A few weeks ago I received an email from Laura Shovan introducing me to a new poetry form, the Pythagorean Poem created by middle grade author Shari Green. For anyone who loves a good challenging form, this is for you. I haven’t tried it with my students…Yet.
Similar to a Fibonacci poem, the form is based on a mathematical truth, the Pythagorean theorem. This theorem for you non-math nerds like me is the rule for a right triangle:
Shari took this rule to a poetry level: Using the triple, the poetic form works like this:
1st stanza: 3 lines of 3 words each
2nd stanza: 4 lines of 4 words each
3rd stanza: 5 lines of 5 words each*
* The third stanza must be composed of all the words found in stanzas one and two (in any order; variations okay). The third stanza should be a progression of sorts, a product of the first two in thought or theme or meaning.
I think you could change the numbers of a and b, but the final stanza must use a combination of words from the first two stanzas.
In my classroom and at home, I am keeping caterpillars in safe enclosures. The caterpillars are Gulf fritillaries that hatch and feed on passion vine. I tried this topic for my first ever Pythagorean Poem.
Hidden in wood chrysalis of safety rest for weary
hardworking caterpillars climb munching passion vine leaves grow longer each day prepare for enclosed transformation
Passion caterpillars grow, prepare for weary rest enclosed in safety. Each hardworking, munching vine leaves. Climb into wood-hidden chrysalis– Transformation for longer days.
Every evening after dinner, my husband and I take the puppy out for a walk. Last night my gaze was up at the sky watching small birds circle and swoop above us. I opened my Merlin bird identification app and found they were chimney swifts.
The sun was setting and coloring the clouds a deep purple and pink. After a few attempts, I captured some of these “swift” birds against the canvas of the sky.
Write a small poem today inspired by this photo. Please share it with us in the comments and respond to other writers. Thanks for being here.
A Swift Fib
Small swifts circle purple sky speckling the evening with dazzling twittering delight @Margaret Simon, draft
A fib poem has a syllable count that follows the Fibonacci series (1,1,2,3,5,8…)
This week was my second week of teaching this school year. We are settling into the routine. My classroom door revolves all day long with incoming and outgoing students. Nevertheless, I am establishing some routines. One of the expectations each week is “This Photo Wants to be a Poem.” On Wednesdays I post a photo here on my blog, but I also post it on our Fanschool site.
My friend Dani Burtsfield is a teacher in Kallispell, Montana. Last week she hosted poet Allan Wolf for her annual reading conference. She took Allan on a hike that she had taken me on a few years ago, so she sent pictures of them. I was wishing I could teleport and be with them, especially since our temperatures are well into the 90’s these days. If you know Allan and his poetry presentations, you know how he creates fun wherever he goes. Dani sent me some pictures.
Allan Wolf photo by Dani Burtsfield
On my students’ blog, I post my own poem as a model, and each student writes their own poem in response. One of my new students is a second grader. I taught her how to write a haiku. First we collected words. Then she spoke lines using the words. We counted syllables. I think she was pleased with her poem.
Crystal clear water you can see mountains through it beautiful blue lake
by Danielle, 2nd grade
Avalyn, now in 5th grade, wrote similes and used repetition. It amazes me how seemingly simple poetic elements can work together to become a beautiful poem.
Like an oversized crystal it falls Like the morning mist it falls Like a Maiden priestess it falls Like an opal river it falls by Avalyn , 5th grade
The final example I want to share made me laugh. Kailyn wrote from the perspective of the waterfall itself.
I love spitting on people, it’s just the way I flow. Paparazzi all around me, trees for hair. My life has been a sequel, the water in me loves to go, go, go! I can just relax and be lazy. If you visit me, you might want to watch what you wear.. by Kailyn, 6th grade
Dani, Allan, and Randy at Virginia Falls in Glacier Park, Montana.
My friend Dani Burtsfield lives in Montana near Glacier Park. She sent me this photo from a hike she took with Allan Wolf, a poet who was visiting as a presenter for her reading conference. She had taken me on this same hike in the summer of 2018.
I don’t know the specific name for these falls, but I thought a postcard poem would be a good form. This week is Open Write at Ethical ELA and Jeania White led the prompt “Postcards from Places I’ve Never Been”.
Postcard from the Falls
Missing you as I feel the spray of cool water on my face remembering we took off our shoes to put our toes in and spread our arms out wide to hold a Montana waterfall.
Margaret Simon, draft
Imagine this place on a postcard and write a small poem in the comments. Please respond to other poets with encouraging words.
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
School has started so that means back to the butterfly garden. Summer has left it overgrown and in need of attention.
On Friday my student Avalyn and I got to work. Here she is with a mammoth sunflower we planted in the spring.
Avalyn and the giant sunflower.
I started picking up the layers of mown grass around the edge of the planter box. I uncovered a nest of eggs.
Nest of eggs in dead grass
Avalyn and I, along with a few curious teachers, began a quest to find out what these eggs were.
They wouldn’t be bird eggs. Bird eggs are hard and round and usually in trees with an attending mother bird.
What about turtle eggs? Turtles usually dig a hole, and they lay near water.
Lizards? Too big.
We finally landed on the scariest option, snakes.
With my cell phone flashlight, Avalyn (Unlike her teacher, she didn’t mind touching and handling the egg.) candled the egg. Candling is a way to see inside the egg. She showed her classmates. We could see the embryo and veins and a shadow of a swirl.
