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NPM16 #8 Poetry Friday Abecedarian

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday on April 8, 2016| 18 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Laura Purdie Salas

Day 5 is with Janet at Live your Poem

National Poetry Month is in full swing. My students are steeping in poetry. They are writing and reading poems every day.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is a favorite in my classroom, so I shared her site The Poem Farm on Wonder Wednesday. She is writing poems every day about the Wonder of the Day from Wonderopolis. The thing that caught my students’ eyes was Amy’s abecedarian poem, To Make Compost.

Some of my students took the challenge to write an abecedarian poem. Emily was inspired to write about animals in a zoo. She imagined all the animals and searched for verbs and adjectives to describe them.

Koo-Koo Zoo

Any zoo has animals
But ours are special we have:
Caring Cats
Dancing Donkeys
Eager Elephants
Flying Ferrets
Giggling Giraffes
Howling Hummingbirds
Ignorant Iguanas
Jogging Jellyfish
Karaoke Kangaroos
Laughing Llamas
Magic Monkeys
Nerdy Newts
Offended Octopi
Parachuting Parrots
Quizzing Quails
Racing Rhinos
Sailing Snakes
Tap Dancing Tigers
Untidy Unicorns
Vanishing Vultures
Wrestling Walrusses
X-raying Eels
Yodeling Yachts
Zipping Zebras

–Emily, 5th grade

Vannisa worked for 2 days on her poem. She used a dictionary to help her find the words she wanted to say. She was looking for unique words to express her philosophy of kindness.

All of your actions are
Beyond what you think

Continuous caring
Decreases your selfishness
Exercises your soul

Follow
Good
Hearts
Into a
Jungle where
Kindness and
Love are
Major,
Never wasted

On a fast
Pace,
Quickly
Racing,
Spreading,
Tailoring
Under and over
Vines

Wildfire-spreading,
X-ing out negativity,
Yawing around the city,
Zigzagging everywhere, is love

–Vannisa, 6th grade

I am writing a poem a day to images. This is a picture of flowers growing in our front flower bed taken through the arrowslits in the entryway to our house. Our house is like a castle, complete with a turret with arrowslits. When I Googled arrowslits, I the word embrasure came up as a synonym. Here is a draft of my first ever abecedarian.

A window
Beyond the
Downstairs
Embrasure

Flowers burst open
Give light to the view
Here, I stop
Invite spring in

Just to
Kiss blinking stars
Linger outside for this
Moment

Never would I’ve imagined
Open stars landing here
Popping and
Quickening to life, they

Return to
Stand
Tall each year
Under this

Veranda of the castle
Wings waiting to fly
eXciting space with
Yearning and
Zest

–Margaret Simon

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National Poetry Month Day 1

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #imagepoems, NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month, Poem a Day on April 1, 2016| 17 Comments »

#imagepoems Day 1 image

Today is April 1st and April Fool’s Day. I have fooled myself into thinking I can write a poem every day in April to an image. This first image was a joke played on me when I entered the bathroom at Ann Taylor Loft. “Watch out for the mannequins.” I was warned. I imagined they had wisdom to share. I also tried to play with the “in” sound. (Note: If you are playing along with me, put your poem or a link to it in the comments.)

Wisdom of the Mannequins

Appreciate the bare skin of things.

Sometimes it pays to be a skinflint.

Stand up straight and let your hips glide.

Don’t underestimate the power of a soft brush of blush.

Listen with a tinted ear.

You want to fit in the skin you’re in.

Bend, blend, and be happy.

–Margaret Simon

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

The Progressive poem begins at Laura’s site: Writing the World for Kids.

Jessica Bigi is joining in the poem-a-day image poems with this taste of spring today:

Moonbeam crowns
Embroidered bumblebee gowns
Brassy trumpet jazz
Teacup gardens steeping
Sweet is spring’s song
Spades Queens Kings

–Jessica Bigi

Art by Jessica Bigi

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SOL16 #25: Detangle

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Good Friday, poetry, roses on March 25, 2016| 18 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

Today is Good Friday. For me, it’s always a day to be quiet. We don’t have school today, so I can take my time waking up (I still wake in the dark.), sip my coffee slowly, and sit with these roses. Our local grocer sells roses for $10.99 a dozen. Every once in a while, I buy them for myself. I bought these over a week ago, and they are still bright and blooming. Flowers can make the saddest of days seem brighter. So in the glow of roses, I contemplate a poem.

