Poetry | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

Testing Timer of Oz

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Greg Armamentos, PARCC timer, students, testing, Wizard of Oz on March 10, 2015| 12 Comments »

SOL #10

This post lifts a line from Greg Armamentos. He wrote this most wonderfully expressed lament over PARCC testing.

Before we jam thermometers

into students

to measure

their current temperature,

Before we dig up

the seed we planted

to see if it is growing,

We must set the timer,

But not any timer.

Computers must be off.

Cell phones must be locked up.

No ticks or rings.

No sound but the deep breaths

of our students in the pressure cooker.

The district gives permission, my pretty,

to use the Promethean timer.

Does the great and powerful district know

that the Smart board has no brains of its own,

let alone a heart?

–Margaret Simon

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Overlooked

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing on March 9, 2015| 13 Comments »

SOL #9

This week’s photo challenge on Kim Douillard’s site is Overlooked. I had this word in mind as I drove to exercise on Friday morning. The full moon was still out while the sun was rising. The road to the gym was blocked. I was already late, so I decided to take some photos instead. I made them into an Animoto video.

Then I read Michelle Hendrick Barnes’ post on Poetry Friday. An interview with one of my favorite authors, Margarita Engle. Margarita’s ditty challenge was tied to her new book Orangutanka, a story of orangutans in tanka poems. The challenge: write a tanka, a form with a syllable count of 5,7,5,7,7. Then I looked at Heidi Mordhorst’s March poetry project and today’s word is preaCH. Could I work the two challenges together?

Sun overlooks
blessing a lonely smoke stack.
Coulee wildflowers
preach yellow sonnets
while moon graces morning clouds.

–Margaret Simon

I sent my tanka to Michelle and Heidi, so they are posting it today. Three times lucky!

My Juicy Little Universe

Today’s Little Ditty

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Found Poems and Book Talks

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Animoto, book talks, Emaze, found poem, PowerPoint, PowToon on March 8, 2015| 14 Comments »

SOL #8

In addition to joining the Slice of Life Challenge at the Two Writing Teachers blog, I have committed to hosting a DigiLit Sunday round up each week. If this is your first time here, consider joining us on Sundays. I love reading about all the new tools available for students and how teachers are using them. Use the button below on your site.

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

This week was the last of our third nine weeks. How this year is flying! My students do a book talk presentation each quarter, so this was the week to get them done. I love how the room buzzes with computer activity and how talk revolves around books. I added a new requirement this quarter: found poems. These were their instructions:

1. Find a section of 50-100 words. This may be your favorite part or the climax or a part with a good description.

2. Copy words or phrases from the section.

3. Rewrite or type as a poem. Notice line breaks. You may change the order or add words only if necessary to add meaning.

4. Check your poem for tone. Does it reflect the tone of the book?

My students choose the technology they wanted to use for their presentations. Some used Emaze, Powtoon, Animoto, or PowerPoint. Some used the technology to guide their talks. Other used it as a hook or to enhance the presentation.

I want to share some of the found poems, a Powtoon, and an Animoto trailer.

Vannisa used chapter epigraphs from Counting by 7's. Each phrase connects to the character in some way.

Vannisa used chapter quotes from Counting by 7’s. Each phrase connects to the character in some way.

Tobie wrote this poem from the Halloween chapter in Wonder. He could relate to the black hole August wanted to go into.

Matthew’s Animoto book trailer for Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.

Mission Impossible is a favorite background. Tobie used it to create this Powtoon presentation about Wonder.

Digital Learning Day is on March 13th. My plan is a Crazy Comment Challenge in which my students will try to write as many comments as possible on other SOL posts. Please consider joining us. More about Digital Learning Day can be found here. Use the hashtag #DLDay, #sol15, and #crazycomments in your Tweets.

If you have written a Digital Literacy post, please add your link in the comments. I will add them to this post. I am having some trouble with link up apps lately, so I’m just using the old fashioned way.

