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Lessons from Maya

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Maya Angelou, sestina on May 30, 2014| 10 Comments »

Join the Poetry Friday round-up with Diane over at Random Noodling.

Photo from Maya Angelou visits YCP 2013 on Flickr

I suspect that Poetry Friday will be full of posts about Maya Angelou. She died this week at the age of 86. She was a gentle giant, a force in the world, an inspiration for us all. I spent the last few days absorbed in Maya’s wisdom, watching YouTube videos, reading articles, and reading her poetry. I was inspired to write a poem, an elegy. At first, I thought it would be created around her words, so I copied 13 quotes from USA Today. But when I started writing, the poem became my first sestina. Whoa, Maya, I didn’t think I had this in me. You are indeed an inspiration!

The Lessons of Maya
Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

Her words touched many hearts,
this phenomenal woman
with volumes of work,
a head full of rhyming curls,
she made us feel
with her deep toned voice

speaking, “I will raise my voice!”
finger pointing to heaven’s heart,
she strived to thrive, feel
compassion of a passionate woman.
Her hand to my hand curls
around my calloused work

enveloped in her precious work.
She knew who heard her voice
above all others; her curls
were born to adorn our hearts.
Now with Him eternally, this woman
will always make us feel

that we have every right to feel
worthy in our daily work
living as a phenomenal woman
lifting this one and only voice
to touch as many hearts
as hairs on her head curl,

Like the contrail in the sky curls,
we are called to feel
no barriers in our hearts.
Our deep and strong voices
can make forces work
driven by this one woman.

Believe in your woman-
the specialness of your curls.
Believe you have a voice.
Don’t fear to feel.
Find your glorious work
and what feeds your soul and heart.

Find the voice of your heart.
Yes, God made woman his best work.
Make the time to feel
Alive.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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Flow

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged altered books, Creativity, flow on May 27, 2014| 10 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back.” (Rainer Maria Rilke)

For the last two years, I have made an altered book using poems I have written beside my students. An altered book is a hardback book that has outlived its time, been discarded from the library, or left behind at Goodwill. I usually try to find ones with fairly large pages that are sewn, not glued, to the binding. I take out some of the pages and glue a few together to thicken each page and create space. Then I use Gesso and paint to cover the pages. My students have the option to make an altered book for their poetry project.

Here are a few of my favorite pages from my book this year. Vannisa found the sign, “Keep Calm and Write Poetry” that became my front cover. The marbleized paper was made using a technique with chalk and water. I covered some of my pages with gelli-printed papers. When I work on my altered book, I enter Flow, a term Csikszentmihalyi used to describe that zone of creativity one enters when something is at the right level of challenge. Flow is energizing and motivating.

Altered book cover

Page one begins with A for anaphora

Making a collage of printed paper makes an interesting background.

Images fuel my writing.

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Pay Attention

Posted in Digital Learning, Writing, tagged Open, Summer reading, Tara Smith, Two Writing Teachers on May 25, 2014| 6 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Pay attention! This is our endless and proper work. ~Mary Oliver

School is out, and the last thing my brain wants to do right now is think about digital literacy. When I opened the door to let Charlie out this morning, this snail was working its way slowly and deliberately along a leaf. So I took a picture. My one little word for 2014 is Open, but I think I’ll translate that word to mean “Pay Attention” as a summer goal. Be alert. Don’t let your brain fall asleep.

On the web this morning, I paid attention to two articles. The first was posted by Tara Smith at Two Writing Teachers. Tara writes about her students’ confidence in writing workshop and her release of control. They are using technology in ways she would not have predicted. She is able to take a back seat and watch. Sometimes I feel teachers are too focused on themselves and what they will do in front of the students. Tara’s expertise is in knowing that her best teaching comes from the back seat where she can support her student writers and allow them to discover on their own. Read her article here.

The second article that drew my attention was one a friend posted on Facebook about summer reading, Ready, Set, Read! In this article, research is cited that says reading fiction creates better human beings. We learn to be empathetic by reading. I knew that students needed to keep reading over the summer in order to maintain and grow their reading levels, but I never thought about how that reading makes them better people.

