Poetry Friday | Reflections on the Teche

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The Heart of Small Things

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged haiku, sonnet on November 11, 2016| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup

When I consider
feathers on a mourning dove
I know love

When I consider
chimes ring for an evening breeze
I know love

When I consider
roses he bought just-because
I know love

When I consider
pages that breathe a true life
I know love

When I consider small things
I am whole & here

–Margaret Simon

(Haiku sonnet on the opening line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet XV)

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Poetry Friday: Contests

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged Irene Latham, LA Writes, Louisiana Book Festival, NCTE on November 4, 2016| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Laura at Writing the World for Kids

Do you enter contests? I don’t. But I pretty much insist that my kids do. I even will go so far as to write it as a goal on their IEP. At the end of the school year last year, most of my students entered a piece of writing into our state writing contest, LA Writes. I was pleased to hear in September that three of them had placed. The awards ceremony was last Saturday at the Louisiana Book Festival at the State Museum in Baton Rouge. When Madison came to the microphone to read her poem, she introduced herself as “the author.” What a thrill for this writing teacher to hear her describe herself as an author.

Madison shows off her first place medal.

Madison wrote her first place poem after Irene Latham’s “Tree for All.” In May, we had a Skype visit with Irene. She wrote about my students’ poems here.

I secretly wished that Irene was there to hear Madison read. Sometime wishes do come true. Irene was at the Book Festival. We met up later in the day. She presented in the Children’s Storytelling Tent and guess who walked by?

Madison meets her author hero, Irene Latham.

Reef for All

after Irene Latham’s “Tree for All”

Sharks feast on my citizens;
my restaurant never closes.

Eels hide in my caves;
my shelters provide homes.

Sea worms play peek-a-boo in my tubes;
my tubes allow all ages.

Fish hide in my caves;
my cradle caves are cozy for new fins.

No sea animal can resist my charm:
I am a coral reef.

Madison

Tree for All (in Dear Wandering Wildebeests)

Giraffes feast on my leafy crown;

my buffet never closes.

Rhinos doze beneath my broad branches;

my umbrella selters and shades.

Baboons scramble up and down my trunk;

my playground delights all ages.

Owls nest in my hidden knothole;

my cradle cozies brand-new wings.

Skinks sleep in my thick, spotted bark;

my camouflage keeps them safe.

Safari ants trail along my roots;

my roadways help build a city.

No grassland beast can resist my charms;

I am a wild bush willow tree.

– Irene Latham

Contests make us feel famous. They give students an opportunity to shine. Thanks to Irene for being such a beautiful role model to budding author, Madison.

I will be presenting with Irene and some other awesome poets at NCTE 2016 in Atlanta:Sat., 9:30 G.12 Writing for a Better World: Poetry Response to World Events B210

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Heart to Heart

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged Georgia Heard, Good to Great, heart maps on October 21, 2016| 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

https://twitter.com/MargaretGSimon/status/789264438255820801

What a joy to join Georgia Heard on the Good to Great (#G2Great) chat Thursday night! Georgia sent me a copy of her latest book a few weeks ago. I was so excited to see that three of my students’ heart maps were included.

I questioned how Georgia could write a whole book about heart maps. But this book is a gem. In each section, not only do we get another idea for another type of heart map, twenty in all, but we also get a list of writing ideas and mentor texts. A side bar on each template asks questions to lead the student to his own heart.

I used the wish heart map this week with 6th graders. These students are embarking on a yearlong project. As we begin this journey, my colleagues and I wanted them to explore deeply a problem they see in the world. The heart maps were a way to visually get them to the “heart” of the matter. Some students went straight to writing. This student’s wish map became a list poem of wishes.

I usually write with my students, so why not make heart maps? The students rotated to me 4 times, so I have 4 hearts. Each one is different. Some are completely visual, but two of them became poems.

My wish heart maps

I Wish

I wish I could draw love
into the world.
Blow it freely
like a dandelion seed
to fertilize lives
with empathy.

We wish on falling stars,
on rainbows,
pennies thrown in the fountain.
There’s the obligatory pull
of wishbone, a tug between my brother and me.
If I win this time,
can I send this wish to you?
Will it come true?

–Margaret Simon

Thank you, Georgia Heard, for leading me, as well as countless children, to our hearts.

https://twitter.com/MargaretGSimon/status/789263683641802752

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Goodbye to Hummers and Hurricanes!

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged David Lee, full moon alert, hummingbirds, hurricanes, Jim Foret, Mary Oliver on October 15, 2016| 3 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with sweet Irene from Birmingham.

