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Poetry Friday: More #WriteOut

Posted in Photography, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , , on October 25, 2024| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link.

These past two weeks I’ve been trying to squeeze in Write Out opportunities for my students. Write Out is an annual event sponsored by the National Writing Project and the National Parks. This year Kate Messner was the Author Ambassador. One of her prompts asked students to take a hula hoop outside and focus on their circle when writing. Because I can’t leave well enough alone, I added paint chips and jewel loupes to the writer’s toolbox.

Our weather has been perfect the last two weeks. Cool mornings. High sun. Warm afternoons. Perfect for writing outside.

The paint chip words were just the thing to add a little twist to the poems my students and I wrote.

Purple flowers are
community of the grass,
some clustered
some isolated
in the sea glass waves.

by Adelyn, 6th grade

The grass has a shine
from the blazing sun
spitting out embers
like a swarm of yellow jackets.

by James, 4th grade


Looking through the jewel loupes helped us see intricate designs and stretched our metaphorical thinking. I love using the jewel loupe with my camera lens on my phone.

Circle of Grass
The blades of grass
are a kaleidoscope
reflecting after the fire
in a tangerine dream.
by Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: #WriteOut Field Trip

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , , on October 18, 2024| 16 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme.

What a wonderful first week of NWP’s Write Out! On Tuesday, our schools were on fall break, but two other teachers and I decided to create a Write Out Field Trip. Twenty-seven kids attended from K-8th grade. Our local Bayou Teche Museum graciously opened its doors for us. We wrote at 4 different places, the museum, a sculpture garden, Bayou Teche kayak dock, and Church Alley.

Because he was on fall break, too, my grandson Leo joined us. He is at the earliest stages of reading and writing. He loves to draw, but by our third stop, he wanted to be a writer.

I am a brave dragon.
I breathe fire.
I am a poisonous dragon.
by Leo, Kindergarten

A proud Mamére moment!

My colleague Beth’s granddaughter, 4th grade, wanted to read all her poems at the read around. Here’s her notebook with a poem about a museum exhibit of a shipwreck.

The Sea at Night

After the storm, the ship debris
sunk and broke shells, rocks, and bones.
They littered the ocean
one piece at a time, broken glass
ship parts and harbor bells.
Yet at night there’s still life–
the movement of the water, giant but
yet still. All the light is gone
but the sea lights it up.
Nothing as beautiful as
the sea at night.
by Annie, 4th grade

You can participate in Write Out by joining here.

Much appreciation for the Bayou Teche Museum and ADK Sorority Classroom Grant.

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Poetry Friday: Pythagorean Puppy

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , on October 4, 2024| 10 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tabatha Yeats at The Opposite of Indifference.
Albert (Al-Bear) with a stick, 7 months.

The Pythagorean poem is another modern poetic invention using a mathematical pattern. Shari Green shared the form with Laura Shovan who shared the form with me and other PF folks. I challenged the Inklings to write one for our monthly challenge before trying one myself. It’s not as easy as it looks.

Like the Pythagorean theorem of geometry, the word count is based on a right triangle. Shari’s instructions:

Here’s the math background: Pythagoras’ theorem is a2 + b2 = c2. One possible “triple” is 3, 4, 5.

3×3 + 4×4 = 5×5

  9  +   16  =  25

Using the triple, the poetic form works like this:

1st stanza: 3 lines of 3 words each

2nd stanza: 4 lines of 4 words each

3rd stanza: 5 lines of 5 words each*

* The third stanza must be composed of all the words found in stanzas one and two (in any order; variations okay). The third stanza should be a progression of sorts, a product of the first two in thought or theme or meaning.

The trickery comes when writing the third stanza. I wrote one about butterflies here. As I tried to write another one, I thought I should have saved that first one for this post. I chose another topic close to my heart, my puppy golden doodle “Albert (Albear)” Albert has been with us for almost 4 months, and he’s really doing well about most things, but he has an annoying habit of barking at us when we eat dinner. As we take our daily walks, he loves to pick up a stick and prance like the prince he is. My poem takes words from Mark Doty’s Golden Retrievals.

