Poetry 7:01 pm
I fell in love with my kids on Friday.
At the end of a very long week during which I thought about changing my major, my mind, or maybe my entire life…
I considered going to clown school or possibly being the morning biscuit maker at Bojangles but,
I fell in love with my kids on Friday and that makes all the difference.
Poetry and Specific Responses--RE 4030 7:52 pm
Sitting in the warm, late summer sun,
Wishing…
that was all I had to do.
Thinking….mad thoughts
sad thoughts
bad thoughts.
Wishing…
that was all I had to do.
Oh… no… Not think mad thoughts
sad thoughts
bad thoughts.
Just sit in the warm, late summer sun.
Poetry and Specific Responses--RE 4030 11:39 pm
Love That Dog…LOVED it! This book was very cute and I think it would be quite appropriate to use in the classroom. So many children feel the way that Jack does and it would be good for them to see the process that he goes through as he learns to value poetry and more importantly to value his own voice. It would be easy for children to read if they do not enjoy long books. It is divided into short passages that are easy to follow. This book also does an admirable job of alluding to other poetry and thus introduces the young reader to classic poems. This was my favorite of the books we read.
Brown Angels…This book is a great example of the way a photograph can be used to inspire poems. Haven’t we all looked at old pictures and wondered about the people in them…imagining who they are and what their story is. Walter Dean Myers does a beautiful job of interpreting these pictures of beautiful brown children. I loved his thoughts in the introduction of the book, ” Seeing their faces scrubbed and beaming, seeing them dressed in their Sunday best for a traveling photographer, told me what our grandparents and great-grandparents thought of their children. These pictures speak to me of hardworking people-of tenant farmers, porters, and teachers of the “colored” schools-who celebrated the lives of their babies as have all people before them and since.” That touches me and it mirrors my own feelings as I look at these pictures. People love their children, even if they are not just like me, even if they are poor, even if their parenting looks a little different. I need to remember this…
all the small poems and fourteen more…This book is about the most simple of things, almost mundane. Many people would ask, “Is this poetry?” The beauty of these simple poems is found when they are read and re-read. The reader discovers the very distinct word choices and the beautiful alliteration. I think if anyone thinks these are utterly simple then it would be good to try to recreate them; write some poetry about everyday things. It is not as easy at it seems! When I read them and truly think of the word selection and the very small, distinct things that make them special, they take on more meaning and I have more appreciation for them. They are more complex than they seem. They are good for children though, becuase they are about ordinary things and this could inspire the young student to write poetry. The student doesn’t have to be well-traveled or highly educated to write something. Letting students use dictionaries and thesaurus’ would be especially helpful here!
Poetry and Specific Responses--RE 4030 11:15 pm
So much depends
upon
the guardian of my beans,
Sitting, silently stoic
Savoring the brown bean
Then…
Loudly lauding the morning.
My coffee grinder
Poetry 6:55 pm
My coffee grinder
My peony
My red porch swing
I added 3 pictures for our poetry exercise…couldn’t really decide…when I took the peony, I saw the swing and then…I like it too!
