I know school looks different for most teachers this year. For me, I spend my whole day in one building. For the last 12 years, I’ve been an itinerate teacher, traveling to 3 schools each day. Now I travel through a screen to different students. I’m providing virtual gifted services for students who’ve chosen the virtual option. I’m learning very quickly what kinds of writing activities work well and which ones do not in this virtual setting.
Last week I presented a question for quick writing. Yesterday I used a different approach. I presented a poem and asked students to take a line and write from that line. It seemed to go well; however, the kids were not throwing their hands up (or turning their mikes on) to read what they wrote. This is the part I can’t quite figure out. Do they just need more time or is this how it’s going to be?
I still believe in writing alongside my students, so I wrote a poem with them. The poem we were reading together came from Teach this Poem from Poets.org, Cento Between the Ending and the End. The lines I took frame the poem. Before sharing my poem, I explained that when we write together in quick writes, we often write about whatever is on our mind at that moment. My youngest daughter is getting married in our backyard in 3 weeks. As plans begin to finalize, I am getting excited about the family (immediate family only) that with gather with us.
Unopened Gift
Everyone we love
is gathered
around the bride and groom.
Side by side,
their eyes glow.We understand
this kind of love,
tender and new,
like a gift
waiting to be discovered.We hold their hearts
Margaret Simon
in our hands,
bless them
with all that we have.
Send them to the blue sky
brimming
with golden light.
With my 6th grader, Daniel, we wrote back and forth (in a shared document), adding lines to create a Cento* poem. When the first stanza turned out to rhyme, it was a challenge to keep it going. We were both pleased with the results.
I soar to the sun
Look down at the sea
Bloom how you must, wild
Until we are free.I wish I could share
All that’s in my heart.
It’s like the world
That keeps us apart.Everyone we love
Gathered at the lakeside
Marble-glow the fire
A new one insideI wish I could live
Cento from I Wish I Knew by Nina Simone and Cento Between the Ending and the End by Cameron Awkward-Rich
The body whole bright-
Of the day beautiful,
Honeyed light.
*From the Latin word for “patchwork,” the cento (or collage poem) is a poetic form composed entirely of lines from poems by other poets.
Reflections on the Teche 
When I teach writing, I always write alongside students, too, Margaret. The authentic process and the thinking aloud – and chances to discuss – are essential. It’s often the spark that gets students going. Love these forms, Cento and Cento Between the Ending and the End. How beautiful, how pure, the love and images in Unopened Gift; the collaborative poem with Daniel, a real work of art and delight – I am amazed, thinking on how you managed that compelling rhyme!
Margaret, it sounds like you are working extra hard to figure out what approach works best with your learners. The end product of working alongside Daniel is an amazing poem. The images are beautiful and I think the ending thought is glowing (honeyed light). Might you consider asking your students to compose a poem to be showcased in my Abundant Autumn Gallery? I always love what your students offer.
I did not know that your youngest daughter is going to be wed soon. How exciting. I can’t wait to hear more before the big day arrives. Your poem is a beautiful tribute to what the day will offer.
[…] asked me to read an original poem. It appeared here on my blog. I choked my way through it. We all cried, laughed, danced, and sang the night […]
Sniff. Thanks for linking to this. Beautiful!
Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com