Poetry Friday | Reflections on the Teche

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Gifted by Nature

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Gifted by Nature Day, I am poem, torn paper art on April 24, 2015| 10 Comments »

Join the roundup with Renee at No Water River

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Every year we gather all the elementary gifted students at our local city park for a day of playing strategic games and combining nature, art, and poetry. This year our 6th grade students led the day. They’ve been working together once a month all year to plan a day of wonder for all our students. They performed a play about the Wonders of New Iberia. Written, designed, and performed by students, the play led the audience on a tour of the wonders of our area.

The 6th grade students led an art and poetry activity. Their instructions were to think of something you wonder about and write an I am poem about it. The form was simple. The students wrote and tore paper to create an art piece to accompany the poem. I participated because I wanted to sit next to students and be one of them. I thought about my diva cat, Mimi. One of the students helped me with my torn paper art.

Torn paper Mimi by Margaret Simon

Galaxy by Kaiden

Air by Matthew

Nature by Vannisa

This post is my 600th post. I never would have thought I would get here when I started this amazing journey. Thank you, friends and readers!

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Acrostic Verse

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, tagged Creativity, student acrostic poetry on April 17, 2015| 9 Comments »

Join the roundup with Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

I am staying true to my blog title and reflecting today. I discovered a student of mine has been writing acrostic poems. Lani is new to my gifted class, in third grade, and works on math with me. She knew the others were blogging for the month of March, and she wanted to join in. Of course, I let her, and her mother welcomed the challenge by allowing her computer time at home to post. With the crazy number of posts during March, I was not completely keeping up. I thought I was until I saw this post from Lani from March 25th.

Since today is International Poetry Day for me… this is my poem…..

Hour long punishment
Expelled from school yesterday
Lectures from my mother
Practicality flunked sixth grade

My worst day ever
Everyone knows that I lied to get their attention

I hope that you liked my poem!!

This form intrigued me. As I said, Lani is a third grader, and none of her lines were true to her, so I assumed that she was writing a novel in verse as a 6th grade character. Here was another post from the same day.

Crazy unpredictable things have happened
Once I had a pig for supper
Maybe a dog would have tasted better
Eww!!!

Inviting you is not a problem
Never a problem because I need a witness

All my relatives have not survived
Nor my family
Dad did not want to come in fearing that he will be finished

Sometimes I do not know how people can lie
Even if they are lying to themselves
Everyone thinks that I am lying and I am!!!

After reading this, I had to have a discussion with Lani. I was wondering where she was getting her ideas from. She didn’t have an explanation. She just wanted to write poems, and she knew she was good at acrostic. The only time she had written a poem with me was for Chalkabration, an acrostic about March. I gave her loads of praise because it was a great poem.

I talked to Lani about her fictional character. She made some notes in her notebook. I encouraged her to keep it going. Since this conversation, we have had disruptions with spring break and testing, so I hadn’t checked in with Lani. These poems seem to get crazier and crazier. Not everything makes sense, and yet, I think I have a creative writer on my hands. I hope we can make time again to put aside the math book and write poems. I love how she gives me credit for “coaching” her.

Hard-headed
Ant=my brother
Reading maniac=my sister
Dare addict=my dad
Especially the hard ones
Sardines eater=my cousin
Tardy=my friends

Dummy=my other cousin
Arnold=my brother’s name
Reaction=crazy
Extreme dare

Elapsed time:02 seconds
Ventriloquist people call me crazy (look at them!)
Even my mother! Listen to what she calls it!!!!
Ridiculous lying is what my mother calls it

This a poem for MY International Poetry Month. It took me a few days but I finally finished it. (with a little help from Mrs.Simon and some ”coaching”)

You can leave comments directly to Lani here.

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Be the Boss of your Words

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged Laura Purdie Salas, poetry, student writing on April 10, 2015| 14 Comments »

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

I had a wonderful mentor years ago who said that good writers are the ones who give themselves the most permissions. In her recent e-newsletter Salas Snippets, Laura Purdie Salas says this about student writers, “When kids write, they are the boss. Whether they’re writing a free verse poem or a five-paragraph essay, they have the power.” I want to show my students that they have the power over their words. I want to show them that they have permission to be who they truly are when they write.

During National Poetry Month, I make poetry an integral part of my classroom. My students become immersed in words in verse with rhythm and expression. I have a huge collection of poetry books. For their April poetry project, I have asked my students to select three books to read. They are finding themselves in these poems. They are being inspired by poets.

I had a discussion with Erin about the book Water Rolls, Water Rises by Pat Mora. She waved over the pages and repeated the words with awe and wonder in her voice. She told me she loved so many of the words, like golden, glimmering, shining. She was falling in love with the language. This is what poetry offers, every time.

