Hetty's piece

Teaching advice for incapable teachers    by: Miss H. King
                                                         

Poor Felix.

                                                                "Teaching school is not an easy task. Children never sit quietly in their seats unless told to do so, which, is needed to  be said at least thirty times. Have a set of classroom rules. Here is just a few of my many: Students must not daydream, they mustn't chew their hair, nor throw paper balls at each other. (I just listed a few major rules. You must have your own, I am not your personal tutor, mind you. I'm just giving helpful advice. And that is all.) Always keep this on top of your mind- you are the boss. Not the other way around, which, for some teachers, it is.Your students must mind you, serious consequences will arise if they "take over" your role.  Scare your students a bit. Not literally scarifying them, but, just something that puts them, in their minds, to shame. I have, for instance, a cone shaped hat, called the dunce cap. I have it in full view, where each and every student can see it. It's used for a student that misbehaves, or if he\she does poorly in his\her studies. That studying problem is usually a "curable" issue. The student does not do his homework or does not study like he should, thus causing poor results. Have the student wear the cap for the entire morning, or afternoon. Do not let him wear it the entire day or else it effects his brain. With recess, do not have too many rules, and let them have 15 minutes of play time, exactly."


   
                           

Aunt Abigail's chocolate cake

It was crisp and chilly outside, and Abigail Ward had nothing to do. In fact, she was getting bored of having nothing to do. She cleaned the parlor that morning, swept the kitchen floor, blacked the stove and dusted the upstairs bedrooms.....but now, now she has nothing on her little list of things to do! Well, except for sweeping the porch outside, but that is of no use since the wind would scatter leaves all over it again. She sighed a deep sigh. "Oh!" she groaned in exasperation. "What am I going to do?" Then, a thought popped in her head! Grandmothers chocolate cake. Yes that is exactly it! She will bake a chocolate cake, and stop by her sister, Janet King. Abigail went into the kitchen and bustled around, and her boredom drained away.
                                                                                                             

"Yes,that's what i'll do."

Aunt Abigail's chocolate cake

1 cup butter                            2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup brown sugar                              2 tsp. vanilla
4 beaten eggs                          1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups whole grain flour        1/2 cup boiling water
pinch of salt


Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 8X8 pan. Cream butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, salt and baking powder, cocoa and boiling water. Mix until all lumps are gone. Bake until fork comes out clean, or 30 minutes. Let cool. Add icing if desired.

*An easier way of explaining things: Mix all until combined. Bake. Cool. Eat. :)

Sara's piece

By:

Sara  Stanley

"The sun shone brightly in the early January morning on Rose Cottage. 

Hetty King, warm by the oven, was making plump and fluffy pancakes for a hearty breakfast.

Usually she preferred unsalted porridge, but it was her younger sister, Olivia's birthday, and Hetty wanted to surprise her with a melt in your mouth breakfast. 

"Sara!" she called up by the stairway "come down, I want you to set the table." 

