Mondays are odd for me…I barely have time with my students as they rush off to their “specials,” leaving me with some precious planning time but also feeling like I have to cram all that I want and need to do into the remaining and minuscule time segments.

Today I read my students Daniel Finds a Poem by  Micha Archer as a way to inspire their poetry as we approach our last 8 days of the 30 day challenge.  In the book, Daniel asks all the animals in the park what poetry is…and they each share an idea which he then combines to create his own poem.  This beautiful book is deceptively simple, yet the language is both approachable and inspiring.  I’ve invited my students to create their own “poetry is” poems–reminding them to use the poetic techniques we brainstormed in class.  Hopefully I’ll have a few to share with you later this week!

We also spent some time in the garden — looking for the letters of the alphabet to photograph. I randomly assigned each student a letter and then we headed off with our iPads to capture those letters in photos to create a “bank” of letters for some upcoming projects.  My students didn’t disappoint.  They not only found all 26 letters, they helped out when someone was having a hard time with their assigned letter.  “S” was hard, “V” was easy.  Now to figure out how to manipulate our letters digitally to spell some words and create some wordy images!  (Any ideas are welcome here!)

My students also inspired my “Poetry Is” poem for today.

Poetry Is…

 

Children’s laughter

bubbling up

and popping in the sun-warmed garden air

 

Skies as blue

as a lizard’s back

as  a jay’s feather

as the blueberries on my morning yogurt

 

a garden

tilled by the smallest hands

with the largest hearts

growing knowledge

and awareness of nature’s abundance

 

paying attention

and noticing

all the world has to offer

 

Douillard 2018

And a poem about a favorite topic in the classroom–especially for this student!

People Play Baseball

For a long time people played baseball.
Making contact with the baseball. Single doubles triples and there’s even HOME RUNS!
They are the best!
The ball sails throughout the air over the fence.
Night day people play.

Stone

Are you ready to try a “Poetry Is” poem?  Be sure to share yours in the comments!