Poetry Friday: Voices Fly

My new book is in!

It has the fabulous title Voices Fly -- so fitting for an anthology of student poetry. The subtitle is a bit more weighty (but important): "Exercises and Poems from the Maryland State Arts Council Artist-in-Residence Program." The Artist-in-Residence program funds my schools visits and those by other Maryland poets and artists.

Fellow MSAC artist-in-residence Virginia Crawford and I have been working on the book for about eighteen months. It includes a foreword by Maryland's Poet Laureate, Stanley Plumly!

When the arts council asked me and Ginny to edit a book of student poetry from the program, we were feeling a little more ambitious. What if we designed the book so that it was more than an anthology? What if we invited Maryland's poets-in-the-schools to share their favorite lessons? This way, teachers could actually use the book to teach more poetry in their classrooms.

Christine Stewart, our wonderful administrator at MSAC, agreed to the plan.

Inside Voices Fly, you'll find eight chapters. Each one features a MSAC poet-in-the-schools describing one of her favorite residency workshops, ranging in age levels from kindergarten through high school. Each workshop is followed by student poems written in response to the lesson. The book includes some back matter -- resources recommended by the eight Artist-in-Residence poets.

There will only be a limited number of copies available from the Maryland State Arts Council. However -- GOOD NEWS! -- MSAC's website will have a PDF of the book. In other words, anyone can download Voices Fly for free and make use of the lessons. The website is www.MSAC.org (be patient, the link may not be up yet).

Today, I am sharing a portion of my chapter on writing odes:

Chapter 6: Simple Odes

Laura Shovan

Upper Elementary through High School

Tone is an elusive concept, yet it crosses over two areas that educators are often required to teach as part of their writing curricula – voice and word choice.

When I began doing school workshops on simple odes, my focus was on use of simile, hyperbole and sensory detail. In working with students, I saw that they also understood the concept of tone as it works in a simple ode.
 

I like to pick up something random in the classroom. It might be a blackboard eraser, a paperclip, or a tissue. Together, the class brainstorms all of the things we can do with that object. We exaggerate -- a good time to introduce hyperbole -- in order to highlight the object’s value. With the eraser, all of our mistakes can disappear. The paperclip is like a secretary for our school work, keeping it organized and making us efficient. The tissue comforts us when we are sick, dries our tears when we are sad.

At this point, we read and discuss Gary Soto’s “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes.” We look for similes, hyperbole and description.

Elementary children need the structure of a specific prompt, so we all write odes to our shoes. Middle schoolers still need to have something on hand to write about but are ready for more freedom. My students have written odes to their desks, binders, a bookmark, even the EXIT sign over the door.

The key in an ode, as the children quickly pick up, is that we are making a persuasive argument. The words, similes and descriptions we use – the tone of the poem – needs to convince the reader that these sneakers are the best sneakers in the universe. Through tone, simple odes remind readers to stop and pay attention to everyday objects that deserve praise.

I recently did the workshop on odes with a group of fifth graders at Swansfield Elementary. Here are two of their poems. I bent the rules about having something on hand for Fahd, because he was itching with enthusiasm to write this ode:

Ode to Firefighter

by Fahd K.

Strong and brave

Fights fire with

Cool water

Gallons and gallons

of water coming

from a hose

like a black snake

A big, hard helmet

protects a face

mighty like a god

of fire

Happy as a winner

for saved children

Tired, happy, good

Back to the

fire station.

Tyler understood that odes can easily go from praising an object to over-the-top rhapsodizing. I love his sense of humor in this simple ode:

Ode to My Pants

by Tyler D.

Dear Pants

Thank you for

Protecting

my legs and

knees from

scrapes on the

sidewalk.

You protect

me like armor

in a war and

steel on a vault.

And for giving

me good style!

Pants you

have the

Biggest meaning

on my body.

I hope you'll all stop at the Maryland State Arts Council website and download a copy of Voices Fly for your classroom or your library. Thanks to Swansfield E. S. and the poets' families for allowing me to share the students' work.

