Kidlit Progressive Poem is moving along with apprehension and worry for our two refugees. See the latest line at Opposite of Indifference with Tabatha Yeats.
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
Where did I read that we should be teaching living poets in our classrooms? I try to include poetry every day. This is a goal, but some days, as you well know, don’t go as planned. I’ve made a Google Slide Show for a Poem-a-Day, so I have a place to save poems I want to explore with my students. When I announced yesterday that we had time for poetry, my students were excited. I love this about elementary gifted kids!
First we read the poem through. Then I ask, “What do you notice?” I ask my students to notice 3 things about the poem. Using annotation on the smart board, I underline what they see and if they don’t, I name them.
I presented Danusha Lameris’s Small Kindness. I invited my students to write. They could borrow a line, make a list poem of small kindnesses, or write about their own topic using free verse.
I’ve long held the belief that I should write alongside my students. I also welcome their critique. Usually they just say, “I like it.” Then I know we need to work on how to offer critique with specifics such as “I like the way you used personification or metaphor or rhyme.” Naming the specific poetic elements.
Yesterday I was surprised when a student actually said, “I think it’s too clumped up.” As I questioned him further about what he meant, I realized that I read it like a paragraph, no line breaks. Danusha Lameris’s poem uses enjambment masterfully. She understands line breaks. It is definitely a skill I want to work on, and this student nailed it.
So I worked on it, revised, and will share today the current working draft.
Small Kindness
after Danusha Lameris
I’ve been thinking about the way when I open a car door, and a little kinder kid jumps out, how the driver says, “Thank you.”
How on the way to school, a white suburban slowed to let me merge ahead. How cinnamon bread, a gift from my neighbor fills the kitchen with sweetness.
I want to believe everyone is kind and thoughtful. I want to find grace
in the corner of the parking lot waiting for me to notice her.
Margaret Simon lives on the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, Louisiana. She teaches gifted elementary students, writes poetry and children's books. Welcome to a space of peace, poetry, and personal reflection. Walk in kindness.
Reflections on the Teche 