Reflections on the Teche

Slice Challenge #10: Things I Love

March 10, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Ruth Ayres hosts a round-up on her blog each week of Celebration posts. Again, I haven’t been participating each week, but the fact that she’s there is a gentle reminder to celebrate even the little things.

My #Teachwrite colleagues Leigh Anne and Michelle recently wrote slices about things that they prefer. Leigh Anne titled her post “I’d rather”. Michelle’s post was Early Mornings. I’m in the early morning camp.

Today, I celebrate the things I love…

I love…an early morning walk.

I love… the sound of birds echoing through the trees.

I love... Charlie bouncing near me, his tags tinkling like bells.

I love...the scents of wisteria, sweet olive, satsuma blossoms filling the morning air.

I love…cut flowers in a vase on the kitchen table.

I love…frothed milk with coffee, Starbucks French Roast.

I love…writing in the morning.

I love…the quiet of students writing.

I love…the noise of student engagement.

I love…a glass of wine at the end of the day.

Spring on the bayou

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Photography, Slice of Life | Tagged Things I love | 23 Comments »

Slice Challenge #9: The Word Collector

March 9, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Poetry Friday round-up is with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty

If you take the book jacket off of The Word Collector, you see a golden collection of words.

Wonders of words
Fill constellations.
There is an angel
On my shoulder
As I write … praline, crimson…
Sounds of words roll
Over my tongue,
Taste sweet…Argentina…
Musical… infinity of words
To release into the air.
Amen.

–Margaret Simon (c) 2018

The librarian knows of my attachment to all things Peter Reynolds. I introduced her to Dot Day and helped her plan activities in the fall. Last week, she had a Scholastic Book Fair. I shopped on Friday and put some wishes into a bin. I never had a chance to go back and purchase any. When this sweet librarian saw me she said, “I saw Word Collector in your book fair bin.”

I said, “I know! I’m so sorry I never had time to come back and buy anything.”

“No worries. I had extra funds from the sales, so I bought a copy for the library. I put it aside for you.” And she handed me Peter Reynolds gold!

I shared the book with my students and as I did, I said, “Be a word collector. As I read, make your own collection of words.”

My students wrote and wrote. Their lists covered one, then two pages in their notebooks. Given 10 minutes on the timer, they turned their lists into poems. Amazing poems.

Madison decided to make word combinations, so she randomly matched together two word pairs. When she finished, she realized that all her combinations could describe stars. She titled this masterpiece Stars.

Stars

Azure Wonders
Emerald Willows
Drifting Whispers
Geometric Symphony
Aromatic Kaleidoscope
Marvelously Effervescent
Harmony Lore
Breezing Beyond
Onyx Liberty
Tranquil Silence
Cascading Glints
Brilliant Waterfalls
Onomatopoeia Collections
Hopeful Grace
Mused Clovers
Constellate Alligator
Utopia Yonder

Stars Of The Sky

–Madison, 4th grade

I wrote about Dawson last week, about how he was not using line breaks yet in his poems. I showed him how he could, and now he’s writing meaningful poetry. I love what he wrote about his decisions for the line breaks. “I decided to do it like this with line breaks and words because it sounds like a song that you could play. If you read it again, watch go ahead, read this again while playing joyful music in the background.”

With Willows
soft as a whisper,
with royal flocks
prancing around in your dream,
let it be known
there is wonder in your heart.

–Dawson, 4th grade

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Peter Reynolds, The Word Collector | 27 Comments »

Slice Challenge #8: Release to Find

March 8, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Hiding in a stack of books near my desk was a book of quotes I received in a gift exchange at NCTE from Stacey Shubitz. Thanks, Stacey for inspiration to write.

The quote above reminds me of a similar quote,“If you love something set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If not, it was never meant to be.”

As each day goes by, I learn more about happiness. Today, I visited a close friend who has terminal cancer. I wasn’t sure what I would see when I walked into her home. But everything was as it had been. She is surrounded by things that please her, drift wood, wind chimes, flowers. She is surrounded by people she loves. She wakes up each new day in gratitude.

I don’t think we should require a diagnosis to learn to live in happiness and gratitude. The most important things in life are not things. They are love, kindness, empathy, joy. These things are not things you can hold in your hand, so you must release them to find them. You must give love to find love.
Kindness for kindness.
Empathy for empathy.
Joy for Joy.
And when you give all of these “things” away, what you have is happiness.

When we hug someone we love, we never have any guarantees that we will be with them again. We hear it over and over. Live for today. Make every moment count. But when it all comes down to it, what choice do we have?

I released my friend. We hugged. We smiled. We said “I love you.” I promised to come see her again. But for today, I’ve released her. She was never mine anyway.

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Happiness, quotes | 18 Comments »

Slice Challenge #7: Dr. Seuss Quotes

March 7, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Continuing the celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, I pulled an idea out of my hat! Let’s write about Dr. Seuss quotes. A search for quotes was easy. They are everywhere. Not just here. Not just there. But everywhere!