The yarn is a tangled mess.

I could have taken the time
to prepare, rolled patiently
this thread into a ball
the needle would glide
smoothly through.
But I left out this step.
Now I am struggling with knots.

How in our daily haste to get started,
to make something new,
we make the process harder.

Yet, as I sit and detangle,
my mind unravels, too.
I release the struggle
into my fingers
let go of the tangles,
knit a prayer.

–Margaret Simon

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

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SOL16: #19 Celebrating Authors Skyping

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Janet Sumner Johnson, Laura Shovan, Skype on March 19, 2016| 11 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

Each student has a chance to ask a question.

Laura Shovan and Janet Sumner Johnson are on tour as “Sweet Sixteens,” debut children’s authors of 2016. I love any opportunity to connect my students with authors, so when I heard they had some openings, I jumped at the chance.

To prepare my students for this visit, I have been reading aloud an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. We are getting to know Hannah, Sloane, Sydney, Kate, George, and other students in the fifth grade at Emerson. The school board plans to sell the school for demolition and a new grocery store. Under the guidance of Ms. Hill, who must be a wonderfully kind teacher, the students protest and use poetry to get their voices heard. Laura Shovan creates a compelling story with her intricate knowledge of each character carefully depicted in the craft of poetry.

With Laura was Janet Sumner Johnson, author of the The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society. We had time to read only one chapter of this book before our visit, but Janet packs so much into that first chapter that my kids were full of questions. Janet said that she wrote the first version of the book 15 years ago. It’s been through lots of revisions. My students enjoyed learning about how Janet got her idea for the PB&J Society.

Janet and Laura on the Promethean Board

As an aspiring author myself, I took a special interest in what these wonderful women had to say about their writing and publishing experiences. Laura showed us her huge binder full of tabs in which she kept every draft of every poem for every character. I was amazed!

Both authors connected with the kids and were respectful of each and every question, even the silly ones like “Do you know about narwhals?” Kaiden loved being the first to notice that the homeless girl in Laura’s book had the last name Holmes. I believe that there are many more clever details in these two books. They come out in April. Get ready to add them to your classroom library.

Sharing the love of reading and narwhals on St. Patrick’s Day.

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

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SOL16: #18 Writing is like Praying

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged broken, nature, Sister Helen Prejean on March 18, 2016| 22 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

Poetry Friday round-up with Robyn Hood Black.

Writing is like praying, because you stop all other activities, descend into silence, and listen patiently to the depths of your soul, waiting for true words to come. When they do, you thank God because you know the words are a gift, and you write them down as honestly and cleanly as you can.

– Helen Prejean C.S.J.

Broken Pottery by Sweet Tea

Broken
shards of unwanted
clay, rock, soil
litter the ground.

There, unharmed, her hidden heart–
once protected by
earth mother, soft and dark,
now bravely

open like the flowers
in an abandoned field,
reaching for light.

–Margaret Simon

When you open yourself to the world, it will reveal itself to you. I opened two different emails. The first from Laura Shovan. She sent me the Sister Helen Prejean quote. A gift of a gift.

The second was Tabatha Yeatts’ blog post here. This image of the broken pottery grabbed me, and I opened the note on my computer and composed this poem. I know it comes from my heart that aches for a child whose home is not as it should be. Yet she is exactly who she should be, open and kind and full of joy. This broken pot. Her full heart. My attention.

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SOL16: #11 Wonder(ful) Poems

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged mask poem, student Slice of Life Challenge, wonder poems on March 11, 2016| 17 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

When Wonder Wednesday comes around on a Slice of Life Challenge Day, we write in a slightly more personal way about what we wonder about. My students scan the internet for information sometimes having a hard time committing to a subject. And as they sit side by side, ideas spread across the room and before I know it, I have 3 or 4 kids gathered around a computer screen watching a video about ghosts.

Later when I check blog posts, I find that not only do their interests spread, their writing decisions do, too. Wonder poems have been cropping up on Wednesdays. I am afraid to tell my students how much this pleases me. I think maybe I should leave well enough alone.

Tara Smith posted this quote on Facebook: “The fact is that kids learn to make good decisions by making good decisions, not by following directions.” Alfie Kohn

As my students write daily on their blogs, they are making more and more decisions about their writing without me. I read and see so much development, so many craft moves, and so much care to write well. I also see them becoming aware of the pleasures of writing for writing’s sake. They are pleased with themselves.

