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Slice of Life: 100 Days of Notebooking

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , on January 9, 2024| 8 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

We officially went back to school on Monday after a full two-week break, but because of an unpredictable weather system, we dismissed early, so I did not see all of my students. In a way I wasn’t ready for a full day. The early release helped me get a grip on what I need to get done this week. It was as though the train I was on came to a full stop in the middle of the journey. Pause. Think. Plan.

I made the decision to lean back on a reliable and time proven way to start our class: 100 Days of Notebooking. I recall a few years ago after attending NCTE, I received the gift of this idea from Michelle Haseltine. I still follow her on Instagram, and she is still notebooking. With my first group of kids on Monday, I introduced the idea.

I leaned back on William Stafford’s writing habit with these 4 steps:

  • Date
  • Quote of the Day
  • What’s up?
  • Poem-ish

That’s it, a simple format that seems to work every time. I set the timer for 10 minutes and we write…together. Creative freedom is my only goal. I hope getting back to this practice gives me, as well as my students, time to express themselves, a time for pause and peace (my OLW).

For my poem-ish, I wrote an elfchen. These are so fun to write. See the process here.

“When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.”  Paulo Coelho

Yes
makes sound
like the ocean
drawing me to love
Myself.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Slice of Life: Star of Wonder

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged , , , on December 26, 2023| 9 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Georgia Heard won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry. She and Rebecca Kai Dotlich wrote Welcome to the Wonder House, an anthology of poems of wonder. At NCTE in November, I attended Georgia’s workshop. She had us group together to write a collaborative poem based on the question, “What does wonder mean to you?” I shared that workshop here.

I took this question and created a door decoration for my classroom at Coteau (one of my two schools) inviting teachers and students to add a star. My student John-Robert presented the idea to his classmates, and they added stars to the door. On Friday, our last day before winter break, John-Robert gathered all the stars and create a found poem.

The Word Wonder 

Could it mean dreams?
Could it mean eternity?
Could it mean imagination?
Could it mean caring?
Could it mean hope?
Could it mean earth?
Could it mean sight?
Could it mean beyond?
Could it mean love?

What could wonder mean? 

If it could talk, what would it say?
Would it wonder things ?
Would it have dreams ?
And would it be like you and me?

The word wonder

Could it mean heart?
Could it mean curious?
Could it mean beginning?
Could it mean endless?
Could it mean questions?
Could it mean change?
Could it mean wonder?
Could it mean me?
Could it mean brightness?

What could wonder mean?

Could it mean all these things?
Wonder would be me and you, wouldn’t it?
It would truly be and belong to you and me
While it makes all our dreams come true.

Wonder–the hope of something new,
the feeling of awe and curiosity like seeing
a breath-taking sunset. I find wonder
in the depths of the ocean
and in my imagination
and fantasies.

Collaborative-found poem by Coteau Elementary (compiled by John-Robert, 6th grade)
After John-Robert wrote the poem, he clustered all the responses together into a new design, a new poem, a poem of Wonder.

I hope your winter holidays are filled with joy and wonder.

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Poetry Friday: Healing Poetry

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Teaching, tagged , , on December 9, 2023| 15 Comments »

Have you ever had that student? The one who sits in the back of the class, holds herself in tight, rarely, if ever, raises her hand to share a poem with the class. The closet poet.

That’s not me because I believe in writing with my students and sharing my vulnerable poet self so they feel safe sharing theirs. And most of the time, it helps. I’ll share, then the shy ones will look at me with their longing eyes asking “Is it OK?” They know that poetry is a little piece of themselves. It’s bleeding on paper as someone famous said.

I wasn’t going to post for Poetry Friday. Life is just so full of family and busy that I can’t get caught up. But when I read A’s poem, I felt compelled to share it and how she came to write it.

I presented Irene Latham’s poem “Peace” from Dictionary for a Better World. Irene shared it in her newsletter here. This poem came at the perfect time in my lesson planning because we talked about symbolism this week. Irene so effectively used chocolate as a symbol of peace. There were so many wonderful craft moves to notice. Then I set my students loose to write. I invited them to create their own metaphor for peace and to borrow the phrase, “If only”.

