Tap Dance Day!

Shuffle-Ball-Change! May 25th is Tap Dance Day!

I took tap dancing lessons when I was little and enjoyed it very much. I always felt so special in my tap shoes.


Interesting fact: 
Early tap shoes were made by hammering pennies or hobnails (a short, thick-headed nail commonly used on boot soles)  into the toe and heel of the shoe. When the performer danced the metal would create a tapping sound when their foot hit the hard ground or stage. https://ourpastimes.com/the-history-of-tap-dance-shoes-12185380.html

Question:
Have you ever tap danced? If not, what kind of dancing have you done?

Books:
Here's a list of some children's books about turtles:

Rainbow Magic Dance Fairies: Tasha the Tap Dance Fairy - By Daisy Meadows - Scholastic

How to tap dance:

Brother's Day

Love them or hate them. Today, May 24th, is Brother's Day.

I have an older brother and, yes, I do love him - but don't tell him I said that. 😜

Question: Do you have any brothers?

Books:
Here's a list of some children's books about brothers:

• The Orphan Rescue - by Anne Dublin - Second Story Press
• The Wright Brothers - by Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrated by Andrej Krystoforski - Kids Can Press
• No Room for Baby - by  Émile Jadoul and illustrated by  Émile Jadoul - Kids Can Press
• Little Brothers & Little Sisters - by Monica Arnaldo - Owlkids
• Me and My Brother - by Ruth Ohi - Annick Press

Turtle Day!

It's time to "shellebrate" because May 23rd is Turtle Day!

Interesting fact: 
A turtle's shell is part of its skeleton. More facts at https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/animals/sea-life/turtle-facts/

Question:
What is known as Turtle Island?

Books:
Here's a list of some children's books about turtles:

• Franklin the Turtle - by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark -  Kids Can Press
• Old Turtle - by Douglas Wood and illustrated by Cheng-Khee Chee  - Scholastic
• Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People - by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger - Annick Press
• Hatchling’s Journey - by Kristin Bieber Domm and illustrated by Jeffrey Domm - Nimbus Publishing
• Leatherback Blues - by Karen Hood-Caddy -  Dundurn
• Turtle Pond - by James Gladstone and illustrated by Karen Reczuch - Groundwood Books

Hosting a writing group

This blog post is a general post about my writing group at work. The writing group we've formed at work is going well.

In our first meeting, we wrote short paragraphs based on photo prompts. It was very interesting to see the creativity of the group and how the photographs prompted each writer in their own unique way. I don't think my paragraph will develop into a full-fledged story but I will keep it in my files. You never know when you are going to need it in another story.

At the next meeting, a co-worker and I tagged teamed hosting the meeting. In honour of poetry month, he taught the group on how to write a Haiku, and I follow-up by expanding the lesson to how to write a Tanka. The lesson was well received by the group.

I am very excited that I have been asked to host the May 28th meeting with a topic of my choice. The topic I chose is

Generating Story Ideas

Once I complete my session I will post about the topic and how the meeting went.


While you wait, feel free to share with me some the ways you come up with story ideas or what you do to help get the creative juices flowing by entering it in the comments below.

I'm also interested in any other topics I could share with my writing group or you would like me to post about.