Front Street Logo

Here's the great logo of my publisher Front Street. Could this be a book opening? A front door opening? A lap top computer opening to write the books? Good logos can mean many things.

Classroom Stew

Add broken crayons, white chalk dust,
Pencil shavings, and scissors rust.
A pinch of paste, a dab of glue,
That’s what goes into Classroom Stew.

Pour in black paint, six drops of ink.
Squeeze the sponge from the classroom sink.
Mix eraser crumbs, and hand soap goo,
That’s what goes into Classroom Stew.

Sprinkle fish food, eight lumps of clay,
Silver glitter, papier-mâché.
Rubber cement, gum off your shoe,
That’s what goes into Classroom Stew.

Stir it all well; dump in a cup,
Toast your teacher, and bottoms up.
Hold your belly before you spew.
Then flood the floor with Classroom Stew.

Roger's First Wish

When Roger clapped chalky erasers together, clouds of chalk dust would spout out. In one of these clouds the Chalk-Dust Genie appeared and granted Roger three wishes. Roger's nasty first wish was to make the playground turn to so he coudl watch the kindergartners slip and slide.

Gone High Tech

You may have noticed, teacher,
I am not in school today.
The cassette deck on my desk,
Will record each word you say.

Switch on my video cam,
When you have something to show,
And if you pass out homework,
Find my fax number below.

I’ve a pager and cell phone,
So I won’t be hard to reach.
Since I don’t need to be in class,
I’ll do lessons at the beach.

Reading Inside Books

Have you ever been curious to read a few pages of a book to see if you want to read the whole thing. There's a simple, quick way to do this by going to Amazon.com, finding that book and click on Search Inside. Several pages of the book appear right on your screen.

WT Melon Definition: Indoor Recess

Indoor Recess: (noun): The rainy-day recesses when kids must stay inside the classroom to play "quiet" games while the teachers get to go to the Teachers" Lounge and do what they usually do.

Blue Players

In the Great Global Game, the around-the-world race of twenty-four twelve-year-olds, players must wear blue, pilots wear green, trackers were yellow, producers wear black, Detention Center guards wear orange, and the illegal stoppers wear red. Read more about these game players in MVP*:Magellan Voyage Project. Is is really possible to travel around the world in forty days by taking land and sea transportation only (no flying)?

WT Melon Alphabet: N

N is for New School Year Moon: Have you ever noitced that the night before school starts each September, there is always a full moon. This is called the New School Year Moon and it helps teachers who stay up very late prepapring their classrooms for the new school year. The New School Year Moom lights up the parking lot as the teachers head home to get a quick rest before the first day of school.

Spot Z

WT Melon Alphabet: M

M is for Messy Desk Pest: Beware students! This potato-size pest likes to stay in school desks that are messed. He'll bug you all day long and the only way to get rid of him is to...you guessed it, keep your desk clean.

Spot Y

Two Fingers

Grandpa says they mean victory.
“It’s the peace sign,” my mother said.
But at school they’re called Bunny Ears,
When we hold them behind a head.

Teachers raise them to say ‘quiet’.
Scouts raise them when their oath’s begun.
But we just raise those Bunny Ears,
When we want to have sneaky fun.

2ndGraders #12

WT Melon Mash Up Map

See where WT Melon Web Page readers can be found. Check out the WT Melon Mash Up Map, and add yourself to the map. Cool!

Spot X

No School Today!

Wonderful Ones,
The classroom at the end of the hall is very quiet today. I got up this morning expecting the usual morning sounds of the classroom, but, alas, all was quiet. Not until after I drank my morning cup of teacher gasoline ie coffee did I remember that today was a holiday and there was no school. I hope all the third-graders are enjoying themselves, although by the sound of the pattering on the roof, it's raingin hard outside.
All the Best, Walter Teach Melon

The Spelling Worm

Kate couldn't spell very well so she hated writing. Once day a science experiment-the meal worm in a vial on her desk--started spelling words for her. She named the worm Bob and from then on, since Kate didn't have to worry about spelling all the time, she began writing excellent stories.