I hope you will try the form and tag Shari Green and me. Honestly, I haven’t tried it with my students yet. They are getting their feet wet with cinquains and fib poems.

Pythagorean Puppy

after Mark Doty

Walk? Trot? You
catch a stick–
Joy! A Treasure!

Tumbling leaf chase…on!
You prance with pride,
Show off your bark–
Bow wow, bow wow!

Your bark tumbles with you.
Bow shows pride. Wow!
You catch a leaf, Wow!
Bow a stick. Trot treasure, walk
on! You prance off.       Joy!
(c) Margaret Simon

To see how other Inklings met this challenge:

Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Catherine Flynn @ Reading to the Core
Heidi Mordhorst @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone

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Poetry Friday: Ten Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

Posted in being mamére, Poetry Friday, tagged , , on September 27, 2024| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Irene Latham at Live Your Poem.

This last Friday of September, the Poetry Sisters called out a challenge based on Wallace Steven’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. I enjoy puzzling together ideas into poem forms. In the model poem, Stevens uses few words in each stanza to convey a single emotion or thought.

I became intrigued by the idea of looking at grandchildren, not a single one, but the idea of having a grandchild. I have three daughters, and have been blessed with 4 grandchildren, ranging in age from 5+ years to 21 months. Each of my daughters have had at least one miscarriage.

To write this poem, I started using sticky notes, I carried the collection around for a few days. It worked well for separating each one and arranging them into some logical order. Thanks to my Inklings’ honest feedback, I am ready to publish this poem here, but I’m not leaving it. I want to feel that it will grow as my grands grow and reveal more to me about this amazing journey in grandparenting.

Ways of Looking at a Grandchild

I.
Grandmother
Mother
Daughter
3 in 1
1 in 3
Egg to egg to egg

II.
Cut the cord
connection broken
New bond forever woken.

III.
Cells divide.
Divide again.
Sometimes there is no
heartbeat.

IV.
The way a mother looks
at her child with purest adoration–
A bloom of a flower planted
long ago.

V.
Golden curls,
crystal blue eyes–
Precious gems to hold.

VI.
Hand sign
three fingers
I
Love
You

VII.
One day she’s Ariel
another Anna, Batman, Spiderman—
always a fierce girl wonder.

VIII.
Whose eyes are these?
I think I know. I’ve seen them
from a portrait glow.

IX.
Whispers at bedtime
“Sing me the song you sing”
A grandmother’s lullaby.

X.
Curve our bodies together
and turn pages of a book,
We enter a magical place.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Dot Day 2024

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , on September 20, 2024| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Linda Baie at Teacher Dance.

Monday, September 16th was International Dot Day. Dot Day was created by a teacher who wanted to celebrate the Peter Reynolds book The Dot. It’s a story about a young girl, Vashti, who doesn’t think she can draw. She is encouraged and inspired by a teacher’s confidence in her. “Make a mark and see where it takes you.”

This year I wrote Zeno poems with my students and encouraged them to create a Zeno Zine.

A zine is a foldable book that can be made with a single sheet of paper. See a YouTube video here.

A zeno poem is a form created by J. Patrick Lewis using the syllable pattern of 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1. The one syllables all rhyme. For me it works best if I decide on my rhyming word. I was thinking about the idea that you are never too old for Dot Day, so I chose old, gold, and bold.

When making your mark shine this bright,
you are never
too, too
old.
Remember who
creates
gold:
They are the ones
who live
BOLD!
@Margaret Simon

I also read aloud Laura Purdie Salas’s Dot Day poem.

A golden shovel poem using the line “a flashlight’s gleam. A full moon dream.”

Here are some sample zine pages from my students:

by James, 4th grade
by Avalyn, 5th grade
“Think creative. Be creative.
When you want to
make a
dot.
Maybe you could
use this
spot.
Or mix them up
in a
pot!”

Dot Day is fun, and for purposes of gifted standards, it also encourages creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving. Win! Win!

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Poetry Friday: Next Time

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , , on September 6, 2024| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Buffy Silverman.

