Ellie the Fin Pal asks Norman "What About People Food?"
Some finpals can’t read or write, yet, so they tell an adult their questions for Norman. That’s how this one pop into our email. Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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But first a finny!
Q: What do fish need to stay healthy?
Q: What do fish need to stay healthy?
A: Vitamin Sea.
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #251-Roll of the Dice
Know who coined the idiom “The die is cast”?
If you answered Shakespeare, thinking it one of the many idioms and phrases William Shakespeare coined for his plays, think again. It was Julius Caesar, and no not in the Shakespeare play either. The real Julius Caesar.
Technically, according to my go-to, Writing Explained.org, Roman historian, Suetonius, said, what Caesar said was Alea iacta est, the Latin phrase meaning “die is cast.” The year was 49 B.C and Caesar had just entered Italy with his army, thus starting a civil war.
Since then, the saying “the die is cast,” has come to mean that the dice—literal six-sided gaming cubes—had been thrown and whatever numbers had come up were the numbers that would be played. For Caesar it meant that it was too late to stop the war from beginning. He had already disobeyed orders, and he must win the war if he wanted to keep his life. On that cheery note, let’s toss some dice!
Poetry Challenge #251
Roll The Dice!
Topics for poems are all around us, but sometimes we don’t know how to start.
This is a simple exercise you can use as many times as necessary to create a structure for a poem.
Roll a pair of dice. The lower number indicates how many words should be on each line. The higher number indicates how many lines in the poem.
(If you don’t have dice, you can use the A-6 cards in a deck of cards. Or use a number generator on the computer. Or make slips of paper with the numbers 1-6 on them and draw numbers from a hat…)
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Warm up the dice with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s song “Roll the Dice”! It’s a winner!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pal asks Norman "Tell Me a Finny Goldfish Joke!"
Today, instead of Norman answering your questions, our fishy friend has some questions for you! Why? Because it’s International Joke Day! (July 1st). To celebrate here are six of Norman’s finniest goldfish jokes.
Why only six jokes? Because seven ate nine and then all the rest ran away. . . get it? ate nine. . .glug-glug-glug
(Scroll down, there are more where that came from!)
Q: How did the computer catch the goldfish?
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A: With the internet!
Q: What did one goldfish say to the other?
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A: Keep your mouth shut and you'll never get caught!
Q: What's the difference between a piano and a goldfish?
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A: You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish!
Q: What kind of guitar do goldfish play?
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A: Bass
Q: What do whales order when they’re hungry for fast food?
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A: Goldfish and ships!
Q: What did the goldfish shark say after eating a clownfish?
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A: It tastes a little big funny!
If you think thought these goldfish jokes were finny and you’d like to read more, check out the Ask Norman letters. Norman will share a goldfish joke with each response—no clown-fishing around! And . . .
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #250 Crunchy Toffee
Butter Crunch, English Toffee, crumbled Heath Bars . . . just thinking about it makes my teeth tingle. If like me, you love almond butter crunch anything, any time, any way, this is your lucky day! National Almond Butter Crunch Day (June 19th)!
So nice of the powers that be to declare gorging on crumbled almonds, toffee bits and chocolate mandatory!
See’s Toffee-ettes® are my fav! Hint-Hint!
Poetry Challenge #250
Butter Crunch
Almond Butter Crunch. It sounds good. It tastes good. If you repeat the words, they have a distinct rhythm—especially if you repeat the last word several times.
CRUNCH crunch Crunch Crunch
CRUNCH crunch Crunch
CRU uNCH . . .
Write a sound rhythm poem using the words “almond butter crunch”. You can add other ingredients: maybe other kinds of ice cream or ingredients for a sundae.
Use repetition to get the beat you want.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
And because you know you want to, treat yourself to some Almond Butter Crunch. This Almond Popcorn Crunch recipe by Queenkungfu is only half the calories—after all it is popcorn!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pal asks Norman "Can You Help Me?"
Some finpals can’t read or write, yet, so they tell an adult their questions for Norman. That’s how this one pop into our email. Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
But first a finny!
Q: What kind of goldfish only comes out at night?
Q: What kind of goldfish only comes out at night?
A: A Starfish
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #249-Go For the Os
Fries or Rings? I go for onion rings every time. If like me, you go for the Os, then this is your lucky day! Happy National Onion Ring Day (June 22nd)!
Folks go round and round and round about who came up with the delish idea to batter-dip and deep fry rings of onion.
According to Spirit of the Holiday website:
Texas-based restaurant chain Kirby’s Pig Stand claims it played a big part in onion rings’ craze. Give me an O! Oh yum!
Ohhhh No Mooooooo! Kirby’s Pig Stand is long gone.
Give me an O! Oh yum, I want some!
Want Crunch? Watch and Listen!
Poetry Challenge #249
Go For the Os!
Write a circular poem.
Because the best onion rings are crunchy, use words with lots of hard C & K sounds so they really crunch.
Because the best onion rings—whether we like it or not—are fatty, add extra descriptive words to make your poem extra fatty. For, as everyone knows, when it comes to onion rings—and some poems too—flavor wise, fat’s where it’s at!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just CRUNCH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Who Inspires Me? Opal Lee
A one-year new holiday commemorating Juneteenth, sort for June 19th, an event many outside of Texas didn’t know about before last year. A momentous event we might still not know about—and definitely wouldn’t be celebrating if it were not for the actions of one determined then 94-year-old woman: Opal Lee
Opal Lee walked from Fort Worth Texas to Washington DC— “a little old lady in tennis shoes”—2 1/2 miles at a stretch, to commemorate the 2 1/2 years it took for word of the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people free, to finally reached Texas.
When Opal arrived at the Capitol on September 23, 2020, she delivered to Congress a petition to declare Juneteenth a holiday with 1.5 million signatures. Watch a Video About Opal Lee’s Walk here!
“ None of us are free until we’re all free.”
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 that word of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached enslaved Texans—two years and six months after President Abraham Lincoln issued it—making Texas one of the last states to legally abolish slavery. In 1980, thanks to activist Opal Lee and others, Texas declared Juneteenth a statewide holiday.
In 2021, when President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday, Opal Lee, called “The Grandmother of Juneteenth” was there!
For more about how Juneteenth came to be—and why—read/share Opal’s picture book, The Real Opal Lee
And for more about Opal enjoy Alice Fay Duncan and Keturah A Bobo’s picture book biography, Opal Lee and What it Means to be Free.
Even more: Maya Smart has curated an excellent list of Juneteenth Picture Books!
Happy Happy Juneteenth!
Fin Pal asks Norman: "What About Harry?"
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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But first a Finny!
Q: What do you call a goldfish with no eye?
Q: What do you call a goldfish with no eye?
A: GOLDFSHHHHH