The Miracle of Friendship

A few weeks ago, I had an overwhelming urge to speak with a certain old friend from high school. We couldn't have been closer during those four character shaping years, yet lost touch after graduation. She married right after graduation and began working with her husband and raising a family, and I was off to college. And, as the words of an old Joni Mitchell song (The Circle Game) can remind us, "The seasons they go round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down. We're captive on the carousel of time." The years have flown by, each of us busy with our own lives and families, and suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about how much I needed to talk to Linda. 

My old friend is not on social media (I tried that first!), so I called my uncle, who in my memory had some connection to Linda's husband, and word somehow reached her that I was trying to get in touch. As fate would have it, Linda was in the hospital at the time I had been thinking about her, and was near death. She tells me now that she was thinking about me at the same time and wanted to find and talk with me too. She's back at home, and just as I was starting to write this blog post about poetry (because April), my phone rang with an unfamiliar number from my hometown. 

If you don't believe in miracles, I'm not sure I can convince you, but after the initial shock and pure joy at hearing her voice again, I synced my earphones, brewed a mug of tea, and stepped away from the computer. I have had the most amazing afternoon of escaping back in time with my friend and pondering the meaning of friendship. I found this quote which is really speaking to me today. "A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." - Elbert Hubbard

Friendship can seem like a miracle, but it is also something that can (and should) be taught. Throughout my classroom career, I tried to encourage friendship among my students. I found ways to help those who may have been shy or reluctant to reach out and form some connections. I probably didn't originate the phrase, "It's not a wedding!", but I used it when objections arose to the cooperative groups that I had set up for learning activities. 

I devoted years in my career to encouraging friendship, and have developed quite a few resources in Rainbow City Learning to do the same for your students. I hope you'll browse through them. Here's a cute little video I developed with my friend Lessia Bonn to go with a Friendship/Poetry unit that we co-authored . You can find the unit here. For the video, just click below! Why not teach friendship and poetry at the same time? After all, it's April!

 

For more April-themed ideas, check out the blogs of Teacher Talk below! If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at TeachersPayTeachers.com.  For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv.  Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions. 

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Finding Our Voices Through Poetry

"Li li li li, li li li li....." filled the air all around us at our pre prayer service sing along. Our new "artist in residence" was trying to teach us the refrain to his newest songs to be included in the service ahead. "That's not what we're singing now," my husband pointed out as I studied the orange paper in my lap. The beautifully poetic verses were on the page, but the refrain was not. I was engrossed in the poetry of the verses and how they gave new life to the meaning of the ancient service that we were about to observe. The line "eternity shuddered and a moment was born" has definitely stayed with me. There were many more. Just reading the poetry of the lyrics with my family next to me made for a beautiful evening.

I've long been interested in song lyrics. Having less than zero confidence as a singer, I have always been more tuned in to lyrics than tune, memorizing thousands of songs for life that I can never really sing in any recognizable way. As I lip-sync my way through a sing-along, I am hyper aware of the words that my lips are forming in a rhythmic way.  Every song is a poem.  When your students discover that, even the most reluctant student of poetry will tune in to your lesson. Try starting with a popular song or two, and you are off on an amazing journey through the magic found in many forms of poetry.

Start With a Song

If you start with a song, try close reading the lyrics. Use your own plan or try this one:

Next step: Try adding a verse or two to the song, based on your own life experiences. 

I like to challenge students to list some nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe concepts in their own lives that could be used in poetry (or songs) about them.

Use a Template

The easiest templates to start with come from poetry found in many popular picture books and anthologies. "If I Were in Charge of the World" by Judith Viorst is a well used favorite, and the responses we get from our students range from cute and sweet to amazing! The Important Book is another one.

The easiest poetic form templates to use are the simple acrostic (kids love this one!), haiku, cinquain, and diamante. My personal favorite is free verse, and there are ways to use this as a template also, beginning with a sample. You can find some easy ways to use these forms here: (also available for Google Drive)

Try a Read Aloud

A book written in poetic form can be great inspiration for writing a journal entry or a narrative essay. Some favorites of mine: 

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanha Lai

Marie's Big Adieu by Tamara Rittershaus

Every Little Thing by Cedelia Marley (You've heard about his one from me before! Love!)

