chalkabration | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘chalkabration’

This I Believe

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Betsy Hubbard, chalkabration, I believe, Laura Purdie Salas, nonfiction rhyming poetry on March 31, 2014| 6 Comments »

Slice of Life Day 31. Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.
Audrey Hepburn

On Sunday, Patricia Pollacco posted this quote from Audrey Hepburn on Facebook. I took it on as a writing prompt for my last Slice of Life. I wrote 31 posts in 31 days, writing everyday and joining an amazing community of teacher-writers. The month has flown by. My students have loved this month of writing, too. Recently I overheard one student saying to another, “I can write about anything!” What a wonderful feeling! Please visit my class blog, Slice of Life Challenge, as they write their final slices and reflect on what this month has meant to them.

I believe flowers make the world more beautiful.
I believe every one can be creative.
I believe God is inside each one of us.
I believe the only way we can solve the world’s problems is through kindness.
I believe I may be one person, but to someone I may be the only one.
I believe we must pay attention. Listen. Be aware.
I believe when one door closes, another opens, and that we must be diligent in finding the open door.
I believe there are miracles every day.

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers.

And now for Chalkabration! The end of the month Betsy Hubbard gathers teacher-writers who celebrate writing with chalk. Friday was a rainy day, so we stayed inside and wrote on our portable chalk paper. Partners worked together on nonfiction rhyming poems as inspired by Laura Purdie Salas’s Wednesday Workout.

They are cute
like a bamboo shoot
Can they play a flute?
They come in many shapes,
even grapes.
Can you guess our _____
They are fruit. Tyler and Kendall

Look upon this lovely sunset
The moon has not risen yet.
Earth and sun in perfect duet.
Look upon this lovely sunset. Brooke and Vannisa

Mesmerizing clouds of iridescence
Inky black plumage of brilliance
Dark plump birds in coexistence
Nature’s way of perfect balance. Kaylie and Matthew

The above poem was written about a YouTube video we viewed about starling murmurations.

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Digital Learning or Digital Fun!

Posted in Digital Learning, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged chalkabration, digital literacy, Moviemaker, Paint, Slice of Life on March 2, 2014| 15 Comments »

Slice of Life Day 2. Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

My students worked hard all week and finished the week’s assignments, so on Friday we had some free time. We usually celebrate with Game Day. And some students did play games, but I worked with Vannisa on a different project.

For Chalk-a-bration Day, Vannisa wrote a poem using a series of color words. When you look at the poem, it really just looks like a list of words, but when I talked to Vannisa about it, she said, “Close your eyes and imagine each color as it changes to the next one.”

Her comment made me think. What about using Paint on the Promethian board and creating a video of a single flower changing color? Vannisa liked the idea and set to work.

This whole process took an hour for her to do. Most teachers don’t have this kind of time to allow a student to “play.” I have the luxury of working with small groups of gifted students. Putting the images into a Moviemaker movie was fairly quick. One thing, for sure, Vannisa had a good time putting it all together. My question is this: Was this experience just fun or was there learning involved? And what learning may lead to further learning? Will my other students want to illustrate a poem and make a movie? Is this a valuable use of class time?

If you have written a blog post about Digital Literacy, please post a link. And consider following the Digital Literacy group on Facebook.

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Colors Chalkabration

Posted in Chalk-a-bration, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Author Amok, Betsy Hubbard, chalk poetry, chalkabration, Laura Shovan, Pantone colors on February 28, 2014| 12 Comments »

Find more poetry at the Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Anastasia.

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

For February, my students and I braved the cold temperatures to chalk some poetry on the sidewalks. The prompt came from Laura Shovan’s month long birthday project with Pantone colors. I have been participating along with my poet friends Linda Baie and Diane Mayr. Head over to Laura’s site, Author Amok, to read some great poetry.

I bought a new box of chalk and the pieces were labeled with interesting color names. Brooklyn picked out Sky Blue:

The sky shines sky blue
The way the summer pool invites me
The way blueberries taste
The way hydrangeas take your breath away
The sky shines sky blue

–Brooklyn.

Vannisa wants you to imagine the colors and how one becomes another in her list.