Carol at Carol's Corner is hosting Poetry Friday today. Please stop by Carol's blog for more poetry news and reviews.

Sweet Tooth Poetry

Yesterday was the poetry open house at Northfield Elementary. We had many parents, grandparents and friends come to hear the third graders read their poems.

 

The food poems, in particular, are a favorite of the visiting families because of food's connection to family traditions. In this workshop, I do give kids the option of using their five senses to describe a food. However, I encourage them to extend their poem, because foods can remind us of people, places, and memories.

A few years ago, my friend Christine's son was among the third grade students at Northfield. As usual, when introducing the workshop on food poetry, we spent time talking about special foods in the children's families. I reminded the children, "It doesn't have to be a holiday food. You can write about a food that someone important makes for you. Maybe your aunt has a recipe for brownies, and no one else makes brownies as delicious as hers."

Christine's son took that to heart. He wrote a sweet poem about his grandmother's oatmeal. The whole family got such a kick out of the poem, they framed the final draft. The boy's grandmother, it turns out, was not the cookie-baking, apron-wearing type. Oatmeal was her one and only specialty.

Oatmeal from www.foodchannel.com

In reading these third-grade food poems, look for the poets connecting a food to a specific experience or to the emotions of sharing a meal or a treat with someone they love. You will notice that we spent some time working on sensory images and similes before writing.

All my poets today share my love for sweets. Get ready for a sugar rush, readers!

Cotton Candy

by Jane H.

Fluff, sweet cotton candy.

It melts in my mouth.

They are the little clouds

that you can see up high

in the sky.

Pink, blue, purple, yellow!

The rainbow is what I see.

It is so sweet, it smells like sugar.

The fluff so soft, like my cat's fur.

A whoosh, a whirl, my cotton candy

finally made.

Poof poof poof

Chomp!

Yum!

I love cotton candy.

www.polyvore.com

S'Mores

by James K.

You and me

ride the car

to the food store.

We get the marshmallows

and the crackers, my favorite,

the chocolate. We go back

home and my dad gets out the grill.

We open the bags of

delicious food. I feel the

marshmallow that feels

like my fluffy pillow. Once

you put it in the

oven it melts down all

over the place. I take it

out and put it on the

table to cool. I pour my melted

chocolate in the bowl of the

white stew. I get the spoon

and mix it together and

lick it off the spoon. It tastes

like ice cream and sounds like

they day passing. It smells

like fresh baked cake. I dip

the spoon and put it on the

crackers and put it together.

My food is s'mores.

Not going camping any time soon? Here is a recipe for "Boiler S'mores."

Ice Cream

by Kiran V.

In the summer after dinner

my family goes to get ice cream

Sometimes my friend comes with us. When

we get hte ice cream it smells like

all my favorite things put together in one. It

looks like whipped cream with candy.

It sounds like somebody licking a lollipop.

It feels like creamy ice. It tastes like heaven

when it goes into your mouth. Ice cream

is the best thing in the world, ask my

friend. Oh, I love sitting outside

looking at the stars as we eat.

Easter Chocolate

by Sofia M.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Abuelita and Abuelito!

Yay! They're here!

Sister and I run up to the front door.

Creak... the door opens.

We can smell the sweet chocolate

that they bring every year!

Mami and Papa come up to greet

Abuelita and Abuelito.

"Time to get the chocolate open!!!"

the grandparents say.

Thump!

The chocolate gets set down on the table.

Sister and I look inside our

Easter baskets.

Chocolate! Chocolate

1, 2, 3... 20 chocolates!!?

That's a lot of chocolate!

Gobble up the chocolate!

Delicious!

But what makes the memory special

is the love all around.

Thanks to the Northfield staff and families for allowing me to share these delicious poems.

Dishes for a Poets' Tea

High Tea at www.whatscookingamerica.net

Today is our Poets' Tea at Northfield Elementary. The third graders get to share their residency poems with visiting family, friends, and with each other. It's always cool to watch a student read a classmate's poem and say, "Wow. She's a good poet." The residency can change how kids view themselves and their peers.