Avalyn shows her classmates how to look inside an egg.
I know that having a garden is good for the social and emotional needs of gifted students (all students, actually) but I hadn’t prepared myself for the possibility of snakes.
I’m relieved to report that the eggs were hatched or eaten, certainly not viable, come Monday morning.
Last weekend was my birthday. I was blessed with a visit from all of my children and their children. Our time together was full of fun. Then school started in full force for me on Monday. There is no tired like the tired of the first week of school. So I didn’t have anything to offer for today’s post.
When I opened my email, I had a word-of-the-day from Merriam-Webster that included one of my favorite words to say, Tchotchke. Looking at my kitchen table where I am writing, I see a dish sent to me from my daughter’s mother-in-law. It touches me that in the midst of cancer treatments she had the thoughtfulness to send me a gift. It may just be a knickknack, but the deeper meaning is the love it was sent with.
I turned to the definito form created by my friend and fellow Inkling Heidi Mordhorst. A definito is a poem for children with 8-12 lines that defines a lesser known word. The word is given in the last line of the poem.
Simple Gift
For a birthday gently placed in a small bag tissue paper wrapping a glass dish– dappled, dainty, daisy– a little something to hold a little something decoration, knickknack, trinket simple reminder of a friend’s love...Tchotchke. Margaret Simon, draft
When a star appears, I pay attention– watch how it spreads within the crystals of milk reminding me to notice daily miracles. Margaret Simon, draft
Today’s photo prompt is brought to you by my morning coffee. I am no barrister, but I do enjoy heating and frothing oat milk for my morning cuppa. I’ve been to coffee shops and received the gift of a design in the top froth, but this was a pure accident. Not a miracle of great proportions, but a simple reminder to pay attention. As I’ve returned to a daily routine of waking early to get ready for a day at school, I needed this reminder. Find joy. Find delight in the simple things. Know you are loved.
Please write a small poem about a small noticing, a waking up of your mind to something you needed to see. Encourage other writers with your comments.
These days not many exciting things come into the mailbox. One of the thrills of summer is the Summer Poetry Swap. Two of the final swaps (organized by dear Tabatha Yeatts) overlapped and arrived close to the same day. My kitchen counter was dappled with cards and stickers and sweet poems.
A set of photo cards by Carol Labuzzetta.
Carol sent a poem she wrote in two voices, the two of us in our vocations side by side, along with a set of her original photo cards. Little did she know I needed this dose of confidence to start my new school year.
Tabatha, our poem swap organizer, sent a poem she wrote about a friend who thinks about writing. I do admit to having days like these when the notebook stays closed.
POSTPONED
by Tabatha Yeatts
When will she write in the notebook, I wonder, the blank one engraved Nina’s Adventures on the front? Once my plans come to fruition, she says, after my dreams come true, when the good times begin. How many stories has she already told? The pet goat who played with dogs, the thief she wrestled, the song she wrote and translated into fifty languages, the love story, its tragic end. Don’t they deserve a space on the pages? No, no, she says, once the adventures start. When I see her, she regales me with her storm-tossed ride, but her pen is in a drawer and the words turn away from the pages, settle everywhere but there.
Thanks to all of the poem swappers this summer. It’s a small way of spreading poetry love.
Another way to spread poetry love is to put our new book on your to-be-bought list. I am proud to be a part of Words that Mend: The Transformative Power of Writing Poetry for Teachers, Students, and Community Wellbeing. The book has been a labor of love. It will be released on Sept. 2nd and will be available for free as a download or for print cost only on Amazon. Hop over to Kim Johnson’s post to see her poetic expression of excitement.
This photo is a gate in my daughter’s yard. There is so much lush vegetation around that passing through feels like an adventure, a mystery. When the jasmine is in bloom, the scent itself will entice you to wonder. Join me today on a writing adventure. Leave a small poem in the comments and respond to others with encouraging words.
First day of school-- open the waiting gate create your own path. Margaret Simon, draft
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
What do you do when the internet goes out, and there are two days before the students arrive at school? Make anchor charts, of course. Why not? The laminator is well stocked and hot. I got new markers with my supply order. I have a copy of Disrupting Teaching* on my table with a bookmark to the Book, Head, Heart format.
Influencer Faith Broussard Cade of Fleurdelisspeaks wrote, “You are not a fraud. You have put in the work. Do not waste precious energy doubting your worth or capabilities. You deserve to be here.”*
Even though the state insists on a new rubric for evaluation of teachers, even though the district has chosen a new platform for teaching English/ Language Arts, and even though my supervisor will be checking for annotated lessons and gifted strategies, I am an expert here. I know what I am doing.
It’s so easy for me to get stressed out over all the new, but I am keeping a mantra throughout beginning-of-the-year teacher meetings, “You know what you are doing!”
So anchor charts! To remind me that good teaching practice was not invented this year. I will implement good reading strategies without a manual that is hidden behind a code I don’t know yet. I will guide my students’ writing by sitting beside them as I have always done. I will encourage independent reading, personal narrative writing, and poetry not just in April. I deserve to be here.
Anchor Charts for Craft Elements, Notice and Note Signposts, and the BHH format for response to reading.
*Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, Scholastic, 2017.
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She teaches gifted elementary students, writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 