How to Write a Poem: NPM24 Day 30
All this month I have challenged myself to write a poem and post it here…AND I have been working with my young students, creating opportunities for them to write poems in lots of different ways. I’ve been inspired by poets at #verselove who have offered daily prompts and thoughtful feedback to my mostly first draft poems. So on day 30, what would I offer my students…and myself as impetus for composing?
Today we headed back to Grant Snider and his book Poetry Comics. (You can read a mini book review here and a bit about Haikomics here). I read them the four “how to Write a Poem” pieces from the book and we talked about what advice we might give aspiring poets. Grant recently wrote a blog post teaching his readers how to make a poetry comic. When I read his post, working my way all the way down to the end I found my own students’ Haikomics featured there! So after reading Grant’s blog post and showing my students all the ideas he shared about how to create a poetry comic–I also showed them that some of their poems were a part of his post! (That definitely created a lot of excitement!)
With all of that as inspiration, I invited students to write their own poetry comics–maybe even a “how to write a poem” poem. And they are off and running! Unfortunately, creating a poetry comic takes a bit more time…I’m hoping we can get them finished tomorrow.
Of course I wrote with my students…and I, too, need more time to get the comic bit completed. But I did take some time to revise my poem when I got home today…and will share the words that hopefully will become a poetry comic with some work with my students tomorrow.
How to Write a Poem (with first graders)
Dip into lots and lots of poems
swim in the language
play in the wonder of words
Notice the pitter patter of ideas
tap dancing like raindrops on the roof
like dew drops slipping off the leaves
Soaking into childhood’s wild fresh colors
unleashing a sky full of rainbows
Settle in the moment
and wait…
poets will bloom
In Search of a Poem: NPM24 Day 29
On this second to the last day of National Poetry Month my students and I are still writing poems. I woke this morning to a suggestion from Abigail at #writeout in the NWP Teachers Studio to go outside and find a poem.
So I pushed and shoved at my lesson plans for today to make room for getting out of the classroom to collect a poem. We grabbed our sketchbooks and pencils and headed out toward the pollinator garden which sits on the edge of the playground. My directions to my first graders were to collect 5 words or ideas (they could sketch if there was time) and that when we returned to the classroom, they would turn those words or ideas into a poem.
As they reminded me, we do this kind of thing pretty regularly–sometimes by taking photos, sometimes with sketchbooks. So, they knew what to do. There’s plenty for curious kids to pay attention to: the playground ball stuck in the tree, the plant growing in the middle of another plant, bees buzzing, rocks and wood chips and so much more.
And when we got back inside, the writing began. All this happened toward the end of the school day, so there was not much time left for the writing, but we did take the time to share a few of these poems in progress. Here’s a sampling.
M asked me if showering was a real word as he composed.
A rock
near a tree with rosemary around it
plain brown wood
wood chips surround it
far away a red ball
trapped in a
forest of flowers
with the sun
showering it.
J loved her last line too.
Berries sway
palm trees blow
the bees pollinate
the red flower
sways in the
clouds.
C was playing around with rhyme.
A plant inside a plant
how could that be?
A flower sunbathing on a leaf.
It looks like you humans
sunbathing.
A blue flower
that’s a good power.
A red ball in a tree
that’s new for me.
A red ball in a plant
that’s good for an ant.
And for V, just a bit of fantasy.
I walk down the blue staircase
and sit under an umbrella
and in the distance
I see a meadow
with flowers as bright as the sun.
I take a drink of my lemonade
and the glass shattered
to pieces.
And my own writing (done with the kids).
In a space made for play
boulders are tables
and the comfiest of chairs
purple flowers mumble
while bees buzz, sipping week nectar
abandoned sweatshirts slouch
against brightly colored walls
and high in a tree
a red ball watches and waits
to be freed
Prose Poem-100 Word Rant: NPM24 Day 28
Today as I walked the beach I was struck once again by the fragility of our planet. I noticed the crumbling cliffs pouring onto the sand below, those same cliffs where the amtrak and coaster trains run daily. The cliffs that support multimillion dollar homes in danger of sliding into the ocean. The cliffs that have been whittled away by wind and water, by weather, by building, by human life. Yes, erosion is a natural phenomenon, but there is more to it than that.
