Sue Kuentz's Door to Lore
  • About Sue
    • Hear Stories
    • Press Kit
    • What folks are saying about Sue
    • Where Have I Been Storytelling?
  • Programs
    • Pre-K through 8th grade
    • Reading, Writing, and Storytelling Workshops
  • Storytelling Links
    • Just for Students
    • Just for Teachers
  • Power of Story Blog
  • Calendar
  • Contact Sue
    • Storytelling Fees for Schools and Libraries >
      • Save 50% with TCA
      • Storytelling Fees for Schools and Libraries

Jacks, Jump ropes, and Journals

4/11/2014

8 Comments

 
Picture
Artifacts for today are jacks, jump ropes, and journals. My favorite games to play with others were jacks and singing the jump rope jingles while jumping in and out of the two man rope turning. Awww, those were the days. I'm still pretty good at jacks, as long as I use a golf ball instead of that puny red ball that barely bounces.  Jacks was reserved for the weekends when I could visit my friends down the street from where I lived and have tournaments. Jump rope was pretty much every day at recess, along with four square with the kickball. Hey, I should be writing this down in my journal so the details will push through those cobwebs of memory. I'm an educator so am always thinking kids but EVERYONE really needs a journal to write in. The earlier we begin, the better!

image url: http://www.fungameskidsplay.com/jacksgame.htm
My journal is a storehouse, a treasury for everything in my daily life: the stories I hear, the people I meet, the quotations I like, and even the subtle signs and symbols I encounter that speak to me indirectly.
                 -Dorothy U. Seyler from Patterns of Reflection: A Reader

Keep your journal close to you at all times. Be ready to write anything and everything - words, pictures, lists, stories, anecdotes, quick writes, poetry, dreams, nightmares, and yes, even jump rope jingles:
Jump Rope Jingles:


Cinderella, dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss her fellow
Made a mistake
And kissed a snake
How many doctors
Did it take?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5. . . .


While jumping and chanting, the jumper must try to perform those actions

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, 
Turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, 
Touch the ground. 
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Touch your shoe.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
That will do.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, 
Go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, 
Say your prayers.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, 
Turn out the light.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Say good night!

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump over the fence, fence, fence
He jumped so high, high, high
He touched the sky, sky, sky
And he didn’t come back, back, back
Till the Fourth of July, July, July

Our 4th graders and 7th graders in Texas just completed their STAAR writing tests. These testing days can and probably are grueling for these kids. Our teachers truly teach their hearts out using the writing process, writing craft, and writing strategies. But research shows that the best writing that our students will do is away from school - a place where there's no pressure, open thoughts allowed, no rules. Every child needs at least one journal at home, in the car, in the bathroom, or by their bed. 

Cool tip: Those small flip notebooks you can buy at Target, Walgreens, or Office Max are perfect pocket notebooks for our kids. They'll be able to catch funny phrases in the cafeteria, at home around the dinner table, at the movie theater, or on vacation.  Here's a few quotes I picked up here, there and everywhere:

1. I need to see a man about a dog! (meaning I have to go to the restroom)
2. "If everybody obeyed the 10 commandments there'd be no 10:00 news"
3. You grow too big for your britches, you'll be exposed.
4. Never trouble trouble until trouble bothers you.
5. He knew how to put the fun into dysfunctional.
6. "Our town's so small we don't even have a town drunk. We just take turns" (Doc McConnell)
7. Special memory - "Going to bed listening to voices of people who love you" - Kathryn Windham
8. "Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's a cha-cha." - Robert Brault
9. D.C. Cornish said "Knocked her out graveyard dead."
10. What's the difference between polititcians and vampires? Vampires only suck blood at night.
It's never too late to find a blank journal and begin your writing journey. The earlier the better because it becomes a natural, daily habit. Choose your color ink, pencil or ipad to jot, type, write, draw, color, paste, doodle, and reflect! You'll surprise yourself!
8 Comments
Wendy link
4/10/2014 11:53:10 pm

I could sit and play with jacks by myself for hours. (I also liked pick-up-sticks, but that's a different letter.) During the summer, jump rope was a neighborhood draw, especially in the early evening when it was a bit cooler.
Visiting from A to Z~
Wendy at <a href=http://jollettetc.blogspot.com>Jollett Etc.</a>

Reply
Stephanie link
4/11/2014 12:20:19 am

OhCertainlyYes!!! Journals at my daycare begin as soon as they can sit and hold a crayon. I will definitely use that for an a to z topic. Thank you :)

Reply
Sue Kuentz link
4/11/2014 08:56:58 am

I definitely want my grandchildren in YOUR daycare! Ah, those kids are so fortunate to have you! Thank you for your reply!

