[meteorite-list] Falling Into Reading

From: tracy latimer <daistiho_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:36 2004
Message-ID: <Sea2-F65umz2wJZGhFw0000894c_at_hotmail.com>

There was a discussion about this "meteorite" last year. Unfortunately, Ms.
Polacco's family heirloom is not meteoric; it was one of those stories that
takes on a life of its own. She is also very adamant that the events
happened just as the family story goes, don't try to tell her that her
grandparents' headstone isn't a meteorite, or she will chew you a new one.
Otherwise, her books are very good children's reading.

Tracy Latimer


>I saw this a piece of this 'meteorite'
>when P. Polacco had a book reading/signing
>here in Houston. The piece I saw looked like
>granite.
>
> aht
>
>Allan H. Treiman
>Senior Staff Scientist
>Lunar and Planetary Institute
>3600 Bay Area Boulevard
>Houston, TX 77058-1113
> 281-486-2117
> 281-486-2162 (FAX)
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ron Baalke [mailto:baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov]
>Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 4:41 PM
>To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>Subject: [meteorite-list] Falling Into Reading
>
>
>
>
>http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7670839&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept
>_id=472542&rfi=6
>
>Falling Into Reading
>Amy Soper
>The Midland Daily News (Michigan)
>April 10, 2003
>
>Wednesday morning's visitor to Adams Elementary School left some students
>with tingling hands.
>
>After hearing stories from author Patricia Polacco, students were given the
>chance to touch a small piece of a meteorite which she wrote about in her
>first book, "Meteor!" Polacco told students they could make wishes while
>touching the piece of fallen star.
>
>"It felt tingly in my hand," said first-grader Nicole Meeks. Meeks said her
>favorite Polacco book is about a principal who helps a student quit
>bullying.
>
>"I like the book about her rotten redheaded older brother," classmate Megan
>Bausch said.
>
>Katie Smith, another first grader, said she liked the book Polacco wrote
>about how she was taught to read. A fourth student said he liked the
>breaks
>
>spent clapping and stomping feet between stories Wednesday.
>
>"The rock felt kind of cold when I touched it," said Nathan Fisher.
>
>Polacco began writing children's books when she was 41 years old and has
>written 50 in 17 years. She said she grew up around a family of story
>tellers.
>
>"My mother's people are from Russia and the Ukraine and my dad was from
>Ireland," she told the students. "All my life I've been used to hearing
>stories, not seeing them. At my house we didn't have a television. We
>watched my grandmother. It was better than any TV I ever watched."
>
>Polacco shared that oral tradition with students by telling three stories -
>one about a girl whose grandmother gave her a doll to play with and the
>doll
>
>comes alive, a second about the meteor and a third about a quilt that's
>been
>in her family for years.
>
>The meteor story is based on an event Polacco's mother told her about.
>
>"My mother saw it happen. I do know it was during the month of August at
>11:30 p.m. All of a sudden it looked like the sun came out. They ran to the
>windows of the house to see what was making noise and it crashed in the
>yard," she said. "My mother said the house shook and they saw something
>gleaming in the front yard."
>
>The meteorite has become a piece of family and local history in Union City,
>where it crashed. People come in bus loads to touch it at the cemetery
>where Polacco`s grandmother is buried. The meteorite now has the family
>name
>carved on it, but Polacco carries a piece with her.
>
>"With every legend there's a warning to be careful what you wish for
>because
>
>it may come true," she told students. "There are three wishes you can't
>wish
>
>for. You may not wish for money, you can't change other people
>and you can't wish for toys or possessions you can purchase with money."
>
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
>______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
Received on Wed 07 May 2003 07:59:05 PM PDT