Nikki Grimes did not invent the Golden Shovel poetry form, but she may have perfected it. After listening to this podcast on All the Wonders, I pulled out the advanced copy of One Last Word that Nikki graciously signed at NCTE 16. To share the poems with my students, I copied the original poem written by a Harlem Renaissance poet alongside Nikki’s Golden Shovel poem. These were high level poems that really pushed the thinking of my students.
The idea of a Golden Shovel is to take a line or stanza of a poem, write the words down the right margin and build your own poem around the words. I had never done one myself, so I wasn’t really sure how well my students would do. I gave my students the option to use a line from the poems I shared with them or choose another poem from the plethora of poetry books on the shelf.
Imagine my surprise when I selected No Images by William Waring Cuney that I found in Hip Hop Speaks to Children and realized that Nikki Grimes had tackled this same poem in One Last Word. I felt a kinship to her with this serendipity.
With her lips, she
speaks volumes but does
only good, careful not
to disturb what they think they know
about her
She does not know her own beauty.With her eyes, she
looks deeply, thinks
longingly about her
future in brown
skin.If love has
an answer, then no
one can take away her glory.–Margaret Simon
No one knows Everything
the world Is
a mystery, but digging deeper shows Everything
has a connection, a purpose, but What
is the meaning of life? Is
it just simply surviving, no! Lives are Meant
to be lived; hearts are meant To
be shared; care is supposed to Be
given. People don’t donate their emotions anymore, but they Will
regret this. Remember no one knows everything, so let it BeAfter Lauryn Hill
by Emily, 6th grade
“The line I used came from the poem, For a Poet by Countee Cullen. The line is And laid them away in a box of gold.” Lynzee, 2nd grade
I have hopes and
dreams. I have laid
all of them
my blossoming treasures away.
They are safe in
a box beside my heart; it is a
treasure too, my glittering box
full of
treasure, made of gold.
This is what my student Andrew, 4th grade, had to say about writing a Golden Shovel poem.
“When I was told to do a golden shovel poem I was like, ” Hm. That shouldn’t be so hard.” Then BOOM!! You get punched in the brain. So we have to take a whole line from a poem and use all the words and every sentence that you make has to end with one of the words. For example . The sentence that I chose was, “We move and hustle but lack rhythm.” The first sentence had to end with We. The second sentence had to end with move then so on so on. I have to admit that was the hardest poem I have to make. And it took the longest to come up with. I don’t know the exact time but it was more than twenty minutes. Usually my poems take about 5-10 minutes but this was a lot longer. But I think that might be my best poem.”
Thanks, Nikki, for the punch in the brain. I think we are all better poets because of it.
Lynzee sounds very wise and thoughtful.
I’m glad you decided to risk trying Golden Shovel poems with your students. As Andrew says, it doesn’t look hard, but then BOOM!!
Andrew is right, you do feel as though you’ve been punched in the brain reading these amazing poems…how do you all do this?! Amazing!
“A punch in the brain” – ha. I agree! I was amazed when I saw that you had written a post about Golden Shovel poems because I just finished ONE LAST WORD and was in the midst of writing one myself after Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day”. It’ll be my Slice of Life next week. I definitely want to challenge my students to write some, too! Your students’ poems are fantastic. It’s HARD!
BOOM, Andrew! Thank you for the punch in the brain. Favorite lines — Margaret: “if love has an answer”, Emily: “but they will regret this” Andrew: “blossoming treasures” Lovely!
Oh, that punch to the brain.Gets me every time! Wonderful responses to the Golden Shovel format. Makes me want to give one a try. I love Grimes’ book. The whole work is stunning.
I love that punch in the brain! I can so relate, especially when I take on the challenge of something new. I am impressed by your golden shovel poem and those of your students. You are inspiring me to try one of my own!
YES! Poetry can and should be a punch in the brain, waking up the creative juices and getting the imagination flowing! These poems are incredible – I remember that Lauryn Hill song, and now it’s playing in my head. 🙂 So much talent here, very impressive.
The process you are sharing with your students and empowering them to do such beautiful work will be so lasting for them, Margaret. I love what you do and that you write with them too. I just read Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson and the poem you wrote touched the feelings expressed in that book too.
Margaret, your kids are priceless! Love that Andrew and his “punch in the brain.” And I’m determined to try a Golden Shovel poem now (maybe I’ll write also the best poem I ever wrote–who knows?)
Bam. My brain feels pretty stimulated, too. I have to try one of these one day.
I tried a Golden Shovel this week, too! And I totally agree with Andrew’s assessment that they punch your brain. Man-oh-man was it hard!!
I love Andrew’s “punched in the brain” comment!
Funny, the last to posts I’ve read have had this form. Such a beautiful form for the reader.
Wonderful poems all around, and insightful comments from your budding poets too! I just finished reading Mary Lee’s Golden Shovel poem, there must be some magic in the poetry pipe line . . .
I love this post so much – hearing the wisdom of your young poets in their poetry, and their analysis. It is all completely wonderful, and I thank you for my introduction to the Golden Shovel, which I have heard of, but never seen. Of course I now must try one!
Have you tried a double acrostic? A little bit similar to that… but different. 🙂