WT Melon Definition: Chefs of Pennsylvania

Chefs of Pennsylvania: (noun): have you ever wondered what happens to the pencil shaving in your classroom pencil sharpener. The best ones go to the Great Chefs of Pennsylvania who used them in their first-class pencil cusine. Have you ever tried pencil shaving pizza or pencil shaving pasta. Try pencil shaving pie and pencil shaving tea. Deeelicious!

2ndGraders #11

ANTA CLAUS OF ANTARCTICA VII

Chapter VII
The geese’s information was correct. Five minutes brought the sleigh within sight of land. Flat and dark at first, farther north the ground rolled with hills and sparkled with a fresh layer of snow.
Mr. Anta Claus surveyed the scene below.
“So this is how our planet is, lads,” he concluded. “Warm in the middle, with a cold white bottom and top.”
Yet in other ways this part of the world was different from the one Anta knew. From horizon to horizon the white ground blinked with colorful lights. Strings and strings of twinkling bulbs circled many trees, lined many rooftops, crossed every village street and connected lamppost to lamppost. So plentiful were these lights that north, south, east, and west the earth and the star-spangled sky seemed as one.
“The North is a mess, lads,” Anta Claus called out. “There’s more Christmasy stuff down there than would ever fit into my sack. Tis and Twas, working overtime all year, could hardly put a dent in it. Great bother, this.”
Off to the East, one particular cluster of lights caught Anta’s attention. Pointing in that direction, he announced, “There, lads. That’s where we will set the sleigh down. After you freshen up a spell, we can all head home to the South Pole.”
A short time later each yak made a perfect four-point landing in a snowy field at the edge of the small town. The entire place, nestled under a clean quilt of snow, was asleep. Ship sails of powdered snow, whipped up by a frosty wind, drifted down the deserted Main Avenue. Every parking meter wore a white top hat and snowballs dotted each traffic sign.
“Wait here, lads,” Mr. Anta Claus instructed his team. “I’ll scout around and see what a northern town is like. Perhaps I can clean up some of this Christmas mess.”
Although no eyewitnesses were present, this was a historic moment. Anta Claus climbed from the sleigh. For the first time since time was told, Mr. Anta Claus of the South Pole had set foot in the northern half of the world. His first words were never recorded, but we can imagine that the spectacle bewildered him. What was he thinking when he first saw the town square, decked out in silver trees and giant wreaths? What did he do when he spotted a sign stretched across Main Street that read?
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Perhaps he muttered, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” when he heard Christmas carols blaring from loudspeakers attached to lampposts.
As a distant church bell tolled once, Anta stepped into the town. His heart sank. Up and down every street he traipsed. Through every shop window he peered. Cookies and fruitcakes crammed every inch of the bakery window. Wrappings, ribbons and wreaths filled every shelf in the drug store. And the toy store, Oh! Oh! Oh!, that was the worst. Anta Claus had to close his eyes when he passed the display window filled with toys.
He stood under the flashing red light at the intersection of First Avenue and Main Street and shook his fist at the sky. “Great bother, this!” he shouted to the heavens. “Who is responsible for all this mess? Who brought this Christmas stuff here?”
Even as Anta Claus spoke, a mysterious sound--jingle, jingle, jingle--rang out from far away in the Milky Way. Jingle! Jingle! Jingle! --It rang louder and louder until JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE! --it rang right overhead.
Mr. Anta Claus clamped his hands over his ears. What he saw when he looked up gave him the shock of his life.