Choosing a quote that spoke to you was easy. Or it was hard. Some students decided to take on rhyming. But with that decision, you have to consider rhythm too, so I found myself next to Trace beating out Ta-da-ta-da-dum on the table.

Some students went for prose. Some for poems. Some wrote their own quotes.

Once again, my students blew me away with their creativity, their depth of thought, and their imagination.

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
― Dr. Seuss

Life is a cake,
You can make a pretty, delicious cake,
Or a boring, plain cake.

Fantasy is the icing on the cake,
Nonsense is the silly sprinkles.

Knowledge is the candle on the cake,
And smiles, smiles are the light, the flame.

Look!
It’s a wonderful, tasty cake!

–Lynzee, 3rd grade

(Click on her name to leave comments.)

“All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you’ll be quite a lot!”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and The Lorax

Alone,
not fun at all.
You look at the monstrous jungle,
while your comfort is lost in the sea.
The light in you is unfound.
Creeping around waiting for you to bite,
Like brim in a pond.
Then you actually get it on your hook,
you fight your emotions,
like the fish’s strength.
Then you reel it in,
and are filled with light.

–Austin, 6th grade (Click his name to leave comments on his post.)

What is your favorite Dr. Seuss quote? I love so many of them, but this is the one that spoke to me about this weird and crazy Slice of Life Challenge. We fall in mutual weirdness and call it Slice of Life!

Posted in Creativity, Poetry, Slice of Life | Tagged Dr. Seuss | 4 Comments »

Slice Challenge #6: What I’m Made of

March 6, 2018 by margaretsmn

Click here to read my students’ posts on Kidblog.

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

As often as I can, I write alongside my students. On Monday, I shared a poem by Rebecca Kai Dotlich “What I’m Made of” that was published in the Dec./Jan. issue of Scope magazine.

Following a discussion of the choices that Rebecca made in her poem, we brainstormed ideas for our own. I wrote one as well. Today, I am sharing my poem. If you click the slicer badge on the left, you can find my students’ poems.

What I’m Made of

after Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Of trampolines and picnics,
Of hurricanes and Gulf Coast sand,
and dreaming of mountains.
Of birdhouses and biscuits on Sunday morning.
Of pecan picking, clover crowns, and wishes on a dandelion.
Of a locked diary and flooded memories,
Of Beechcrest Drive and Purple Creek,
Of piano lessons and nature hikes,
photo lenses to hide behind.
Of school dances, prom gown of pink organza,
I’m made of Donny & Marie, Ding Dongs by the fireplace,
Of macrame and cross stitch, The Natchez Trace and Brady Bunch.
I am Southern and soft, singing a song,
I am wind, water, and wonder.

–Margaret Simon (c) 2018

I shared the following quote from a fourth grader on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MargaretGSimon/status/970826632331169792

My student, Lynzee drew this on the board on March 1st.

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life | 9 Comments »

Slice Challenge #4: A Slice of Mindfulness

March 4, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

In the middle of the night, an Amber Alert alarms on my cell phone. I put on my glasses, checked the phone, and saw something about a 1979 white Cadillac… I went back to sleep.

At morning recess shouts and screams enter the hallways. I close my door.

The bell rings, my students enter, visibly stressed, breathing differently, heavier.

We talk about it. One says, “I’m so tired of all this bullying. I just want people to get along.” Her eyes tear up. I offer a hug.

Another student says, “Let’s meditate! I need it this morning.” Blankets and pillows come out. Breathing slows as we imagine the stress leaving our bodies.

We breathe slowly in silence for 4 minutes.

We begin the work of the day, reading and writing.

I don’t have any answers for the fears, the cries, the bullying, but I can offer a safe place of mindfulness. It’s something. Some days it’s everything.

stones-1372677_960_720

Note: My student Faith wrote about the fight in this Slice of Life post.

For meditation, I use Mindful Kids, a box of kid-friendly meditation cards by Whitney Stewart. Available on Amazon.

Posted in Slice of Life, Teaching | Tagged mindfulness | 15 Comments »

Slice challenge #5: A Perfect Day

March 4, 2018 by margaretsmn

What do you do with a perfect day?

Sky’s a clear blue… let’s canoe…bayou still…no wind…smooth strokes…sun setting slow…an orange glow behind the towering smoke stack…abandoned mill…concrete riprap…a nest for trash…discarded life tokens.

A distant roar…speed boat…they see us hanging at the edge…cut the motor……push, pull, turn…cross waves…speed on.

Crossing under the bridge…sun’s gone…sky darkens…paddle strengthens…then we hear it…a distant hoot…the owl swishes overhead…beginning his hunt…who-cooks-for-you-you-all familiar call…calling sunset’s end… pull to dock…warm glow of home.