What are you paying attention to today? Please add your Digital Literacy link to Mr. Linky.

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Celebrate Seeing Good

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Creativity, Gifted Education, Gratitude, Writing, tagged Easter Lily, Lagniappe Yoga, New Iberia City Council, The Shadows, yoga on May 24, 2014| 9 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us to celebrate each week. I have the opportunity to not only share my joys with you, but to reflect on them for myself, a good exercise in itself.

1. Easter Lilies are blooming in abundance this year. Perhaps they liked the extra cold winter and are letting us know all is new.

2. Summer Reading #Bookaday: Donalyn Miller challenges us to read a book a day in the summer. I am a slow reader, so I am hoping to read a book a week. Here is only part of the stack I brought home from my classroom to read.

3. My husband had cataract surgery this week. He gave me his ring to hold because he couldn’t wear any jewelry. I only had to wear it for an hour. The surgery was a success. His eye bruised, so in his best Cajun accent, he likes to say, “It looks baad, but it sees good.”

4. Our students presented a big check for $3,711.00 to the West End Park Revitalization Project at the City Council meeting this week. We are so proud of their dedication.

5. My friend and yoga instructor, Rachel, led a yoga class at our local plantation home, The Shadows. It was invigorating to stretch outside on the sculptured lawn, looking up into the oaks. If only there were no ants.

6. I forgot to take pictures of this, but three of my gifted students spent their last day with me. I pulled out a box of science kids, and they made hover crafts with balloons and CDs, and a catapult out of a staple remover and plastic spoon. They were focused, cooperative, and had fun.

It was a wonderful week and now on to the BIG WEEKEND! Happy Summer, y’all!

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Anastasis

Posted in Poetry Friday, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Anastasis, Chapel of the Holy Spirit, jasmine, Minka Sprague, New Orleans, Resurrection on May 23, 2014| 6 Comments »

Join the Poetry Friday round-up at Violet’s place.

For Mother’s Day, I spent the weekend in New Orleans with my daughters. Katherine and I went to church on Sunday morning on the campus of Tulane, The Chapel of the Holy Spirit, where the Reverend Minka Sprague, close friend of my parents, was preaching. I am a word collector, and in her sermon, Minka used the term anastasis to refer to the resurrection. I recorded a Soundcloud of the portion where she spoke of its Greek meaning.

Minka’s words, the beautiful day, and the resurrection feeling I get when I visit New Orleans came together in this poem.

Anastasis

The storm cloud moves,
a hole of blue,
lined in shining white,
opens–
this is sky.

When you feel fear,
say your name.
To say your name,
breathe–
this is air.

On a Sunday in May,
flooded New Orleans streets,
blooming jasmine
reflect–
this is resurrection.

Hear the full sermon here.

Poetry news: Amy VanderWater has adopted a manatee over at The Poem Farm in honor of my students who wrote manatee poems. You can read them at our ongoing kidblog site. Today is our final day of school (report card hand-out), but I hope some of my students will continue to write and post over the summer.

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Hyperlink Poems

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Teaching, Writing, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, fibonacci poem, hyperlink, manatee, Wonderopolis on May 18, 2014| 4 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Sometimes I teach a lesson in writing workshop, and the students apply it right away. Sometimes they don’t. A few weeks ago, a blogging friend (if it was you, let me know in the comments) wrote about using hyperlinks in blog posts. She was doing a research unit with her students. I thought how cool would it be to write a poem and put in a hyperlink. I made the suggestion that my students go on to Wonderopolis (which they love) and read about a favorite topic and write a poem about it including a hyperlink. One of my students even commented, “Why haven’t you taught us this before?” But none of them did it.

Choice is important to me in writing, so I didn’t freak out. On Friday, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater offered a challenge on The Poem Farm for students to write a poem about a manatee. And Friday was my last official day with my students. I thought there would be no way we could fit that in with writing a letter to me and having a popcorn and apple party. Not to mention they were leaving an hour early to go out for Character Day activities. But two students took the challenge. They read Amy’s poem, watched the video, and wrote a poem using a hyperlink.