Spot W

ANTA CLAUS OF ANTARCTICA VI

Chapter Vl
Mr. Anta Claus was beginning to relax to the gentle sway of the sleigh, when out of the moon-washed sky came the most unexpected sound. Honk! Honk! ... Honk! Honk!
“Odd place for traffic, lads,” he remarked to the yaks.
Honk! Honk! ... Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk! ... Honk! Honk!
Anta gaped forward. “Oh! Oh! Oh!” he cried, leaping to his feet. “Do you see what I see, lads? It is a black V pointed right at us! And it’s coming on fast!”
Yes, dead ahead, alarmingly close, was an enormous letter V.”
“Honk! Honk! ... Honk! Honk!
Certain of a head-on collision, Anta Claus pulled on the reins. The yaks ducked their horned heads just in time to allow a flock of geese, winging in V-formation, to pass safely overhead.
Anta waved heartily to the passing birds. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Hello, honkers!” he called. “Hold on a minute! Come back and stop in for a chat!”
The lead goose (the goose that flew at the point of the V) twisted his out-stretched neck around. He studied the black sleigh, the rainbow-colored yaks and the black-whiskered driver.
“Honk! Honk! ... Honk! Honk!” he said to the rest of the flock. “What to my wondering eyes is that?”
The lead goose tucked in a wing and made a sharp U-turn. The other geese followed in turn. Fluttering, Fluttering, with feathers flying every which way, the flock of a dozen birds caught up with the yaks and perched around the edge of Anta’s sleigh.
The lead goose’s head swayed side to side as he inspected the scene. “Get a load of this!” he said. “Honk! Honk!”
“Never seen anything like it before,” said a second goose, poking Anta’s shoulder with his bill.
“Nothing like this back home. Eh?” said a third.
Mr. Anta Claus raised both arms and bowed. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Bury Christmas to you all!” he announced. “Greetings to the entire flock!”
“Well, hello! Honk! Hello!” said the lead goose. “What can we do for you? Honk! Honk!”
“I seem to have been blown off course a good distance,” Anta explained. “I noticed you honkers have just come from the North. Perhaps you might know of some land ahead where we could rest awhile.”
“There’s land, all right. Honk!” replied the lead goose.
“Gobs of it,” said the second.
“We just left the U.S.A. ourselves. Eh?” remarked the third.
Anta scratched his beard. “Usa?” he said. “Never heard of the place.”
“The United States! Honk! Honk! You haven’t heard of the United States?” went the lead goose.
“Haven’t heard of that place either,” said Anta.
“Honk! Well, you must have been blown way off course if you’ve never heard of America. Honk!”
“Nope,” said Anta. “Usa or the United States or America are three places new to me.”
Here the geese broke into goosy giggles and nudged each other with their wings.
The lead goose said, “Well, all those countries are ahead of you. Honk! Honk! We are headed south to spend the winter.”
Anta Claus’s eyes brightened at the mention of his homeland. “What parts of the South are you birds headed for?” he asked.
“Venezuela is where it is happening for geese these days,” the lead goose replied. “That’s why we’re flying in a
V-formation.”
“Of course, Brazil is fine in places,” said another bird. “So you might see some flocks flying in B-formation. Not often, though. Venezuela is just right for us, not too hot or too cold. If we traveled too far south, to those cold places we’d end up with goose pimples all winter. And if we landed in the hot jungle, well, your goose would be cooked, so they say.”
“And you, sir, where did you say you were from?” asked one goose who stood on the back edge of the sleigh.
“Antarctica. The South Pole,” Anta told him. “I don’t suppose you geese from the North would have heard of me. I’m Anta Claus. My job is to ride around the South, ridding it of any sign of Christmas.”
The dozen geese exchanged glances. Their heads bobbed in approval.
“Honk! Honk! You take away Christmas things, did you say, Mr. Claus?” asked the lead goose. “What a great idea! Honk! Too many of us fowls end up stuffed and carved on Christmas tables. Honk! Honk! Frankly, Mr. Claus, we wouldn’t mind if people forgot Christmas entirely.”
“Keep up the good work! Well done! Splendid! Here, Here!” went the rest of the flock.
“But how time flies, when you’re flying, Mr. Claus,” said the lead goose. “We must get on our way right away. Just keep flying north and you’ll find land, lots of it.”
With that, the goose spread his wings, stretched out his neck and dove off the sleigh. In couples, the others did likewise. Again the flock formed the enormous V and shot southward. By dawn they would be in Venezuela.
Anta Claus watched the V-shaped silhouette drift away through the moonlight. When the flock was a mere black dot in the southern horizon, he stared doubtfully at the water below.
“Great bother, this, lads,” he called out. “I sure hope those birds aren’t leading us on a wild goose chase.