I gave Jacob some ideas for writing a poem. He didn’t take any of them. When I walked over to see what he had typed, I read this first line, “Isn’t it sad when your memories are happy and you want to do it again?” Whoa! His words stopped me in my tracks. I sat next to him and asked him to tell me some of the memories he wanted to keep. He went back to last week, then to his first birthday party, then to being in the womb. Jacob needed to be the boss of his words because his words are amazing. He has the wisdom and spirit of a poet at age seven. What a privilege to watch!

Isn’t it sad when your memories are happy,
and you want to do it again?

I want to catch Easter eggs again with my cousin.
I want to stick my face in the cake again.
I want to go back in my mommy’s tummy again
because I want to get close to her all the time.
I love my memories!

Another activity that has my students singing poems is Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s poetry month project. Each of my two student groups have tried to guess a song/poem match. Both guesses were wrong, but we had a great time working on them. We counted syllables, sang the song choices, consulted YouTube for tunes, and sang Amy’s poems through multiple times before recording and sending our SoundClouds to her. Please go over to her site, The Poem Farm, to hear her sing and our guesses. I wrote to Amy that I admired her braveness in recording her voice singing acapella. She responded that being brave helps others be brave. With that, I encourage you and your students to be brave and send a SoundCloud guess to Amy.

Join the roundup with Laura Purdie Salas!

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Honey Bee #DigiPoetry

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, Bees, iMovie, nature poetry, poem movie on April 3, 2015| 16 Comments »

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Join the roundup with Amy at The Poem Farm.

An invitation: Many bloggers in the kidlitosphere are celebrating National Poetry Month with all sorts of special projects. Jama has a roundup of them here. I invite you to post on Twitter with #digipoetry. What is digipoetry? Well, anything poetry. If you write your poems on a blog, that’s digital. If you use an app, digital. If you post on FB, digital. So anyone is welcome to join. The hashtag came about because of a tweet from Leigh Anne (@Teachr4) who simply asked me and a few other Slice of Life bloggers, “What are your plans for April?” We didn’t want to be any more specific with this invitation. No challenge involved. You don’t even have to write a poem every day. You can post student work, your work, or somebody’s inspiration. All passionate poets welcome.

Thistle bee

I have been playing around with taking video and writing a poem. Yesterday I posted a serious poem. Today, it’s lighter with a little bee dance.

Pollinate
Propagate
Cultivate
Bees buzz in
Carry dust into the wind
So Life goes on…

-Margaret Simon

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Wonder of an Old Oak Tree

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Mr. Al oak tree, Nature poems, student poetry on March 27, 2015| 17 Comments »

SOL #27

Join the roundup with Jone at Check it Out.

Mr. Al surrounded by children.

With our 6th grade students in the parish (district), we have been doing an enrichment Wednesday each month that we call WOW for Way Out Wednesday. This year’s theme has been wonder. One of the wonders of our area is this huge old oak tree named Mr. Al. A few years ago, Mr. Al was in the way of a planned service road next to the highway. Protesters were instrumental in getting Mr. Al moved to a safer location. He now overlooks an intersection of the highway, Highway 90 at Weeks Island Road.

This past Wednesday was a gorgeous spring day. We took the 20 students out to Mr. Al for a picnic. They sketched and wrote poetry. I coached the poetry writing with a suggestion that they look outside and write description, then look inside for a memory or inner feelings, then go outside again. Darian came to me with an idea. She was caught up on the directions, though. She told me she saw the whole area as a kingdom and Mr. Al was the king. I loved this creative response and told her, “Yes, this idea is using your imagination that is inside you.” She crafted this poem.

What a wonderful way to honor Mr. Al with writing and drawing. The time was peaceful and productive. A true gift to the students and their teachers.

A tree in the middle of nowhere,
As lonely as can be.
But the tree is not as lonely,
As the eye can see.
Ferns and flowers, moss and thorns,
Give the tree some company.

The hill is a castle,
Its rightful ruler on top.
A king greater than all kings.
King Al is protected by his guards,
The ants and spiky plants.
His loyal citizens obey his commands,
For they are the flowers,
purple, yellow, white and green.
His advisers–the fern, magnolia and evergreen,
Work together in harmony.

Long branches reach out,
As if to be holding up the sky.
Leaves more numerous than stars.

Mr.Al is a wonder of nature,
Nature of wonder .

–Darian, 6th grade

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Creative Poetry with Kids

Posted in Creativity, Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged poetic forms, student writing on March 20, 2015| 9 Comments »

SOL #20

Join the roundup with Catherine at Reading to the Core.

This week we talked about form and being innovative and creative with form in Slices of Life and in poetry. We looked at Tara Smith’s call for Classroom Slices in which she shared the poem That was Summer by Marci Ridlon. I had not seen this poem before. I trusted Tara that it would inspire writing.

Have you ever smelled summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time

when you were tired of running

or doing nothing much

and you were hot

and you flopped right down on the ground?