I was letting this Poetry Friday go, but this morning (Saturday) I received the Full Moon Alert from my friend Jim. Jim has missed two FMAs. When I saw him out dancing at La Poussiere a few weekends ago, I felt I conjured him out of the dust. (La Poussiere means “the dust” in Cajun French.) Turns out, Jim and his wife Paula are fine, just busy. That’s my excuse, too. Well, isn’t it everyone’s?

The thing I love about Jim, in addition to his attention to nature and moons, is his love of poetry. I am reposting the two poems he sent. The first is from David Lee. I have taken in the hummingbird feeder, but I still have such a fond image of them at the feeder this summer.

Hummingbird at the feeder in my backyard. Taken August 30th. Photo by Margaret Simon

Ode Beneath a Hummingbird Feeder

1

Greenflash of lightning
and memory of a red scar
etched on the golden throat
of a still afternoon.

2

Whirr of tiny wings
like a small thunder
across the redwood porch.

3

Oh, arrogant little warrior,
if I had a naked weapon
I could brandish like yours,
I, too, would suffer
no foolish rival suitors
sipping at my ruby fount.

–David Lee

The second poem Jim sent was by Mary Oliver. The sentiment she expresses of hurricanes and the resurrection after is familiar to me. I send this out to my Poetry Friday friends who recently endured Hurricane Matthew.

HURRICANE

It didn’t behave
like anything you had
ever imagined. The wind
tore at the trees, the rain
fell for days slant and hard.
The back of the hand
to everything. I watched
the trees bow and their leaves fall
and crawl back into the Earth.
As though, that was that.
This was one hurricane
I lived through, the other one
was of a different sort, and
lasted longer. Then
I felt my own leaves giving up and
falling. The back of the hand to
Everything. But listen now to what happened
to the actual trees;
toward the end of that summer they
pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs.
It was the wrong season, yes,
But they couldn’t stop. They
Looked like telephone poles and didn’t
care. And after the leaves came
blossoms. For some things
There are no wrong seasons.
Which is what I dream of for me.

–Mary Oliver

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Fairy Tale Poems

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged fairy tales, Jane Yolen, Marilyn Singer, Reverso poem on October 7, 2016| 22 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Violet.

This week my students and I have been reading and writing about fairy tales. They enjoyed hearing Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen. We also read aloud reverso poems by master Marilyn Singer in Mirror, Mirror.

“Writing a reverso is stressing me out. How did she write a whole book of them?” said Emily as we worked together to write a reverso for Sleeping Ugly. Yes, it was tough. But we were happy with our results. (Formatting has been another challenge.)

Sleeping Ugly

Plain Jane

On the outside,
beauty sleeps
lying still
finds
the Prince
wandering through the woods.
He knows
beauty
lies within.

Miserella

Lies within.
Beauty
he knows
wandering through the woods,
the Prince.
Lying still,
beauty sleeps
on the outside.

Andrew worked on his own and created this reverso about Pirates

Don’ Steal me Booty

Here’s the truth Forever I have it

I have the treasure I shall battle

An ordinary treasure Or I have to let it go

Give it up never

never Give it up

I have to let it go An ordinary treasure

I shall battle I have the treasure

Or forever you have it Here’s the truth

Kaiden enjoys word play in his poem about “Fairy Fales (not a mistake)”

Magical stories, forever to be told.
Fairies,princes,and eggs made of gold
Talking toads, yellow brick roads,
stories happy and Grimm
Evil queens, horrible dreams
Long sleep, what a treat
In a palace, standing bold
Slaying trolls
Magical stories, forever to be told.

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Light a Sparkler!

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged 15 Words or Less, Laura Purdie Salas on September 23, 2016| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Catherine at Reading to the Core.

I am a big fan of poet Laura Purdie Salas. Every Thursday she posts an image and invites her readers to write a poem in 15 words or less. I love this challenge. Her post yesterday reminded me of sparklers. I left the computer, made coffee, and these words came into my head. Then last night’s Good2Great chat (#G2Great) was about Dreaming Big. This is what my Big Dream is all about: lighting that fire of passion in my students.

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Poetry Friday: The Witch has Told You a Story

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Ava Leavell Haymon, fairy tale poem, Jane Yolen, Snow White on September 16, 2016| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty

Last week, Michelle welcomed Laura Shovan to her blog with a workshop idea around Fractured Fairy Tales.

I have ordered the two books she suggested, Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen and Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer.

Ava reading at A&E Gallery, November, 2013

In the meantime, I was reminded of a book of poetry I have by Ava Leavell Haymon, former poet laureate of Louisiana, Why the House is Made of Gingerbread. This book is really for adult readers, but a few years ago Lemony Snicket published a collection of poems for adults that children would like, available here on the Poetry Foundation. He selected Ava’s The Witch has Told You a Story for this collection.

