Formats for 2009 Poetry Project
This is the official
start of our Poetry Project! Yay! I always start with a quotation, and
this year, I'm using one from John Gardner (he actually used the word novel, and
I changed that to poem) that I thought was very appropriate. Poetry is about emotion,
about how the writer felt and how the reader feels.
"We read five words on the first page of a
really good poem and we begin to forget that we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images."
We also want to get deeper than the "I like my ______." feelings. See if this activity helps students do that.
This is a
modification of Georgia Heard's notes in the .pdf file for which I sent
the url. At some point between now and when you
do the first format, it might be helpful to have your students make
heart maps. The younger children will make less complete ones, and use
pictures more than writing. Older students can be very detailed. I've
attached a copy of the cover of her book, which I recommend. It gives
an idea of one kind of heart map.
I suggest having a
heart shape divided into 5 sections for the younger students. I think a
graphic organizer might be more effective for older students, or let
them draw it out in their own way. As always, model for them what you
want by doing it yourself, in front of them. If we want children to
share their hearts and innermost feelings, we must be willing to do the
same.
If you provide an
organizer, I suggest using heart shapes somehow in the map to remind
students of the main idea of the activity. This
NCREL
site has some organizer examples. I could see using the Network Tree
with a heart in the middle. A lot of our feelings do network from one
area to another.
Jack Gantos did a similar thing in a workshop I attended. He called it a neighborhood map and used it to write Heads or Tails,
and the following books about Jack, based on his childhood. Marissa
Moss uses a diary, in fact tells the entire story through the diary
with drawings, sayings, etc., in her Amelia books. This could be the
bridge from the poetry unit into prose.
Here are some ideas from Georgia to get students going.
Heart Mapping
Purpose
… To discover what things are important to you
… To discover you inner poet's voice
Directions
Think about the
things and people that are important to you. Use the following
questions to help you uncover what is in your heart. Then begin your
own heart map. Add your own important ideas and thoughts not covered by
the questions.
Use the questions as
a guide, not an absolute. This can be an ongoing process, added to
whenever a new idea occurs to you. As we grow, we change, and so does
the heart. (Remind them they aren't writing these stories right now,
just making quick notes or pictures to help them remember later.)
… What has really affected your heart?
… What people have been important to you?
… What are some experiences or central events that you will never forget?
… What happy or sad memories do you have?
… What secrets have you kept in your heart?
… What small things or objects are important to you - a tree in your backyard, a trophy, a stuffed animal ?
Ask yourself:
… Should some things be outside of the heart and some inside of it?
… Do you want to draw more than one heart - good and bad; happy and
sad; secret and open - and include different things inside each heart?
… What's at the center of your heart?
… What's outside around the edges?
… Do different colors represent different emotions, events, relationships?
I think these
questions *might* come before the others, but this is the order in
which Georgia put them - feel first then organize? Rough draft answers
to the questions and add your own - then make the map?
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Triangle Poems
Triangle Poems
For the first week this year, to get the youngest writers going,
I chose a very simple pattern, which we've used only once before.
I call them Triangle Poems, for lack of anything more original. =)
They are wonderful sentence builders, for those young children still learning how to put an interesting sentence together.
They can be as revealing as haiku for those with more maturity to bring to the writing. Here is an example:
Dog.
A big, black dog.
My mom found a big, black dog.
Cat.
A fuzzy, brown-haired, whiskery cat.
A fuzzy, brown-haired, whiskery cat stalked a fat mouse through the daisy field.
To teach this pattern, first have a discussion about visualizing one moment, a memory like a photograph.
If you use the binoculars idea from _The Revisor's Toolbox_, this is another way to use the idea.
Think of it as the zoom lens on a camera. We are starting close in, and zooming out.
In a memory, or a photograph, we first see the big idea, the big object (cat, dog).
Next, we notice some details about it (color, size). Finally, we see it in context of what's happening in the memory or the picture.
More advanced students might take the reverse approach.
Look at the whole picture, then tighten the binoculars or the zoom
lens on the camera to see a smaller piece. Finally, distill the entire thought to one succinct word.
Again, this is very haiku like.
Here are some early-in-the-year examples from my former first grade students:
Books
Fun Books
I like to read fun books.
Jasmin
Cat
Baby cat
I like to play with baby cats.
Jeremiah
Cat
Fat cat
Fat cat eats a lot.
Pizza
Pepperoni Pizza
I like pepperoni pizza with milk.
Here's an example of an upside-down one, for older students.
This was based on an electrical storm I watched for at least half-an-hour tonight.
Lightning flashes silently among the dark and billowy clouds.
Lightning flashing and bouncing erratically.
Electricity!
Susan Nixon/2007
I'll be looking forward to seeing your students' poems!
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This poetry format was posted on the four blocks list several years ago, and I liked it.Ê
Thanks to Judy Jarboe for posting it.
It is 5 lines long. Each line is one of the 5 W's. (who, what, where,
when, why)ÊÊÊWhat a great way for students to see the parallels between
storytelling and poetry!Ê It might be fun to expand the poems, another
time, into a full memory or story.
Example:
My grandmother's cat - Who?
