Portrait Poetry Friday: Starting with What's Real

One of my favorite workshops for elementary and middle schoolers is on portrait poems. (You can read a "poem walk" though the model poem, Shonto Begay's "Down Highway 163" here.)

The poem and painting "Down Highway 163" are featured
in Begay's book Navajo.

Writing a portrait poem requires a lot of imagination. For the third graders, who are still developing a sense of self, speaking in someone else's voice can be a challenge. What's been working for my students, I think, is providing structure for their imaginations. How?

1. Someone to look at.

I ask the teachers to gather fine art portraits from the art room for the lesson. I also bring in picture books with drawings -- mainly realistic -- of children. After we discuss Shonto Begay's portrait and accompanying poem, both titled "Down Highway 163," the classroom teacher and I put the images up around the room. Students quietly walk through our makeshift gallery, deciding which portrait they want to write about. Having an image in front of them provides structure -- tangible details to record in the poem.

2. Starting with what's real.

When we talked about the painting "Down Highway 163" as a whole class, I split our discussion into two parts. First, we listed the facts of the painting -- the things we could actually see. No guessing was allowed. There is a bag or sack in the painting. Fact. Do we know what's in it? No -- we put that kind of imagining on hold until we have all our facts.

Once we've exhausted the details of the painting, the class begins generating stories. The time for "I see" is over. Now we explore what we imagine. Who is the person in the painting? Where is she going and why? How is she feeling? What's in the sack? What happens next.

This painting by Leonardo da Vinci was one of the portraits
the children could choose.

When it's time to write, the students who need organization can make a t-chart. On one side, they'll write "I see" and list all of the things they observe in the painting or picture book image they chose. On the other side of the chart is space for "I imagine." Sometimes, I compare this to looking at the image as if it were a DVD on pause. If you hit the play button, what would happen next?

Last, I reminded students that they had an important choice to make, as poets. Did they want to narrate the poem, writing in third person and describing the story? Or would it be more effective to write in the voice of the character, the person in the portrait?

Here are some of the third grade portrait poems. You'll notice that a few students used their knowledge of stanzas (from the opposites poems lesson) to separate the "I See" elements from what they imagined about their subjects.

A student from Ms. Grim's class borrowed my Shonto Begay book, Navajo, intrigued by an image that shows a man transforming into a werewolf.

Wolf Man

After a painting by Shonto Begay

I am a sad guy without a shirt in the day time. Each hour of night I will change hairier and hairier, hungrier and hungrier. Then I get blood thirsty. Now I am the hairy beast of the woods. Attacking deer and bunnies, I go. Shredding the skin with my hard and sharp teeth. It’s getting to daytime. I am back to the shirtless me again, but lying on the grass and not knowing what happened. All I know is I like being back to a man.

Malia chose a picture from the art room. This was an artist's self-portrait, showing him painting en plein air.

Malia K.

I’m painting with my

favorite apron on.

My brushes flow smoothly over the canvas.

My blue shirt is soft to my skin.

I love painting still life,

especially the forest.

It’s very quiet. Too quiet.

I jump as a rabbit pops out of the bushes.

I look at all the animals and start to paint.

When I finish, I look at it and think…

I LOVE NATURE!

Hunter's fine art portrait was of a young boy. The portrait was close up, with a simple, dark background. Our poet had to stretch to imagine the boy's story.

Hunter M.

I see hair,

a green shirt

and a hat,

blue eyes.

I see that he is young

and I see a mouth.

He is staring at a bird

because the bird

is feeding her babies.

He is feeling interested

because he has never seen

a bird feeding its babies.

Hannah also chose a fine art portrait. This one was of a girl. Hannah used the I See (stanza 1) /I Imagine (stanzas 2 & 3) strategy for her poem.

Hannah L.

The Dress-up Girl

I am a little black girl

wearing a white frilly dress.

A necklace hangs from my neck.

A bracelet hangs from my wrist.

I have dark brown eyes.

I throw down my book, losing my page.

I change into my favorite dress.

I am supposed to read, but I don’t.

My necklace flies over my head.

My bracelet slides onto my wrist.

I am the dress-up girl.

Oh, no! Mom has come.

She looks disappointed.

I hang my head with a slight frown.

I am in trouble but it was worth it.

I am the dress-up girl.

I can't remember which painting Cole used for his poem, but the poem stands alone. Once again, you can see how stanza one (I See) is a jumping off point for a powerful stanza two (I Imagine).

Cole E.

He is wearing a

brown jacket, brown

shirt with a beard

and a scar on his neck.

He is a wanted man.
He’s been running away.

He lives in the desert

or maybe the attic.

Will he get caught?

Will he get caught?

No. He keeps running

from town so he can

get a better life in

a different place, a

different time.

