Class Notes: 8

Centers!

Action words

Pick a poem and an action word. Action!

Magnet words

Using the magnets, create haikus, alliterations, noun poems... etc.

Reading center with drawing utensils

Current events center

fold paper, write words that stand out on one side, create poem on other.

Nature center

Touch and feel and write.

Listening Center

Art center

Create a collage from magazines and write a poem about the collage.

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Chapter 8 from A Note discussion

Learn about language and learn to use terms as writers and not being told to have to use them in a particular way.

Next week: Photography and poetry. Bring an evocative photograph with strong emotions or mystery.

April 5th: Art and poetry. Article by Grant. Full day immersion of one piece of art and what you can do with that. Great Exhibit at the art museum. Possibly going there instead.

April 19th: Poetry Slam. Reading poetry about social issues and performing them.

Class Notes: 7

Who was the woman who wore the hat?

by Nancy Patz

Pretend You're a Cat

Who was the woman to wear this diamond first?

Who bought it?

Why was it bought?

Was it worn on her ring finger?

Was it worn everyday or just for special occasions?

Why is it still in the family?

Why did I get it?

Who cut it?

Did she love it?

What did it mean to her?

Did she plan to pass it down to her daughter?

Was it in her will?

Why was it hidden in a compartment in a desk?

Why was it hiding?

Was it to prevent greed?

Was it to forget a past?

Was it admired?

Was it forgotten?

How many fingers has it been on?

How many times has it been worn?

How many reasons has it been worn?

Light shining through,

clear and vacant.

A glassy diamond

Poetry centers:

Using Practical Poetry and Awakening the Heart

Performance Center

Partner with a friend.

Choose a poem from the paper bag.

Choose a method from the second paper bag.

~Sing, rap, dance, quietly, loudly, read with an accent/ different voice, snap your fingers or clap your hands to the rhythm of the poem, Turn it into a play,

I'm Not Afraid of the Dark

Oh, I'm not afraid of the darkness. I don't mind an absence of light. I can't say I'm scared of the sunset or things that go "bump" in the night. I've never been frightened of monsters or tentacles under my bed. Not skeletons, witches or goblins or creatures come back from the dead. I'm not at all worried of werewolves, or even a vampire's bite. I'm simply not scared of the darkness, except when you turn off the light. --Kenn Nesbitt Polar Bowling It used to be that polar bears went bowling, just for grins, with snowballs for their bowling balls and penguins as the pins. The bears would have a blast with all the snowballs that they threw. The penguins weren't as happy; that's the only time they flew. So penguins all moved south and now they're at the other pole. Well, wouldn't you move far away if bears used you to bowl? --Kenn Nesbitt I Went to the Doctor I went to the doctor all covered in bumps. He said "you've got chicken pox, measles and mumps." He said "you've got whooping cough, tetanus, rubella, digestive dysfunction from green salmonella. "You've got halitosis and elephantitis. You've also got athletes foot and laryngitis. "You're covered with head lice, mosquitoes and fleas. You've even got pink-eye and mad cow disease. "What's more you've got cooties, a cold and the flu, but don't be upset; I know just what to do." He told me "I promise this won't hurt a bit," then grabbed a syringe like a barbeque spit. He made me bend over the seat of my chair then plunged that big needle in my you-know-where. So now I'm all cured of my cooties and fleas, my whooping cough, measles and mad cow disease. He cured me of every last sniffle and bump, and now I'm all better except for my rump. --Kenn Nesbitt

A Note Slipped Under the Door: Ch. 6

Ch. 6

A Note Slipped Under the Door: Ch. 3

This is the roses.

"I dropped out of school. I didn't drop out of life."

"We hope that by telling stories off an overhead line, students will begin to feel more comfortable with generating thoughts, thereby making some interesting connections to their lives."

Instead of saying eavesdropping, call it absorbing the world or soaking up the world, just in case older kids begin to expose others. What if you ask the kids to eavesdrop on their teachers?

Introducing poetry with the kids own words during for example, snack time.

Making a soundtrack with song titles using eavesdropping.

Class Notes: #6

Begin reading our favorite poem.

Marginalia by Billy Collins "Sailing alone around the room"

The Important Book - book of informational and list poems

by margaret wisebrown who also wrote goodnight moon

Telling about our eavesdropping

two girls discussing

serious boyfriend

sees boyfriend girlfriend

spending time

not dating

just talking

cant connect

In the teller line
Older gentleman and his little boy
The teller offers the boy a lollipop
“I’m 10. I don’t want a lollipop. I want that car.”

“You seem lot more interested in cars than your dad.”
“He’s 54. I’m 10.”

Laughter

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The Swing

Swing under the oak

feet scraping the gravel

and the worn, green lumpy carpet

shaded, swinging.

The sun behind us.

learning, repeating

"Little Boy Blue"

safe, happy,

and wondering

How can I climb the oak?

Final draft.

Swinging under the oak

with my feet scraping the gravel

covered with the worn, green, lumpy carpet.

The swing, pushed with her feet,

in the shade under the oak,

swinging with the sun behind us.

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Feedback:

Bless: praise

Express: making a connection

Address: the writer is in control and you ask your readers to address something specific in your poem.

Press: Give control to the reader. What do you like, not like, would change?

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Metalanguage: what metalanguage did you use when reading the poem?

• syllables
• rhyme
• rhythm
• inferring
• parts of speech
• verb tense and verb form