My mind wandered from the damage to poetry. The way poetry can offer healing by pushing words into the world, letting us examine our thinking, play with ideas, connect with the earth, the wind, the water, each other.
My students wrote their own 6 words for the environment a week ago and then created a poster to share their words and their thinking with others. The words of this first grader continue to resonate with me.
I think she’s right. It’s time to change ourselves so we can help each other and help the earth. Which led me to a 100-word rant for my poetry today.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that poetry and earth share the month of April as their time of attention. We need poetry to understand our planet, to appreciate our planet, to save the planet from our reckless disregard for its limits. As we spin on this planet we call home, let’s consider the harm that comes from the use and abuse philosophy that has become so prevalent. It’s time for solving. More leaning in than lashing out. Instead of global clashing and teeth gnashing it’s time for change. For ourselves, our community, our nation, our world. It’s our moment.
Sound Off: NPM24 Day 27
Today’s #verselove prompt was to “sound off,” but honestly, on a busy Saturday after a busy week, I simply needed a space with the sound off. So I decided to riff on that idea for today’s poem.
Sound Off
Today I need the sound off
to tiptoe through clouds of silence
listening to echoes
of nothing at all
Sound off
vibrations stilled
hearing only the words inside
my own head
And in that quiet
inspiration speaks
in colors muted and soft
a masterpiece
heard only by one
This is Just to Say: NPM24 Day 26
We learned about William Carlos Williams earlier this week and wrote our own 16 word poems (I wrote about it here). Today we returned to WCW and studied his apology poem: This is Just to Say. I also read a few poems from Joyce Sidman’s collection of the same name. Even though the first graders in my class have been writing poems all month, stretching to write a poem of apology was challenging for many of them. They definitely knew how to say they were sorry–but that “tongue in cheek” sort of “sorry not sorry” approach eluded many of them.
With some coaching, we started to get there. Here are a couple of examples:
B wrote to his mom.
For Mom
This is just to say
I’m sorry I didn’t want to play in the baseball game
I just was as tired as a bear in winter
But it was fun playing baseball
Please forgive me mom
And this student wrote to her sister
I am sorry I came on your bed
and gave it a caterpillar look
I just wanted to give you a hug
like two bears in a cuddle
It might make me feel better
Another wrote to basketball
For Basketball
This is just to say
I’m sorry I haven’t made a shot yet.
Today stuff kept getting in my head
and I couldn’t get it out
It was like a milkshake was getting in my head
My mind said “you can do this” but
my head said I’m a brick
My own attempt was related to our first grade performance at this morning’s assembly where students sang Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise.
For Jimmy Buffett
This is just to say
I’m sorry our singing
was a bit off key
We were excited and nervous
twitching like hiccups
dressed in our cheeseburger hats and guitars
Your songs are so catchy
so fun and filled with energy
We just had to dance
and shout out with glee!
From Black Sage: NPM24 Day 25
Some days less is more–and this is one of those days for me. #Verselove suggested a where I’m from poem, but at the end of a long day, a where I’m from Haiku is where I found myself. (Inspired by the black sage in full bloom on campus right now)
Where I’m From
My nose knows black sage
fragrant, earthy purple blooms
marks this place as home
Writing the Night Sky: NPM24 Day 24
The night sky was the inspiration that Kevin offered the writers at #verselove today. He shared Ada Limon’s poem, In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa and it was the line, “still, there are mysteries below our sky” that caught my attention and sent me to my beloved ocean. I found myself remembering wandering the night beach and oohing and aahing as the waves crashed with the florescent light of bioluminescence, creating a private fireworks show right in the sea.
Rewrite the Ocean
Oceans conjure
sunny skies, umbrella drinks, coconut body oils
and a hint of salt as you lick your upper lip
When the sky drops
and orange and red dances across the horizon
darkness descends
In the black of night
the magic of living chemistry
millions of microscopic creatures
light up the sea
Each crashing wave
a sliver of bioluminescent day
in brilliant greens and turquoises
Night sky rewrites the ocean
slows time with dramatic pauses
as it paints the inky seas
with light
Day is for sunbathers
vacationers
swimmers and beachcombers
Night is for dreamers
igniting wonder
deeper than earth’s vast
waters