Reply
cecilia link
4/11/2014 02:42:19 am

I still have a set of jacks and taught my kids to play(they are bright coloured plastic but shaped like knuckle bones)and several jump ropes(skipping ropes). I have a friend whose mother skips every day for half an hour first thing and she is fit as a fiddle and in her 80s.

Reply
Sue Kuentz link
4/11/2014 08:59:06 am

OMG - your friend's mother is amazing! I better get my jump rope out now and get back into it. So glad jacks were part of your life and your kids. I did the same with my boys - I should have let them win once in a while. I guess that competitiveness is still there:)

Reply
Pam Faro link
4/11/2014 06:29:59 am

I LOVED jacks when I was about 12!! And jumping rope was a favorite recess activity in grade school - nice memories. As for journaling - I've been so off-and-on throughout my life. I'm currently "off," sadly. Looking forward to when I get back to it... Thanks for the post.

Reply
Sue Kuentz link
4/11/2014 09:00:45 am

Pam, my journals are definitely not organized at all! I have recipes mixed in with drawings of flowers, a few song lyrics, grocery list - crazy!

Reply
Storyteller Mary link
4/11/2014 04:10:18 pm

Wonderful reminders of fun time playing. Actually, we sometimes do a jump rope move in aqua-aerobics class, so I guess we're still playing.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Book me as a storyteller. TCA can help pay fees.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Want to follow my blog? Just fill in your email below and you'll receive new posts!

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2018
    February 2018
    February 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    398.2 Poem And Rap
    7 Habits Of Happy Kids
    Anchor
    Anchor Quotes
    Artifacts
    A To Z Blog Challenge
    Birthday Surprises
    Blogging A Z Challenge
    Blogging A - Z Challenge
    Blogging From A-Z April Challenge Reflection
    Books
    Books About Quilts
    Cari Young
    Chris Van Allsburg
    Chuck Wagon
    Civil War Stories
    Class Activity
    David Novak
    David Titus
    Descriptions
    Digital Storytelling
    Dust-bowl
    Epitaphs
    Fan-activities
    Fishing Jokes
    Fish-tales
    Five Senses
    Gadgets And Gizmos
    Giving Credit To A Written Story
    Hawaiian Stories
    Historical Photographs
    Historical Stories
    IPad
    Iphone Apps
    Jamberry Nails
    Japanese Fans
    Japanese Stories
    Japanese Storytelling
    Joshua Chamberlain
    Journals
    Kamishibai Storytelling
    Leader In Me
    Librarians
    Luggage
    Mentor-texts
    Metaphors
    Museums
    Ocarina App
    Old West
    Paintings
    Paintings-and-storytelling
    Pictures
    Poetry
    Primary Resources
    Quick-write
    Quilts
    Radio
    Rakugo
    Reading
    Research
    Stephen Covey
    Stories
    Storytelling
    Storytelling Organizations
    String Figures
    Sue Kuentz
    Talk Like A Pirate
    Tandem Telling
    Tejas Storytelling Festival
    The Secret Knowledge Of Grown-Ups
    The SOS File
    The Wreck Of The Zephyr
    Truisms
    UTSA Storytelling Festival
    Violins
    Visualizing
    Wagons
    Westward Expansion
    Winter And Holiday Stories
    Writing

Sue Kuentz's Door to Lore Website
Kuentz Creative Consulting, LLC
151 Saur Road
Bulverde, TX 78163



cell: 210-326-7877
email:  sue.kuentz@gmail.com

© Sue Kuentz 2018
Photos used under Creative Commons from h.koppdelaney, ken ratcliff, pellaea, a.dombrowski, steveczajka, Mellicious, Dougtone, Peter G Trimming, CraigMoulding