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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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Let’s Keep Writing!

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, Irene Latham, Laura Shovan on March 31, 2015| 15 Comments »

SOL #31

Here I am on the last day of March! I wrote 31 slices of life and joined a community of teacher writers at Two Writing Teachers. What a wonderful month of writing!

My students wrote daily, too. Together we learned:

Writing daily connects you to your life. You see things differently.
Writing daily can be fun!
Writing daily can be hard!
Writing daily leads to new understandings.
Writing daily means taking a deep breath and diving into the deep water.
Writing daily is a practice that will last your lifetime.
Writing daily gives life new meaning.
Writing daily makes a difference.

Some of us in the TWT community are not ready to stop writing daily. We are committing (but not promising) to contribute in some way to National Poetry Month through digital poetry, personal poems, student poems, writing activities, reflections on poetry, etc. We will use the hashtag #DigiPoetry on Twitter. Please join us for more fun and fabulous poetry.

I will be posting on Laura Shovan’s site, Author Amok, on April 6th for her series “What are you Wearing?” I will also add a line to Irene Latham’s Progressive Poem on April 12th. Lots going on in the Kidlitosphere in April.

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In a Nutshell

Posted in Digital Learning, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged #DigiPoetry, digital literacy, Nutshell, writing on March 29, 2015| 11 Comments »

SOL #29

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Try the Nutshell app.

I’ve been playing around with Nutshell now that I deleted all my texts and made room on my phone. One video was inspired by the place I live. It is spring in the deep south. In my yard, the satsuma tree is blooming, along with the wisteria bush. Flowers blooming, spring warmth inspire writing. Can you write a poem to go with this video?

This week we took our 6th grade students to an old oak tree to write. On Friday I posted this poem by Darian inspired by this field trip. Nature is a wonderful place to find inspiration for writing.

What is inspiring your writing these days? Please consider joining the Digital Literacy link up today.

Last night I got a Tweet from @teachr4, Leigh Anne Eck about plans for National Poetry Month. “Are you doing any type of April poetry challenge this year on your blog?” The consensus seems to be that many of us want to continue writing daily. The subject will be poetry, ideas, student activities, and our own writing. I invite you to join a new hashtag for NPM, #DigiPoetry. That way we can all keep up with each other, connect, and support. This is not a challenge. It is an invitation.

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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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Self-Talk

Posted in Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Ann Dobie, LEH, testing on March 24, 2015| 19 Comments »

SOL #24

Pay attention to your fantasies, daydreams, and self-talk. What are they reinforcing? What purpose do they serve? Do you believe that some feelings are more “you” than others are? (The Wisdom of the Enneagram, 189)

Self-talk. Is that my enemy? I do this all the time.

We finished phase one of testing, and I read this post from one of my students.
The writing part is hard for me because I never learned how to start it or conclude it the way my class did.

I teach gifted pull-out, so she didn’t get the formula for writing.
Am I wrong not to teach the formula?

In the fall of 2014, not six months ago, I received the prestigious Donald Graves Award for the teaching of writing, and yet, I still question my methods. That is the curse of my personality type, self-talk. But I have to question, what is the real issue here?

I realize that the formulas offer comfort and confidence. While my student knew the answer to the prompt, she froze when faced with a blank page. How do you begin?

Even though I know that the best writing for my students is writing they choose, I realize that I need to provide the safety net. The additional practice in formulaic writing.

Today when I came home from school, a new magazine was waiting. The Spring edition of Cultural Vistas, a publication for the Louisiana Endowment of the Arts. My long time mentor Ann Dobie was featured in an interview by my friend and writing group colleague, Dianne Dempsey-Legnon. When I went through the Summer Institute for the National Writing Project of Acadiana in 1995, Ann was the director. This is what she said about her time as director.

It was a magical time… I have seen changes from teacher-centered to student-centered classrooms. Another monumental change is from feeding information to students to allowing them to discover it on their own which is far more dynamic and lasting. –Ann Brewster Dobie, Ph.D.

I will not give up the belief that students need to discover through writing rather than spitting back information within a set format. But I will look for ways to make my beliefs and the new reign of testing co-exist. I owe this to my students who count on me.

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The Elusive Topic

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Common Core, Nancie Atwell, Piaget's Theory, testing on March 18, 2015| 15 Comments »

SOL #18

I have been brainstorming all day. I am chasing an elusive topic. I know what my fingers want to write about, but I am avoiding it. There are just so many things that are easier to write about, like spring happening outside my door or my cat chasing a baby lizard. But these subjects are fluffy, romantic, stupid.

It’s moments like these that I wish I were Donalyn Miller or Nanci Atwell, and I could just come right out and say it. I’d say it so eloquently that someone would get it and do something about it. I’m not a famous educator. I have not published any books on teaching. But I am there in the trenches, as they say, doing the job.

This is the week, the dreaded week, of testing. Actually, this is only the first of three weeks of testing. We have another one in April and a third in May. What is this world coming to? Who in the real world takes tests for three weeks? My daughter took the Bar Exam and it was only one week. And at the end of that test, she became a lawyer. At the end of this testing, where will our students be? Gladly out for the summer!

Prior to this testing week were weeks of “test prep.” Why? Because we fear that our teaching isn’t good enough, that the test is too hard, that they are not ready.

I am one of the lucky ones. My students are gifted. They are telling me the test is not as hard as they thought it would be. I think this is a good sign. But even so, the test is not what we have been doing in my class. In my class, my students read the books they want to read and write about what they want to write about. Horrors! Will they be ready?