Lani shared with me her Wonder SOL, “Look at my poem! I rhymed and I didn’t even know it.”

I Believe

There is the world

where the dead

are still alive

and they

spy

on the living.

Maybe one day

everyone will

have a

belief that this

is true

that ghosts

can haunt you

and they indeed

say BOO!

Lani, 4th grade

Lynzee sat close to Lani and wrote about ghost towns. She created a poem, too.

Montana Ghost Town

Deserted,

No one to be seen or heard,

You suddenly think,

“Ghost Town.”

You run,

And run,

And run until you get home

Then you think,

“Home, Sweet, Home.”
Your parents then say,

“Where were you?”

You say,

“Just playing.”

–Lynzee, 1st grade

Emily perused some pictures from a local newspaper photo contest. I cut out the photos, mounted them on colored paper, and left them on the table for inspiration. She didn’t realize that she was writing a mask poem until I told her. Don’t you love when a student just naturally has a gift for writing a poem? What a pleasure to see this one appear in her Slice.

Photo by Kim Bayard.

I walk across a gravel road with my 3 little cubs,

We search for berries and fruits to eat, but we can not find them,

From behind some type of yellow shelter emerges a little child,

With hair of blonde and eyes of blue,

We run for a bit, but stop,

She approaches with berries of blue,

With even amounts for each,

I thank the young girl with a friendly rub at her knees,

She laughs and runs back home,

She won’t understand how grateful I am for feeding my children and me.

–Emily, 5th grade

Poetry Friday round-up with Irene Latham at Live your Poem

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SOL16: #4 Horses

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged found poem, horses on March 4, 2016| 15 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for March Slice of Life Challenge.

Julie’s horse Abbie

I am not a horse person. Every day I drive down a country highway to my school. In fall I watched the swaying sugarcane. Now the fields are bare, and my attention turns to the pastures with horses. In one of these pastures there are three mares and two foals. They gather around the hay bale together.

I am reading The War that Saved my Life and riding alongside Ada on her pony, Butter.

I am writing a verse novel and decided I want my MC to go horseback riding. Having little experience with horses, I turned to my friend and writing critique partner, Julie Burchstead. Julie lives in Vermont, and she has horses. Here is a link to a poem she wrote about building the barn.

Her expertise will make its way into my WIP, but in the meantime, I played with her words and created a found poem.

In the Saddle
a found poem from an email from Julie Burchstead

Feel and smell leather reins.
The horse is warm.
Western saddles creak like leather shoes.
Even through the saddle,
you can sense their mood and their power.
You are on horse time, a different time all unto itself.
Your body falls into rhythm
of the horse’s movement
like being rocked.
Their bodies warm as their muscles warm,
sweat has a rich friendly scent-like hay and summer.

Find your center-like a dancer-a yoga practitioner-
Sit deep and tall.

I miss the days
galloping down the beach,
hair streaming, bareback,
the rhythm of hoofbeats,
the splash of water,
the connection you have
with a powerful living animal.

There is something healing
about a horse,
this huge animal
that trusts us.

Julie riding Abbie. She and Abbie have been together for 15 years.

Poetry Friday round-up with Linda Baie at Teacher Dance.

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Grandmother Oak: A Photo Poem

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged celebrating live oaks, Grandmother Oak, photo poem on February 27, 2016| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Liz Steinglass.

Kim Douillard who blogs at Thinking Through my Lens hosts a photo challenge each week. The theme this week is “One Tree.” Armed with my new camera, I decided to create a photo poem about the Grandmother Oak who stands in my backyard.

Mr. Jim tells me this oak is more than 200 years old.
Her name is Grandmother.
Yes, my tree has a name.
Her name defines her
as strong and old and able to bear
the weight of the whole world
as gently as she would hold
a small child
or a cardinal’s nest.

She holds the weight of the world as gently as she holds a cardinal’s nest.

A rope swing waits
swinging in the soft breeze
remembering the children
taking turns to ride
and lean back to view the sky,
squealing delight,
making Grandmother smile.