The "Poetry for Young People" Series is a worthwhile investment (either through purchase or a trip to the library!). Fourteen volumes, each containing poetry of a famous author from Walt Whitman to Maya Angelou, Shakespeare, and Edgar Allen Poe. 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers (Need I say more? All the hearts!!)

Of course, always fun for a read-aloud or a a pattern to follow: Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. 

A Cross Curricular Challenge

How about writing a song or poem about a historical or current event? That's poetry!

What about a song or poem about a difficult math problem? This could be hilarious!

A book that I found just today has sent my brain spinning all around the connections with art. It's called Vessels: A Conversation in Porcelain and Poetry by Jennifer McCurdy and Wendy Mulhern. The authors are sisters; one is a ceramic artist and one is a poet. I love the way they compare vessels of pottery as a way to hold liquids, grains, and other things that need to stay pure. Poets also create vessels to hold words, ideas, and life experiences. The photographs are gorgeous, and the poetry to accompany each one is nothing short of magnificent. This is definitely a book for more mature students, and maybe a gift for yourself or a friend. The basic idea though, writing a poem about a piece of art that a student has created, is inspiring me! Perhaps a collaboration with your art teacher on a special portfolio section? 

Many of us already have kids illustrating their poetry, but creating the art first and then writing the poetry can take it to a new level!

On our podcast about Poetry books, I mentioned a way that I loved to display some of my students' poems. We used this technique mostly for including our "Where I'm From" poems in our showcase portfolios. I would insert a photo of  the student as a "watermark" image and then place a text box on top with the poem. Here's a sample:

For more books and ideas on bringing poetry into your classroom, check these blog posts:

     

For even more ideas on bringing poetry into your classroom through great books, check out our podcast on We Teach So Hard and the blog posts below:

http://www.mossyoakmusings.com/2020/03/small-wonders-e-e-cummings-poetry-and.html?fbclid=IwAR3CvrZmATXVZ2NmXJk3yrsaGhpnhCImtAgSNDG74v167OhjYBNducbXabo

https://socrateslantern.com/2020/03/the-sounds-of-poetry.html

https://www.triedandtrueteachingtools.com/2020/03/why-students-must-experience-poetry.html

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Spring Activities

When we think of April, we usually think of Earth Day and National Poetry Month. Did you know that it is also National Garden Month? Neighbors here in Michigan are telling me that their tulips and crocuses have raised their winter weary heads. Nothing happening here yet, but I am filled with hope, just breathing in a little of that air filled with the promise of spring. That smell? You know what I'm talking about, I'm sure. The scent that fills your soul with the promise of spring. Do you know what you are actually smelling though, when you smell that smell? MUD! You are smelling MUD! The earth is thawing. There has probably been some rain recently, and when you stick your nose out the door to check on the crocuses (as I just did, right this minute), you are actually smelling mud!

When you share that news with your students, and I'm 99.9% sure that you will, here's an amazing book to share along with that news! Your kids will love it! I promise! It's oozy, gloppy, and delicious! Great for word choice lessons too!

Some fun followup activities that you can try to bring the promise of this new season into your classroom:

Soil Sundaes

This one is a forever favorite of my students (the citizens of Rainbow City). Some of them, as adults, are still thanking me for this one. It's memorable. Here it is, for free, from my Stepping Into Steam resource. You're welcome.

If you love this activity, and would like to see the whole resource (including Wearing Away with Erosion and Truffle Craters, also good followups here, along with a scaffolded STEAM journal), just click on the Soil Sundaes card below. 

Of course, the sundae making activity is fun. Try adding some gummy worms! I also loved keeping soil, rock, sand, and pebble samples handy to make actual soil samples after this activity and then trying to grow flowers or beans in the soil. Kids and I brought back samples from our vacations in empty camera film containers (I know, what are those?) Any empty container will work. Glad makes teeny tiny ones, if you'd like to make them uniform. 

I also made soil, sand, pebbles, mulch, etc. available from our local garden store. Yours might be willing to donate! Offer to take pictures and have kids write about their soil investigations for them to display in their store. Grownups love that stuff!

Poetry Flowers

This one blends the observance of National Poetry Month with Spring. When the mud (or playground surface) is dry, try taking your kids outside for some splatter painting fun. Think Jackson Pollock. Or Eric Carle. I'm a big fan of planning a day in the spring to use up my leftover paints. Much preferable to storing all the odds and ends. Take some roll paper or just large sheets of paper outside, take kids dressed in clothes that can risk some paint spots, aaallllll your almost empty paint containers, and some brushes outside. This is best done at the end of a day so that the papers can dry around your classroom overnight. (Have a conversation with the custodian first about how this would work best in your school.) 

