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Slice of Life #14: Jamboard Quotes

March 14, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

I teach different groups of gifted kids, so I try to find ways to connect us. One of those is by blogging. Each week my students write a Slice of Life and comment on each other’s blog posts on Fanschool (formerly Kidblog).

Another collaborative project is our daily quote of the day. We often pull quotes from the 365 Days of Wonder, a companion to the book Wonder by R.J. Polacio. My first student of the day begins the Jamboard. We recently got the use of a Promethean, so she pulls it up on the board and taps out the words with the pen. Together we choose a background image. And throughout the day, each student adds a personal response to the quote. Their response also goes in their notebook as a creative notebook page they can decorate for themselves.

I love this little ritual for a few reasons. One, it gets us talking first thing, analyzing the quote, thinking about what it means, and sharing our responses. But I also love how my students are influenced by the positive message in the quote. They are just happier when we do this. And that makes me happy, too.

Posted in Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing | Tagged , , | 13 Comments »

Slice of Life #13: Leo’s World

March 13, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

In Leo’s world,
a dog leash becomes
a mountain climber’s harness.
A mallet for the xylophone: his pickaxe.
A peg board
full of colorful pegs
is a birthday cake for you.
He sings “Happy Birthday to Momma.”
She smiles then blows.
We are all players
in Leo’s world.

Happy Birthday to you!

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged , | 9 Comments »

Slice of Life #12: After Irene Latham

March 12, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

On Fridays with my 6th grade gifted kids, we unpack a poem. We discuss everything from form to figurative language, assign tone and theme, and write a poem in response. This is my favorite lesson of the week. The Promethean Board with the annotation tool makes it even better.

Yesterday we focused on Irene Latham’s spring poems. She posts a video each week designed for homeschoolers, but it works for me, too. This week we watched this video:

Using Irene’s Art Speak Padlet, we located the poems she highlighted and selected one to unpack. My first group chose “because every day is a symphony in spring.” So many things to see, imagery, personification, word choice, rhyme…

When yellow rings,
green cannot await
its return.

As white fades
in discord,

yellow rings.
Once again

as purple, pink
orange, and red
splash the fields.

Jaden, 6th grade

When green season 
arrives, 

the rainbow comes out
from every direction
and all around
you. 

Red triangles grow with yellow spots
on green string,

orange sky falls
and the orange sky rises.

Yellow lights
shine through the heavy white marshmallows,

green spikes
poke out of the ground.

The sky’s blue
falling down in may,

with purple and pink petals
that have been waiting for 
this season. 

Green season, 
green season,
full of delight
and color.

Katie, 6th grade

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

Poetry Friday: Spark Art!

March 11, 2022 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Sylvia at Poetry for Children
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I signed up to do an exchange for Spark Art #50 with my friend Inkling Linda Mitchell. Linda creates wonderful collages, so I asked her to do the exchange with me. She sent me a collage and I sent her a poem. She was charged with creating a collage from my poem and me with creating a poem from her collage. Fun, right? It is fun when you are playing with a friend you know will be respectful of your work and who does good work herself.

The links to our exchange on the Spark website are here and here.

I am sharing my poem process that responded to this collage.

collage by Linda Mitchell

The first thing I noticed was the moon. I wrote the title first, “Moonlight Sonata” and played Beethovan’s Sonata for inspiration. I noticed the foreign words. I asked Linda about the flowers, but she didn’t know what they were. I decided they were edelweiss. I got stuck, though, and decided to use a poem I had written for Laura Shovan’s February project and combine it with the work I was doing on responding to the collage. I don’t usually do this, and it created a level of mystery to the poem. And I’m OK with that.

Moonlight Sonata

Moon, wild orb nightly shining
high above the oak trees.
Your pull breaks waves
and concrete where oak roots
rise like bread, yeast pressing
our foreign earth. 

How can you feel sadness
if you’ve not known joy?

When the edelweiss blooms,
we breathe in sweet scent,
welcome Spring
and sing praise for your goodness, Moon.

We push on and on
until, like you, the flower, the oak
we find our light
and shine.

© Margaret Simon 

There are only a few dates left for the Kidlit Progressive poem. Claim your day here.

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged , , | 16 Comments »

Slice of Life #10: Thankful Thursday

March 10, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

Waking up this early Thursday I didn’t know what I should write. Daily slicing is a good discipline, but I am not as motivated this year as I remember being in the past. Who knows why. Thank goodness this is a community full of ideas for writing, so after reading Elisabeth’s post which was inspired by Hannah, I decided to do Three Things I’m Thankful for Thursday.