The idea for this poetry format came from Poets and Writers The Time is Now Writing Prompts.

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Bayou Teche, Louisiana | 5 Comments »

Slice Challenge #3: Celebrating Dr. Seuss

March 3, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Librarian Melissa Armentor as Cat in the Hat and Coach Regan as Sam I am. Fun picture day!

This week was Dr. Seuss week at two of my three schools. Each day had a theme. The walls were covered in Seuss-inspired art and quotes. At one school, the librarian was in costume each day.

Fun dressing up as Dr. Seuss characters.

On Friday, I sat next to Chloe, a 2nd grader, to help her write her second post for the March Slice of Life Challenge. She wanted to write about Dr. Seuss week. She is a huge fan. As I looked at blue feathers circling her head, I knew this was going to be a fun slice to help her with. She told me that her favorite book is “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.” Using some of the ideas from this book, I suggested she write a poem.

We collaborated on this poem but most of the words came from Chloe. I just typed them into a poetic looking form.

Dr. Seuss books are lots of fun.
You can read them in the sun.

Dr. Seuss books are the best thing ever.
They can trick you. They are clever.

Dr. Seuss books are kind of silly.
Like the one with crazy Billy.

Don’t know that book? Have some fun
And write one!

See Chloe’s complete post here. Please leave a comment.

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Slice of Life | 10 Comments »

Slice Challenge #2: Poetry Friday What Animal are You?

March 1, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

Poetry Friday round-up is with Renee at No Water River.

For a few days last week, most of my students attended the state Beta convention, so I had fewer students. I seized the moment to do something out of the ordinary.

One of my gifted teacher colleagues told me about the website Animal in You. This site has an online quiz that determines what animal you are most like.

Each student took the quiz. Then they wrote a blog post about their spirit animal. We also made masks on round cardboard discs. I had no idea how popular this activity would be. The news spread to the Beta kids, and they have been taking the quiz on their own time. It’s become a “thing.” I put the writing prompt into our padlet for Slice of Life challenge ideas.

This activity led to poetry. Here are a few student poems that emerged.

Eagles,
flying high,
touching the ocean blue sky
with their soft silk feathers.

Eagles,
Bird of Prey,
you are majestic but carnivorous,
helping us keep balance.

Eagles,
feathers soft as silk,
soar high and long
like love in my heart.

–Dawson, 4th grade

A note about Dawson’s writing: He wrote this on a scratch sheet of paper with words going all across the page, no form. Previously, Dawson’s poems have been silly and rhyming with little sense of poetic language. I held my tongue, knowing that more exposure would lead him, that I did not have to tell him about writing poems. I had to show him. The poetic format was done by me to show him his poem.

Roosters
Fierce and Strong
Protector of his home.
Fast like the wind
Soaring on land
With their butt feathers in the air.
Screaming,
“Predators over there!”

–Trace, 5th grade

My youngest writer, Chloe wrote about life as a lion.

If I was a lion I would like to play and jump.

If I was a lion I would have a big circle of friends

If I was a lion I would like to play in the tall grassy fields.

If I was a lion I would like to play fetch with my friends.

If I was a lion I would like to slurp the water.

If I was a lion I would sleep all day.

If I was a lion I would eat a lot of gazelles.

Wouldn’t it be fun to be a lion? What animal would you like to be?

–Chloe, 2nd grade

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Animal in You, animal poems | 32 Comments »

Slice Challenge #1: Spiritual Journey through Music

March 1, 2018 by margaretsmn

Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life March Challenge

For more Spiritual Thursday posts, click over to Irene’s Live your Poem

Welcome to the first of 31 daily posts for the March Slice of Life Challenge. This is my 7th year to do this challenge, and every year I think I won’t make it through. Somehow I do.

Writing daily is a discipline I try to keep, but when met with a daily publishing deadline, it becomes more important somehow. Someone is waiting to hear from me. Someone is listening. Someone cares what I have to say.

Today is also the first Thursday of the month when a group of us who met through blogging come together to write about our spiritual journeys around a theme. This month Karen Eastland is hosting at Irene Latham’s blog. Her chosen theme is music.

Music is an integral part of my spiritual life. I’ve been in church choirs ever since I was a teenager. To me, singing a hymn is praying, loving, praising.

This poem is a golden shovel. The line of poetry that forms the right margin is from Irene Latham’s poem Music Teacher that is included in Lee Bennett Hopkins collection School People.

When I sing in the loft, the music fills my soul. I am transported and transformed. Last Sunday, I was given the opportunity to chant the Psalm. The chanting music is notated with a line of music at the top of the page. Each line of the psalm has symbols for changing intonation and moving notes. It’s complicated. I can’t read the music and the words at the same time and the notation is a blur. So I just have to feel it. I sing whatever comes out. I have no practice or education in Anglican chant, but I’m willing to breathe in and let God take over my voice. True consecration of my lips.