Tag Archives: students

Let’s Go On a Scavenger Hunt! SOL23 Day 10

The rain held off until after lunch, so my students and I headed out to explore our school campus through our camera lenses (iPads for them). Yesterday I wrote a post about teaching students some photography techniques, today we put those techniques to use as we tracked down and photographed ten items on our scavenger hunt. I adapted some ideas from the book, Go Photo! An Activity Book for Kids, with some more concrete subjects (something bumpy) and some more abstract subjects (speed). And even when my students wanted answers, I encouraged them to figure out what to take a photo of to represent the item on the list.

Students set off to explore our playground area in search of the items on their list. I encouraged them to take their own photos and not to all take the same photos (first graders do like to copy each other). I love watching the creativity and engagement when students have a task to complete and open-ended possibilities to accomplish it. On our gloomy about-to-rain day, reflection was a challenge. When I asked a student about it, he pointed me to a piece of plastic under the climbing structure that was reflecting light. I like that kind of creativity. Water was another challenge–and it wasn’t long into our exploration that I heard a student saying, “The ocean is right over there!”

While I watched students and photographed them in action, I also participated in the scavenger hunt. I missed a few items along the way, but enjoyed the creative process as well. For reflection, I cozied up to the play structure, thinking metal would reflect. I managed a glimpse of my student’s red sweatshirt reflected in the metal. I used to bug’s eye view technique, getting low and close.

I noticed the group of 4 soccer balls, just sitting there, for my “rest” photo. Again I got close and low. I like the way the macro feature on my phone camera blurs the palms in the distance.

Like my students, I was also drawn to the ocean as my water shot. I used the palm trees as a way to frame the water in the distance.

When we returned to the classroom I had students go through their photos and list what technique they used for each item on their scavenger hunt list. I like that they needed to examine their photos carefully and determine which item was which, and what techniques they had put to use.

So now it’s your turn. Head outside or even take a look around the house. What photos might you take to document each item? What photography technique will you use to frame and enhance your photo–or just give it a more unique perspective? I’d love to see and hear what you come up with!

SOLC Day 30: Urban Pinecones

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With April right around the corner, I launched the poem-a-day challenge with my class today. I am practiced at this launch in the classroom. I know just how to motivate my students, get them engaged with language play, give them feedback on their early attempts and keep the momentum going throughout the month.

But this year, as we all know, is different. I made a short video of myself explaining the challenge. I sent my students out around their homes today in search of “tiny perfect things.” I asked them to pick one of those things and create a list of 10 great words related to one of the tiny perfect things…and then introduced a mentor text poem.

Today’s poem was one I thought would be highly accessible. Things to do if you are a Pencil by Elaine Magliaro Is vivid and fun, and encourages the use of strong verbs and metaphorical thinking. In the remote learning environment, I realized that my examples became even more important and that my feedback was necessary to push students toward more detail and elaboration.

I’ve asked my students to both keep a physical notebook for their poems in progress and to post them on a slide deck that I started for them in Google Classroom. Here are a few examples of student pieces on day 1.

I love that they each found something they cared about to use as their subject. I’m thrilled to see traces of the mentor text, and that there is strong language use even in these first drafts. I am excited to see what day 2 brings.

And here is my poem for the day:

Urban Pinecones

Be tough and hang on tight as cars whiz by

creating a storm of dust and wind.

Prepare to roll

kicked by joggers, bumped by strollers,

slobbered on by neighborhood dogs.

Listen to the stoplight chatter

“Wait”

and heed the warning.

Hope to land above the curb

where the soil awaits.

Hear the echoes of squirrels and coyotes

and the caws of the crows.

And dream of forests

from your pile on the side of the road.

SOLC Day 29: Tasting the Nurturing

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I don’t cook. Lucky for me, I married someone who does…and does it well. And he not only cooks, but uses food preparation as a way of nurturing, a way of showing his love.

Most days, breakfast is a grab your own system. He makes coffee, I grab my yogurt from the fridge, dress it up with granola or fruit or not and eat as I check those early morning emails before I leave the house (back when I left the house). That routine is still in place on the weekdays. But on the weekends, breakfast is always something more special.

This morning was homemade buttermilk biscuits.

I love biscuits. Light and fluffy with a slight crunch, slathered with butter and honey. Perfection. And it takes some work. He starts with a fork and butter into flour, eventually adding wet ingredients until it is ready to roll.

