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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

Slice of Life: The Space Between Our Footsteps

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , on March 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.

I pulled out an old library discarded book The Space Between Our Footsteps, an anthology of Middle Eastern art and poetry, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye, published in 1998. Our world news has been so harsh on the Middle East. I don’t know how much my young students know, but I was sure I could find an empathetic poem to share with them. Naomi’s introduction speaks of the prejudice of Americans toward Middle Easterners. She turns the table to tell what Middle Easterners might say about Americans. The truth is we are all humans. We all have thoughts and feelings, love, and tragedy.

The poem I chose for Poetry Friday was “I Have No Address” by Hamza El Din.

I Have No Address 

I am a sparrow with a white heart and a thousand tongues. 
I fly around the globe 
Singing for peace, love and humanity 
In every place. 
I have no address. 

My address is lines ornamented by dreams, beating hearts united by smiling hope 
For people who wish good for other people all the time. 
I sing, smile and cry. 
My tears wash away pain 
In every place. 

Our paths are boats of longing, turning round and round with us— 
One day to the east, another to the west, to tranquil moorings. 
And when the waves go against us and cast us away, 
Then the echo of my sounds at midnight will be a dock at the shore of tranquility, 
In every place. 

The day we join hands with others’ hands, our universe is 
A rose garden blooming in the holy night. 
It contains us, with hope, love and alleluias. 

And I am the sparrow on the branch. 
I sleep, dream and fly happily 
In every place. 
I have no address. 

Hamza El Din

How do we build empathy in our students when the news is anything but? Where do we direct them to find peace and understanding? I believe literature, poetry can do this. But is it enough? I don’t know.

My student Kailyn is a first generation American whose father immigrated from Laos with his family. She has heard first hand from her grandfather what the land of the free means. Currently she is reading Refugee. She saw the title in my classroom and identified with it immediately. I warned her that it’s a tough book. Sad things happen. She took it anyway. Her poetic response to I Have No Address came from her reading.

Freedom

I am free,
I have peace.
I can wander without anyone judging me.

Freedom is a privilege,
One wrong move and,
Boom!

Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud,
Aren’t free;
They’re controlled.

I am free,
I am free from controlling,
I am free from fear.

I 
Am
Free

Kailyn, 5th grade

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Poetry Friday: Curious

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged , , on March 8, 2024| 21 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Laura Purdie Salas

Ignorance is not saying, I don’t know. Ignorance is saying, I don’t care.

Unknown, from 365 Days of Wonder

Last week the counselor at our school hosted a teacher group after school. I attended along with my next door neighbor, our speech therapist. We share a space. We usually visit daily, so over the last few years, we’ve gotten to be close friends. In this teacher support group meeting, we were the only ones there along with the counselor.

After some chatting, the counselor showed us a visual of a rose and asked us to share our blossoms, our buds, and our thorns. It was the first time I had experienced the tool, and it really worked. In the safety of her calming space, we talked about good things, hopeful things, and our challenges. Did I mention she had aroma steam and hot herbal tea?

I felt so moved by the experience I wanted to share my appreciation. I worked all week on a collage of roses and wrote an acrostic poem to give her; the least I could do for a totally free group therapy session.

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

To sign up to participate, click here.

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Slice of Life: Perfectionism

Posted in Gifted Education, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , on March 5, 2024| 10 Comments »

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

I teach gifted kids in two elementary schools. A friend of mine sent me a message on Instagram to follow “the gifted perspective.” I could immediately connect to the posts. Especially when she defined perfectionism. “Gifted individuals have a level of self-introspection. Maybe they’re hyper aware of their knowledge, or of their learning, or of their differences between them and others. This can lead to perfectionism.”

My 2nd grade student is usually so excited to learn something new. I went to a workshop a few weeks ago at our arts council and was gifted a bag of supplies and a lesson plan on landscapes. I pulled up a landscape painting onto the smart board and started asking him questions about it.

I’m not sure when things fell apart, but he had a hard time identifying things in the painting that I had assumed he would know, animals, foreground, background, landforms, plow. The more questions I asked, the more shut down he became. Then I asked him to write a few sentences to describe the painting. He froze.

I thought to myself that surely he knew how to write a few sentences. Where was the breakdown? Did I even look at the grade level suggestion for this lesson?

Perspective helps. As I’ve processed this exchange, I’ve realized I was battling against a perfectionism wall. I managed to realize this before he melted into tears. I said, “Relax. This is just for you in your journal. It doesn’t have to be perfect.” We had a little more success with the second painting. And I didn’t ask him to write.