French Press Coffee
  1. French Press Coffee: I needed a new coffee routine because my Keurig has been acting up, so I bought a French Press. Now I grind beans, heat water, pour over, press and create a fresh cup of coffee for my morning latté. Always frothed oak milk and a pottery mug!

2. Flowers on my morning walk: Azaleas are blooming. A sure sign of spring!

Azaleas in my front yard.

3. Sisters Text: Almost every day my three daughters and I exchange a text in a group. Last night we were talking about the upcoming wedding of my niece, their cousin. My youngest daughter was having dinner with my grandson, her nephew and sent this photo.

Martha wrote, “I’m on a date but he just called me Sophie so it’s not going well.”

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

This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Clover

March 9, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

March is the season for clover. It’s popping up on lawns, in fields, everywhere. I love remembering my childhood in clover, sitting with friends and weaving long chains of clover flowers into crowns, necklaces, veils, anything a princess may need. Clover enhanced my play as a child growing up in Mississippi. I can still smell the freshly mown clover.

Clover by Margaret Simon

Kim Douillard wrote on her blog recently that a colleague of hers described haiku as “in one breath.” I love that thought and encourage you to try a breath of a haiku about clover, spring, childhood, whatever comes to mind. Leave a small poem in the comments and write encouraging responses to other writers.

Breath of fresh clover
becomes a princess crown in
a field of wonder

Margaret Simon, draft

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments »

Slice of Life: She Said Mamére!

March 8, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

FaceTime with my grandchildren.
Dinnertime of salmon, rice, and beans.
Leo gives me a virtual taste of an animal cracker.
But the best gift of all was Stella (15 months) saying “Mamére!”

Stella, 15 months, dressed for Mardi Gras.

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged , | 9 Comments »

Slice of Life: At this Hour

March 7, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

At this hour…
Charlie paces waiting for a walk.
I slowly sip my morning smoothie, (don’t have my appetite back).
Leisurely read other slices finding inspiration and community.
I worry about my students today as I take another day to recover.
My kitchen counter is covered with a variety of medicines.
I know this too shall pass.

Inspiration for this Slice comes from Julieanne Harmatz, who inspired Ramona, Leigh Anne, and Elisabeth, and me.

Posted in Slice of Life | 10 Comments »

Slice of Life: The Living Room

March 6, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

I have volunteered to write for Poetic Justice: Distant Learning.

Poetic Justice’s mission is to offer restorative writing and creative arts programs to individuals who are incarcerated in women’s prisons and jails.

Our vision is to offer opportunities for healing and growth by holding space to process trauma and rewrite personal narratives to transform the story of incarceration.

Poetic Justice.org

This week’s writing prompt was to write about a favorite room. The prompt involved comparing objects in the room with animals. For me, I wrote about the animals in the room. I read a quote from an article about Ukrainian refugees in National Geographic. The quote became interspersed into my poem. I will send this poem to my writing partner and hope for a response. I haven’t heard from her yet, but I am assured that I should keep writing anyway.

The Living Room

“We don’t need much,” said one refugee Lidiya Ivanenko. “A warm corner is enough.” 

A warm corner is enough,
where a red fleece blanket
with holes the dog chewed
covers my bare legs. This warm space
is my respite
from a war-torn world,
from sound of sirens,
from calling chores.

The white cat plays in the corner
jumping for elephant ear leaves.
She darts away like lightning
then back in a flash
kneading the blanket
purring, bunting my hand. 

We don’t need much.
We long for safety,
for the warmth of a room
that says you belong here. 

Margaret Simon, draft 2022
Sleeping Charlie

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life | Tagged , , | 8 Comments »

Slice of Life: Sick Day

March 5, 2022 by margaretsmn

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

I considered not writing today, taking a sick day because I am sick. I’ve had a cold and cough (Covid negative) for a week. This morning I decided to go to Urgent Care, and they have fixed me up with a steroid, cough medicine, and antibiotic. Excuse me while I cough.

I hate being sick. Does anyone really like feeling bad? No. But I can still be grateful.

For a cup of tea,
and my dog next to me.

A soft place to lay,
a comfortable place to stay.

Gratitude still owns my heart
when all else seems to fall apart.

How does gratitude influence you today?

Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com


Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life | 13 Comments »

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