He’s learned this folding and rolling technique that creates space between the layers of the biscuit that contributes to the light and flaky texture. When it is rolled just right, he starts the cutting. with the biscuit cutter we bought on a trip to Nashville (where the biscuits are good)!

Transfer to the pan and into the oven they go until they come our golden brown with just the right crunch on the outer layer.

And to balance out this decadence, scrambled eggs with cheese and turmeric and some orange slices round out the breakfast plate.

In each and every bite, I can feel my husband’s love and care. I hope my students can feel that kind of nurturing in the work I ask them to do. Especially during these remote learning days, when I am not able to teach my lessons through my voice, my body, through the interactions of students with me and with each other, I am carefully constructing and deconstructing my own plans and planning process to convey energy, motivation, and reasons to engage to my students. I want them to taste the sweetness in the writing I ask them to do. I look for ways for us to connect–through video, through images, through words, through text. I want them to taste the love and nurturing just like I did this morning when I bit into that homemade biscuit…with honey dripping down their chins, hungering for more.

SOLC Day 25: Coronavirus Status

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I came across a post about Jimmy Fallon the other day–where he asked people to describe their quarantine experience in 6 words. Now his was a Twitter thing…and with adults, so the results were funny. At the same time, I was thinking about ways to give my young students (8 and 9 year olds) space to express their experiences now that school is happening at home and they are mostly quarantined in their homes. So I took the loose idea from Jimmy Fallon and combined it with some ways of working that are familiar to my students.

Here was my assignment to them today:

On our 8th day of doing school from home because of the coronavirus, think about either something you are missing or something you are finding wonderful.

1. Take a photo to represent that thing. Be sure to use a photo technique. You may use minor editing on your photo.
2. Write a 6-word update. These are 6 carefully chosen words to express your feelings and communicate what you’re experience. (You can see my example) Only 6 words…try to avoid words like the, and, it… Type your 6-word update in Docs.
3. Click on the link to access the slide deck. Choose the next slide in the deck and insert your photo and copy your 6 words (you will need to insert a text box to paste) onto the slide. Be sure to include your name on the slide.
4. You may change the font if you like. Make sure it is big enough and clear enough to be easily read by others.
5. You may change the background color of your slide if you like. Please select a color from the theme (choices along the bottom)
6. Once you are done with your slide, please attach your poem and photo in Google Classroom to submit your work.
7. I can’t wait to see our slide deck develop! Be sure to be thoughtful and do quality work!
8. My slide is included so you can better understand what I am asking you to do.

And here are some of the results:

As you can see, the kids can see both the benefits and the drawbacks of their time at home. The biggest loss they are feeling is the social aspects of going to school. They miss their friends…and their teachers. And we definitely miss them too.

So my students’ 6-word coronavirus status updates are not funny, but they are honest and sweet, hopeful and very much all kid! I’ll be looking for more ways to allow for expression without being too heavy-handed.

What have you been doing to document your experience as we journey through this global pandemic? Have you done anything to facilitate the process for the young people in your lives? I’d love to borrow more ideas!

Inanimate Objects: Students #writeout

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Some days in the classroom are just right. Students are productive, interesting learning is visible, and it seems that we all grow closer as a result. Today was one of those days.

As promised in a previous post, my students used the poem Pencils by Barbara Esbensen to inspire their writing about an inanimate object. They picked topics as varied as ropes/knots, french toast and pancakes. (There are also poems about gravestones, oil pastels, basketballs, and erasers…they are just not quite all the way finished yet!) And then, to take the writing just another step further, we explored the Adobe Spark Video app to make a video to amplify their voices and extend their ideas. Spark video is friendly for my students, offering a number of high quality photos for them to use in their videos.

So…here’s a few of the videos. (I’ve included a screen shot of the video with a link to view/listen to the poem.)

Khloe’s pancake poem

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Shea’s french toast poem

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and Bodhi’s rope/knots poem

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As always, my students would love comments. And I’d love to know what you are doing to celebrate writing this month with your students! #writeout

What Students Love: #writeout

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As promised, here are some of my students’ poetry inspired by Lee Bennett Hopkins’ City I Love. (For more details, check out this previous post.)