Later in the day, I had a few other students at school #2 also take the challenge. I tweeted Amy, and she tweeted back that in honor of my students, she would adopt a manatee. How cool is that!

Manatee

You are sometimes known as sea cows.
Shallow, slow areas are where you choose to browse.
You are actually related to elephants,
and you’re big, graceful, and elegant.
The great Manatee is who you are
And truly you are the ocean’s star.
Brooklyn

Image from Wikimedia commons

Manatee, my Friend (a Fib poem)

great

friend

what have

you done to

deserve this treatment

you will be safe soon my dear friend.
–Tyler

Since I will be out of school, I’m not sure if I should continue this round-up. What do you think? Should we keep it up over the summer or take a break and come back with full force in August? Let me know in the comments.

Link up your post with Mr. Linky. Come back and read other posts. Don’t forget to comment. That’s what makes the blogosphere go around.

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Poetry in Math Class

Posted in Blogging, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged Betsy Franco, Math Poetry on May 16, 2014| 9 Comments »

Poetry Friday Round-up is with Elizabeth Steinglass.

State testing is done, so I took the opportunity to shift focus in my small math group. In this group, I teach one 4th grader, two 3rd graders, and one 2nd grader. The resource I used was Betsy Franco’s Math Poetry. In this book, there are mentor texts from Betsy as well as student models. Each type of poetry is explained in simple instructions with a form for copying.

My students wrote a draft on the form and posted their poems on our kidblog site. For a final product, they made accordion books. I am not usually a fan of using fill in the blank forms for writing, but these leave space for creativity as well as the safety of a formula to follow. It was successful for my young students. They enjoyed writing and especially loved posting on the class blog. (If you click on the blog link, you will also see that a group of boys had a good time challenging each other with Riddle-ku poems after Laura Purdie Salas.)

If I were 10 Centimeters Tall

If I were only 10 centimeters tall,
I’d use a sponge as my bed and the softest cotton ball as my pillow,
A remote control car would be my ride
An Iphone would be a plasma screen T.V.
I’d watch out for rats which would be a horrible beast.
But it would be seriously fun if I could be 10 centimeters tall,
I’d be the world champion in swimming in your kitchen sink.
by Emily, 3rd grade

Emily’s accordion book

160 Beautiful Bows (an addition poem)

160 beautiful bows
On a cheerleaders head.
80 of them shimmer in the light,
The other 80 speak to you.

‘You can do it’
Together,
They make a perfect couple
Which is a cheerleaders dream.

They can have shimmering
Speaking baby bows.
Oh how I, Kielan,
Would love
To have some bows like that!

–Kielan, 4th grade

Fractions of Me

1/6 of me is a poet like Shakespeare
I come up with lovely, sweet, and cute poems.

1/6 of me is a artist.
I can get inspired by any little thing.

1/6 of me is a nature lover.
I hate when they cut down trees.

1/6 of me is a singer.
I will sing about anything.

1/6 of me is a dancer.
I can dance as grateful as a swan.

1/6 of me has a wild imagination.
I see dogs dancing and unicorns kissing.
–Erin, 2nd grade

Erin’s Fractions of Me accordion book

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Bridge Opening Ceremony

Posted in Gifted Education, Teaching, Writing, tagged Joe Daigre Bridge, Mayor Hilda Curry, New Iberia, project based learning on May 13, 2014| 6 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

This past Saturday was the culmination of a year long student project. We began working with the group of 6th grade gifted students in August. Each month we met together as a group, 6 teachers and 23 students. In the beginning we immersed the students in the theme we had selected for this year, bridges. We brought in speakers including the chief engineer for a bridge being rebuilt in New Iberia. The bridge had been out for more than two years, and some of our students were well aware of the inconvenience this caused. Barbara Ostuno, chief engineer, piqued their interest in the construction of a real bridge. As discussions over a service project were held, the students brought up the bridge and how we could celebrate its completion. Thus we began to plan a bridge opening ceremony.