A’s words both broke my heart and then healed it. At the age of 10, she expresses her internal life of anxiety and hope in a mature way. And yes, there were tears. I am privileged to be her teacher, her friend.


From the Tide, To the Moon (A letter from a friend to a friend)

If only we all
could just look up in the sky
and see that things aren’t that bad.
We aren’t that different.
We’re all human.

If only the stars could join us
and show us peace in the world.

If the moon could tell the tide
to think for itself.
To flow on its own.

And when you tell me
when to make decisions,
me when to make a choice
and what choice I should make,
think about how different we are
from the tide and the moon.

You aren’t the moon, 
So beautiful that we stare up at it.
I am not the tide,
That flows without ecstasy.

Not a moment of freedom.
No justice for the torrent.
Leave me be.
Leave me to my space.
Leave me to my freedom.

But don’t leave me…
My friend.

Adelyn, 5th grade

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Poetry Friday: Pantoum Practice

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged , on November 17, 2023| 9 Comments »

Irene Latham has the roundup today.

This week my students and I practiced writing pantoums using a prompt from Pádraig Ó Tuama of On Being. He guides us through line by line to write about an ordinary object. I used the prompts to write for This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Just a Rock.

I warned my kids who are 4th and 5th graders that this form would be a challenge. Not all of them were ready and willing and that’s OK when we are creating our own poems. I wanted to share a few because the prompted lines work in a unique way so that each student (and myself) felt a sense of a successful poem.

Kailyn loves candy and has written a fantasy story that takes place in Kind Candy Kingdom. This is her pantoum poem.

Yummy candy I see,
A candy shop is your home. 
At the mall I beg my mom, 
then my brother takes you from me : (

A candy shop home seems nice! 
When you are with me I feel happiness and joy…
you being taken from me. 
It tastes sweet but sometimes sour.

You fill me with joy and happiness,
the sounds of crinkling wrappers. 
When I put you in my mouth, you are sweet and sour,
tingling on my tongue. 

The crinkling wrappers from kids inside,
at the mall I beg my mom.
Tingling on my tongue, 
Yummy candy I see.

Kailyn, 5th grade

In my classroom, I have a collection of Flair pens. My students are allowed to choose from them to write. When Avalyn’s mother gave me a gift card to Target, I bought a set of scented flairs. She wrote a pantoum praise poem for her scented pens.

Scented pens can squiggle on the page
In a poem in my notebook
These scented pens are extraordinary on the inside
If there is a blank page, these pens can make it colorful

In a poem in my notebook
When I make colorful marks on the page, it’s inspiring
If there is a blank page, these pens can make it colorful
But really these markers are flowers

When I make colorful marks on the page, it’s inspiring
O’ my non-smelly pens
But really these markers are flowers
As my hands hold the pen like an extraordinary trophy

O’ my non-smelly pens
These scented pens are extraordinary on the inside
As my hands hold the pen like an extraordinary trophy
Scented pens can squiggle on the page

Avalyn, 4th grade

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Poetry Friday: A Day in May

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , , on May 19, 2023| 14 Comments »

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

Dropping a smoothie sent me over the edge.
I was trying too hard to hold it all, and the weight shifted.
Everything fell out of arms and undid me.
Return to Presence, my Enneathought of the Day says,
but a return to presence meant I needed to start over.

Give me a task, a group of fourth graders to watch over.
I can count to ten, but I can’t climb down from the bleachers.
I can sit on the floor with them to eat lunch, but I can’t
get back up. Know thyself.
Be true to who you are.

A body that is running on fumes of a school year.
A plate that is toppling, balanced on a single finger.

Among the smiles of graduates on Facebook,
I found a poem, a gift of Mary Oliver
whose wisdom buoys me,
“How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.”
Comfort me, oh poem.
Be with me, in me, over me.
Help me walk back into school today
another day in May.

Margaret Simon, flash draft because I’ve been too busy to spend any time on crafting a poem.

