I bought a new set of gel pens and shared them with my students. We had fun writing skinny odes (fold your paper in half and only write to the crease mark), and making zines. My newest student Rylee, who is a bright first grader, wrote an ode to her dog. She drew a picture of her dog on her journal page and for her zine decided to cut it out into four parts and glue it on different pages. I don’t question the creativity of a first grader.
Ode to my Dog
Oh, how I love my dog.He licks me.
He sits on my lap.He plays with me.
He is the cutest
dog around.My dog had to go
somewhere else.–Rylee, 1st grade
Ode to the Glitter Pen
Oh, the glittery life
of an orange gel pen
dipped in sparkly gems.
You write like
glass across the page,
smooth as a soft
silky scarf.
Ink that glows and flows
like orange lip gloss,
tangerine-flavored
lines that bring
sunshine to
this poem.
–Margaret Simon, draft, 2019
A page from my zine.
Reflections on the Teche 
I think my favorite part of this whole post is, “I don’t question the creativity of a first grader.” I also love imagining the gel pen-inspired creativity in your classroom!