What I saw around Savannah

Last week I participated in a National Endowment for Humanities teacher workshop in Savannah, Georgia. It was a great learning experience with quality speakers and field trips to places of significance in the story of Gullah Geechee people.

This was a whipping tree that was on a plantation that later became a cemetery.

This statue commemorates the people who came to Savannah as slaves. It is located near the river. Not sure what message the artist wanted to convey with the people in modern dress.

Isaac, whose 'basket' name was Dog, let us feel the difference in crab nets plain and dipped in paint. Guess which one lasts longer in sea water.

Tom tried his hand at making a loop on the crab net after I tried it. I thought it would be more like crocheting but it was more like macrame.

This was a former oyster shucking shed. Now it is part of a learning center.

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Closer view of oyster shed.

We had a cultural immersion/low country crab boil at the Pin Point Center.  It  reminded me of a crawfish boil. They didn't use quite the same spices and there was no remoulade or come back sauce.

Another field trip was to the Penn Center in South Carolina. This former school was started in 1862 during the Civil War. The morning was spent on traditional school subjects and the afternoons were spent learning trades like basket weaving, farming, carpentry, and cooking.

The grounds were filled with trees covered with Spanish moss.

In the 1960's Martin Luther King, Jr. met with his supporters and associates at the Penn Center.

We enjoyed hearing Ron Baise sing. Have you heard of Gullah, Gullah Island? It was a TV show that Ron and his family were on a few years back. 

This room in the library was made to look like a sweet grass basket. The community was involved in the planning of the library and it was an important place in their community.

We visited this praise house on our way back. Each community had a praise house where people came to worship Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. They would take care of problems with sassy children, wayward church members, and other small disputes here.

There are more photos. I'll try to post them soon. 

Finished One of Required Books

I finished the narrative God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man for my summer workshop. I think I understand a little bit about the way of life of the people on Sapelo Island. I saw many connections to the life of poor Mississippians that I have observed traveling around the state and listening to family and friends. The big difference to me was that the people on Sapelo were from one certain area of Africa and kept some of their ways after they were brought to the island.

The other readings are on my to-do list. I have two plane rides coming up in a week or so that will be perfect for reading the rest of the required list.

Check out my sewing blog for the other activities that are keeping me busy.

National Endowment for Humanities Gullah Voices Experience

This summer I'm going to participate in a workshop sponsored by the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) in Savannah, Georgia. I'm excited to get to study about the people of this area, their dialect, culture, and music. As part of the workshop all of us have homework to read before we start our week together. 

I have printed all the selections that were emailed to me and this week I received these two books. I have started reading the one on the left-it is more narrative and I love a good story. I hope to use this blog as a place to record the process and what I learn.

The process actually started in February when I remembered to check out the NEH website and summer workshop offerings. I applied to two different workshops that were within driving distance. There is a bit of paperwork to the application process but it was not too much. Then I had to wait until April to find out if I was accepted. Participants can only attend one workshop per summer.

Finally in early April I found I was accepted to the Gullah Voices workshop. There is a stipend to help cover expenses like transportation and hotel. The organizers of this workshop chose a very nice hotel in Savannah as the headquarters for the week. Some people are going to share rooms to cut down on the expense. Being a person who likes a good bit of alone time, I chose not to have a roommate. This means my stipend won't go as far but I had planned to drive instead of fly. I'm using loyalty points to stay at hotels as I drive to and from the workshop.  

Now I have to get on that homework. I'll share my first impressions in a later post.

Middle Grade Spooky Books

Remember last summer I attended the International Literacy Association convention in St. Louis? Well, I have been slowly reading through the bag of free kids books I was given there. I recently finished these two spooky middle grade books. 

I read A Curious Tale of the In-Between first. I'm not a big fan of horror and this one started off a little creepy. But the story was interesting and different so I read on. The main character sees dead people or at least their ghosts. She can talk to them, too. She has been friends with a ghost boy for most of her life. When a strange woman finds out about her abilities, the girl is abducted. The story of her escape and the fate of her ghost friend were satisfying to read.

Next I read Took, a Ghost Story. It was even more creepy. Sometimes I had to put the book down it was so creepy. Again a girl is abducted by a strange woman. This time the girl's brother is her rescuer. I'm not sure what type readers would enjoy this book. It had a great ending but getting there was creeping me out. 

Do you recommend books to your students, co-workers, or friends? How do you decide what book fits a reader? These two books are more difficult to read than most of my students can attempt but I know someone out there likes spooky books, so I'm suggesting these to you. 

If you enjoy them, let me know.

Til next time,

Janice

Faux British Mysteries

I'm reading mysteries that aren't very scary-some have no dead bodies. The Aunt Dimity mysteries by Nancy Atherton are set in a village somewhere in the UK. The main character and her family are Americans living in England. But Lori is very nosy and gets caught up in other people's problems.
So much of these books remind me of the ones I just finished by Susan Wittig Albert.

 Here is a pic of this year's bunk bed flower bed. I ordered some seeds from Buchart Gardens. I know, our climate is so similar. Anyway, Martin and I planted these seeds on Saturday and they have already sprouted! Can't wait for little zinnias and cosmos to take over. Should be as colorful as a quilt.

That's all for now. Going to see some kids I know at a community theater drama.

A Woman of Literacy

This month is International Literacy Association's Women's History Month. Mississippi Reading Association President, Dr. LeAnn Carter, asked board members to write about Women of Literacy who have influenced our lives. 

The first person who came to mind was my mother, Helen Thornton. No, she is not a teacher. But she is the person who instilled my love of books. She read to my brothers and me from our earliest days. She took us to the public library once a week. We were there for Story-time as preschoolers and in the summer when we were school-age. 

I remember my mother reading books for her own enjoyment, too. The first book I remember discussing with her was Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I was in first grade and just beginning to read. The book she was reading was SO thick. It was the thickest book I had ever seen, even thicker than her Bible. I was curious about a story that kept her reading page after page. I asked her what the book was about and that was the beginning of our conversations about books. 

Mom will be ninety-one this week. She still loves to read. Her favorite books now are biographies. She still likes to talk about the books she is reading. She likes to share 'just a page' or 'just a paragraph' to other willing readers. 

Who is your Woman of Literacy? 

More Mysteries

Spring is here! Not by the calendar but certainly by the flowers.

I picked these at mom's. She has so many and she loves to share them.

This week has been our Spring Break. I went to the Canton library and checked out these mysteries. I am obsessed with this author. I have read all of the ones set in Texas and Alabama. Now I am reading through these set in the Lake District in the UK. Beatrix Potter is a main character. There are also talking animals (of course the people can't understand them). If you like mysteries but not the gory, violent kind, then these are just right for you.

Catching up on my recorded TV shows, too. Good thing I have lots of inside activities since it is raining steadily for the next few days.