Poetry Friday round-up is with Carol at Beyond Literacy Link.
I love to celebrate birthdays in my classroom. Last week I asked Dawson what he wanted for his birthday celebration, expecting an answer like cupcakes, and he said, “Chalkabration!” Dawson’s only experienced one chalkabration, but he loved it.
In order to have a chalkabration, we have to write small poems. I put 5 different form choices on the board: haiku, 15 words or less, zeno, cinquain, diamante, and acrostic. The topic, of course, was ice and snow since we returned this week from a week hiatus due to an ice storm. More than ever before, my students had the experience needed to write about this topic.
Sometimes, my kids blow me away with their poetry. Austin was not willing to share in the classroom, but he did chalk his poem. Austin’s been reading books by Jason Reynolds. I feel like he channeled Jason in his poem.
In every person, their wounds may be bad.
Cold and solid, you can
Either sit and freeze or wake up and melt.
Austin, 6th grade
Cold winter nights Old melting ice Long icicles hanging from rooftops Dangling from trees are the frozen leaves. by Faith
This is my zeno poem. Zeno is a form invented by J Patrick Lewis with a syllable count of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1. Each one syllable rhymes.
Conditions in the clouds above
temperatures of
cold air
low
condensed to form
flutter
flow
tiny icy
crystals
snow
–Margaret Simon
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Reflections on the Teche 