Playing with lots of creative ideas on this notebook page. I started with a falling apart copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I wanted to try writing a blackout (erasure) poem that had nothing to do with the actual content on the page.
The second thing I made was the notecard design. This is a method of meditation I learned last year at an art museum workshop (the fall of 2019 when we could go to these things.) It’s a simple concept. Choose 3 colors that express your mood. Set the timer for 3 minutes and follow where the lines take you. I use a meditation timer on my phone with some ambient sound.
I had been struggling for days to learn how to make an origami butterfly. I finally got one and added it to the page.
The final touches were some magazine cut-outs I had set aside for when I may need them. There is a creative satisfaction that happens when all the elements come together in a pleasing way.
Text of the black-out poem:
back to
Margaret Simon, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sunday morning
grudgingly
skating on
Zoom
losing one face
in the window
just before lunch.
Reflections on the Teche 
Your post are always so inspiring and full of ideas for teachers and students. I am sitting here thinking about how I might use this in kindergarten this morning but I am also reminded of my conversations with grad students about making texts become real in order to improve and cement comprehension. Thank you for all the ideas and perspectives.
I adore this! Your poem is beautiful and I want to try this in my notebook! Thank you for the inspiration and for sharing this page! đź’›
I love the idea of pasting pages from falling apart books (I have some!) in my notebook and then trying erasure poems from them. And I needed the meditation drawing technique–love this. So much to try as always from your blog. Thanks for being so generous sharing!
Margaret, I am fascinated with all your inspirations that you bring to us. I am at work on the inspiration you shared the other day with the random words from a book. I’ll share it tomorrow as my slice. Isn’t it incredible that the magical world of Harry Potter held the prophesy of Zoom hidden in its pages!? It may hold more magic than we think. A notebook is a joy of passionate written expression in the right hands!
Thanks for sharing. My students love creating these. I really like the “skating on zoom” image.
This is so lovely! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
So, I just need to ask–why do all the Harry Potter books fall apart anyway? I love that you’ve used this one creatively (great poem!), but I’ve been more than a little peeved by the volumes I’ve had to throw away, just from repetitive reading in our house! Your creative notebook pages are most inspiring!
Good question! This is the only one I’ve had fall apart and I think it’s because it’s too large for the paperback binding. Also I think it traveled a treacherous road in a kid’s backpack.
Gosh – your creativity amazes me! Thanks for sharing this notebook page.
This is so beautiful, Margaret – all the elements DO come together in such an aesthetically pleasing way. Love that the page is from HP. My colleague and I save those loose pages for cutting thin strips and curling for placing in clear Christmas ornaments in our Harry Potter club (whenever we get to have it again). The page is lovely with your markings. Losing one face in the window – so literal, yet so metaphorical.
I think I may need to try this collage technique with my students. Do you have materials to collage with nearby? What do you suggest to your students for their collages?
Kim
As everyone else has said, I echo the marvel of your slices and all the fresh ideas and fun things to try. The origami butterfly looks gorgeous. Everything is just asking to be tried out from your lovely notebook!