Perfectionism Elfchen

Writing
is hard
when you’re seven
try too hard to please
Teacher

Margaret Simon, daily elfchen
The Cornell  Farm by Edward Hicks

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Slice of Life: The Mountain

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged , , , on March 4, 2024| 13 Comments »

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

Last summer we instituted the first annual Simon Summer Camp, complete with t-shirts. One of the daily activities was a walk. A neighbor and long time friend has an empty lot next to his house. He’s had a mound of dirt on this lot for a while now.

We call it the mountain. Leo is five, so he remembers. When he and his sister Stella visited this weekend, Leo said, “Let’s go to the mountain.” Stella, in her 3 year old wisdom thought this might be a long trip, so she would need the Disney chair.

Watching these siblings create games is thoroughly entertaining. It wasn’t long before they were racing from across the street to make it to the mountain. Leo always won.

Then Leo found a shovel under the tarp and wanted to dig. There was only one shovel. This caused a little screaming from Stella, so Mamere had an idea. “Let’s go back home and get little shovels (trowels) and pots, and we can make plants.”

They loved the idea, so we hiked back home and got two trowels and two black plastic pots. The kids successfully dug some dirt and filled their pots. Unfortunately, there was a gathering of stinging ants near Leo, but he didn’t complain. It wasn’t until later that I noticed both of his hands covered in ant bites. Somehow when you are on a brave adventure, a little pain is to be expected and endured.

I happened to have an envelop of marigold seeds left over from last summer, so they were able to plant seeds as well as decorate their pots with clover flowers.

I know these childhood adventures are fleeting. I hope they will remember their visits to Mamere and Papere’s as times of fun, love, and safety. My daughter values our time with them because she had these moments with her grandparents. Those memories feel like dreams now as she manages a tough job and raising two smart, sassy, and curious kids. I’m exhausted after only a mere 24 hours. They’re totally worth it.

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Slice of Life: Welcome to the Wonder House

Posted in Creativity, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged , , , , on March 2, 2024| 16 Comments »

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

This week was Wonder Week in my classroom as we explored Welcome to the Wonder House by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard. Each day I let a student choose which “room” we would visit. In this book, there are rooms you would not expect to find: The Room of Ordinary Things, The Room of Imagination, The Room of Wishes. Each page contains poems by Rebecca and Georgia. Each poem invites the reader to think, feel, wonder.

After I read aloud the poems, we notice things like structure, metaphor, imagery. Then they write in their notebooks.

Georgia talks about creating a space for poetry every day. It doesn’t have to take long. I believe in the power of poetry to teach, but also to inspire and somehow settle into you and become part of you.

I write alongside my students every day. We’ve been using markers, colored pencils, washi tape to make our pages pop and please us. Here is a page of my own notebook.

Our notebooking is not perfection which is something I model. Some pages are messy. Some pages do not come out like we want them to, but the practice of playing with poetry, following a line, stealing a metaphor, making an acrostic from a single word, satisfies the imagination and fills the soul.

If you are interested in participating in the Kidlit Progressive Poem in the month of April, the sign up is here.

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Poetry Friday: Persona Poem (Slice of Life)

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged , on March 1, 2024| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Linda at Teacher Dance.
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

Hello, March! If I’ve counted right, this is my eleventh year to participate in the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. I’ve challenged myself to write a post every day in March. I will also write every day in April because that’s National Poetry Month. I’ve learned that a daily writing practice enriches my life, connects me with others, and makes me a better writer. Thanks to all my readers. You inspire and encourage me.

Today I’m the challenger of my writing group, the Inklings. We each take a turn at creating a prompt for the first Friday of each month. I asked my friends Molly Hogan, Mary Lee Hahn, Catherine Flynn, Linda Mitchell, and Heidi Mordhorst to write persona poems. Persona poems are written in a different voice. The author can speak through an object, another person, an emotion, etc.

I attended a workshop led by Babalwa Tetyana (link is to the YouTube recording) sponsored by Narrative 4. She guided us to write persona poems. I chose to write from the perspective of a portrait of myself at age 12. I sent my draft to the Inklings. They were confused about who the speaker was. Me or me? Yes, it was me. Tricky.

I decided maybe a form could contain the poem and make the emotions clearer. A nod to Irene Latham’s Poetry Friday’s post last week; she wrote a double tricube. Here’s my rewrite.

