Reverso poem | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘Reverso poem’

Fairy Tale Poems

Posted in Gifted Education, Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged fairy tales, Jane Yolen, Marilyn Singer, Reverso poem on October 7, 2016| 22 Comments »

Poetry Friday is with Violet.

This week my students and I have been reading and writing about fairy tales. They enjoyed hearing Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen. We also read aloud reverso poems by master Marilyn Singer in Mirror, Mirror.

“Writing a reverso is stressing me out. How did she write a whole book of them?” said Emily as we worked together to write a reverso for Sleeping Ugly. Yes, it was tough. But we were happy with our results. (Formatting has been another challenge.)

Sleeping Ugly

Plain Jane

On the outside,
beauty sleeps
lying still
finds
the Prince
wandering through the woods.
He knows
beauty
lies within.

Miserella

Lies within.
Beauty
he knows
wandering through the woods,
the Prince.
Lying still,
beauty sleeps
on the outside.

Andrew worked on his own and created this reverso about Pirates

Don’ Steal me Booty

Here’s the truth Forever I have it

I have the treasure I shall battle

An ordinary treasure Or I have to let it go

Give it up never

never Give it up

I have to let it go An ordinary treasure

I shall battle I have the treasure

Or forever you have it Here’s the truth

Kaiden enjoys word play in his poem about “Fairy Fales (not a mistake)”

Magical stories, forever to be told.
Fairies,princes,and eggs made of gold
Talking toads, yellow brick roads,
stories happy and Grimm
Evil queens, horrible dreams
Long sleep, what a treat
In a palace, standing bold
Slaying trolls
Magical stories, forever to be told.

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NPM16 #16 Celebrating Reverso Poetry

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Photography, Poetry, Teaching, tagged Marilyn Singer, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Reverso poem, Today's Little Ditty on April 16, 2016| 13 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Marilyn Singer is a master poet. At NCTE in the fall, I had the pleasure of meeting her. I was also a lucky participant who won a copy of Follow, Follow. Marilyn invented the reverso poem and has published 3 books of them, two based on fairy tales and her latest Echo, Echo based on mythology.

On Today’s Little Ditty, Michelle Heindenrich Barnes interviewed Marilyn Singer and offered a ditty challenge to use the word echo in relation to a poem. I was determined to try the reverso form.

With my students as cheerleaders, I worked hard and produced something worthy of being called a reverso poem. The process began when we watched this video together.

I asked my students to select an insect to be in a mask (or persona) poem. I selected this image to inspire my writing.

screenshot from the film Microcosmos by Jacque Perrin.

Then I did some caterpillar research. I wrote “zig zag stitch” and then discovered that caterpillars excrete a silk line as they crawl in addition to using the silk to create a chrysalis.

Creepy crawly caterpillar
munch munch
munching milkweed
at tremendous speed.

Life changes
slowly
creeping, crawling
leaf to leaf.

Sunlight glimmers
on fuzzy bristles.
I zig-zag stitch
a silkthread path
leaf to leaf.

Leaf to leaf
a silkthread path
I zig-zag stitch
on fuzzy bristles.

Sunlight glimmers
leaf to leaf.
Creeping crawling
slowly.

Life changes
at tremendous speed.
Munching milkweed
Munch, munch
creepy, crawly caterpillar.

This is a tough form to get just right. I don’t think mine successfully creates a different meaning in reverse. But my students liked it, so I am celebrating it none the less.

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