stretching out its orange fingers. The discarded bottle’s label curled futilely away, edges turning golden. Wisps of grass and long shed remnants from overhead trees quickly consumed.  Fingers gained strength, spreading ceaselessly.

As the lovers lay entwined they were unaware of what was heading their way...

Read the rest at http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=145885&type=basic

Thanks for reading. Comments and critiques welcomed. 

100 words for grown ups- another for the holidays

I enjoyed this week’s challenge so much that I thought I would try another one. There were so many that I enjoyed reading, but firefly Phil’s stood out . Maybe it was all those rabbits! 

http://fireflyphil.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/i-wonder-what/

Anyway, I have carried it on. As always, love to know what you think.

 I have been doing some writing this Easter for the 1000 flash fiction site http://1000words.org.uk/ I thought I would see if anything I submitted would be chosen for the blog... I thought it would be a useful exercise to see if anyone outside the 100WCGU group would be at all interested in my writing. If not, then I know I still have a VERY long way to go, and if so then I know I have even further to go if I want to stretch my writing beyond these 100word challenges!

In the meantime, here is my continuation of I Wonder What…

Alice has a surprise!

She headed towards the hole, stopping to think if it would be bad manners to arrive at a wedding, if of course it was a wedding, with neither invitation NOR gift. As she thought, the edge of the hole gave way and she fell, landing with a bump at the paws of a VERY cross looking white rabbit. "We're late!"

 Hand in paw she was taken to the quaintest church imaginable, with  a colony of rabbits filling the pews. “How splendid!”

To her dismay, the rabbit kept pulling her towards the altar.

 "All rise!"

 Alice’s legs turned to jelly as she realised this was HER wedding...

But, to whom?

100 words for grown ups week 37

This week’s prompt was to use one of last week’s pieces !

All the information can be found at Julia’s page http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-37/

I had been wondering how to choose which to do (in a moment of madness thought I might try them all, but life takes over!) but Julia took that dilemma away by asking each person to do the one after theirs. So that meant I was to finish off Lisa’s  (find it at http://lisawieldswords.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/the-continuing-adventures-of-alice-100wcgu/)

To be honest I felt pretty nervous about continuing hers- if you haven’t visited her blog do so as it is great.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Here is this week’s piece. Lisa, hope you like where I took it.

 Alice and the King

“Now, there just must be a way.” thought Alice.

 Alice crossed her fingers before taking a tentative hold of the purple moss. “How doth the shining crocodile...” she murmured, not looking down.

She scrambled up to find herself face to face with both the King of Hearts and the white rabbit!

“Oh my dear, dear girl, how marvellous to see you. You’re just in time.”

“In time for what, your majesty?” Alice curtseyed politely.

“Let’s begin from the end shall we?” replied the King, patting a plump patch of moss into shape. “The Queen has indeed lost her head this time...”

100 words for grown ups week 36

This week's challenge from the talented Julia (http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-36/ )

 has a real twist to it-

"Now for this week’s prompt. As you know I like to be topical so I’m thinking Easter. However, I’m thinking a little outside the box! The prompt is quite simple but the trick this week is to prepare for NEXT week!

I want you to write a piece with

….‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice…..

in it. You have 100 words making a total of 108. However, the last 10 words are going to be used to start a piece by someone else next week!! Good eh! The idea isn’t mine – it came from Winchester House School"

I LOVE Lewis Carroll's works- they are so deliciously crazy and use language in a way I could only dream about. I used Jabberwocky to inspire a previous post ( http://mrshalford.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-7.html ) 

I have tried to write in a similar style for this challenge. Check out the others at: http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=137743&type=basic

Alice returns...

The sun was shining magnificently. You may think this unsurprising, but as it was the middle of the night , Alice knew something tremendous was afoot. It had been so long since last she went.  Her mind filled with memories of grinning cats, pipe-smoking caterpillars,  babies which turned to pigs. Or had it been the other way around? And what about that dear dormouse? And what was  the rabbit late for? wondered Alice. Taking a deep breath she stepped through the looking glass back into a world she knew so well. However, things did not seem to be quite the same...