Portrait of Margaret Simon by Elizabeth Wolfe

My Portrait Speaks

I look out
behind glass,
12 year old

intense eyes
watch you
avoid my glance.

Your child-self
grieves with you–
penciled lines

trace my face.
Dear innocent
insecure soul,

look my way.
I hold love
in my eyes.

I’m your source
a savior sent
behind glass.

Margaret Simon, draft
Sign up for the April Kidlit Progressive Poem.

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Progressive Poem 2024

Posted in Writing on March 1, 2024| 53 Comments »

Sign up here to add a line to the National Poetry Month Kidlit Progressive Poem. In the comments, select your date and leave your blog link/ URL. I’ll update every day until the calendar is full. Be sure to make note of your date. On the day before, go to the blog link before yours and copy and paste the poem. You can choose to write about your process. Remember this poem is for children. The first person will set the topic and tone. It’s fun to see how the poem develops, so follow it and comment. Thanks!

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Full Hunger Moon

Posted in Photography, Poetry, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged , , on February 28, 2024| 41 Comments »

This photo was posted by Kim Douillard with the comment, “Full moon snowshoeing? Yes, please.” Taken in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Last week’s full moon was a beauty. I had a tug of envy when I saw Kim’s amazing photo on Facebook. What a capture of the forest trees pointing to full moon. The snow is clean and untouched. I felt a sense of calm and peace, all the while knowing that for the Creator to make snow, it must be cold. But this scene is deceptively warm.

Elfchen have become my go-to form this year. I am attracted to using one word to start a poem, one word to send me out on the slope of where a poem wants to take me. Sometimes I go the way of description, sometimes toward a deeper wisdom. My student has created two words for these kinds of poems, a quotem or a quoem. Quotem is a quote that sounds like a poem. A quoem is a poem that sounds like a quote. I hope you feel inspired to write something, be it quotem or quoem. Share it in the comments and encourage other writers along the way with your responses.

Slope
slides toward
a hungry moon
lighting my way to
Poem

Margaret Simon, elfchen draft

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Slice of Life: Safe Space for Writing

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged , , on February 27, 2024| 7 Comments »

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

Having a safe space to imagine and dream and (re)invent yourself is the first step to being happy and successful, whatever road you choose to pursue.

Ashley Bryan, We Rise We Resist We Raise Our Voices foreword

Hope, a mark of hope, a small piece of washi tape from a student now in my notebook reminding me that I am in a safe space.

Creating a safe space for writers is my top goal as an ELA teacher. When I hear a student read aloud their most fresh and vulnerable words, I am honored. Sometimes they don’t want to share; however, they will hand me their notebook to read. They are watching my eyes for the glow of adoration. I do adore what they write. They are confident children. I need to remember, though, that they are children. They need my validation. My words of encouragement. A sign of hope.

A mark of hope
a place to be
A dream to dream
a road to see
you see in me
a hand with a gift
a mark of hope
a place to be

Margaret Simon, draft
Playing with washi tape shapes in my notebook.

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Poetry Friday: Persona Poems

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged , on February 23, 2024| 19 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference.

Have you seen the beautiful poetry collection by Kate Coombs Today I am a River? In each poem, the author takes on the “mask” or “persona” of something in nature.

Wind
I am the wind.
Sometimes I rage!
I slash through forests,
stamp over mountains.
I am a giant, an ogre, a troll–
I kick the treetops,
yell, bellow, and roar!

1st stanza of “Wind” from Kate Coombs book “Today I am a River”

This is a book students can access easily. It taps into pretend play. What if I were the wind today?

On Tuesday afternoon, I attended a workshop at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. We wrote poems to art, ekphrasis. One of the areas held two stained glass pieces of the same tree image. One tree was surrounded by clear glass, the other in dark blue. I took on the persona of night speaking to dawn.

Next week is my turn to challenge our Inklings for the first Friday of the month. I challenged them and now you to write a persona poem. Here are a few links to persona poems: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, The Piano Speaks by Sandra Beasly, and an essay from The Poetry Foundation by Rebecca Hazelton.

I am Night
I am night
I feel ordinary light
listening to noisy killdeers
chattering in my mind.
I seek dawn–
open the shades, hopeful a new day will come.
I twitch at the backdoor,
mew like hungry cats
waiting to be fed.
Will you come walk with me?
Turn toward the east.
Watch sun rise
in pink and purple
above the trees.
Will you seek my shadow
for comfort
or rise?

Margaret Simon, draft

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