Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge
Poetry Friday round-up is with Linda at Teacher Dance.
Have you thought about found poetry lately? This week my friend Linda Mitchell posted a found/ black out poem on Facebook. A day or two later Janet Wong posted a found poem from an article about the Parkland shooting. These two posts inspired me to try my own.
I’ve been reading aloud Tuck Everlasting to a group of students. Natalie Babbett’s writing is so descriptive and beautiful, so I copied a page from the book and made a black out poem to use as a model poem for my students.
When I shared this with my students as a writing choice, two of my girls chose favorite pages from favorite books to create their own black out poems.
The day was absolutely gorgeous. Highs in the 60’s, sun shining, not a cloud in the sky. Who wants to stay inside?
My science kids are doing projects about plants, so I printed an online article for each of them. We took the articles and clipboards out to the garden to write.
Circling words to create poems, these students enjoyed “finding” poems in nonfiction text. Poetry can be found anywhere!
Jayden’s poem about camellias:
Prized beauty of
exquisite blooms,
splendid evergreen foliage
attractive shrubs
burst into flowers
rest little prodigious garden.
Where will you find a poem today?
Reflections on the Teche 
What an inspiration! I love blackout poetry and am planning to do some next month with my 10th graders. I love love love that you continue to bring poetry into your science class. Honestly, it makes me want to pair up with a science teacher next year and teach like mad!
love, love and, love! Seeing our poetry connection through our student’s eyes is like finding a cousin.
I love it! I love writing in the garden and writing poetry and oh the images and lines– just gorgeous!
“alone, like strangers at a party” – Tuck Everlasting is such a marvelous book to share. I love each one of your students’ poems, too, Margaret. And what fun to be outside writing!
I have always wanted to try blackout poetry but have been a bit scared of it. This is so motivational. Time to face my fears!
I’ve started making blackout/found poems in professional books as I read them. Certainly not every page, but if I have a page that is really speaking to me, I find a poem. I love the one that has the water colour scene on it!
Doing this helps to synthesize what you are reading.
Lovely found poems! I am reminded that you can use anything for found poetry! Thank you for adding beauty to my inbox today!
I love Tuck Everlasting! And I am sure Natalie Babbitt’s words are full of poems just “waiting to be found!” I love how you used the watercolors to “black out” the poems. What a lovely day to go outdoors! We are still in the 40’s so it will be awhile for us.
Margaret, this is so inspiring. I love to write “found poems”… it is one of the key phrases on my blog under “Stuff I write about.” I bet your students loved using the watercolors… any excuse to use paint, right? Found poems are a great way for students to put rich vocabulary and wonderful turns of phrases into their work. They must read and use them if they are to take ownership of them. What I love most of all in your post is the pic of your students — outside, in the sunshine, reading and writing. Now that is truly a slice to celebrate.
I regularly check out the Pinterest boards on blackout poems and I’m always inspired. This post is the kick-in-the-butt I need to try it myself. Well done, Mrs. Simon’s class!
I am sharing Janet’s found poem at one of my PD sessions this month and I would like to include your students’ work also, Margaret. They are amazing writers and you provide them with much inspiration to take off. BTW, I am saving Jayden’s poem and photo for a spring gallery-what great word play.
Yours is the second post about found poems that I have read today. And these are gorgeous, both in terms of words and also watercolor presentations. I’d like to try this with kids! Next week before spring break, I think!
What fun, love the found poems and the accompanying art they created. Natalie Babbitt’s a favorite of mine–both her writing and art, thanks Margaret!
Oh.. man.. this would be hard to do.. I like when you used the word mint because it is such a sensory word conjuring up smells, taste and beauty.
I love to see how one poem leads to another and another. As always your students blow me away!
I love the way they “blacked out” their poems with watercolor! That adds so much!
Margaret,
Thanks to you, I created a found poetry ( I called it Cross out poetry & Brian Rozinski calls it black out one). I used the feedback for Participate Capstone for GA professional Learning course I am taking. Here is a link to my found poetry.
http://trivediziemba.edublogs.org/2018/03/24/slice-of-life-cross-create/
Thank you.