100 words for grown ups week 35

http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-35/  This is the link to Julia's page with this week's prompt... the red box...
Topical pieces will be a-plenty I'm sure with the budget tomorrow, however, finances not really my thing so I have gone back to my character , Kit (previous pieces about her can be found http://mrshalford.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/100-words-for-grown-ups-week-21.html and http://mrshalford.blogspot.com/2011/09/100-words-for-grown-ups-week-10.html

Would welcome any comments , critiques welcomed .

Find the rest at: http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=136717&type=basic

An unexpected turn of events

The last mourners had gone. Alone at last, Kit  kicked off her shoes and sank into the comfort of her Grandmother's armchair. Her racing mind was filled with an array of unanswered questions.

 The doorbell’s chime interrupted her thoughts, but she was surprised to find no visitor, just a battered red box on the doorstep.

She carried it inside and placed it on the table. Opening the lid she pushed aside the layers of tissue to reveal a smaller box and a letter with her name written in a hand she instantly recognised.

With trembling hands she began to read,

 "My dearest Kit...

In the picture- Anthony Browne

This week will be my first hosting of a twitter chat. Set up by a group of teachers and educators, #inthepicture aims to celebrate using picture books in the classroom in a variety of ways across the curriculum and age ranges.
Chats take place on Wednesdays from 8 til 9 pm and have covered a range of books so far including "Where the Wild Things are." and "One is a snail."
I have chosen the author and illustrator Anthony Browne  as my focus. http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anthony-browne/
 I have used a selection of his marvellous books with Y4 and 5 children to stimulate writing in class, as well as to read for pleasure.
http://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/Anthony-Browne-1481.aspx
This site showcases some of his illustrations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2009/jun/08/childrens-laureate-gallery-anthony-browne

One of his more recent projects, the Shape game http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anthony-browne/shape-game/ looks fascinating and will be one to flag up tomorrow as I haven't used it (yet)

During the discussion I hope to flag up how I have used many of Pie Corbett's talk for writing techniques in my teaching.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/news_blogs/email_updates/interviews/pie_corbett and  http://www.cfbt.com/lincs/PDF/Talk%20for%20Writing%20Handout.pdf
One of the English units I teach is stories by the same author, and I would always get frustrated by having to choose sections of books and not having time to share the whole story with the children,  This is one of the strengths of choosing picture books; they are easy to finish with a class thus having the satisfaction of seeing a book through, and provide children with stories that they can use as a basis for their own retelling or continuations regardless of their reading ability.
This is in no way meant to infer that picture books are for the less able reader; Anthony Browne's books have so many meanings and sub plots that they are perfect for developing questioning skills, for inference and deduction,. What is not written is almost more powerful than what is (and in some cases most certainly is e.g. Zoo, Voices in the Park, The Tunnel, Into the Forest... the list goes on)

Here is a list of Anthony Browne books- apologies if I have missed any off the list. I have highlighted ones I have used; just a mere fraction of his work. If there are any omissions please let me know and I will amend.

• Anthony Browne's King Kong: From the Story Conceived by Edgar Wallace & Merian C. Cooper 
• Bear Hunt 
• Changes 
• Gorilla 
• Hansel and Gretel
• I Like Books
• Into the Forest 
• Little Beauty 
• Look What I've Got! 
• Me and You
• My Brother 
• My Dad 
• My Mum 
• Piggybook 
• Silly Billy
• The Animal Fair 
• The Shape Game 
• The Tunnel 
• Things I Like 
• Through the Magic Mirror 
• Voices in the Park 
• Willy and Hugh 
• Willy the Champ 
• Willy the Dreamer 
• Willy the Wizard 
• Zoo 

I'm trying hard to advocate the idea amongst parents that picture books are valuable for older primary pupils. As part of our reading journal work, we encourage the children to read as wide a range of books as possible. Some parents have expressed their views about picture books being inappropriate for "able readers", but a book such as Zoo (Anthony Browne) has such a meaningful subplot (unwritten) which allows it to be interpreted differently by different ages/abilities.
 I have seen some stunning examples of work influenced by picture books and know they are an invaluabe addition to a primary classroom. Very much looking forward to #inthepicture and sharing ideas.