That was summer. From That was Summer by Marci Ridlon

Today I would like to introduce you to my student, Erin. I wish I could post a picture of her because she is quite adorable. She has long dark hair that accentuates her tan skin (her mother is Filipino.) There is a dimple that appears with every smile, and she smiles a lot. She is small for her age, nine, which only adds to her charm. Erin experimented with two forms this week, the “Remember that time” form and a two voice poem with Spring arguing with Winter.

Spring flowers, Lytes Cary, Somerset
Copyright nick macneill and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Can you feel spring? Remember the breeze blowing and you feel you’re flying.
That was Spring.

Remember the time you played catch with your dog,
and he knocked you down in the soft spiky grass?
That was spring.

Remember the wonderful warmth
of the sun on your skin
after the harsh winter.
That was spring.
—Erin

Spring
I’m spring here to kick you out.
No one likes you with your cold heart and all.
While i am loved by millions all around the world.

Winter
Ha you wish.
You bring mosquitoes and bees stinging all about.
I kill and make them pout.
I rule all seasons. While you are a slave.

Spring
Please, you wish.
You give people hatred and make them cry.
While I give them hope and sunshine.

Winter
Oh, really?
You make them happy.
I think that all that sunshine
is going to your head.
Now, be a good girl
and go to bed!
—Erin

Can you hear Erin giggle after that last line? She had a boy in class play the part of Spring. He was a good sport about it. In fact, I think anyone in our class would do anything for Erin. You can click on her name under either poem to leave comments just for her.

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Dueling Poems

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Dash the book, duel poems, skinny odes on March 13, 2015| 16 Comments »

SOL #13

Join the roundup with Laura Shovan at Author Amok.

Bayou morning photo by Margaret Simon

I love touring the slicing community and finding ideas. Greg Armamentos has inspired me once again. He posted about writing dueling poems with opposite words. He and his student teacher wrote about old and young here.

I spoke with Tyler, a 6th grader, about his slice for the day. He didn’t know what to write. I challenged him to a duel. He suggested sun and moon. He took moon, and I took sun (which, btw, we have not seen in days.)

I’ve been missing you lately
hidden behind sheets
of stratonimbus clouds.
Where have you gone?
When I wake up each morning,
you wave to me
along the bayou waters
touching tree limbs
with gentle, warm kisses.

I look for you
send your glowing rays
out from the clouds
to light up a rainbow.

I find you
in the wild flowers blooming
golden in the grass
sending scents
of glory and love
like honeysuckle– the taste
of sweetness on my tongue.

My pale peach skin
longs for your tanning rays,
bringing health back to my cheeks
and energy to my walk.

Won’t you come home, bright star?
I miss you.

–Margaret Simon

Tyler’s response: The Moon (Click here to leave comments for Tyler)

On the ocean
your light shines.
Lighting the way
during the night.
Controlling tides
as you please.
You are a guardian, the
Man on the Moon.
I see you in the day,
but better at night.
You watch us
sleep and protect
us as you do so.
Stay the same
no matter what
they say.

–Tyler

From Creative Commons

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World Read Aloud Skype Visit

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, LitWorld, poetry forms, World Read Aloud Day on March 6, 2015| 14 Comments »

SOL #6

Join the roundup with Robyn Campbell.

World Read Aloud Day was March 4, 2015. Sponsored by LitWorld.

On Facebook my poet/friend Amy Ludwig VanDerwater posted that she had some slots left for World Read Aloud Day Skype visits. I responded, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Not long before an email came. I will not go into all that it took me logistically and technically to make this happen, but on March 4th after a few test runs, Amy called my classroom. Squeals!

Amy was incredible. She even made a snowman for us. We are in South Louisiana, and we never have snow. At first we thought it was made with cotton balls like the ones we make. No, this one was real snow complete with a mini-carrot for a nose. Amy read a snowman poem to go with her snowman gift.

My students had prepared what they wanted to share with Amy–their own poems and poetry forms. Erin shared her staircase poetry form. Here are the rules:
1. Each line has to be longer than the other.
2. Make it as long as you want.
3. Make it unique.
4. Just have fun!

Reed and Nigel shared their PsyKu form. They challenged Amy to take the plunge and write one. The rules are here, and if you follow the link, be sure to read all the poetic contributions in the comments. Some crazy Psyku going on. The phenomenon spreads.

And Emily read some of her poems aloud. Amy invited her to send some poems for her to post in her Spotlight on a Student section of her blog, The Poem Farm. (Note: Amy’s site is a wonderful resource for poetry in the classroom.)

Kielan didn’t want to talk, but immediately after the visit, she created a PowerPoint tribute to Amy Ludwig VanDerwater.

Skype with Mrs. Amy Vanderwater!!

And Reed wrote this post including his favorite contributions to the PsyKu collection.

Many thanks to Amy and her snowman friend for spreading poetry love on World Read Aloud Day!

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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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