Poetry Friday round-up is with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty..
I’ve been reading aloud Kwame Alexander’s Newbery Award winning book in verse, The Crossover. This is a great book to read aloud, but it’s also visually appealing. I don’t think there is a name for this form of writing when the written words express the feeling of the word. But my kids got it! Such a fun way to write about sports. Of course, I wrote about dancing. Have some fun with the way the words look on the page, Kwame style!
Karate by Breighlynn, 3rd grade
I kick the ball
and watch it
f
a
l
l
GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we yell
cause that’s where it
f
e
l
l
I take a glance at my team
And realize we look like we’re from a meme
It’s up to me to save the Day
Cause if we don’t win
This is where our
G
r
a
v
e
s
will lay
I Kick
b u c s
It o n e
And I scream, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will my team really loose?
Will they think we’re fools?
NO, NOT IN THIS LIFE NOR THE NEXT!!!!!!!
Jayden, 5th grade
by Margaret Simon, 2018
Reflections on the Teche 
Dear Margaret, these poems make me a little dizzy. 🙂 Yay for movement on the page and in writers’ imaginations…I particularly like the karate one, as I remember watching my sons doing just those moves. Thank you for sharing! xo
So much fun!
I loved Crossover and again love what you’ve done with your students, to read and show these by Kwame and then they write! Wonderful, Margaret, and love your own creation about dancing, another favorite thing you do.
Visually arresting poems with so much action! Great work.
Love your twirling swirling two step–and it looks like your students had great fun with this!
I’m always amazed by kids’ natural creativity, they astound me with what they so naturally come up with!
I want the world to know that I spent the day facilitating book selection with seventh graders and they are asking for poetry! One boy, from 8th grade, dropped in and asked where Garvey’s Choice was … because he wanted to finish it. Poetry is having a moment and I’m so pleased! These poems are dizzy in a wonderful way! We need to move and groove in our lives…I can see that these kids do with FALL and FELL and GOAL and ROUND HOUSE. All, so wonderful. Where is the dancing poem?!
So cool that kids are asking for books in verse! The dancing poem is the last one in the post. It’s an image. Can you see it?
I love how Kwame has turned the switch on for a new generation of poetry lovers. I’m betting the visual appeal—the wordplay not only in the mouth but on the page—plays a large role in that. Breighlynn, Jayden, and you have shown just how FUN it can be!
Congratulations to your young poets, Margaret. They have captured the beat of rhythm in their poems. You should tell Kwame about this work when you see him at NCTE. I like your two-step movement. It makes me think of how you and your husband enjoy dancing so much.
What a wonderful trio of poems inspired by Kwame! Someone shared a challenge with me recently to include hit song elements in a poem. These elements included energy, loudness, acoustics, and danceability. It was quite a challenge, and one I haven’t managed yet, but you certainly rose to the occasion! Borrowing (and altering) a line from Maya Angelou, I love the look of these words on the page. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing Michelle. It reminds me that I’ve been meaning to read more fiction that includes poetry. Maybe that creative approach can help get kids in the spirit of reading / writing in ways that other forms might not.
Not being given to public speaking (or reading), I always looks to place words on the page to do a little extra work. Your kids have done a great job! And, since there was a short period in my life when I did some zydeco dancing, I find your poem an absolute delight. That winged woman move was always a favorite!
These poems are such fun!
These are so creative. Nice to see the kids having fun with words – and being inspired by a poet like Kwame!
I loved reading “The Crossover” it’s a moving book in many ways. And what moving poems your students have penned–they were definitely inspired, thanks!