Stalking little gray birds - Did What?
Under the pecan tree - Where
Early in the morning. - When
Protecting the Early Worms! - Why?
Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê Ê SusanÊ 4/3/02
The questions are not actually part of the poems.ÊÊÊThat's just to help
students know what the line should be.Ê No need to type it in with
their poems.
This would be a good place to use the binoculars
lesson from The Revisor's Toolbox, too.Ê Help students focus in on one
thought or idea by having them pretend to look through binoculars.Ê
They can tighten down on the object or person, or draw back and look at
their surroundings a little bit.
Another option is to do the poem
after a science lesson where students take a clothes hanger hoop
outside and put it in the grass or on the sidewalk, maybe even hang it
in a tree. They might hold it up, looking toward the playground or
street, too. They can describe only things in the circle. Hope your
students like this one!
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This week's poem is just for fun - lots of it, I hope! I haven't used this format in a while, so I thought we'd give it a try.
It begins with a phone number. Students can use their own phone numbers, but mix up the numbers. We don't want someone
figuring out the number and actually calling!
Students write the telephone number down. This will give the poem 7 lines. The number of syllables in each line matches
the phone number digit for that line. If your children are very young, you might change it to the number of words in the
line matching the digit. The lines must relate to one another and make a poem. Notice that there is punctuation.
When I sat to write mine, I didn't have a topic in mind. Fitting the 8 words in gave me a topic.
However, it might be easier if children try writing with a topic already in mind. Let me know what you
tried and how it worked. Again, you might have them use postcard pictures, magazine pictures, or the
binoculars idea to come up with an idea before sitting down to write. Here's an example:
8 Windy, cloudy, sunless daytime -
7 A long winter closing down,
7 Sending along its last gasp
3 Of cold, dead,
1 Sad,
3 Gray weather,
7 Leading to a joyous Spring!
by Susan Nixon/2005
Here's another one:
6237278
Flag, flapping in the breeze
Forever,
Stars and Stripes.
Celebrate its foundation
Years past,
And people who believe in
The country it still represents.
Susan 4/10/09
You do not need to send the phone number with the poem when you type it. Just send the poem along.
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This is one of my favorite poetry formats and ways of assessing learning, especially in science. All of the poems used as examples here were written by past classes.
What To Do If You Are ....
This format is from Bob and Marlene McCracken. Each idea begins with the verb. If you've talked about subjects and predicates, you can tell the students that they are just writing the predicate part of a sentence for each line of the poem. It helps to write a class poem first, brainstorming ideas about what predicates fit the title, which is the sentence beginning. Notice every line has a capital and a period. This would be a good one for buddy writing, too.
Here is an example:
What to Do If You Are the Night
Move through the sky.
Frighten people to death.
Have a shining light.
Cover the daytime.
Be dark enough to blind people.
Have the stars every time.
Be black and scary.
Rain.
Thunder in front of the clouds.
Mrs. Nixon's class
2nd grade
April 27, 1998
Another example:
Things To Do If You Were a Predator
Go hunting.
Make traps.
Hide behind something.
Growl and snarl.
Chase and catch the prey.
Strike your prey.
Bite and scratch.
Attack people and rip them up.
Kill animals to eat.
Be a scavenger.
Mrs. Nixon's class
Room 32
2nd grade
Jan. 5, 1995
One year, I had my students write and illustrate poems for the next year's second graders. These were taped to the desks when they came in August. The title was, "What To Do If You Are In Mrs. Nixon's Class." The first few things they came up with were:
What To Do If You Are in Mrs. Nixon's Class
Read and do math.
Work hard.
Make maps.
Spell so it can be read.
Write!
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This is one of my favorite formats, because it allows so much creativity on the part of the students.
Sometimes teachers keep a few postcards or magazine pictures close for those children who just don't
have a place in mind to use. For younger children, that might be a necessity, but it might not. It probably
depends on the sophistication of your children, and how much travel they've done outside the neighborhood.
It could be a memory of something as simple as a tree in the backyard, however.
I've used the first two lines as the main idea of the poem and the last three as details. This can help
children understand that these two concepts apply to poetry as well as prose. It may even help them
understand and use the concepts in writing prose.
Think of seeing something through the camera lens. When it's just perfect, you snap the photo and keep
that picture in your album forever. Write about something you want to keep in your memory for all time
in the same way.
A golden moon hangs heavy on the horizon,
a many-armed saguaro outlined against its surface.
Bats flit from arm to arm, drinking sweet nectar,
Unknowingly depositing pollen so life can continue,
Making the desert a nighttime Garden of Eden.
Susan Nixon, 2005
Pattern:
Lines 1 and 2: Two part sentence about what is seen (main idea)
Lines 3,4, and 5: Sentences relating to the first line (details)
Here's another one, based on the wedding I attended last night:
Ming, a beautiful Chinese woman in her red and gold wedding dress,
Stands shyly across from her American bridegroom, holding his hands.
A breeze gently lifts her long dark hair away from her bowed head.
Stumbling, halting words in English repeat her marriage vows.
A smile lights her face as the tiny diamond band is slipped on her finger.