I was so impressed with the Northfield poets' insights into human nature. I think they impressed themselves, too! More portrait poems on Monday.

Enjoy your Poetry Friday. Ed at Think Kid, Think! is hosting the poetry party today. I see that Ed makes great use of technology on his website. I imagine Ed typing away, planning some high-tech poetry project for us to enjoy today.

Sad Things Are Good: More Opposites from Third Grade

Available at Amazon.

One of my favorite books of opposite poems is by the poet Richard Wilbur. The story is that opposites were a dinnertime game Wilbur played with his children. One person would think of a word (sometimes outlandish). The rest of the family would try to come up with the best opposite.

Wilbur's poems, often rhyming, offer hysterical insight into these opposites. In one of my favorites, he makes a case for "pillow" as the natural opposite for "armadillo."

Another book I recommend when the students are working on opposite poems is I Am the Dog, I Am the Cat by poet Donald Hall.

At Goodreads.

This wonderful read-aloud not only teaches about opposites (dog vs. cat), but illustrates use of voice in poetry. The poems are spoken alternately by the dog and the cat, laying out the similarities and differences between the two sometime-friends, sometime-enemies.

Here are the last of the opposite poems by the Northfield third graders. Thanks to their families and teachers for allowing me to post their work!

A lesson plan for the opposite poem workshop is posted here.

It's not surprising -- this being May, school is not quite winding down yet -- that Jenny expresses how different home and school can feel in late spring.

Jenny D.

Home, School

Home: I can watch TV.

I can make some crafts.

Kristen can play with me.

I might get some clay.

I’ll eat my cake half.

We’ll play all day.

School: Tons of writing.

Tons of reading.

So much fighting.

Cannot play.

Have a meeting.

Homework all day.

A few years ago, a student proposed "Real and Imaginary" when we were brainstorming opposites. For the fantasy readers in the classroom like Minuk, this makes a great topic. I love the way the poem closes on a powerful, real animal.

Minuk H.

Real Animals and Fake Animals

Griffins are big.

Pegasus flies high.

Unicorns are beautiful.

Giants stomp really hard.

Dragons shoot fire.

Dogs bark loud.

Cats play with yarn.

Snakes attack fast.

Frogs hoppity hop.

Lions are king of the jungle.

Visit the Animal Crossing Wiki page for kids.

I was intrigued by the topic of Vivian's second stanza. Is it possible to feel sad and good at the same time? She chooses some beautiful images to prove the point.

Vivian H.

Happy Things Are Great

Happy things are great:

Like blooming flowers in spring

Or animals like deer

Beautiful nature everywhere

And trees beside rippling water

Sometimes sad things are good too:

Like rain pounding on my roof

Or falling leaves meaning it’s time to bundle up

Oh, I wish I was bee sting proof

Tomorrow is Poetry Friday. I'll have some Northfield portrait poems to share. You won't believe how far the third graders' imaginations roam when they're pretending to be someone else.

Big and Small, Happy, Sad, Opposite Poems to Make You Glad

Sun or snow?
Yes! Not no.
Fast or slow?
Stop. Then, go!

The Northfield third graders have been working on opposite poems. The full lesson is available here.

How do we get these emerging writers to think beyond writing a simple list of objects? Our model poem, "Swift Things Are Beautiful," was about fast and slow things in nature. Why didn't Elizabeth Coatsworth just put together her poem like this:

Swift Things Are Beautiful (List Version)

Swift Things Are Beautiful:          And Slow Things Are Beautiful:
Swallows, deer, lightning,             Sunset, waves, ember,
rivers, meteors, wind,                  opening flower, ox.
horses, runners.

This weekend, the Preakness is running in Baltimore.
Look for strong-withered horses!

We set up our brainstorming for this lesson much like the above -- a simple t-chart listing items for our poem. We think of three to four items (at least) for each stanza of our opposites poem. But how to take these lists and spin a poem from them?

Many of the students write animal poems: fast/slow, big/small, water/land all lend themselves to animals opposites. I ask these students to give each animal an action. I have an old student sample to read as a model. My favorite line in that poem is "crabs are pinching."

The Blue Crab is Maryland's State Crustacean.
Find a list of state symbols here.

Jeffrey took this advice to heart, extending the animal actions into descriptive lines for his animal opposites poem.

Jeffrey C.

Animals Big and Small Can Be Clever

Big animals can be clever:

Elephants picking up grass with their nose,

Whales squirting water out like a hose,

Giraffes picking leaves from tall trees.

Small animals can be clever:

Mice sneaking away with cheese,

Hummingbirds moving their wings

As fast as a cheetah in the grass,

Grasshoppers jumping around.

Visit BioKids online!