Spot V

WT Melon Alphabet: L

L is for : Mary's Little Lamb-- Mary tended to daydream a lot in the classroom at the end of the hall. Then one day a little lamb started to follow her to school. It went "Baaa" everytime Mary started to daydream.

2ndGraders #12

New Year

Wonderful Ones,
In school a new year can mean two different things. Right? it can mean you're in a different grade or you write the years numbers a bit different year. There's a new school year and a new year year. Happy new year year. 2006
All the Best, Walter Teach Melon

The Big Book Builiding

The Big Book Building on Apple Island is where every book in the wolrd is stored. Miss Library runs the Big Book Building, but sadly it's not used as much as it once was.

ANTA CLAUS OF ANTARCTICA V

CHAPTER V
Soon the snow stopped and the sky cleared. Although the wind still blew stiffly, mile-by-mile it grew warmer. To the East, a rotund moon hung in the sky like a big, bald head. Moonbeams coated the land below with a soft layer of silver dust.
Mr. Anta Claus blew out his cheeks. He fished through a pocket for a licorice stick and dropped back in his seat. “Well, it’s easy going to wherever we’re going, lads,” he called forward. “I figure we’re presently passing over the jungles of Brazil. Can’t see any sign of Christmas down there. Lucky for us. I’d hate to land amidst those pythons, piranhas, and other peevish pests. Hope this wicked wind dies shortly. I’m aching to return to my rocking chair.”
Yet the wind continued to blow. It continued to carry the sleigh away from the South Pole, closer and closer to the top half of the world, to that mysterious region where Anta had never dare go before.
He was dwelling upon that very thought, when the yaks let out a yelp.
“What’s wrong, Orangeback Yak?” he asked. “What do you see, Redback Yak?”
Leaning over the side of the sleigh, he spotted it. A yellow line! The sleigh was zipping over a wide, yellow line that stretched from horizon to horizon on the ground. Anta could plainly see the long thing, shimmering in the moonlight.
“Steady now, lads,” he said in a low voice. “That’s what folks call the equator. I’ve seen it before on the globe back in the cottage. That line runs all the way around the world. It means we have just passed into the Northern Hemisphere. Nothing to worry about, though. Everything will be fine.”
Privately, however, Mr. Anta Claus trembled. He slunk low in his seat, lest the yaks should see that he was afraid.
“Oh, oh, oh?” he uttered under his breath.
Silently and serenely the sleigh sped onward. Ahead on the northern horizon, new and curious stars appeared, while to the rear, stars Anta had known all his life sunk out of sight.
When at last the wind blew itself out, Anta Claus again leaned over the side of his sleigh. He searched for a place to land. “My team has been flying all night. They must be tired,” he told himself. “They will need a rest before heading back south.”
What Anta saw was not encouraging. The entire half-planet appeared to be covered by some vast ocean.
He wondered aloud, “Is it possible that the entire top of the world has no land whatsoever?”

2nd Graders #11

WT Melon Alphabet: K

K is for Kenneth: Kenneth couldn't read very well. His reading was so poor that he didn't fit into any of the three reading groups in the classroom at the end of the hall. One day, however, Kenneth found a Purple Reader on the reading shelf with his name on it and all that changed.

Hoppy New Year 2006!

Spot