You are food.
You are here for me
to eat. Fatten up,
and I will like you better.

Your brother will be first,
you must wait your turn.
Feed him yourself, you will
learn to do it. You will take him

eggs with yellow sauce, muffins
torn apart and leaking butter, fried meats
late in the morning, and always sweets
in a sticky parade from the kitchen.

His vigilance, an ice pick of hunger
pricking his insides, will melt
in the unctuous cream fillings.
He will forget. He will thank you

for it. His little finger stuck every day
through cracks in the bars
will grow sleek and round,
his hollow face swell

like the moon. He will stop dreaming
about fear in the woods without food.
He will lean toward the maw
of the oven as it opens

every afternoon, sighing
better and better smells.
—Ava Leavell Haymon

My lesson plan around fractured fairy tale poems will include this poem about Hansel and Gretel.

Jane Yolen challenges us this month to write a septercet, a form she invented. Each line of the 3 lined stanza has 7 syllables. I will ask my students to write a septercet about a favorite fairy tale, fractured or not. So I’m giving it a try myself.

Fairy White

When she wanders in the woods,
soft white reflecting diamonds,
her fair skin glows like snowflakes.

Apple laced in evil spells
tastes of beauty golden red
slips her slowly into sleep.

Finally she rests from all
her troubles. Let her be free.
Love will find a peaceful soul.

–Margaret Simon

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Poetry Friday: Students Look for Hidden Poems

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged Naomi Shihab Nye, poem about poetry on September 9, 2016| 15 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Amy at The Poem Farm.

Naomi Shihab Nye visited our classroom this week. We watched her video of Valentine for Ernest Mann. Showing the video made it feel like she was right there with us having a conversation. Then we read the poem again and again, talking about it at length. This poem can start a classroom controversy over whether or not skunks are really beautiful.

I asked my students to re-read the poem again and find some words that speak to them and try out their own poem. I shared my poem. (posted here)

Sometimes poetry magic happens. It happened for Lani. She sat quietly with her notebook for a while and came to me to share this poem. She was proud that she wrote the poem from the point of view of the poem. I think she caught the golden fish on the first try.

You can try to look for me
and I won’t be there
I won’t be in a drawer or
in your pocket. I won’t be
on a shiny plate ready to
share. Since you can’t order
me like you order a
Big Mac at McDonalds
You will have to search for
me like archeologists search
for bones. It will take a
while to find me and
it won’t be easy if
I’m in your hair or in
a skunk’s eyes. You
just have to look. I can
be anywhere from the
outside to inside your home.
The most likely place that
I will be is in the back
of your mind, ready to
happen and be shared.

–Lani, 5th grade (after Naomi Shihab Nye’s Valentine for Ernest Mann)

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August

Posted in Photography, Poetry Friday, tagged August, hummingbird poem on September 2, 2016| 32 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Penny. Yee Haw!

I am glad that August is over. It was a rough month down here in South Louisiana, but the hummingbirds have come. There is hope for fall, even though there is a hurricane in the Gulf and temperatures hit 95 degrees today.

Photo and poem by Margaret Simon

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Poetry Friday: Gratitude

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged Laura Foley, Mary Lee Hahn, Praise poem, Tara Smith on August 25, 2016| 18 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

A few weeks ago, Mary Lee Hahn posted her poem Gratitude List as an exercise after Laura Foley’s Gratitude List. I immediately saved it to do with my students. This was the week of Gratitude, eating popcorn (Popcorn & Poetry), and writing our own Gratitude List. My students responded well to Laura Foley’s as well as Mary Lee’s poems. See this post to read these mentor texts.

As always, I write alongside my kids, so with a handful of popcorn and pictures from my trip to Tara’s farm, I fashioned my own version.

Praise be the morning mist,
the dewy grass, the crisp air,
and that moonrise last night
we raised a glass to.

Praise be a gathering of friends,
travels across miles, and the dog
that greeted each of us with a wagging tail.

Praise be the morning coffee, pancakes
covered in blueberries and maple syrup,
sweet, cool watermelon.
Praise be the wildflowers
in a canning jar.

–Margaret Simon (For Tara Smith)

I want to share a few lines from my students, too.

Praise be this afternoon
for gifted, the relaxing writing,
the fun of talking to friends,
reading a book.

Praise be Frootloop breakfast,
the hard floor under our feet
and a roof above our heads
and sunshine
after the flood.

–Madison, 3rd grade