I've got some tasty poems on the menu! One of our workshops was on food memories. You can read the full lesson here. It features Sandra Cisneros' "Good Hotdogs" -- a poem just meaty enough for elementary schoolers to dig into.

For this workshop, we spend a lot of time talking about the students' traditions with food. Some go out for ice cream with their soccer teams after every game. Other children like to talk about special holiday foods their families make. I have had students tell about everything from stewed goat's head to candy-corn coated cinnamon buns. The point made through this discussion is that food is more than food. Just as in the poem "Good Hotdogs," food can reminds us of people, experiences, and memories.

Thanks to Northfield's wonderful third grade team for another year of poetry, our sixth! And thanks to the students' families for allowing me to share their fine work.

We are serving breakfast, a traditional Jewish treat, and dinner out at the Poetry Cafe.

Pancakes

by Lily S.

I woke up to a buttery smell.

I get up and put on my robe

When I walk down, I see a sign that says,

"Happy birthday, Lily" in big letters.

Right when I go in the kitchen

my dad is making my favorite,

Pancakes! for me and also my family

was there to hug me. Then they

put it on a special plate that says

all of my friends on, even my brother

and sister. Then in the middle it says

Lily's 8th birthday and the 8th is in

a birthday cake. Then my dad

puts the pancakes on with melted butter.

Then syrup goes on and looks

like snow falling down a mountain.

Then mom puts the candles on

and lights it.

Apples, Crunchy and Honey, Sweet

by Ariela P.

For Rosh Hashanah celebration

Thick and syrupy in your  mouth

In a house with lots of kids

And parents all over the place

Honey made by bees in jar

To sell in the stores

Apples crunch in your teeth

Gloopy and sticky

Shiny, coming in all colors

Slippery, holding it in your hand

Sweet, tender smells with tints

Of sourness and bitter

You can read more about apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah here.

Chicken Lo Mein

by Max K.

Mom asks me where we

can go for dinner. I say

Pei Wei. Everybody agrees.

When we get there, I

eagerly go inside. I wait

patiently to get my chicken

lo mein. When we sit down

edamame is served. I have

some with sauce, some with

nothing. Then, the main

course arrives. It tastes

better than chocolate. Maybe

a little hot at first. It smells

a little like steam. It looks

like a salad. It feels pretty

hot. It sounds a little like

bacon. I eat it as fast

as a train. Then we get

fortune cookies.

www.kraftrecipes.com

Sunday Treats

by Anya R.

I leap up from my chair,

my homework done and packed

away. Sunday is today

and that's always a treat.

We get to go out to dinner

and tonight is my choice. We're

at the Japanese restaurant

in not time. We order.

Our drinks hit the table

with a clink.

My hot, steaming rice

comes second. It tastes

so hot and nice

in my mouth with  my favorite

sauce on top. Then I see our

waitress coming our from

the kitchen as my dad's

soup comes to rest right in

front of him, I breathe in

the sweet smell of my noodles.

I'll post more food poems after this afternoon's tea. See you there!

Poetry Friday: Mummy of Lady Teshat

It's a very happy Poetry Friday for me. By the time you read this, I will be in Florida, meeting my brand new nephew, Jagger Max. Jagger was born on April Fool's Day which, to anyone who knows my brother, shows that our newest family member already has a sense of poetic justice.

For the past week, I have been blogging about my portrait poem workshop. This is one of the most powerful lessons I do with kids. Encouraging students to write from a stranger's point of view works magic on their brains.

Today, I'll share a story from the poetry classroom, along with a student poem.

During April and May, I was in residence at Swansfield Elementary in Columbia, MD. On portrait poem day, the school's wonderful art teacher provided us with dozens of fine art posters. PTA President (and residency organizer) Jen Mallo put the artwork up all around the classroom. When Ms. Salazar's students walked in from lunch, there were walls full of faces looking back at them.

If you want to try the lesson (I've used it for grades 3 through HS), you can read my full portrait lesson here. After I shared the model portrait and poem, the fifth graders had a few minutes to select a work of art.