Up in her room, Sara hurriedly finished wrapping up the gift for her Aunt Olivia. "Sara Stanley i'm waiting!" said an impatient Hetty. "I'm coming, Aunt Hetty!" Sara called back as she carefully hid the gift in her pocket. She quickly went down the stairs and a wonderful smell itched up her nose. "Good-morning Aunt Hetty." she said briskly as she entered the sunny kitchen. Hetty flipped a pancake and smiled warmly. "Ah, good-morning Sara." she said as the pancake flopped on the serving plate. "sleep well?" Sara started petting Topsy and gave her some butter to lick. "Quite well. Where's Aunt Olivia?" she asked, remembering the unopened package in her pocket. Aunt Olivia was usually the first person up at the crack of dawn. How strange. Sara thought, not having her aunt in sight. Hetty poured batter in the griddle and went over to the counter to choose a special table cloth. "She went over to Jasper Dale's to pick up a few things." Hetty stared at the unset table and quickly laid the rose spud table cloth a bit carelessly on the table. "Sara, set the table, goodness she'll be home any minute." Hetty said as she went over to flip the pancake. "And ah, use the second best tea set, will you Sara." 
"Yes, Aunt Hetty." Sara replied as she walked towards the china cabinet. The lovely blue spade china dish sat idley behind the glass frames, waiting to be used. But that was great Grandmother Kings favorite dish, and it was not to be used, unless for a special occasion, which was unfortunately not Olivia's birthday. As long as Sara could remember, she saw it being used only once, and that was six years ago, when she was a little girl of seven, the first year living with her Aunt Hetty and Aunt Olivia in Rose Cottage, and it was Aunt Janet's and Uncle Alec's 17th wedding anniversary. "Sara," Aunt Hetty's sharp voice broke through her nieces imagination. "Don't just stand there with nothing to do, set the table, and this time, young lady, be quick about it." Sara quickly left her imagination with great Grandmother King's spade dish,
and took out the second best set. "Hello Hetty!" called Olivia out from the hallway. "I'm back!" she unpinned her hat and threw her gloves on the nearby chair and walked swiftly into the kitchen. Sara quickly laid the last piece of silver where and plopped a pitcher full of the summer's dried flowers on the beautifully set table, with a fork of two crooked next to the plates. "Happy Birthday Aunt Olivia!" Sara said with a smile. Olivia laid the photograph equipment carefully on the floor and went towards her niece. "Thank-you Sara." she eyed the table "you set the table very nicely." then she walked over to Hetty. "Smells good." she said, her round, dark eyes sparkling. "I fixed your favorite." replied Hetty. "Breakfast is ready, take a seat."
Sara took out her small package from inside her pocket. "This is for you." she smiled. Hetty quickly laid the buttered pancakes on the table and went into the parlor to retrieve the gift she intended to give Olivia. Olivia carefully untied the red ribbon and gently ripped off the paper. A small, lace embroidered, handkerchief showed it's radiance. "It's lovely Sara, thank-you."  she cooed. Next, came Hetty's gift. It was a small, black and white spotted notebook, within it read, in Hetty's elegant penmanship: "To my dear sister, May you always enjoy your career as a journalist. with love, Hetty"  Olivia eyed it all over. "It's lovely Hetty, thank-you." she said warmly.
Before Hetty could become tearie eyed, she flopped a pancake on her plate. "Lets eat this before it becomes cold. Sit up straight, Sara, that's a good girl." Hetty looked over the beautiful table at Sara and Olivia. This is a moment to cherish, she thought. "I will bake a chocolate cake for dinner, Olivia, and, and, maybe...." she paused "we can all walk through the wintery woods after breakfast." she smiled warmly. And outside, the sun radiantly overhead, was gleaming through the kitchen window, warming the hearts of the three at breakfast, making their eyes sparkle."

The Avonlea Chronicle

Sara Stanley changes places with Jo Pitts                                             
                           by: Olivia Dale    

Sara Stanley traded places with Jo Pitts, a streetwise orphan. Tired of her overbearing Aunt Hetty, Sara decides to leave Avonlea and leave Jo Pitts in her place, letting Miss King deal with the new and uncontrollable Sara Stanley. "I was tired of being treated like a baby."  Sara said. "She was always lecturing me and correcting me- about everything. I had to leave, but then I realized I needed my Aunt Hetty more than ever."   Sara left the Island with Gus Pike, but they were trapped and their captors had mistaken Sara as Jo Pitts, revealing Jo Pitts dangerous past. Sara was forced to pickpockets- something she could never do. "Pickpockets?" she told her captors, "I could never do that!"  Meanwhile, Jo Pitts  was ordering Hetty King around, stealing her valuable possessions, and almost drowned her whilst going on a picnic. When Felix found Jo Pitts, this is what she said: "You don't need to worry about ol' Hetty King no more." Felix, clearly confused, asked why not. "Cause' I just drowned the old bat!"  Jo replied matter of factly. But, all is well when ends well, and Sara and Gus safely arrive home, leaving Sara to explain to her aunt the mismatch. After a long, long explanation, Sara and Jo, are not Sara and Jo, each girl is herself. Sara resides happily (ever-after?) in Avonlea and Jo decided to be on her way, typical Jo. 

The exploding outhouse with Jo inside

Jo Pitts