I love touring the slicing community and finding ideas. Greg Armamentos has inspired me once again. He posted about writing dueling poems with opposite words. He and his student teacher wrote about old and young here.
I spoke with Tyler, a 6th grader, about his slice for the day. He didn’t know what to write. I challenged him to a duel. He suggested sun and moon. He took moon, and I took sun (which, btw, we have not seen in days.)
I’ve been missing you lately
hidden behind sheets
of stratonimbus clouds.
Where have you gone?
When I wake up each morning,
you wave to me
along the bayou waters
touching tree limbs
with gentle, warm kisses.I look for you
send your glowing rays
out from the clouds
to light up a rainbow.I find you
in the wild flowers blooming
golden in the grass
sending scents
of glory and love
like honeysuckle– the taste
of sweetness on my tongue.My pale peach skin
longs for your tanning rays,
bringing health back to my cheeks
and energy to my walk.Won’t you come home, bright star?
I miss you.–Margaret Simon
Tyler’s response: The Moon (Click here to leave comments for Tyler)
On the ocean
your light shines.
Lighting the way
during the night.
Controlling tides
as you please.
You are a guardian, the
Man on the Moon.
I see you in the day,
but better at night.
You watch us
sleep and protect
us as you do so.
Stay the same
no matter what
they say.–Tyler
I read Greg s slice yesterday too Margaret and loved and here you are with a wonderful moment with a student who will never forget his restive experience with you👏👍
Great piece together! I love the contrast between the inconsistency of the sun, hiding of late, and the constancy of the moon, protecting us each night! Bravo!
What a great idea!! Did you use a model? Did he get your poem and then respond, or did you both write at the same time?
He chose the words and we decided to use the ode form. We wrote at the same time. Thanks.
btw, I was unable to leave the comments for Tyler. Hopefully he will see the comments here. Great job!
Bayou mornings are gorgeous! And tell Tyler the opening lines of his moon poem are lovely- light shining on the ocean is a strong image.
You and your students amaze me. The poems and the pictures are perfect. I want to do this challenge. Perhaps I’ll challenge one of my students.
I loved Greg’s idea and will be pairing students up soon, I hope. Now i have another model to show them. Brilliant!
Love the idea of dueling poems. (And the notion of touring Slicer writing.)
Great job, Tyler. The opening lines of your poem set a meditative mood — perfect for the moon. Margaret — I loved your cloud vocabulary and the place details of your poem, especially the honeysuckle.
Bravo to both of you…love the duel of ideas, and the beautiful poetry it inspires.
Gorgeous photos. Dueling poems, such a great idea. The lines are delicious. I hope the sun returns soon.
I think it’s neat how well they fit together given that you wrote them at the same time! Tyler picked good subjects to write about — nicely done.
Great idea! Love your pair of poems!!
Such a fantastic idea to challenge students to a duel. it would work well in a student partnership too, I imagine. Great results too… I enjoyed both of these poems!
Two of my students did it as well. They wrote about land and water. http://kidblog.org/class/SliceofLifeChallenge/posts/41iky405u410ncnvebai2l0fu