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On Valentine’s Day last Thursday, I challenged my students to write a love poem without using the word love. On Facebook I had read Charles Ghinga’s poem for his wife Debra. I used it as a mentor text.
YOU ARE THE MOON
(for Debra)
You are the moon.
My only one.You bring light
Where there was none.©Charles Ghigna
After we read this poem, we brainstormed a list of things in nature that could serve as a metaphor as moon does in Charles’ poem. I pushed my students to be specific. Some of the more interesting things they listed:
sunflower
lily pads
stars
swans
sea eagle
grass
northern lights
Page of word groups from Writing Poetry From the Inside Out by Sandford Lyne.
I used a poetry resource by Sandford Lyne called Writing Poetry from the Inside Out. In this book, Sandy writes about “Poem Sketching” with word groups. The back is full of pages of word groups. I photocopied one of these pages to give to my students. Each student chose a word group to write from.
Magic happened. Was it writing about love without using the word? the model poem from Charles? the word groups from Sandy? or the magic that happens when writing in a safe community?
We cut out construction paper hearts and wrote our poems on them to give to someone special. I gave mine to Madison because I used a quote of hers. Chloe gave hers to me, probably because I loved it. And Madison gave hers to Chloe. Poetry gifts from the heart.
Love poem gift from Chloe glued into my notebook.
You can read more poems on our kidblog site.
Journey They Will Take
Two dolphins
under the sea
two deer
in the woods
and
the northern lights
watching
the four animals
coming together
On the journey they
will take.I think your feelings for me
are a midnight walk
where it’s easy to get lost.
My feelings for you are as bright as stars
when I’m alone.
I’m a neighborhood of sadness,
a pool of cries,
an ocean of regret.
Our feelings are as wild as animals.
by Jayden, 5th grade
My poem for Madison:
She says, “Did you know the sea eagle
has a wingspan of eight feet?”
I write it down in my notebook
realizing that her knowledge
opens the surface
of our classroom
like the blossom of a tulip.
Digging into depths
of learning
makes everyday
as fascinating
as the sea eagle.
–Margaret Simon
Reflections on the Teche 