Susan Nixon, April 24, 2009
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The third week's poetry format is a new one. When I post this on the website, I cannot include the poem from George Ella Lyons, because I don't have permission to publish it on the web, even for this purpose. This is an article that might be helpful to read before doing week #3's format. This article is specifically about 8th graders, but I think the same kind of teaching works well with primary, and is the kind of thing I have done in the past.
NWP
I came across the idea on a friend's blog. I think it will be loved by some children, and difficult for others.
That's why the format can be very open ended. To stay true to the theme of this poem, I think one only has to
think about things that defined who one is. For a girl growing up in the 50s, it might be Dick and Jane readers,
curly perms, piano lessons, Howdy Doody on the radio, milk at the door, peddlers sharpening knives and selling needles,
and the Korean War. Whenever we grow up, there are definite icons of that time.
Helping students to define the things that have influenced them is really a matter of guiding a discussion about
what they remember from earlier years, and family is a big part of that. You may have children from family situations
that are less than perfect. Try to encourage them to think about their favorite things from earlier years - flavors of
ice cream to colors of crayons. These don't have to be "happy" poems, and for some children, they might not be.
You know your children best, and where to lead them in this discussion.
The ending is the trickiest part of this poem. The last stanza would have been fine without the final three lines, but
the definitely add something. Help your children find the best line for the ending. This is a poem where lines can be
shifted around and the poem will not suffer for it. This is definitely a poem that will benefit from revision. I revised
mine several times, and used the thesaurus!
"Where I'm From" appears in George Ella Lyon's Where I'm From, Where Poems Come From, a poetry workshop-book
for teachers and students, illustrated with photographs by Robert Hoskins and published by Absey & Co, Spring, Texas,
1999. The book can be purchased
here.
George Ella Lyons is an Appalachian author and poet with a long list of children's books to her credit.
Each of us is from a place that is more than a dot on the map. Every experience that we can recall has left its mark on
who we are. Nobody is from Clorox, but can't you smell the laundry room at the poet's house as a little girl?
Read "Where I'm From," then, write your own version-- where you're from. There's a format at the end of this message,
obviously meant for older children. However, I don't see why younger children couldn't do a version of this. Just reading
some examples to them may help them get started. Brainstorm some things which your children might use as a jumping off
place, such as product names, plants, kinds of food, personality traits, aphorisms, etc. Have children think about things
their parents always say, oral history in the family, traditions the family has, places they've lived.
The poem does *not* have to include all the things in the format.
Here are a couple of examples from me.
I am from crab grass,
Green clippings begged from neighbors.
Planted and watered, tended
To make a lawn.
I am from coleus, fuschia and emerald,
From coxcomb, fuzzy and ticklish,
From zennias in the middle and
Hollyhocks in the back.
I am from Sunday School in pinafores,
From black patent Mary Janes,
From the Old Rugged Cross,
And Praise the Lord, Amen.
I am from Sunday solos in quavery voice,
From Vacation Bible School verses,
Learned and rewarded with plaster fruit,
And a zippered White Bible from Mama.
I am from Spic and Span,
From white gloves,
From scrub brushes
Used on hands and knees.
I am from the lumber business
And the bullwhip that cracked.
I am from a smoke house that burned
Taking everything with it.
I am from grandparents
Married in Mena, Arkansas,
From parents married in Texas
And buried there, too.
I am from sisters who were beautiful
When I wasn't,
And from brothers who were tall
To my short.
I am from farmers and lumbermen,
From native people and voyagers,
From canners and quilters,
And hard workers.
I am from memories and visions,
From Irish and Scots.
I am fulfillment
Of immigrant dreams.
Susan Nixon, March 21, 2008
Here's the sample from my friend's blog. She gave me permission to use it. You can see that she sticks to one influence
in her life - sewing.
I am from spools of thread, from Singer and bobbins.
I am from the organized chaos of journals.
I am from cotton, linen, clothes and the store.
I am from looms and knitting, from mother and grandmothers and aunts.
I am from traditional and experimental, from patchwork and applique.
I am from functional utility, necessity and thriftiness.
I'm from creative urgency, needles and pins.
From quilting bee, the bunkhouse, and the feed sack dress.
I am from the closet, the cedar chest, the bed. . . .
Donna Royer
Simpler version:
I am from ham and sweet potatoes,
From pineapple cheesecake,
And chocolate bunnies
With no ears.
I am from California
From the mountains and the trees,
And the icy lakes
Filled with fish.
Susan Nixon, March 21, 2008
Longer version (don't think it has to be followed perfectly!)
I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.
I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).
I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)
I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).
I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).
From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).
I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.
I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).
From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).
I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).
This is a borrowed idea, not mine, but a great idea to get students moving into more of the heart zone of poetry. You might be surprised what you find as you rummage around in those dusty old trunks--your personality, your family history and traits, and the places you've called home--as you complete the poem with your own memories and facts.
Shorter version:
I am from ( favorite foods)
From (favorite dessert)
And (favorite other treat)
(Something about that treat).
I am from (state where born)
From (two things about the state)
And (third thing about the state)
(Something about that third thing).
You can see that you could make additional verses like this in other categories, if children wanted to.
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