Poetry prompts | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Poetry prompts’

Colors in my World

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged Author Amok, Laura Shovan, Pantone colors, Poetry prompts on February 4, 2014| 14 Comments »

A new button for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge!

Being a part of this community of bloggers introduces me to new challenges every day, in a good way, like exercise. At Laura Shovan’s site Author Amok, she is working on her birthday challenge by writing poems to Pantone colors. Each day in February, she posts colors to prompt her own writing as well as those of us readers who want to give it a shot.

I started a poem from the color bronze mist while looking out at the bayou on a foggy morning. That led me to the sun bursting the horizon into color. Thanks, Laura, for prompting and challenging me as a writer. Laura also found this beautiful photograph by Kevin Fleming to illustrate my poem.

the homecoming by Kevin Fleming at Wild Delmarva

The bronze mist lingers over the morning bayou.
A great blue heron,
hidden in the fog, wades
boastful in his grey cloak.
He takes flight–winged warrior–
rising into a cosmic sky.
The sun breaks
the horizon into petals
of sugar coral, that perfect pink
silk tulip drops into an earthen vase
calling for spring.

So far, I’ve been able to write a poem each day. Not sure how long that will continue, but hope on over to Laura’s site and check out the colorful poetry wheel.

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Dreams

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Acadiana Wordlab, dreams, Poetry prompts on March 5, 2013| 9 Comments »

Slice of Life Challenge Day 5

On Saturday, I attended the Acadiana Word Lab again. This was my third Saturday to attend. Each week is a new presenter, and each week, different people attend. I am meeting new people and learning to be braver with my writing. The point is to write a rough draft in response to the presenter’s prompts. We usually do 2-3 short writing periods. Then share…it’s all part of it. This weekend I felt intimidated by the confident writers I sat with. But when I read the following response, I heard someone whisper, “Excellent!” Wow! Just what I needed to hear that day. I’m not so sure this poem measures up to her exclamation, but I’ll take it anyway. The prompt was to write about a dream you never had.

The Dream I Never Had

I have never flown in my dreams.
I want to feel this free–
Oh, in the arms of Superman,
or on the magic carpet with Alladin,
on the wings of an eagle,
better yet–be the eagle–
soar, swoop,
slide across the clouds,
circle the moon.
Fly? Me? No!

I dream of children’s voices,
lost keys,
closed locks,
smothering.

My daughter once wrote a dream blog.
Her dreams were like wild fairy tales.
I want to dream like she dreams.

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Water Triolet

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged Poetry prompts, teaching gifted, triolet, water quotes on February 21, 2013| 12 Comments »

Sheri is hosting the round up today at her site, Sheri Doyle

In our district (in Louisiana, we call them parishes), our gifted students are spread across the parish in a dozen schools. In order to bring together our 6th grade students the year before they go to middle school together, we designed an enrichment program. The 6 elementary gifted teachers meet with all the 6th graders for one day a month to work on a specific real world project. This year our theme has been water, and I lead them in a poetry exercise each month.

This month I got the idea of using the triolet form from fellow Poetry Friday blogger, Joy at Poetry for Kids Joy. Last week, she posted a few triolet poems she wrote using quotes about writing. So I searched for quotes about water. The students’ handout included the directions for writing a triolet and a list of quotes about water. I asked them to choose a quote and use it as the first line of the poem. The best part about this exercise was I wrote with the students, and we did 5 small group rotations, so I wrote 5 triolet poems. I will only post my two favorites here.

Snow Day from Linda at Teacher Dance.

Snow Day
Someday we’ll evaporate together,
But today we’ll play in the snow.
Someday we’ll ignore the weather,
But today we’ll slip and flow.
Like two birds of the same feather,
we’ll talk and laugh and glow.
Someday we’ll evaporate together,
But today we’ll play in the snow.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Clean
Be like water, float.
Let bubbles wash you like soap.
Dance on waves, forget the boat.
Be like water, float.
Find a bottle, read the note,
Wonder, dream, imagine, hope.
Be like water, float.
Let bubbles wash you like soap.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

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Fair Play

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, tagged fairy tales, Poetry prompts, The Time is Now on January 25, 2013| 7 Comments »

Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference is hosting today.

I subscribe to Poets and Writers The Time is Now writing prompts. This week the poetry prompt intrigued me.

“Choose any word from the dictionary and read its definitions. Write a poem using only the language of these definitions. Try repeating them in different combinations and using line break to create unexpected phrases. Experiment with how far you can push the limits of the language you’re working with. Use the word you’ve chosen as the title of the poem.”

I tried the exercise myself with varied results. I tried it with my elementary gifted students. At first I was worried. It took a while for them to even choose a word. My favorite came from a third grader. I’m not sure how much of the original definition became a part of her poem, but I loved her play with language.

Fair

People say you’re the fairest of them all.
Of course they say that in fairy tales,
you know,
when a fairy comes to help the fair lady.
She’s not that fair.
She is wicked. She is cruel.
The real fairest of them all
comes to help, to defeat
that so-called fair queen.
That’s why they say
you’re only fair
in fairy tales.

–Vannisa

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Borrow a Line

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged Emily Dickinson, Poetry prompts, teaching, writing camp on July 17, 2012| 13 Comments »

Join the Tuesday Slice of Life

A writing exercise that is often successful for me is to borrow a line. I have done this a number of times to jump start a poem. See The Day, Fallen Oak and also in the poem from the 30 Day Challenge Blackberry Time.

Last week my writing partner, Stephanie, led a writing camp. She used this exercise with the students. I joined them on Wednesday for their writing marathon. It turned into a virtual writing marathon due to rain, but we managed to spend time visiting different places (through pictures) and responding with writing. Stephanie posted pictures on the kidblog she set up for the camp. For one of the pictures, her prompt was an Emily Dickinson poem and a picture of a mountain waterfall with the sun bursting over the hillside. For some, the picture led the poem. For others, Emily Dickinson’s words. Later in the week, the students were asked to find a favorite poem and “steal a line.” While we instruct them on plagiarism and the correct way to credit the original author, this activity is often successful. Somehow it breaks through the barrier of “I can’t write,” and leads to deeper creativity.

Here are a few samples from the writers at Write Your Way Camp 2012:

From Sophia with a borrowed line from Emily Dickinson

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
and stories of this place.
Its beauty just lights up my eyes,
and fills the land with grace.
I see the mountains, puffy clouds,
and greatly blinding sun.
But in some time,
I will realize,
That my journey’s just begun.

From Matthew with Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers,
hope is the thing with fur,
hope is the thing that rises the sun,
hope is the thing that purrs.

Kaylie with a borrowed title by Joe Fazio.
This is… Our Life

This is the game we play,
start at the beginning of the day,
run in circles, having fun in the sunny rays.
Lie down in the dewy grass,
wait for the day to pass.
Go back home and start again.
I know you’ll be there tomorrow, my friend.

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