Cathy Mere struggles with teaching students about copyright when using photos. Tough lesson for us all. http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/2015/03/digilit-sunday-helping-students-with.html

Julie Johnson writes about using apps with her after school digital writing group. http://www.raisingreadersandwriters.com/

Tara Smith writes about teaching resources for Selma. https://ateachinglifedotcom.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/sol15-march-8-2015-living-history-commemorating-the-march-on-selma/ “Teaching the events of Selma empowers our students with what the President called, “the imperative of citizenship”, which brave people like John Lewis have been willing to die for ever since we first became our nation.” Tara Smith

Holly wonders about the use of technology versus the way we grew up with limited TV channels and certainly no Internet. Join the conversation here: http://hollymueller.blogspot.com/2015/03/slice-of-life-story-challenge-what-i_8.html

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Left-handed Rhythm

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged djembe, Jack, Laura Shovan, Sound poetry on March 4, 2015| 8 Comments »

SOL #4

I have met many wonderful and creative people through blogging. A few years ago I joined the Poetry Friday round up. Poetry is a passion of mine. I use poetry often in my classroom, and I enjoy writing it. And who doesn’t love a good challenge? So when Laura Shovan posted her February Birthday Challenge, I took part. She posted sounds as poetry prompts. Turns out 14 of us wrote 177 poems to 28 sounds. Pretty impressive.

One of the sounds we wrote about was an electric guitar which reminded me of playing Guitar Hero with my nephew and getting beaten badly. Apparently, Jack has impeccable rhythm. Last summer, he started taking drumming lessons. He got a djembe for Christmas. I didn’t really know about his djembe playing until my sister posted a video of him from their California vacation. (My talented trumpet playing niece was marching with her band in the Rose Bowl parade.)

Musical talent runs in my family. In the dining room of my parents’ home is a life-sized portrait of my grandmother with her violin. My mother has her masters in piano and taught lessons in our home for many years. My brother has the gene, too. (We say it’s in the left hand as they are all left-handed.) Hunter is a professional musician. He plays keyboard and sings solo or with a band most nights of the week. So it was inevitable that someone would inherit the talent.

My sister says Jack’s rhythm is innate. He danced to the beat of her tapping a cinnamon container at 18 months. She remembers Mom telling a similar story about our brother who danced to the rhythm of her stirring cake batter.

Laura’s challenge pushed me to add a poem to the video. Here is Jack playing the djembe wowing the crowds at Santa Monica pier. My poem runs in the ticker tape at the bottom.

When I played Guitar Hero,

beat on a fake guitar

sent light waves to a TV screen,

the cartoon me danced in time,

but I missed the beat.

Not Jack

He is the guitar hero.

A natural born rock star

The beat is in the palms of his hands

drumming the djembe–

a ten-year-old marvel.

–Margaret Simon

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Torn Paper Chalkabration

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Gifted Education, Poetry, tagged Betsy Hubbard, palm tree poems, Teaching Young Writers, torn paper collage art on February 28, 2015| 5 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Join the Chalk-a-bration at Betsy Hubbard’s site Teaching Young Writers.

The last day of the month is Chalkabration time, a time to celebrate poetry and chalk and creativity. My students love Chalkabration, the brain-child of Betsy Hubbard. Yesterday was a bit chilly for chalking outside, so we did an inside art/poetry project with torn paper.

On Thursday, Paw Pride, a leadership group at my school, went to a local low income housing for the elderly to deliver socks we had collected. The apartments are housed in an old school. Outside where we gathered, there is a draping old oak tree with palm trees underneath. When Jacob arrived with his sister, he looked at the tree and said, “Mrs. Simon, can we write a poem about this tree?” Gotta love him!

“Yes, Jacob, tomorrow is Chalkabration!”

A Palm Looking Tree
At the end of February in southern Louisiana,you’ll most likely find a palm looking tree.
by Vannisa

Ancient Chickens
hiding among trees
spreading wisdom
running from tree to tree
in secret.
These are Ancient Chickens.
by Tyler

Paradise by Matthew

Coconut Tree
The top of peeled off coconuts.
With green roots coming out.
Sun shines on the coconut peels.
I want to be inside of it.
by Jacob

Palm tree haiku
by Margaret Simon

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PsyKu Poetry Form by Kids

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged haiku, Laura Purdie Salas, MMPoetry, new poem form on February 27, 2015| 28 Comments »

Join the roundup with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

I have discovered from being surrounded by gifted kids and showering them in poetry that they get adventurous and brave. They try new things in poems. And they invent new poetry forms.