Rope swing

Branches as wide as she is tall
twist and reach across
the yard, a place of shade
protection form the harsh sun
or the whipping wind
of hurricanes; she’s seen a few.
She knows when to shed and when to hold.
She knows how far to bend before she’ll break.
She knows.

branches wide and open

When I look up, the smallest branches
spread a canopy of tiny leaves
high and open to the blue
of sky, clusters of brothers
and sisters, a playground for squirrels,
a nesting place for Mr. Jay and his mate.

Branches high and small
open to the blue of sky.

Grandmother Oak holds her jewels
of resurrection fern and Spanish moss
like modest ornaments.
As a grandparent would, her home
is clean and fresh,
waiting and wanting
for you to stop by
and have a cup of tea.
–Margaret Simon

For Celebration Saturday, I offer this celebration of Grandmother Oak.

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

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Poetry: Process or Product?

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged What is poetry?, William Stafford on February 19, 2016| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Donna at Mainly Write

Where does a poem come from?
From play with words?
Intention of language?
Simply throwing confetti to the wind?

A poem takes shape
whether I am present or not.
Some days the muse is mine.
Others I merely stroke the fire
waiting for the flame to ignite.

William Stafford said I should kneel
in the deep earth and dig.*

I kneel.
I pray.
I sing.
Then I open my notebook,
lay my pen against soft paper,
and wriggle these fingers.

A gift is given.
I will not let go.
–Margaret Simon

I’ve been thinking about where poems come from and whether the joy is in the process or in the product. I don’t know the answer. But I enjoy asking the question.

Kevin Hodgson sent out postcards. I got one and added my given word on the padlet he created. In this instance, the process was the fun. The sending and receiving of postcards in the real mailbox was exciting. None of us are really quite sure what the product means, but we all agree it’s cool.

* “Successful people cannot find poems; for you must kneel down and explore for them.”
–William Stafford.

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Let’s all go to Antarctica

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged Antarctica poems, Irene Latham, When the Sun Shines on Antarctica on February 5, 2016| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

C,lick to order

The lovely Irene Latham shared her newest book of poems with me and my students. We had a great time traveling to Antarctica this week. We started in the glossary. Where else would you start? We learned new words like adept, baleen whale, and crèches. My students made notes in their journals.

We read aloud a sampling of poems, such as “When the Sun Shines on Antarctica” and “Beware the Brinicle!” Oh, how they hate brinicles, ever since they learned that “this frozen lightning rod…entombs all it touches.”

In the back of this amazing book there is a listing of websites to visit. We visited Discovering Antarctica. This site is full of videos, amazing images, and fun activities. I asked my students to do three activities. They jumped right in and were riveted.

To culminate the week, we looked back at Irene’s poems and talked about craft moves. There was onomatopoeia in”Gentoo Penguin Jumps In.” I showed how Irene played with the way the word appeared on the page (dive actually dives down the page). We talked about rhyme and short lines, metaphor, simile, and personification.

Then they took a turn at writing their own Antarctic poems. Thanks, Irene, for leading us on this adventurous discovery.

(My kids love disgusting things like a bird that vomits while flying in the air.)

Southern Giant Petrel at the Seashore

Petrel
doesn’t do
sandcastles
or suntans–
he’s more
like a flying
trash can.

His belly
is where all
the garbage
goes:
his beak
is the lid
that never
stays closed.

Careful,
don’t come
too near–
or Petrel
will spew
a rotten brew
all over you.

–Irene Latham (used with permission from the author)

Now for student poems.

Antarctica Poem

Freezing water
cold temperatures
Emperor Penguins
Penguin chicks
The sound of silence
Being broken by sounds

Grah!!

Killer Whales eating
Penguins feasting
Petrel barfing
On its predators
Antarctic Galore!

by Andrew, 3rd grade

Adelie Penguins

Little gray balls
beaks with all.

Black and white tuxedos,
important yellow shoes,
they’re businessmen.

White and black gowns,
little golden slippers,
stylish as can be.

–Lynzee, 1st grade

Who am I?

Who am I?
Who am I?

The killer of krill
I eat thousands, in every meal.

My teeth are two plastic plates.
I sing a song to attract my mate.

My bestie is the barnacle.
He’s been here since he fledged.

You guessed it!
You guessed it!

I am the baleen whale.
Now I will end this poem
with the flip of my tail.

–Emily, 5th grade

I have been participating in Laura Shovan’s February writing challenge. We are writing to images of found objects. Today, our poems are posted by Matt at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme.

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