Malaika N. chose this:

Mummy Case of Lady Teshat
worldgallery.co.uk

I usually circulate around the room while students are writing. Malaika was quite absorbed in her work. When you read her poem, notice that it follows the structure I modeled. It begins with what you can see in the image -- the "facts" of the portrait. The point of departure, "what I can't see," begins with the word "Inside." From that moment, Malaika's imagination was working deep into the heart of the mummy.

Malaika stood and read this poem to her classmates as the period was ending. The room was silent. We all felt something amazing had happened. With words, Malaika made a strong emotional connection between herself, a 3,000-year-old mummy from approximately, and her audience.

Mummy of Lady Teshat

by Malaika N.

Mummified lady.

The casket resembles her.

Triangles and designs are all over.

She has dark hair and big eyes.

Inside, she screams to come out.

The gathering anger of 10,000 years

with a powerful kick will set her free.

Now she roams free.

She also roams unseen.

Now she is as weak as a baby bird.

She crumples to the ground.

Her dust finds it way back.

She is forever trapped in what she calls

the box of the afterlife.

Lady Teshat "lives" at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts

I took a second to check in with Malaika before I left for the day. When a poet connects with an audience, the words take on energy as she speaks them. It is a physical sensation, hard to explain but unforgettable if you have experienced it (either as a poet or as an audience member).

"You felt that, didn't you?" I asked Malaika. She did. It was a transformational moment for her, but also for her classmates.

The Swansfield fifth graders have been revising and typing up their poems. I know Malaika worked on "Lady Teshat." I can't wait to see what she's done with the poem. You can read up on this work of art here.You can even share information about the mummy's recent CT scan with your science buffs.

Thank you to Malaika's family and to the Swansfield team for allowing me to share this poem.

Have a great Poetry Friday. I'll be posting more student poems next week. For now, please visit Linda at Teacher Dance for more poetry posts.

Portrait Poems Part 3

Last week, we looked at writing portrait poems with elementary schoolers.Part one of the lesson is here, where I introduce the concept of starting with "what I see" in a picture or newspaper photo, then adding "what I imagine" to extend the poem.

Part two of the lesson is here. It includes a model pairing of painting and poem by artist Shonto Begay.

Picasso is a great choice for the
portrait poem workshop. The image
invites storytelling.

In some schools, the art teacher will provide fine art portraits for the kids to choose from. I'll share some art-response portraits from fifth grade students tomorrow.

At Northfield Elementary, we like to display the portrait poems with their images. This means the children are asked to bring in newspaper or magazine clippings. Two rules: it has to be an image of a person, it should not be someone you know. We can bend this rule for celebrities. I don't like the students to write in response to photos of themselves or family. (See part one of the lesson for my reasoning.)

I recommend having extra photos. Newspaper clippings work best, because they often have a story built into the image. In finding good photos, look for expression in the face or body language, a person in action, or an interesting setting or "props" within the image.

When the students are ready to write, some like to use a T-chart for brainstorming: "I see" or "Facts" listed on one side, "I can't see" or "Imagination" on the other.

Kyle's portrait is also a narrative poem. I think he was inspired by our conversation about Shonto Begay's painting, "Down Highway 163." This poet has a natural sense of rhythm.

Run Away Slave

by Kyle S.

I've been working so hard

all day and night

but now I get to run

away from my king's sight.

I've been running through forests.

I've been running through fields.

I've been swimming through rivers.

Ouch, there's an eel.

And now I'm in a cave

with rocks and a boulder.

Oh NO! A dead end.

I must roll the rocks over.

Yay! Look, there's an exit

behind all of these rocks.

Out in the sun

and away from the locks.

Oh NO! It's my king

with the guards on his wing.

Now, the chase is on.

 

With a poet this advanced (even in third grade!) I feel comfortable making a comment on the eel line: "Does this funny line fit the tone of your poem?" Kyle will think that over when we revise.