I’m wondering what happened to putting students first. What happened to good old Piaget’s theory of child development? (Note: Theoretical, abstract logic do not happen until 11+ years.)

Today I listened to beautiful and eloquent Nancie Atwell on CNN. Her students do authentic writing and reading, so they know what writing and reading are good for. She would not encourage any creative thinker to go into the field of public education as it is right now. “It (CCSS) has turned teachers into technicians, not reflective practitioners.” Wow! That is heavy. If Common Core and the tests have done this to teachers, then heaven forbid what they are doing to our students.

Where is the love of learning? Who will teach our students that reading is pleasurable? What about creativity? I shudder to think what kind of adults this testing environment will produce. Creative problem solvers? Effective communicators? I think not.

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Fish in a Tree

Posted in Books, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Fish in a Tree, IMWAYR, Lynda Mullaly Hunt on March 16, 2015| 16 Comments »

SOL #16

Join the IMWAYR meme.

If you do not have this book in your library for middle grade students, then get it now. I read Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s first book One for the Murphys and now again with Fish in a Tree, she has drawn me in to love her characters.

I read for strong characters, characters I can believe in, characters who speak to me. Ally Nickerson and her quirky friends are a group I want to hang out with. I was sorry to reach the end and have to tell them goodbye. In my mind, they continue on and do great things.

Ally is in 6th grade and struggles with dyslexia; although, she doesn’t know that her problems stem from a real disability. She believes she is just plain stupid. She plays movies in her head and draws in her sketchbook of impossible things. Until Mr. Daniels comes along and notices her. He reaches out to her and helps her to understand dyslexia. She believes in herself. Every teacher should read this book to meet Ally’s empathetic, caring teacher and see the power you have to change a life.

I recently read a touching post by Lynda Mullaly Hunt on The Nerdy Book Club about her own relationship with her brother which informed her creation of Ally’s brother Travis. Not only was this an awesome post, but Lynda responded to each comment. I spoke to her of my own struggle to create real characters with a deep relationship.

Here is a quote from Chapter 48 that shows how Lynda’s books are about more than the characters and their individual problems. They teach life lessons.

And looking around the room, I remember thinking that my reading differences were like dragging a concrete block around all day, and I felt sorry for myself. Now I realize that everyone has their own blocks to drag around. And they all feel heavy. (p. 245)

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The Voice

Posted in Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged 6-traits of writing, student blogging, The Write Fix, voice on March 11, 2015| 11 Comments »

SOL #11

My students are doing the classroom Slice of Life Challenge. They are impressing me with their commitment to writing every day. This school year I have required three blog posts a week, so they are used to a rigorous posting schedule. The other day I mentioned how many words a first grader had written (178!), and they set off on a self-made word count competition. But it is not the word count or their writing commitment that is impressing me. It is the voice.

Voice is a very difficult concept to teach. Here is a post-it from Writing Fix, a great resource for teaching writing. As one of the six traits of writing, voice should be taught.

From Writing Fix

I have come to believe that voice is something to be discovered rather than taught. All children come with a voice. Enter any school cafeteria and you can hear them roar. Through blogging every day, my students have become more comfortable expressing themselves, and their voices are coming through each piece of writing. Here are some samples of strong voice:

My mom has one of those smart car things or whatever.The kind where you hit a button and use it like siri. Well in my moms phone my dad is labeled as B T.in case you were wondering it means Boo Thing.So nevertheless when she says call b t it says calling Mrs.Simon mobile.So ya Mrs.Simon if you have any missed calls from her that’s why. Reed

So, today I went to the book fair. I got a calculator,pencils,2 books and a pencil sharpener.
I can’t wait to read my books tonight, and I will get a sticker for our chart for reading books.
But, I know what you are thinking ” wow those sound really boring!” They are actually not boring.The calculator is a chocolate scented calculator. The pencils were drumstick pencils. And, the pencil sharpener is …wait for it…wait for it…A MUSHROOM, and the top is an eraser {TALK ABOUT 2in1.} Emily

After, we walked on Bourbon Street. It was so crazy!!! There was this little boy dancing like Michael Jackson, and he was so good. I gave him $5, because that is all I had on me. After, Bourbon we went back to the hotel. My friend and I were doing flips on the bed. It was extra fun, but I almost broke my ne… nevermind that!! In the morning, we went down stairs to eat breakfast. It was free!! Kielan

Read more student posts here.

Now I need to do a lesson on how so is a conjunction. I never realized how many of my students start their sentences with so. I have time for that because obviously, I do not have to teach voice.

My voice is competing today in Round One of March Madness Poetry at Think Kid Think. Please stop by and read some great poems and vote!

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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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Celebrate March!

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged acrostic poetry, chalkabration, Dr. Seuss on March 7, 2015| 15 Comments »

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

SOL #7

March has come in like a lion, and I have made it through the first week of the Slice of Life Challenge. Time to celebrate!

Some of my students missed Chalkabration last week. So we made winter acrostics. Lani, 3rd grade, says she’s not a poet and yet, she used the word metamorphosized!

Metamorphosized butterfly
Arrives vividly
Rising
Caterpillar
High flying.
by Lani

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! This is our brave librarian who dressed up every day this week as one of Dr. Seuss’s characters. We had special days to celebrate, crazy socks, crazy hair, and mismatched.