Cherished items

scrapbooks

Baby books/journals

rings

Topic: Imagine that you need to evacuate for a hurricane and you can takeThree items with you. What would you take? Why would you take those items? (Another option: you can only take one item. Give me three reasons why you would take that item.)

Sit on your hands and think for one minute before you do your map.

Cherished items

scrapbooks ringsBabybooks/journal

scrapbooks Baby books/journals

rings

Tell Me More…Give 3 tell-me-mores for each box

All kids pics

Documented memories

Special peopleAll milestones

Reflections ofSpecial moments

Locks of hair

wedding

Grammy Kaye

Grammy Tillie/Grandpa Bob

Put your 3 BEST ideas on a tree map in the order you want to talk about them.

“Who-did what-when?”

One dreaded after noon in September, I hastily packed my bags to evacuate.

scrapbooks Baby books/journals

rings

All kids pics

Documented memories

Special peopleAll milestones

Reflections ofSpecial moments

Locks of hair

wedding

Grammy Kaye

Grammy Tillie/Grandpa Bob

“Where and why?”One dreaded after noon in September, I hastily packed my

bags to evacuate. Our family quickly decided to head to Tallahassee to stay with my brother and his wife. How could another hurricane be making a beeline for Slidell? Dread began to engulf my soul.

Think-aloud: 2 inch voice

scrapbooks Baby books/journals

rings

All kids pics

Documented memories

Special peopleAll milestones

Reflections ofSpecial moments

Locks of hair

wedding

Grammy Kaye

Grammy Tillie/Grandpa Bob

Transition words

One dreaded after noon in September, I hastily packed my bags to evacuate. Our family quickly decided to head to Tallahassee to stay with my brother and his wife. How could another hurricane be making a beeline for Slidell? Dread began to engulf my soul.

As I quickly contemplatedWhat to snag,

While grasping forThe final scrapbook,

While reflecting on precious moments

scrapbooks Baby books/journals

rings

All kids pics

Documented memories

Special peopleAll milestones

Reflections ofSpecial moments

Locks of hair

wedding

Grammy Kaye

Grammy Tillie/Grandpa Bob

Closing: Thought, reflection or feeling (2 sentences)

Gathering these items brought a flood of emotions for me. Looking through them reminded me of how much I had to be thankful forin my life. To my relief, the packing was in vain. At the last minute, the storm dissipated in the Gulf of Mexico and we were able to stay home. If I have to scramble to pack again, I will know exactly what to pack.

One dreaded after noon in September, I hastily packed my bags to evacuate. Our family quickly decided to head to Tallahassee to stay with my brother and his wife. How could another hurricane be making a beeline for Slidell? Dread began to engulf my soul.

As I quickly contemplatedWhat to snag,

While grasping forThe final scrapbook,

While reflecting on precious moments

scrapbooks Baby books/journals

rings

All kids pics

Documented memories

Special people

All milestones

Reflections ofSpecial moments

Locks of hair

wedding

Grammy Kaye

Grammy Tillie/Grandpa Bob

Orally rehearse your map with a classmate. Let your classmate hold your map and check it while

you tell your story.

Checker: Make sure you listen CAREFULLY to the story. If your partner tells you something that isn’t on the map, have them go back and

add it.

Then you are ready to take your story off the map!

One dreaded after noon in September, I hastily packed my bags to evacuate. Our family quickly decided to head to Tallahassee to stay with my brother and his wife. How could another hurricane be making a beeline for Slidell? Dreadbegan to engulf my soul.

As I quickly contemplated what to fetch, my eyes darted right to Kaley’s and Camden’s scrapbooks. These scrapbooks contain a plethora of pictures of my precious children. There are the obvious baby pictures along with shots of Halloween costumes, Christmas celebrations, and little moments, like when we went to the park and played all afternoon. These pictures also contain the images of people who have passed on such as my Grammy Kaye and my Grandpa Frank. Looking at those images always brings a smile to my face and brightens even the darkest day. These scrapbooks serve as documentations of times gone by with friends and family that I never want to forget. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and I would have to agree. I have simple captions to describe most of the pictures, but they could never capture every word or thought from those moments.

As I grasped the final scrapbook, my hand brushed against Kaley and Camden’s baby books. These baby books went to the hospital with me when I had both of my children and contain some of my thoughts as I prepared for them to enter the world. Special moments are reflected back through the pages as I read about their favorite stories when they were younger or their dislikes. The books also contain locks of hair from their first haircuts. Kaley’s hair was not cut until she was three because I could not bear to cut her beautiful, wavy hair. Camden’s was cut after he turned one, and I still wonder why I let his hair get so long before cutting it. I also would grab their special journals. These journals contain notes that I write to my children on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. My hope is that one day they will look back at Mommy’s reflections on their younger years and smile. I feel as though I am capturing their history in these books, so I could not stand it if I lost them.

When I finished reflecting on these precious moments, I walked to my jewelry box and gathered up a few more cherished items. Of course, one of the items that could have been in there, never leaves my ring finger on my left hand. That item is my wedding ring. That is one article I would never forget to take with me. Another ring that I would have to have with me is my beautiful sapphire and diamond ring that used to belong to my Grammy Kaye. This ring was given to me by my mother after my grandmother passed away. My grandmother always had a way of sporting beautiful jewelry and clothing, and it feels fantastic to still have a part of her with me. When I was still in high school, my Grammy Tillie and Grandpa Bob gave me the ring that my grandmother had worn when she and my grandfather were courting. I would want to have this ring with me as a way to remember their relationship and my relationship with them. I also want to be able to pass this precious heirloom onto my daughter, Kaley.

Gathering these items brought a flood of emotions for me. Looking through them reminded me of how much I had to be thankful for in my life. It also caused me to count my blessings, especially in the form of people who have graced my life and made me into who I am today. To my relief, the packing was in vain. At the last minute, the storm dissipated in the Gulf of Mexico, and we were able to stay home. If I have to scramble to pack again, I will know exactly what to pack.