Even before pulling out City I Love, I launched the idea of writing about place by reading All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan and Where Am I From by Yamile Saied Mendez. Students then created heart maps of the places they love (ala Georgia Heard). By this time students were excited about the places they love, eager to tell each other and me all about them. But instead of diving right into the writing, I asked students to “map” themselves. I tried to keep this direction pretty broad, letting students take it in any direction they wanted. These watercolor and black sharpie marker masterpieces are the result!

This map is a wonderful map creature by H.

And his poem:

Morro Rock I love

Looking at the dormant volcano

The fish swarm in the water

The sound of the sea gulls

The smell of the salty sea.

Casting a line

Getting the bait

catching the fish.

It’s just sitting in place

Day after day

Year after year

For hundred of years.

Walking on the beach

looking at the fish and crabs

and looking at the ocean scenery

Sitting on a dock waiting for a fish

like waiting for a train.

And a pineapple map by I.

And her poem about a very special bench that honors her grandmother:

The Bench I Love

On the bench I sit at

Bench I love

I watch the flowers flowers flow

As the birds glide slow as they pass by their home

Through the palm tree garden I go

Past the great sun’s glow

On the bench I sit at

Bench I love

I sit down and watch the tide curl

Up & down it will go

On the bench I sit at

bench I love

The breeze flies past my hair

And chases the ocean’s salty waves

On the bench I sit at

bench I love

I sit down and inhale

Look up and exhale

And a horse map by S.

Accompanied by a barn poem:

Barn I Love

Barn I go to

barn I love.

Horse smelling wonder beyond city.

Gallops of emotion. Races of hearts.

Barn I go to

barn I love.

Each morning a sweet smell of hay .

Each night a thankful nay.

Barn I go to

barn I love.

Morning wet covers the arena.

Full of playful horses running.

Barn I go to

barn I love.

Stardust black mares galloping in the cold moon.

Sunset colored butterflies leave at the end of the day.

I told my students that I would use my blog to amplify their voices (our vocabulary word from last week!). I know they will appreciate your comments. And know that these are just a glimpse of what my students created as they thought about the places and activities that matter to them.

How are you celebrating writing in your classroom, in your home, in your life? #writeout

Feasting on Yellow: NPM 2019 Day 24

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Still leaning on paint chips, I realized I had left mine in the classroom. After my walk, with yellow on my mind, I stopped by the home improvement store nearby and picked up a few paint chips.

Our local beaches are not known for their floral beauty, but I was struck by the abundance of native flowers at a beach a bit north of where I usually walk.

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Feasting on Yellow

I feast my eyes on

lemon meringue

garbanzo paste

English custard

plantain chips

sprinkled with turmeric

So many yellows

shards of sunshine

sprinkled across fields

taking root

dancing on my taste buds

I sip on spring’s energy

fragrant blossoms

bubbling, fizzing

unfolding

in my belly

I leave craving summer

©Douillard

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Between practicing for our state tests, our minimum day, and too many other demands, we didn’t have time for any sustained poetry writing in class today. Here’s a couple of student poems from earlier in the week.

Rose Colored Glasses

I have my rose colored glasses on,

the grass is always greener.

I am going to the foggy harbor,

it’s a long drive so I need to take a taxi.

I still have my rose colored glasses on,

I will never take them off.

–Leah F.

Word Rocket

Poetry is like a rocket

blasting you off to a new world

of poems

and new vocabulary

plus new techniques

The fun thing is

your rocket never runs out of fuel

just keep exploring

in the galaxy of words

–Aspen

More Poetry Play: NPM 2019 Day 23

Paint Chips and #USvsHate: NPM 2019 Day 22

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I finally got the chance to break out the Paint Chip Poetry with my students–and they loved it! I shared a few of my attempts, explaining how the poems don’t have to be about color…they could use the paint chip words with whatever topic they wanted.

And because there is an #USvsHate deadline for student anti-hate messaging on Friday, I encouraged students to write anti-hate poetry.

I wish I had taken a photo of the paint chips upside down on the back table where students were invited to choose 3 or 4 at random. Some cheated a bit–giving back chips that they didn’t understand or didn’t like. And some “borrowed” paint chip words that they saw and liked…from one of my poems or something they saw as I showed the huge variety they would have to choose from.

