My Favorite Books For Ramadan

Over the years I have built up a little collection of books about Ramadan. I figured I would share a few of my favorites. 

The first is Lailah's Lunchbox by Reem Faruqi. It's about a young girl's first time fasting. She is new to the United States and trying to fit in.

Another favorite is Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns by Hena Khan. This is written for younger children. It's a beautifully illustrated book of colors. 

What are your favorite books about holidays?

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster was one of my son's favorite stories when he was little.

The Proudest Blue

The Proudest Blue is a story about a little girl wearing a hijab to school for the first time. It is written by Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal.

ESL at Home

Ms. Rehm found a great new resource! ESL at Home.

It has a variety of activities. The best part is that all of the activities are written out in home languages, so parents can help their students with them. They have Spanish, French, Portuguese, Fari, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Arabic!

Try them out and let us know what you think.

Nailed It!

     I love the Netflix show Nailed It.

I always get a good laugh when I'm watching. One of my friends posted a Nailed It challenge. Of course, I was in! The rules were simple. Try to duplicate the cake in the picture.  Don't go out and buy any special equipment - use only what you already have in your house. You can buy ingredients like eggs or sugar, just no crazy cake decorating equipment.

     I looked at the picture and thought, that's not too hard to do.  I didn't have a small cake pan, so I used a saucepan to bake my cake.  I put some parchment paper so it would not stick. It didn't stick, but the paper fell in on itself a bit, so my cake's shape wasn't as cylindrical as I wanted.

    I found some candy eyes in my pantry. I have no idea how old they are! They are just sugar, and there was no expiration date, so I thought that it was safe to use them.

     The cupcake wasn't too bad to make. I used a zip lock back for a pastry bag. I think his eyes look cute!

     So here is my finished project.  How did I do? It's not perfect for sure. The white icing could be a bit smoother.  The important thing is that I tried my best. It also tasted pretty good.

   My challenge to my students is try something new that you've never done, but always wanted to do. Even if it's not perfect, it is still worth attempting that hard thing.  Then you can say "NAILED IT!"

Video on how to add Google Translate Extension

Watervliet Parade

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     When Mrs. Webster said that we were going to do a parade through Watervliet, I was so excited to participate. I have been stuck in the house for almost 3 weeks now. I only left the house once to go to the grocery store.

    Here's the map they sent out. I was a bit confused but I figured I would follow the leader.

     I did have a professional development at 10am this morning. I think the teachers are learning as much as the kids are these days. I didn't want to miss either thing. It was going to be tight but I felt like I could do it.

     I made it to Watervliet High School just in a nick of time. A lot of cars were already lined up. I had some balloons, and stuck them out of my windows.

    We crisscrossed all through the streets of Watervliet. My car was towards the end of the line. Did you see me? I got really choked up and then started crying when I saw all of you lined up, even though it was raining! The day was dreary, but I saw so many happy rainbows all over the city. It really touched me.

   
    Someone said they counted over 90 cars! How many do you think there were?

    Mrs. Brown made a great slide show with a ton of different pictures from the parade. Are you in there anywhere?