May as a teacher is the hardest month of the year. Emotions are heightened. We are trying to squeeze in field trips, fun day/water day, ceremonies, awards, grades, and all the other seemingly endless paper work. It’s overwhelming. I didn’t have a poem ready for today, so I just did what I do best, open the blank blog post and write straight from my gut. This stress will be over soon, and I will settle into the relaxing days of summer. But today, there is much to do and little time to get it done. I’m sure you know what I mean. All my best to all the teachers out there just trying to make it to the end still smiling, still loving their job, and still being their best selves.

Waterfall exhibit at the Hilliard Museum in Lafayette, LA.

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Slice of Life: Swallowtail Release

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , on May 9, 2023| 6 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

On Sunday morning, I noticed the chrysalis on my back porch that I had nurtured was turning black. This could be a good sign or a bad sign. I found the swallowtail caterpillar in my friend’s garden when she was offering me two dill plants for my student’s butterfly garden project. I took the cactus it was hanging out on as well as some dill for feeding it.

When the little puffed up caterpillar made its chrysalis, he did it on the dill. Yikes, I knew the dill would die eventually because it was just in water. What actually happened was the dill stem bent down. No! The chrysalis must stay in the position it was made in.

Swallowtail chrysalis usually takes on the color of its environment. It can be green or brown.

I found a stick in my yard, placed it next to the dill stem with the chrysalis and tied then together with dental floss. I wasn’t sure it would work. This chrysalis traveled home in my car and sat on my back porch for another week. Until Sunday.

There he was, like a miracle, fully formed and on the just right day before the school week started again. I was able to take him to school, show him off to students in the hallway and with the gentle help of Avalyn, we released him into the wild.

My friend Mary who originally gave me the caterpillar is out of town tending to her brother Carlos. I named the butterfly Carlos and now he is roaming free somewhere in Coteau. We hope our newly planted butterfly garden nurtures him, but as with all wild things, we will never know.

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Poetry Friday: Spotlight on Students

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , , , , on April 28, 2023| 8 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Ruth at There is no Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town.

This has been an April full of poetry. In between the dreaded test prep, I have offered my students poetry breaks. I pulled out all of my poetry books and let them dig in. We also wrote some poetry. My students, when they hear the word poetry, breathe a sigh of relief and joy. I am lucky they are young and haven’t been stained by the bee that says poetry is hard.

We’ve watched a few of Allan Wolf’s Poetry Month videos. They are all on YouTube. It’s like having him visit my classroom with all his humor, antics, and natural Po-Love. My students loved watching him juggle while teaching them about dactyl meter. Sadie, 4th grade, is writing her own poems using dactyl meter.

My emotional bees

Make me want to have pet fleas!

My emotional bees

They just never seem to ease!

Sadie, 4th grade

My third grade student, Avalyn was drawn in by Marilyn Singer’s reverso poems in Mirror, Mirror and Follow, Follow. I sent Marilyn a message on Instagram, and she sent us a “Tips for Writing Reverso Poems.” Avalyn borrowed a few lines and created a poem of her own. We discovered reversos are really hard to write well.

Very pleasant,
happily ever after.
Luggage is packed.
You sob.
Nobody is there.

Nobody is there,
you sob.
Luggage is packed.
Happily ever after,
very pleasant.

Avalyn, 3rd grade

Each week I present This Photo Wants to be a Poem on my blog and with my students on Fanschool. You can see their Prime Number Haikus this week at this link by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of the page.

Prime Number Haiku

Bubble
Blossoming
Grows great and strong but
Will not stay for very long
You try to win but you will pop very soon

Adelyn, 4th grade

April has been a wonderful month of poetry. Thanks to all of our Poetry Friday friends who have contributed to the Kidlit Progressive Poem which is still traveling, almost done. Today it’s at Karin Fisher-Golton.

I am keeping all of my daily poems in a slide show. Here’s my own Prime Number Haiku which was a prompt from Ethical ELA.

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NPM 23 Day 11: Something You Should Know

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged , , on April 11, 2023| 13 Comments »

I am following #VerseLove at Ethical ELA. A few days ago the prompt was taken from a poem by Clint Smith (linked here). Spending time back in my home town of Jackson, MS always brings up memories. When I was 15, I spent my summer volunteering at a church sponsored camp for underprivileged children who were referred by their teachers as struggling readers. The experience launched me into a lifetime career of teaching. Do you remember why you became a teacher? or whatever your chosen career? Why do we make these choices in life? How do we know it’s the right choice? I’ve always known teaching was right for me.