I selected the colors sunflower and golden glow to add a little sunshine to the day.

We will be on break for the Mardi Gras holiday next week, so my students got a jumpstart on the Slice of Life Challenge. Consider stopping in and leaving a comment on our public blog site: http://kidblog.org/SliceofLifeChallenge/

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Chalking Out the Old Year

Posted in Blogging, Chalk-a-bration, Writing, tagged chalkabration, haiku, New Year on December 31, 2013| 3 Comments »

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

My students did not want to miss the Dec. 31st year end Chalk-a-bration, so on the last day of classes on Friday, Dec. 20th, we wrote year end poems. Some of them became too long for chalking, so they posted on our kidblog. I tried out a chalkboard app. Not sure if it is the best chalkboard app, but it was free.

Tyler borrowed a line from Naomi Shihab Nye to start his poem and drew it on our chalkboard contact paper.

“Goodbye 2013” by Tyler with a line from “Burning the Old Year,” by Naomi Shihab Nye

Year End Haiku by Margaret Simon

Where we have grown has disappeared
nothing is impossible
anything can happen
12 days till New Years
12 days of Christmas
12 months of Chalkabration
going by too fast
but slowly
every second counts
its all happening
nothing stops
running on a non stop trail of a timeline
crossing the border by the second of the clock

by Vannisa

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Thanku. Chalk-a-bration. Celebration

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Poetry, tagged Betsy Hubbard, chalkabration, poems about mothers, Ruth Ayres, Teaching Young Writers, thanku on November 30, 2013| 5 Comments »

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

This post combines three ideas/connections to three blog sites. The Thanku poem was started by the Teaching Authors who encouraged us to write thank you haiku about teachers who have influenced us. Chalk-a-bration is a monthly round up that Betsy Hubbard hosts at Teaching Young Writers. And the Celebration Saturday round up is hosted by Ruth Ayres at Discover. Play. Build.

Last Friday before we broke for a week off, my students wrote their Thanku poems in chalk. I wrote, too, and was pleased with the sticky thanku I wrote for my mom. I’m hoping she will read this and make me pancakes this morning.

I celebrate that Brooklyn’s flying and thanking me for her wings. How awesome!

Tyler celebrates the sunshine in his life, his mother. His grandma makes pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse.

I love you, Mom, for more than just your pancakes, but your pancakes are the best!

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Louisiana Book Festival and More

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Teaching, Writing, tagged 30 Days of Gratitude, chalkabration, Festival of Words, Louisiana Book Festival, student writing on November 2, 2013| 8 Comments »

Saturday Celebration is happening weekly at Ruth Ayres site: Discover. Play. Build.

This week was full of celebrations.
1. Chalkabration Day: Read our spooky chalketry here. We loved having Kaylie visit on this special day.

2. A winner: My 6th grader, Brooklyn, placed FIRST in the Jr. High Division of the Festival of Words Contest with her poem, “I’m Home.”

3. I received an awesome evaluation from a school board observer. Here’s a quote from her report, “You have a strong rapport with these students. There is a bond of mutual respect between you and them. The classroom climate is joyful; the students are encouraged to learn the way that works for them.” Her words brought tears to my eyes. This is who I want to be as a teacher and to have an outside observer see that in me is very rewarding.

4. The Louisiana Book Festival: As you are reading this, I am awarding 65 students for their excellence in writing. I coordinate a state writing contest, Louisiana Writes! The fruition of many hours happens in the State Museum at the opening of the Book Festival. Many proud students, teachers, and parents will be listening to readings and taking pictures of young authors holding shiny medals, an anthology, and a certificate from the governor. A wonderful celebration!

It’s time to be thankful, a month of Thanks. Today I am grateful for beautiful weather and for my friends who have helped me lead the LA Writes contest for 10 years, Connie, Sara, Joan, and Ann.

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Spooky Chalkabration

Posted in Poetry, Teaching, Writing, tagged chalk poetry, chalkabration, Halloween, student writing activity on October 31, 2013| 4 Comments »

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

I love joining Betsy’s monthly Chalkabration at the end of each month. This week my students reminded me! We had a class visitor. Kaylie, who is now a middle school student, had a fall break, so she came to visit. The kids were excited to write with her again and to have her join our Chalkabration. With the theme of Halloween, ideas flowed quickly, and we were off to decorate the sidewalk with our spooky poems.

