Marseille is the second largest city in France. We started the day with a walking tour of the old town. Then our tour group split up for a couple of options. I chose to go to Cosquer Cave, a replica of a prehistoric cave. I was very excited to discover that the cave is the only prehistoric cave discovered to have paintings of penguins! We were on our own for the rest of the afternoon and most of us went to the hilltop Notre Dame (not that one) cathedral for breathtaking views of the city.
For dinner, we went to a socially responsible restaurant where people in need get training in exchange for food and shelter. It was a meaningful experience to end the day.
Tha majority of my job is phonics instruction. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating some stories and poems about these rules. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them once they were completed. For now, I’ve decided that Nicole’s Nook is a good home for them. The main purpose of the blog is still “book love”, so it will be an occasional feature. I thought the best starting point would be a story I wrote a couple of years ago for a student who was very frustrated about sounding out words with the schwa sound. I hope you enjoy.
Sorcerer Schwa
First, there were thoughts. Then, those thoughts became spoken words. Finally, those spoken words became written messages. Together all three became a language. Language allowed people to share ideas and expand their knowledge.
As time passed, the people’s knowledge grew, and they began to explore other places. But there was a problem. People living in these places had developed different languages, which caused confusion. At last, people in the tiny village of Wordia grew frustrated when they inadvertently traded fifty of their finest cattle with a neighboring village for a cartload of rocks. The villagers vowed they would find a solution to the language problem.
They went to the village sorcerer to ask for his advice.
Unbeknownst to the villagers, he was secretly an evil sorcerer. Or he wanted to be, at least. None of his evil plots had worked out so far. Once, he conjured a tornado, and it brought back Mrs. Brown’s missing cow. Another time he called locusts which ate weeds instead of crops. The chance he’d been waiting for was here at last.
“I will use my magic to create a new language and make them forget their own. Soon nobody will speak Latin, Cornish, Sanskrit, or Sumerian.”
The people thought this was a fine idea and thanked the sorcerer as he shooed them away. “I will have a new language for you in a week if you leave me to my work.”
When the villagers left, the wizard took out a piece of parchment and his quill and started making a list of wicked ideas for the new language:
Use roots from many different languages
All of the rules have an exception (“I” before “e” except after “c”)
Words sound alike but spelled differently (sea, see)
Words will be spelled the same but sound different (close, close)
Letters make multiple sounds (cat, city)
Stick silent letters in words (lamb)
The wizard worked day and night on the language. He created so many twists and turns; learning would take years of schooling. As he worked, visions of spelling tests with giant “F’s” danced in his head. Finally satisfied with his sinister syntax, the sorcerer decided to take a nap.
He fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. Images and words flashed before his eyes: CAMEL, BANANA, PENCIL, DRAGON.
He bolted up in his bed. He had dreamt his evilest idea yet. The final touch his language needed. These words had different vowels making the same sound: “uh.” He would call this sound the “schwa.” All kinds of multisyllabic words could have a schwa sound hidden in the unstressed syllables, and that would cause lots of stress for readers. There would be no way to tell by looking at the word which syllable was using the schwa. It was diabolical! He stayed awake all night, adding the schwa sound to thousands of words until it was nearly impossible to determine what sound a vowel was making.
When the villagers arrived the following day, he magically transferred the language to their brains. “I call it English. What do you think?” he asked.
They scratched their heads, thinking that language was more complicated than they remembered. They tried to recall their old language, but it was gone. So, they agreed that English was an excellent language.
The sorcerer couldn’t reach everyone, so other languages persisted, but English spread worldwide. The sorcerer lived for many years and reveled at the sound of children trying to sound out words with the schwa sound.
To this day, people claim to hear the spirit of the sorcerer laugh whenever a frustrated teacher says, “I don’t know why it’s spelled like that. You have to memorize it!”
THE END
What exactly is the schwa?
The schwa sound is the “uh” sound we say in unstressed syllables (for example: the “I” in pencil). It’s the difference between spoken and written language, which often makes spelling difficult. I like to use this song when teaching the schwa sound.
Whenever I’m asked which superpower I would want, I always respond with teleportation. Visiting other places is fun, but the time it takes to travel there is not. That is an advantage to tours. Collette is always very good about planning stops along the way. On the way to Marseille we stopped to tour the Abbey of Fontfroide and have a three course lunch. Then by the time we got to the hotel we it was time to find a place for dinner.
These days of travel within vacation can seem tedious, but the key is to find attractions along the way and enjoy the view.
The hotel wifi wasn’t cooperating last night, so I missed posting. As predicted, I love the countryside of Spain more than Barcelona. On Wednesday we made our way to Costa Brava, stopping along the way in Girona, a smaller city. The view from my hotel room is a living postcard. It’s ocean view and there’s nothing like hearing the waves all night.
Today we saw the Salvador Dali museum and the villages of Callela de Palefrugell and Llafranc. The Dali museum was fascinating. Dali was so innovative and truly saw the world differently from the rest of us. He really stands out as an artist who enjoyed success in this lifetime. He loved his wife and muse, Gala, even signing her name in his signatures.
The main word today though was HOT, and it will only be hotter from here on out. While it was “only” 92, it felt much hotter. The return to the pool was heavenly. On to France tomorrow.