Something You Should Know
after Clint Smith

I became a teacher the summer I turned 15,
volunteering for “Operation Life Enrichment”
Ole’!

We gathered the underprivileged children
from the dregs of Jackson Public Schools–
children struggling to read and know things
like zoo animals and swimming pools and reciting
the ABC song.

Their skin was the color of cafe ole,
smooth caffeine
that entered my veins in their hugs,
their fingers in my soft blonde hair.

I learned how to cradle their heads,
singing to them
the lyrical language
of picture books.

I knew then
as I know now
my passion, my calling, my purpose
is teaching.

Margaret Simon, draft
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

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Slice of Life Challenge Day 17 and Poetry Friday: Thank you, Moon!

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged , on March 17, 2023| 17 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Purdie Salas.
The Slice of Life Challenge is hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

I am privileged to have the opportunity to write poetry with gifted kids. Their minds are open and in tuned to ideas. Most days they can’t wait to tell me what they are thinking about. Most days they want to write, welcoming the blank page. This week I shared with two of my young students (2nd and 3rd graders) photos of the full moon that I had collected from social media. I actually had another idea for them, but as we were looking at and discussing my picture of the moon above my neighbor’s house, they were full of questions and wonderings and a poem emerged. It was a happy moment because somedays little boys would rather be running outside than writing a poem with their teacher.

Click the image to see a larger view. Photo by Margaret Simon.
There are still a few dates available to sign up for the 2023 Kidlit Progressive poem. Click Here.

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Slice of Life Challenge Day 12: Handprint Painting

Posted in Creativity, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , , on March 12, 2023| 5 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I read Beautiful Hands to my youngest students, 1st-3rd grade. The question “What will your beautiful hands do today?” is the theme of this short and inspiring book by Kathryn Otoshi and Bret Baumgarten.

The story of this book is both sad and joyful. From a Bookology article by Nancy Bo Flood:

Beautiful Hands was done for Bret Baumgarten, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. When we found out, it was at stage 4. It was heartbreaking. He and I both wanted to do a book for his children, Noah and Sofie. I found out every day he would hold his kids’ hands in his and ask them, “What will your beautiful hands do today?”

I wanted everyone whom Bret loved to be in this book. We arranged for his family and friends (mine too!) to make handprints as part of the illustrations in the book, so that they could participate and be a part of this narrative. Over 100 people’s handprints are in the rainbow at the end of the story. So many people loved Bret, we didn’t know where to put our grief. The book became a positive way to remember the message he wanted to impart most: love, creativity, compassion, and our connection with one another.

Kathryn Otoshi

With my youngest students, we practiced using acrylic paints.

1. You must put on a t-shirt to avoid stains on your clothes. (I provide old t-shirts.)

2. Mrs. Simon will squirt the paint. It comes out fast and can splatter.

3. We only have primary colors, so how do we make other colors?

4. Which illustration do you want to make?

5. You can only use hands, no paintbrushes. We used the paintbrushes to apply the paint to their hands.

Here are some samples of final works of art.

Butterfly, lily pad, and rose by James, 2nd grade
Sunflower by Carson, 1st grade

My Painting

by Carson

Sunflowers bloom.
My heart booms!

Clouds float in the air.
My hands show that I care. 

Carson is brand new to poetry writing. He gets very nervous about it, so we have to use some breathing techniques while I prompt him with sentence stems. We worked on making lists of rhyming words. He wrote “Clouds float in the air” with little prompting. And selected the word care from our list of rhyming words. All I said was, “Look at your hands in your painting. My hands…?”

“Show that I care!” shouted Carson. We celebrated with a high five and a glowing smile. When I typed it and let him tape it to his artwork, he was as proud as Vashti from Peter Reynold’s book, The Dot. ( If you don’t know about Vashti yet, you must go Google The Dot right now.)

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