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Chalkabration for Two Voices

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged chalkabration, poems for two voices, teaching writing on September 30, 2013| 7 Comments »

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

Join the Tuesday Slice of Life!

My students love the last day of the month because it is time for Chalkabration. Monday was a cloudy day, but I was prepared. I had bought a roll of chalkboard contact paper. Each student got a 10 inch piece. We read aloud from the new book, Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!: Poems for Two Voices by Carole Gerber. So they composed poems for two voices.

Kendall wrote a poem inviting you to enjoy the chalkabration.

In the Ocean by Matthew, read aloud by Matthew and Tyler

Brooke writes a poem about waves. Read aloud by Brooke and Matthew.

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Grandparents’ Day Chalketry

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged chalk poetry, chalkabration, Grandparents' Day on September 13, 2013| 3 Comments »

Over at Teaching Young Writers, Betsy has a monthly chalk-a-bration, chalking poetry. My students had a great time with this activity on August 30. The principal saw all our beautiful chalketry and drawings, so she asked us to do it again for Grandparents’ Day. Since grandparents were expected to visit school on Monday, we chalked our poetry last Friday. Today, I am posting some pictures of my students and their chalketry. I’m sure they will ask again this morning if we are going to chalk poetry. I hope Betsy keeps it up during the school year, but even if she doesn’t post a round-up, my students are hooked and will be wanting to chalk poems year round. (If you click on the pictures, the image is bigger and you can read the poem.)

Grandparents were greeted by a colorful path.

Soft grandma,
warm grandma
has a cat with fur.
Happy grandma, sleepy grandma,
(snore)
“Yeah, sure.”
by Matthew

Kendall’s poem fills the sidewalk.

Grandparents are great.
Grandparents are sweet.
Grandparents are here to greet you.
Grandparents we hope you have a lot of fun.
Grandparents are the best.

Vannisa’s poem

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts

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Chalking Poetic

Posted in Poetry, Teaching, tagged chalkabration, Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire on July 31, 2013| 2 Comments »

Join the Chalk-a-bration over at Teaching Young Writers

It’s July 31st, the last day of July and time for a Chalkabration. That means writing poetry in chalk, or chalketry. I knew it was coming up, so instead of unpacking boxes, arranging shelves, or covering a bulletin board as I have been doing for days to get ready for back-to-school, I crossed the hall and borrowed three children from a colleague’s classroom. Her children are usually happy to comply, but amazingly, I was able to get all three of them to write a poem (or two).

The 5-year old, Jacob, is entering kindergarten this year. He is very bright and can read already, but he didn’t know what a poem was. So I pulled out “Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire.” This is a great book for teaching about poetry with lots of fancy words. Funny me, I would stop and explain the meaning of a word only to find Nancy would explain it, too, and often better than I did. She even introduced the word ode.

On finishing the book, I pulled out some old loose leaf paper and managed to locate pencils among the mess of supplies, and we set about writing poems. I did what I always do and wrote with them. Kaylie (entering 7th grade) and I decided to write about the sun. Emily (3rd grade) wrote an acrostic with the word poem. She was trying to help Jacob write an acrostic, too, but he got frustrated and moved to Kaylie for help. She began brainstorming words with him. (I have taught her well!)

Then I said, “Jacob, what do you want to write about?”
He replied, “Teenage Ninja Turtles.”
“Ok, what do you like about turtles?”
“Turtles’ shells are shiny.”
“Great first line!”
“I like the colors!”
“Write that for your second line.”
He wrote, “I COLORS”
“Great job!”
“Let’s think, what words rhyme with shiny?”
Jacob liked the word tiny.
The last line became “They’re tiny.”

While Kaylie and I were helping Jacob write his poem, Emily was writing. She wrote another poem. This one about rainbows. I love waving the magic wand of poetry over children. The world is a better place and certainly more fun! Thanks, Erica, for loaning me your delightful children for this summer Chalkabration.