This month Mary Lee Hahn challenged the Inklings to write after Joyce Sutphen‘s poem Next Time. Sutphen’s poem has a dreamy quality to it, that if-only-I-could-do-it-again thought process. I was drawn to her lines “Next time I won’t waste my time on anger…Next time, I’ll rush up to people I love,
look into their eyes, and kiss them, quick.”

I write about grief a lot. Why is that? Grief settles after a while but is always there waiting to be released again and again. It can be set off by a song, the familiar sound of a bird, or my grandson saying “I want to Facetime Pop.” We have to remind him (at age 5) that Pop died. When I sent this poem to fellow inkling Heidi Mordhorst, she said, “You write again and again about grief because you are still learning exactly this.”

Abby Wambach said recently in “We Can Do Hard Things” that she has made friends with her grief. “grief has become a friend to me, in that I am developing a real true relationship with it, because it’s the access point to all of the most intense feelings that I feel, the most intense sadness, the most intense anger.” So, here I am again and again, writing a grief poem.

Next Time

after Joyce Sutphen

I’ll avoid the cut grass
where the snake eggs lie.
I’ll check the mailbox for menacing wasps.
Next time I’ll be wary
when the cat calls to me
in mournful mews.

Next time I won’t stray
from the well-worn path.
I’ll acknowledge wisdom of ancestors
who learned, felt a spiritual guide.
Who denies their purpose?

Next time I’ll read the book
start to finish, underline passages
in pencil, notes in the margin.
Next time I’ll know death comes.
It will not surprise me. Gut me.

Next time I’ll answer the call
on the first ring. I’ll be there
by your side, holding your hand
in mine. I’ll let love keep its promise,
be my purpose.  

Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by Robert So on Pexels.com

Linda @A Word Edgewise
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Mary Lee @Another Year of Reading
Heidi @my juicy little universe

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Poetry Friday: A Pythagorean Poem

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , on August 30, 2024| 23 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Susan at Chicken Spaghetti.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Laura Shovan introducing me to a new poetry form, the Pythagorean Poem created by middle grade author Shari Green. For anyone who loves a good challenging form, this is for you. I haven’t tried it with my students…Yet.

Similar to a Fibonacci poem, the form is based on a mathematical truth, the Pythagorean theorem. This theorem for you non-math nerds like me is the rule for a right triangle:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Shari took this rule to a poetry level: Using the triple, the poetic form works like this:

1st stanza: 3 lines of 3 words each

2nd stanza: 4 lines of 4 words each

3rd stanza: 5 lines of 5 words each*

* The third stanza must be composed of all the words found in stanzas one and two (in any order; variations okay). The third stanza should be a progression of sorts, a product of the first two in thought or theme or meaning.

I think you could change the numbers of a and b, but the final stanza must use a combination of words from the first two stanzas.

In my classroom and at home, I am keeping caterpillars in safe enclosures. The caterpillars are Gulf fritillaries that hatch and feed on passion vine. I tried this topic for my first ever Pythagorean Poem.

Hidden in wood
chrysalis of safety
rest for weary

hardworking caterpillars climb
munching passion vine leaves
grow longer each day
prepare for enclosed transformation

Passion caterpillars grow, prepare for
weary rest enclosed in safety.
Each hardworking, munching vine leaves.
Climb into wood-hidden chrysalis–
Transformation for longer days.

Margaret Simon, draft

Photo by Brian Forsyth on Pexels.com


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Poetry Friday: Time for Student Poetry

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged , , on August 23, 2024| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities.

This week was my second week of teaching this school year. We are settling into the routine. My classroom door revolves all day long with incoming and outgoing students. Nevertheless, I am establishing some routines. One of the expectations each week is “This Photo Wants to be a Poem.” On Wednesdays I post a photo here on my blog, but I also post it on our Fanschool site.

My friend Dani Burtsfield is a teacher in Kallispell, Montana. Last week she hosted poet Allan Wolf for her annual reading conference. She took Allan on a hike that she had taken me on a few years ago, so she sent pictures of them. I was wishing I could teleport and be with them, especially since our temperatures are well into the 90’s these days. If you know Allan and his poetry presentations, you know how he creates fun wherever he goes. Dani sent me some pictures.