And, as I point out to the students, it's fine if two students write on the same topic. Each person's mind works in unique ways, so the resulting poems will be different. Here is Sam's take on big and small animals.

Samuel H.

Some Animals Are Big

Some animals are big:

Elephants stomping in the mud,

Whales swimming through the water,

Rhinos charging at each other,

Hippos diving into the water.

Some animals are small:

Mice running through the grass,

Beetles flying in the air,

Chipmunks digging into trees,

Turtles swimming

Peacefully in the water.

The Diamondback Terrapin is the Maryland State Reptile.

Ashlyn's Happy-Sad poem starts as a simple list of items. However, in stanza two, her poem moves beyond the list, taking a turn with the word "If."

Ashlyn B.

Happy Things Are Wonderful.

Happy things are wonderful:

When you get an A+ on a test

Or get a massage for your feet.

You win your soccer game

And you get a surprise treat.

None of these things are lame.

Sad things are despicable.

If you hurt yourself

Or lose a toy

And cry for help

Yet no one bothers to come.

If this ever happens

Or comes to your mind,

Just think of the good things

And you will be fine.

Tomorrow, the last group of opposites poems. Then we will build on two elements from this lesson -- brainstorming opposites and using action to describe -- for a workshop on portrait poems.

I See the Stars at Night: A Lesson in Opposites

How do we get our bearings in a poem? Is the action set in the day or night? Is the emotion happy or sad? Are the people or animals in the poem working or resting?

One way to organize our thoughts in a poem−and to help readers find their way−is to use stanzas.

At Northfield, the third graders know that stanzas in a poem operate much like paragraphs in regular writing.

“Stanza” is the Italian word for “room.” (Read about the word's origins here.) 

I ask students to imagine that I am welcoming them into my house. We talk about what they would see in the front hall, the kitchen, even the bathroom (that gets a few giggles). 

So why would poetry borrow that word stanza? Because, one of the students will share, reading a poem with several stanzas is like walking into the different rooms of a house.

Since the third graders know we are doing opposites poems today, they quickly figure out exactly how many stanzas our poems will have.

Next, we brainstorm pairs of opposites on the blackboard. Some favorite topics for this poem are: delicious and disgusting, summer and winter, home and school, old and young, real and imaginary animals, night and day, hot and cold, busy and lazy, fast and slow.

Fast and slow is the topic of the model poem I use on opposites day. The poem and the guts of this lesson were shared with me by poet-in-the-schools Rosanne Singer. She was my mentor poet.

(Artists coming into the MD State Arts Council school residency program student teach. We accompany an artist on one residency, observing first and picking up classes throughout the week.)

Swift Things Are Beautiful

Swift things are beautiful:

Swallows and deer,

And lightning that falls

Bright-veined and clear,

Rivers and meteors,

Wind in the wheat,

The strong-withered horse,

The runner’s sure feet.

And slow things are beautiful:

The closing of day,

The pause of the wave

That curves downward to spray,

The ember that crumbles,

The opening flower,

And the ox that moves on

In the quiet of power.

by Elizabeth Coatsworth, author of The Cat Who Went to Heaven, 1931 Newbery winner.

At Goodreads.

Students love to pick out their favorite lines in this poem. We look at our hands and say, “Veins really do look like lightning!”

We pat ourselves on the back between the shoulders because that’s where our withers would be if we were horses.

One year, I had a class that was particularly taken with the line "The closing of day." I brought their teacher the Jane Kenyon poem "Let Evening Come" so they might further explore the idea of light and shadows settling at dusk.

Embers often need some explanation, but enough children have been camping or have fireplaces at home that they recognize the glowing coals, once they are described.

Someone always brings up the wonderful last two lines.

Because our culture equates power with speed, the slow, powerful ox creates a great discussion. The students often bring up other slow, powerful animals: tortoises that live over 100 years, elephants. This year, one boy mentioned that glaciers are slow and powerful. I'd never thought of that before. The class added the concept of slow, powerful water, using the Grand Canyon as an example of a gradual but powerful change to a landscape.

Thanks again to the Northfield community for giving me permission to share the third graders' wonderful poems.

I love the way Emma uses description in her poem so that we can guess which animals she's talking about even though she doesn't name them.

Emma B.

It Is OK to Be Big

It is OK to be big

If you have a long trunk,

Or a long body to keep you swimming,

Maybe a long neck to reach high,

A big body to keep babies safe.

It is okay to be big!

It is okay to be small

If you have a shell to keep you safe,

Or a small squeak for your mom,

Maybe you can hide really well.

If you fly very high you are safe.

It is OK to be small!

"A big body to keep babies safe." From Kangroos.Org

Evan's poem reminds me of "Let Evening Come." He shows the busyness of day, contrasted with the slowing down, peaceful feeling of night.