This week I used a picture prompt as I often do. This week’s Robin Update from Journey North was a close-up image of a robin with a berry in its mouth. I introduced Laura Purdie Salas’ latest poetry project, Why-Ku. I haven’t read Mary Lee Hahn’s activities yet, but I doubt one of them is to create your own poem form.

I have a few boys who seem to find every excuse to get distracted from the task at hand, but this time I waited and allowed their distraction to see where this would go.

“Let’s write a Psy-ku?”

“Great! A Sci-Ku with scientific facts.”

“No, Mrs. Simon, not Science haiku, Psy-ku, like crazy.”

While the rest of us worked on poems about the robin, the boys were scheming and making up a new form.

They created a syllable count: 5,4,5,5,5,6,5,7,5,8

Then the poets three headed to our Kidblogs site to try to create the next poetry phenomenon.

Reed wrote, “A new thing that me REED and Nigel have created is called a psyku. This is an out -of-the-world dumb type of writing. You just make up a topic and have it carzyfied! It can be something about a dumb person or a wacky topic.”

I would skate Monday,
With unicorns.
I would skate Tuesday,
With Spongebob Squarepants.
I would skate Wednesday,
With the Greek Roman gods.
I would skate Thursday,
With Godzilla and Bigfoot.
I would skate Friday,
With another bottle of gin.
Nigel, 6th grade

I know the bottle of gin is probably not classroom appropriate, but I had to laugh. They didn’t really know what it was. Who knows? This psy-ku form may become a thing. If you are so inclined to give it a shot, write one in the comments or comment on our Kidblog. Go for it!

Here is a link to our Kidblog site: http://kidblog.org/class/SliceofLifeChallenge/posts

Announcement! I have been selected to be one of the 64 authletes in the 2015 March Madness for Kids’ Poetry. The competition begins on March 10th. I am totally intimidated by the competition, but I am Reaching this year, and what better way to reach than to do something scary. Here is the tournament poster. You can find me in the Passion category. Check Ed’s site for updates.

MMPoetry bracket Round One

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The Poem in the Tree

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged 15 Words or Less, Laura Purdie Salas, Nature poems, oak tree on February 20, 2015| 11 Comments »

Join the roundup with Linda at Teacher Dance.

I like to keep my poetry in practice, so I often enlist my students in my pet projects. I love Laura Purdie Salas and her blog site. Every Thursday she posts a picture and asks writers to post a poem comment using 15 words or less. Not every Thursday, but many of them, I show her image to my first bunch in the morning. We talk about the image, someone rings the sacred writing bell, and we write.

Yesterday, Laura posted an old tree. I listened to my first grader, the youngest of the bunch, explain to a fifth grader what he needed to do. “Look at the picture. Then use your imagination.” We read Laura’s poem and Jacob said, “I’m stealing the word squirrels.” I swear this kid could lead a writing workshop already!

Old Tree by Laura Purdie Salas

I posted this poem early in the morning. The tree image reminded me of the old live oak in our backyard.

Grandmother Oak

With footholds to climb
Eyes that see time
Stories in my rings
Come swing.

–Margaret Simon

Grandmother oak in the sunset

Then I wrote again with my students.

Stories told
from a wisdom of scars
wrinkled into skin
like crevices on this old tree.

–Margaret Simon

If you would like to play, go to Laura’s site on Thursday mornings. It’s a fun place to be.

Old People

Two old men
bickering every day
scaring nature away.
These old hags
should calm down.
–Tyler, 6th grade

Another poetry practice project I am doing is on another Laura’s site, Laura Shovan of Author Amok. I am joining some fabulous poets writing to sound prompts. Check it out!

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From the Heart

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Author Amok, Laura Shovan, Sound poetry on February 6, 2015| 16 Comments »

Join the roundup with Liz and all her wisdom.