Allan Wolf photo by Dani Burtsfield

On my students’ blog, I post my own poem as a model, and each student writes their own poem in response. One of my new students is a second grader. I taught her how to write a haiku. First we collected words. Then she spoke lines using the words. We counted syllables. I think she was pleased with her poem.

Crystal clear water
you can see mountains through it
beautiful blue lake

by Danielle, 2nd grade

Avalyn, now in 5th grade, wrote similes and used repetition. It amazes me how seemingly simple poetic elements can work together to become a beautiful poem.

Like an oversized crystal
it falls
Like the morning mist
it falls
Like a Maiden priestess
it falls
Like an opal river
it falls
by Avalyn , 5th grade

The final example I want to share made me laugh. Kailyn wrote from the perspective of the waterfall itself.

I love spitting on people,
it’s just the way I flow.
Paparazzi all around me,
trees for hair.
My life has been a sequel,
the water in me loves to go, go, go!
I can just relax and be lazy.
If you visit me, you might want to watch what you wear..
by Kailyn, 6th grade

Dani, Allan, and Randy at Virginia Falls in Glacier Park, Montana.

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Poetry Friday: Birthday Tchotchke

Posted in Poetry Friday, tagged , , , on August 16, 2024| 13 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted by Janice Scully at Salt City Verse.

Last weekend was my birthday. I was blessed with a visit from all of my children and their children. Our time together was full of fun. Then school started in full force for me on Monday. There is no tired like the tired of the first week of school. So I didn’t have anything to offer for today’s post.

When I opened my email, I had a word-of-the-day from Merriam-Webster that included one of my favorite words to say, Tchotchke. Looking at my kitchen table where I am writing, I see a dish sent to me from my daughter’s mother-in-law. It touches me that in the midst of cancer treatments she had the thoughtfulness to send me a gift. It may just be a knickknack, but the deeper meaning is the love it was sent with.

I turned to the definito form created by my friend and fellow Inkling Heidi Mordhorst. A definito is a poem for children with 8-12 lines that defines a lesser known word. The word is given in the last line of the poem.

Simple Gift

For a birthday
gently placed in a small bag
tissue paper wrapping
a glass dish– dappled, dainty, daisy–
a little something
to hold a little something
decoration, knickknack, trinket
simple reminder
of a friend’s love...Tchotchke.
Margaret Simon, draft

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Poetry Friday: Summer Poetry Swaps

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , , , , on August 9, 2024| 14 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone.

These days not many exciting things come into the mailbox. One of the thrills of summer is the Summer Poetry Swap. Two of the final swaps (organized by dear Tabatha Yeatts) overlapped and arrived close to the same day. My kitchen counter was dappled with cards and stickers and sweet poems.

A set of photo cards by Carol Labuzzetta.

Carol sent a poem she wrote in two voices, the two of us in our vocations side by side, along with a set of her original photo cards. Little did she know I needed this dose of confidence to start my new school year.

Tabatha, our poem swap organizer, sent a poem she wrote about a friend who thinks about writing. I do admit to having days like these when the notebook stays closed.

POSTPONED

by Tabatha Yeatts

When will she write in the notebook,
I wonder, the blank one engraved
Nina’s Adventures on the front?
Once my plans come to fruition, she says,
after my dreams come true,
when the good times begin.
How many stories has she already told?
The pet goat who played with dogs,
the thief she wrestled, the song she wrote
and translated into fifty languages, the love story, 
its tragic end. Don’t they deserve a space 
on the pages? No, no, she says,
once the adventures start.
When I see her, she regales me 
with her storm-tossed ride,
but her pen is in a drawer
and the words turn away 
from the pages,
settle everywhere
but there.

Thanks to all of the poem swappers this summer. It’s a small way of spreading poetry love.

Another way to spread poetry love is to put our new book on your to-be-bought list. I am proud to be a part of Words that Mend: The Transformative Power of Writing Poetry for Teachers, Students, and Community Wellbeing. The book has been a labor of love. It will be released on Sept. 2nd and will be available for free as a download or for print cost only on Amazon. Hop over to Kim Johnson’s post to see her poetic expression of excitement.

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