Evan M.

Day is so fun:

Go outside and run,

Go play rugby in the grass,

Go to the park with friends,

Put up a lemonade stand,

Hear the birds chirp,

Go inside at the end of the day.

I see the stars at night:

After a long day

In the sun, after a day

With my friends,

Go inside and eat

Dinner with my family,

And then go to bed, read a good book

Then say goodnight

To the world in your bed. 

I loved the conclusion of Andrew's poem. The inside fun stanza includes things my family enjoys doing together.

Andrew P.

Outside, Inside

Playing outside is fun:

Like climbing the stairs

Of the tree house,

Spinning in circles

On the tire swing,

And climbing to the

Tippy top of

The trees.

Inside is fun also:

Rolling the dice in

Board games like Sorry,

Dancing around in

Charades,

And watching a movie on

Family movie night.

I hope your Mother's Day was both fun and peaceful, everyone. I'll post more third grade opposites poems tomorrow.

Free printable vintage Mother's Day Cards!

Poetry Friday: A Spiralling Storm of Fib Poems

It has been stormy and scary in Northfield Elementary's third grade this week. Like many of us with curious natures, the young poets I'm working with love extremes. Whether it's wild weather or the antics of dangerous animals, drama always makes for interesting writing.

This is the last of our Fibonacci poems. You can read my full lesson plan here.

Here's a great video explaining Fibonacci numbers in nature.



And since we were being all scientific, here are more third grade Fibonacci nature poems. I like how Erin introduces a character in the last, long line of her weather poem.

Erin H.

Thunderstorms

Storm

Cool

Scary

Thunderstorm

Thunder and lightning

Beautiful, dangerous, awesome

Keeps you awake at night with the boom of thunder

Read about storm science at Weather.Com

Julian starts us off with weather (A snow day? No school!) and then shifts to thinking about how winter weather affects non-human animals.

Julian C.

Ice

Snow

Snowballs

Schools days off!

In certain places,

Animals are hibernating

Caves have bears and birds go south to find a warmer place.

Find this classic picture book at Amazon.

Isabella's Fib begins with a description of her topic, reptiles, then lists some great examples... with a  little surprise in the final syllable.

Isabella M.

Reptiles

Scales,

Claws,

Scary

Reptiles like

Lizards, snakes, gators,

And those big crocodiles! Help!

Remember our reptilian friend from the Poetry Postcard series?

Poetry Friday is brought to us today by our gracious host, Anastasia Suen at BookTalking. I see she's been thinking mathematically (in literature)  too!

Next week, I'll be sharing the third graders opposites poems. They did a great job working on organizing poetic ideas into two stanzas.

Thanks to the Northfield families, students and teachers for inviting me back again this year. All of the poems in this series have been posted with permission.

Third Grade Fibs

Last week, I taught the Northfield E.S. third graders how to fib.

How to write a fib, that is. We kicked off my annual poetry residency writing Fibonacci poems. The students loved the combination of math (we talked about the Fibonacci sequence and how it is derived from a mathematical formula), science (we looked at Fibonacci spirals in nature) and poetry (we figured out that a poem could follow the Fibonacci numbers by counting out syllables).

I use Sarah C. Campbell's book as a jumping off point for the Fibonacci lesson.

You can find my full Fibonacci lesson plan at this Fib post.

Here are some of the third graders' scientific poems. I like how Ethan combines the largeness of space with a small moment -- counting stars -- in his poem.

Ethan H.

Space

Stars

Planets

Some just found

Circling the sun

Counting the stars on a bright night

From http://www.destateparks.com/activities/stargazing/
Our local astronomy club is the Howard County Astronomical League.
They hold star gazing events for families.

Julian's weather-related Fibonacci poem tells a dramatic story.

Julian H.

Boom!

Whoosh!

Get down

Tornadoes

Go to the basement

Bring a radio and some food

Are we all here? One,  two, three, four, five. Good.

     We’re all here.

The tornado stopped but we’re trapped in the basement.

     Crack. Light. The police found us. We are safe.

From tornadofacts.com

Once we realized that dinosaurs are a scientific subject, Daniel was ready to write his poem.

Daniel C.

Dinosaur

Egg

Born

Reptile

Meat-eater

Hunting a Troodon

T-Rex are very dangerous

Learn about the Troodon at National Geographic.

And Zach was also interested in the power of the weather.

Zach B.

Hurricane

Rain

Hail

High winds

Powerful

Very deadly storm

Can destroy the whole ocean coast

Hurricanes form a Fibonacci spiral.
This is Super Storm Sandy at beforeitsnews.com

Want more fibs by kids? Read some here.

I'll post more third grade poems tomorrow for Poetry Friday, and that's no fib.