Two students had the same photo -- a magazine ad showing a girl with a jar of fireflies. The class got to hear both poems. It was fascinating to see what different responses each poet came up with. Here is one (I added line breaks):

As She Sits

by Katie T.

As she sits on the stone fence,

her face gleams with light.

She held a jar

with rocks and plants plus light.

What is that glow in the jar?

Then fireflies shot out.

Her face lit up.

She watched them fly free.

In the darkness an owl hoots,

but she still watched.

The lid was in her hand.

A firefly landed on the lid.

The gold color shined bright

from the light.

The dark doesn't scare her.

animals.howstuffworks.com

The class talked about the owl -- an addition from Katie's imagination. There was no owl in the starting image.

Abby wrote in response to a post card I brought. It's a photo from a series of famous women. This one was of a statue of Sacagawea in Portland.

I See a Woman

by Abby Y.

I see a woman

reaching out

feeling her furry dress

with a stray coat

that's very gray.

The wind blowing

through her thick hair

with a baby on her back

standing there like she

is a frozen statue

not happy.

I read somewhere that Sacagawea is the subject of more U.S. statues than any other single person.

We'll look at some fifth grade portraits in response to fine art tomorrow.

Portrait Poems Part 2

Happy Poetry Friday, Friends!

Some quick news, before today's poetry lesson. This week, I found out that my ekphrastic poem, "Fringe," was a finalist for the 2012 Rita Dove Poetry Awards. I am thrilled!

Those of you who remember me writing about the mud run I'm doing with my teenage son, it's this weekend. Fingers crossed that I survive.

Last, if you are in the Westminster, MD area, I am reading at the Carroll County Arts Council Thursday 5/24 at 7 PM. Poet Bruce Sager will be my partner in rhyme.

Yesterday, I introduced portrait poems to the Northfield third grade. We looked at a student poem in response to The Scream. (Yesterday's post, part one of the lesson, is here.)

Today, we are going to take a poem walk through the model poem, Shonto Begay's "Down Highway 163." About a year ago, I exchanged emails with Mr. Begay regarding this lesson. If you'd like to read our conversation, that post is here. I am grateful for his permission to share his work.

First, I share a little of Mr. Begay's background, which kids (and I) find both heart-breaking and fascinating. Then, we look at his painting, "Down Highway 163."

We list the facts of the painting, all of the things we can see. Kids get the idea quickly. We can say the person is cold because she is wrapped in a blanket and there is snow. We can't assume the person is homeless. That's not a fact we can see.

FYI -- if you live on the East Coast, as I do, your students might mistake that butte in the background for a building or an orange cloud. I usually take a minute to tell them what a butte is, often showing them a photograph of the real Highway 163 in Utah.

After we have all our facts, we can start the fun part of this exercise...imagining. I've had classes come up with many crazy and wonderful stories about this painting. In a recent one, the woman's sack was filled with cash she'd been saving for a long time. She was hitching a ride on the truck so she could get to the used car lot and buy her own car!

Now, it's time to see what the artist imagined about this character.

DOWN HIGHWAY 163
by Shonto Begay

The old lady in the back of the truck
Has seen days much colder
Someone's grandmother
On the highway towards Kayenta
Only her face shows from a faded blanket (5)
Her features are strong
Maybe she is related to the people in the front
Laughing and warm
Or maybe she is catching a ride to the trading post
She may even be returning (10)
From the health clinic in Monument Valley
The back of the truck is cold
Among old spare tires and chains
Shovels and bare metal box
She is no stranger to Old Man Winter (15)
She has seen many winters
It has been colder

Posted with permission of the author.

As I mentioned with last week's poem walk, I let the students guide the discussion. I have my "hoped for" points in mind. Most of the time, when I ask kids to share their favorite parts of the poem, the children will pull these lines out themselves.

Line 1: If students are stuck with their own poems, they can use this opening line strategy -- tell who, tell where.