I can’t help it. I try to write poems, but my emotions get in the way. My self and all her flaws permeate every word. You may think I am missing self-confidence. Maybe I am fishing for compliments. That’s not it at all.

Laura Shovan has done this to me again. Like last year, I am taking her challenge to write a poem every day in the month of February. Unlike last year, the words are flowing. Does this come from practice? self-confidence? wisdom? Not really. It comes from the heart. I am pouring it out on my sleeve and sending it to her to publish on her blog. Bleeding on the page as some wise writer said. Was it Hemmingway?

I want to thank Laura for allowing, no, encouraging me to write like this. Please visit her site and listen to some of the sounds for this project. I guarantee they will open a vein for you.

My submissions for Thursday and Friday are below. Thursday we listened to the sound of a ballet dancer practicing. On Friday, the sound was a theremin. I had never heard of this instrument before, so I spent some time on YouTube listening. One of my favorites was this rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Ballet Practice

Body of intense beauty
strength of muscles flexed
arabesque held still

Life ends.
We know it must.

Beauty dissolves
into a limp plie’
held en pointe
by loving hands.

–Margaret Simon, for Suzy

Revealing Energy

The director’s hands
stir the air like a scientist.
Vibrating fingers
tune an invisible voice;
sound becomes color—a rainbow
of intonations exploring
the foreign frontier
of our ears.

–Margaret Simon

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Reach

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Author Amok, Laura Shovan, OLW, Reach on February 5, 2015| 3 Comments »

Click here to read more #spiritualjourney posts. Thanks Holly for hosting this roundup!

Since the new year, Holly has gathered our spiritual journey posts about each person’s one little word. Today my word Reach is the featured theme.

I haven’t really settled in with my OLW yet. Reaching takes active work. It’s not a passive word. I can’t just sit back on it and wait. I have to go out there and do something about it. I want to embrace this word Reach, but on these cold wet winter days, I’d rather be lazy, curl up with my dog and rest. Exercise another day.

I stretch my sore, tired muscles.
I look at the amaryllis, now wilting.
I notice new growth, a new stem creeping up alongside the blossom.
Where did that come from?
Sometimes without us even noticing, God plants new growth.
We can bloom again.

I chose Reach for completely selfish reasons. I have a few writing projects that I am working on and others I am thinking about. I set a goal to move forward with writing, to Reach for publication. Maybe I should have chosen a braver word, like Courage.

This month a Poetry Friday blogging friend, Laura Shovan, has started a poetry project to celebrate her birthday. I have been writing a poem each day to a posted sound. This project is stretching my writing muscles and giving me a creative place to go each day. Am I Reaching? I can think about this writing as stretching, exercising, and moving my writing muscles. All a part of Reaching. Follow this link to read poems about a thunder storm sound.

Perhaps when I read all the Spiritual Journey posts about my OLW I will embrace it, feel it, want to, own it. Today, I will Reach for Reach.

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Sound Poetry Project

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Christine Balfa, Haiku Deck, Laura Shovan, Sound poetry on February 2, 2015| 5 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Laura Shovan creates a writing challenge every year for her birthday month of February. Last year she posted different Pantone colors as prompts. This year she is posting sounds. On Feb. 1st, she featured my poem along with some of my favorite Poetry Friday friends’. Click here. I am enjoying the path of discovery this writing challenge is taking me on.

The sound for today is angel chimes. You can listen to them here.

I went to Haiku Deck to write a haiku about Spanish moss. The tinkling of the chimes made me think of the rhythm of the moss blowing. I recently took pictures of the moss, not knowing that it would lead to this poem.

When I wrote the line, “Spanish moss two-step,” I liked it so much that I wanted to re-write the other lines to make them fit. So I Googled Cajun triangle. What came up was a 2012 NPR story about Christine Balfa. In the feature, she is heard playing solo triangle which sounds a lot like the Swedish angel chimes. So Christine made it into the poem.

Christine has recently been nominated for a grammy with a group of women musicians called Bonsoir, Catin which means “Goodnight, Darling.” . I am excited that my quest for a line of poetry led me to her music and memories of two-stepping to Bonsoir, Catin.