In January, Mayor Hilda Curry came to visit our group. She spoke to them about the ins and outs of planning a community event. She explained how the original bridge was built by her grandfather when he was mayor. The new bridge will also be named for him, Joe Daigre. She then invited them to meet with the department heads to talk about their ideas. We planned a field trip for February.

On this trip, we started the day bridging the generation gap by meeting elderly in an assisted living facility. The students played games with them and interviewed them for a later writing project. They wrote essays about their grandfriend and submitted them to the Legacy Project contest.

In the afternoon, we met with the Chamber of Commerce about a ribbon cutting for the bridge opening and with the city department heads. This was incredibly empowering to our students. They gained confidence in knowing their voices were being heard and were important to others. They were having real world experience being community organizers.

Raising Cane’s manager and employees joined the celebration.

As a group, the students decided to raise funds for playground equipment for a local park. They went out looking for sponsors for the t-shirts. They gathered 30 donations of $50-$250 each.

The students presented their plan to the City Council at a regular meeting in March. We even brought some council members to tears as they were touched by the students’ poise and enthusiasm. A few students and teachers represented our project to the school board and received a donation from the superintendent.

All of this work culminated in our event on Saturday. Wearing our student-designed t-shirts, we met at City Hall to walk down Main Street to the new bridge. The bridge is named for our mayor’s grandfather, so it was fitting that she cut the ribbon.

Students spoke and led the ceremony. At last count, the donations and t-shirt profits were close to exceeding $3000. I feel pretty confident that this real world experience will stay with these students for a long time. They will drive over the Joe Daigre Bridge as parents and tell their children about the grand opening celebration that they helped to organize.

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Poetry in the News

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Acadiana Wordlab, Clare L. Martin, Hydra, hydrilla, monster, swamp on May 6, 2014| 5 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Hydrilla

Acadiana Wordlab keeps me in touch with my creative side. This weekend Clare Martin led us in a mysterious exercise. Well, she touted it as a mysterious exercise. In truth, she led us in open-ended prompts.

For our first round of writing, she had us each choose a page of the newspaper. I grabbed an article about Hydrilla, a plant that is invading local marshes. I was fascinated by the article and learned about this intrusive species as well as about the mythical creature for which it is named. My poem is more of a found poem, reworking words from the article. I can see this activity working in the classroom, finding poetry in the news.

Hydrilla

Hydra, that nine-headed creature,
kept growing heads—two
for every one cut off.

This monster invaded the lake years ago
choking waterways, native plants,
and your boat’s propeller.

Beware! it grows over
and under the swamp, a nuisance,
a bother, a downright sore oppressor.

There is a plan from the parish president
to lower the level of water
dry out the hellacious suckers.

“Time to nurture kindness
to our natural ecosystem, to restore
the old cycle of flood to dry-bed.”

Don’t let your heart bleed
for this monstrous water weed.
Just allow the soft earth to learn

from her mistakes,
To chop off its head and wait
with a hatchet in hand to catch
the two growing back.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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It’s Monday; I’m reading poetry

Posted in Books, Teaching, Writing, tagged Carole Gerber, poems for two voices, spring poems on May 5, 2014| 10 Comments »

Visit Teach Mentor Texts for more of the Monday reading roundup.

Springtime means reading poetry in my classroom. I put out all of my poetry books. I haven’t counted, but they fill an 8 foot table quite nicely. For today’s It’s Monday: What are you Reading roundup, I wanted to share a new favorite poetry book.

My students, especially the younger ones in grades 2-4, enjoy poetry for two voices. Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! includes poems to be read by two people. I love cuddling up with a student and reading poetry together. Each poem is illustrated beautifully and the text is written in two colors for the two readers. Erin and I read “New Shoot” together and were surprised by the ending when the bunny will eat the new leaf. Matthew and Vannisa loved “Helianthus” and wrote their own poems featured on my blog yesterday.

I love when poetry comes together with reading aloud and learning science. This book combines the joy of choral reading with the learning of new facts about seeds, bees, butterflies, and more! We even learn that seeds are dropped in bird “doo.”