Line 2: We'll come back to the connotations of the word "cold" by the end of the discussion and see how it threads through the poem. Many elementary schoolers have heard the idiom, "giving the cold shoulder" or understand (thanks to reality TV) "that was cold" is an appropriate response to an insult. The point is, "cold" can be used to describe disrespectful treatment -- not just the temperature. This is not an easy idea for all third graders, some of whom are concrete thinkers, so I'll need to spend time on this concept -- with their teacher's help.

Line 3: At some point in the discussion, I will ask, "Would you treat your grandmother this way?"

Line 6: How do we know this person is strong (see final two lines)? The students find this line as evidence. We talk about the idea that when a poet calls someone's facial features -- outer expression -- strong, that poet is suggesting the person is also strong on the inside.

Line 7-8: See my question about Line 3. We start to realize that it's pretty shocking that this elderly woman has been stuck in the back of a truck -- in the middle of winter -- by the drivers. Her family? We might talk about the idea that in Begay's Navajo culture, elders are treated with great respect.

Line 11: Some children will pick up on the idea that the woman might be sick. That makes us more bothered that she is in the back of the truck and not being cared for.

Line 13-14: Since we discussed the junk in the back of the truck (tire, shovel, box) when we looked at the painting, the students understand the metaphor here. If our woman is back there with the trash, how is she being treated? Like trash.

Line 15: Some children have not heard of "Old Man Winter." Explain that it's an expression similar to Mother Nature or Jack Frost.

Lines 16-17: We come back to the thread of "cold" layers in the poem now, both the weather and the treatment of this woman. The children will point out, when I ask them what they like about these two lines, that the woman is a survivor. They "get" that she has been through worse winters/experiences and will live through this.

After we read the poem one more time, I shower the kids with praise. It takes a lot of deep thinking to discuss a poem like "Down Highway 163" and they've done a great job.

At Northfield, we ask the kids to bring newspaper and magazine clippings for their portraits. The teachers and I usually bring in extras. While a simple portrait will work, I like to look for images that have story potential -- details, style of dress, or a setting that makes me say, "What's happening here?"

If the kids get stuck while they're writing, I suggest that they use Shonto Begay's strategy. Begin a new thread of imagining with the word "maybe."

In Mary's poem, there is a subtle suggestion of conflict between the girl going to a dance and the parents taking her photo.

A Pretty Teenager Going to a Dance

by Mary

My long blue dress with

brown curly hair and sparkly earrings

with the trees in the background

Me posing for a picture

But I want to go to a dance

to laugh and smile

dance with my friends

It's my first time so let me

have fun and laugh

talk with my friends

It will be the best time I ever

had with all my friends and me

Zoe's poem captures a friendship between two very different girls. (There was only one girl in the picture Zoe wrote in response to.)

My Crazy Friend Daisy

by Zoe

I see my friend

and what do I think

Well, I think she's crazy

in that pose

With her glasses on

doing her funny dance

I'm just sitting there watching

What a sight!

What a crazy friend.

But she still is fun

that funny friend of mine

in that pose

Oh, what a great friend!

Amber wrote about a fashion photograph.

Fancy Model Or...

by Amber

Walking on glass.

Wow, so hard.

How can she do it?

Oh, I don't know!

Or maybe a model

looking so cute.

Fancy necklace or bracelet or dress.

Fancy model walking on glass.

Feeling proud like "Wow, I'm doing it."

Walking up and down

above the clouds

like the queen of the word

or space.

Glasses in her hand, hand on her hip

seeing herself

lovely and sweet

like a professional model.

Oh, she is.

What is she thinking?

Looking up, not down,

focusing on her.

Her her her her her

just her.

Getting dizzy spinning around

turning, spinning, walking, turning.

Lilly's magazine clipping was simple: A young girl with a seashell by her ear.

The Waves

by Lilly

Ffffff

Fffff

Listen

Fffff

The waves are talking

I can hear them well

Ffffff

Through the shell the waves

are coming

I almost think they're coming

at me

Fffff

The waves are talking.

I'll have a few more wonderful portrait poems on Monday, and then we'll move on to food poems. Yum!

Today's Poetry Friday host is Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat. Thank, Katya!