Today we went to two must see sights in Barcelona. We started the morning on a panoramic bus tour of the city. The highlight was Placa de Catalunya. It is the highest point in the city and has amazing views. During the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s rule, it was the sight of many deaths. The city has now taken it and made it place to celebrate peace and nature.
Later, we went to the La Sagrada Familia, the church designed by Gaudi has been under construction since 1852. No matter what your religious beliefs, it is an awe inspiring place. I took a lot of pictures, but they can’t do it justice. There is so much detail and symbolism in ever space.
Technically, this is my day two in Barcelona. But, the “touristy” part of the trip started today. Prepared to roast in the Mediterranean, I was pleasantly surprised. It was warm (low 80s), but there was a nice breeze. We started with a guided walking tour of the city. Even though I know this it’s still so striking to me whenever I visit other countries just how young the USA is compared to most countries. There are structures in tact from Ancient Rome. The architecture of the past is so much more ornate that it gives old cities much more character. A great start to the tour.
Remains of Ancient Roman Aqueducts
In other great news- I have a new suitcase, paid for by the airline. They emailed me the location today and I was able to make the exchange during our free time this afternoon.
As the title suggests, this is not what I was expecting my first post to be. I was going to skipt he travel time and begin tomorrow when the tour officially begins. But, the trip got off to a bit of a rocky start. Which lead me to think about the first thing I always tell people:you have to go in with the expectation that something will go wrong at some point.
Any large trip has so many flights and luggage transfers and reservations that there’s bound to be a hiccup somewhere, and that’s without factoring in weather. You can’t control any of that, but you can control how your attitude and how you react. So far, this trip is challenging me to practice what I preach.
I woke up Saturday to a text telling me that my twelve o’clock flight was now a 12:45 flight. Then shortly before leaving for airport, there was another message that it was now a 2:00 flight. It was going to make my layover tight, but the ticket agent thought I’d be able to make it when I checked in. Then, while waiting I got a message that it was now a 2:37 flight. That put my original flight landing at JFK at 4:01 and my connection leaving at 4:15. I rescheduled for a 9:45 PM flight. Longer delay than I would like but I went to a restaurant instead of food court, and had time to walk around, read and chat on the phone with my mom. Of course, during this time my Gate was changed three times. At least they were at the same terminal, unlike last time I was at JFK. The flight was smooth and it seemed the tide had turned. We even landed a little early. Then I saw my luggage coming down the conveyor belt. I’m not sure if the picture will post here. But, all I can say is no person could’ve done that kind of damage to a piece of luggage. The side was torn and dangling with wires hanging out. My best guess is it got caught in a conveyor belt.
This is where the attitude comes in. I was standing in line laughing at how ridiculous it looked and how much has already happened. At the end of the day, I made it to Barcelona, it’s beautiful and there’s lots of fun activities ahead in the next couple of weeks. I’m going to say the laughing is because of my positive attitude, and not because I haven’t slept at most an hour in the last 24 hours and am on the edge of insanity
This is a just a quick note to let you know that the content at Nicole’s Nook is going to be shifting over the next couple of weeks as I travel. Instead of keeping a journal like I normally do, I’m going to document the trip here. I don’t know how much time I’ll have, so it will probably just be brief snippets . The main focus of Nicole’s Nook will always be reading and writing. Therefore, I still have other literature based content written and scheduled to post too.
Nicole’s Nook is primarily a book blog. But, I also want to occasionally include some writing “talk”. I’m going to start out today by talking about the importance of finding writing groups.
By nature, writing is a solo activity. That’s why it’s so important to find your writing people. When I started writing, I didn’t talk about it. Then, I got an honorable mention in a writing contest, and told people close to me. After that, my mom spotted a sign at Barnes & Noble about a writing group. That then lead me to two other local writing groups. It’s very hard to make that first leap and put yourself out there. But it’s worth it. Here are some of the reasons aspiring writers should consider joining a writing group.
accountablility– it is very easy to find ways to procrastinate, but if you know you’re going to be meeting with other people who will ask how you’re writing is going, you’re much more likely to write
critiques– it’s one thing to have family and friends read your writing, but if they’re not writers themselves, it’s hard to get quality feedback. Fellow writers want you to improve and aren’t worried about hurting your feelings, like friends and family.
resources: other writers are great “resources for resources”, they can recommend classes, conferences, books, magazines and web sites to improve your writing.
presentations: most writing groups have guest speakers. They may not always apply to your writing, but it still expands your knowledge.
In conclusion, if you are interested in writing, finding other writers is essential. If there aren’t any writing groups in your area, there are plenty of forums and resources online as well.
Thank you NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Description
Fifi the raccoon is trying desperately to get her family to play with her. But everyone is too busy, busy, busy! What’s a girl to do? Together with her dog, Felix, Fifi comes up with an idea—one that will bring them all together and give them lots of time to play: it’s a lots-of-time machine! But what happens when Fifi’s brilliant idea doesn’t go quite as planned? Can Fifi and her family find a way to be busy…together? Find out in this endearing and relatable family story.
My Thoughts:
This is such a cute story that’s relatable to any kid/family. Fifi just wants to spend time with her family, but they’re all busy. There are few words per page that are written speech bubbles, making this easy for a beginning reader. The bright illustrations tell the story and keep you engaged.