Some of the poems were simple…but oh, so interesting. Aspen pulled “Sahara” as one of the paint chips and wrote this:

As I moonwalk

in the Sahara desert

I look up and see

the magical blue moon

and then look ahead at the

endless dunes

Luca (who broke his arm over the weekend and had to write wrong-handed today) wrote about the Earth on Earth Day.

Earth

It’s the neighbor

to the red planet

but unlike Mars

with its radical red

our world has a verdant green

and heavenly blue

with white clouds

like a blank canvas.

And Hudson, often reluctant to commit words to a page, wrote this piece in about 2 minutes! Clearly paint chips inspired him!

As I cross

those pearly gates

and cross the antique brass

I boarded that old ship

and expected smooth sailing

But soon a blizzard

created an iceberg

and before you know it

a big chunk of ice

sank that old ship that they called

the Titanic

And a couple anti-hate poems. It was fun to see both the paint chip influence AND the influence of some of our class read-alouds. We recently finished reading Save Me a Seat about a 5th grader who had recently immigrated from India to a school in New Jersey. He found himself the victim of a charismatic, mean bully–making fun of him and treating him badly–to the point that he wanted to quit school. The characters learn a lot about themselves…including the power of reflecting on their own actions. I see evidence of this book in Elli’s poem:

Her name is Sunset

people think its weird

but I don’t get it

As she watches the bird making a nest

someone out of nowhere said

I hate you and hate the birds

As your wisdom tooth is growing

and the fire is blowing

hate shouldn’t be a thing

but kindness should always be a part of our life

the kindness of our joy

will bring us love

bad names like curryhead or bom bom butt

say who cares because that’s junk

things that do matter

are happily happy things

hate or no hate?

And Henry is thinking about how to make a difference through his poem.

US vs Hate

In a garden bed

with four leaf clovers

A boy makes good luck

turn into real life.

His wish was for everyone

to feel like they’re special.

A tiny change

makes a big change

A tiny change

makes everyone change.

For my poem I pulled four chips: wonderful wisteria, smoke signal, black tie, and lily of the valley.

Sending Signals

Watch out for words

thoughts’ smoke signals

have fire to burn

causing damage beneath the skin

Don’t let a disguise

of suit and black tie

mask the danger,

excuse the vitriol

Listen carefully to your own words too

smell them

consider how they will affect others

Are you spreading wonderful wisteria,

lily of the valley

or the stink of malice

and stereotype?

©Douillard

Exploring Still Life: NPM 2019 Day 16

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As a way to help students go deeper with their poetry, we tried on some still life poems today inspired by Work Boots: Still Life by Jim Daniels. I experimented a bit the other day with my poem about malasadas, and could see ways this approach might help my students. We practiced together using the classroom rocking chair as our subject. I encouraged students to push their ideas, moving beyond the literal, stretching to unexpected comparisons. Using the structure described by Go Poems, students then brainstormed a description of an item of their choice (a thing, not a person or animal) and then considered the deeper meaning of the item. Using Work Boots as a mentor text, they wrote their own poems.

Frankie, who is obsessed with books, wrote this still life poem:

Poem Book: Still Life

On my shelf

just waiting to be read

it is a poem book.

So as I touch it

the hard cover is blank.

Open, close with a snap.

Floating on a river of poems,

feeling relaxed on my boat

taking me to places I have never been.

New words, new poems.

Places like the forest to the sea, on the fields

and in my bed.

Sloane, who was wearing a skeleton key necklace today, took that as inspiration.

Rusty Key: Still Life

The wispy key, sitting quietly

waiting to unlock the door to the world.

With waves swirling at the top

like octopus arms.

There on that silent table

at the end of this wonderful old key are two humps

like a camel

ready to click the invisible switch

behind the clockwork of the door.

That’s where the new world unfolds.

You see, this old silver useful and quiet key

can do so much.

The key finally breathes a sigh of relief.

And my poem was about my alarm clock:

Alarm Clock: Still Life

Next to my bed

my alarm clock stands guard

silent glowing numbers

mark the invisible

beat of the day, keeping track of

seconds,

minutes,

hours,

days

When the time is right

the tiny bird chirps

insistent

incessant

tearing me from my dreams

as my hands reach and fumble

to press snooze

annoyed yet comforted

knowing it will chirp

again

I drift back to my dreams.

©Douillard