The next day, when dry, kids cut the splatter paintings into flower shapes, take a circle of colored copy paper, and write a poem on it. The display will make your room look like Spring inside!

Some of the paintings my kids made and a sample poetry flower below. To see the resource I created to make this, just click below!

Create a Fairy Garden

A fairy garden is a fun STEAM project for Spring. Use recyclables, maker space stuff, and found objects to create a special spot in the outdoor area of your building or in a corner near a classroom window. Small fairy gardens in pots also make great Mother's Day, Special Person or Grandparent's Day gifts. These can be accomplished very inexpensively with reusable stuff. 

Here's a Pinterest board to explore for ideas. Just click below!

For more Spring activities from Rainbow City Learning, click here!

Wishing you a muddy, fun, and happy Spring!

For more great ideas for Spring activities, be sure to visit the Teacher Talk blogs!

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Poetry is the Song of Our Souls

She balanced her journal on her knees, focused in earnest contemplation of a totally blank page. "Can I answer with a poem?" she asked. "Of course," I answered, as others looked on, wondering what she was getting away with. A shorter answer, for sure, but one that could speak volumes about what the true answer from her heart might be. As I set out to begin this post, the first thought in my brain was that poetry is the song of our souls. Just as you can listen in to what a person holds in their heart as they sing, poetry provides the same window into the soul of the poet.

April is the month when you can really start to see the fruits of your yearlong labors as a teacher, the month the children all seem to bloom. As those beautiful blossoms begin to open, poetry written by our students gives us a clear view into the soul of each blossoming learner. There is no meandering with poetry. It is generally short and to the point. No over-description, no extraneous words. Poetry focuses its meaning and touches the reader or listener deep inside. A journal page, free-write, interactive notebook response, or draft written in poetic form, can never be a bad thing. If a fuller essay is required, the poem becomes a distillation of the essence of that essay. If any written response is required, a poem of course fills the bill. And, as a writing form that lends itself to combination with art, music, dance, or dramatic performance, poetry rules!

Some thoughts on weaving more poetry into your practice:

Poetry Performance
Lots of teachers use the "Poem in Your Pocket" model to share poetry, based on the classic children's poem by Beatrice Schenk deReniers. Here it is, in case you haven't heard it. Click on the pocket below to download a free resource to use on Poem in Your Pocket Day in April!

This is a fun way to introduce poetry performance to your class. Pull a poem that you love out of your own pocket and perform it. My favorite poem to perform is "Honey I Love" by Eloise Greenfield. It's  so worth memorizing. I can promise your kids will be spellbound when you recite it to them with all the feeling that is right there in the poem. It will inspire many of your students to memorize a favorite poem of their own.

Poetry Sharing
When kids are ready to perform, make the performances a part of Morning Meeting, or a part of any regular time in your day or week. I have always used a campfire setting to share our poems, whether ones we wrote ourselves, or ones we just love and want to perform. It's cozy in the fall and winter, and makes us think of camping in the spring and summer. Here's a blog post I wrote about
The Poetry Campfire .


Poetry Publishing
There are so many ways to combine art with the publishing of your poetry - a class quilt, banners, Poetry Slam book, on your website, and in portfolios. Here is a blog post I wrote with directions for turning some short poems into beautiful watercolor flowers:
Watercolor Flower Poetry

Portfolio Friendly
If your portfolios are a little short of writing pieces this year for any of the reasons that our challenging profession has presented, April is the perfect month to get that collection growing. April is poetry month! Poetry is short and doesn't have a lot hard and fast rules to follow. It flows from the heart. So take out those portfolios and see where an empty spot can be filled here and there with a beautiful song of the soul. 

Here's a post you might like: A Portfolio to Remember

Find my favorite POETRY RESOURCES by clicking here!

Happy April, teachers! I hope your souls and those of your students sing throughout the Spring!

I had soooo much fun talking about poetry with my teaching friends on our podcast, We Teach So Hard, Episode 32. Hope you'll tune in soon!

READ MORE ABOUT IT!

The Poet Inside Us

Beyond the Acrostic

3+ Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

Poetry is Song of Our Souls

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