National Poetry Month Issue 2

I'm glad that April is National Poetry month. In Maryland, this  month marks the transition between winter (we're still getting occasional flurries) and spring (the forsythia have bloomed).

All month, I'll be featuring Maryland poets. They are among the 50 contributors to the anthology Life in Me Like Grass on Fire: Love Poems.

Here is Life in Me like Grass on Fire contributor Carlee Hallman's spring poem. You won't be surprised that Carlee's contribution to Life in Me falls in the section, Love of Nature.

This is a focused image poem. It has color, movement, setting, and the feel of cold in a few short lines. Try the writing prompt below with elementary schoolers up through high school. High schoolers might like to look at some of William Carlos Williams' focused image poems as well.

Crocus

by Carlee Hallman

Little green buds,

bunches of leaves

cuddled together

so they won't freeze,

while snowflakes of spring

hover, enfold,

bedding them down

to keep out the cold.

Posted with permission of Carlee Hallman.

Maryland poet Carlee Hallman is widely published. Her book, Abide with Me: Prayer's for Life's Eventide, was published in 2006. Carlee is a retired United Methodist Minister.

Writing Prompt (Elementary school and up):
Write a focused image poem.

Choose one image that says spring to you. Make it a REAL picture. Something you have seen.

Rather than showing something symbolic like a robin building a nest, I  might write about the two cardinals (Brenda and Bob) who return to our back yard every spring.

In a short poem, describe what you see.

National Poetry Month Issue 1

National Poetry Month is finally here! Did you order your free NPM Poster from the Academy of American Poets?

National Poetry Month 2011 is extra-special for me. Life in Me like Grass on Fire: Love Poems hits the shelves today.


The book was my first editing gig, a project for the Maryland Writers Association.

This month, I'm going to introduce you to some of Maryland best poets -- many of whom are contributors to Life in Me. All of the poems are classroom-appropriate. Some may be for high schoolers. Others will work in elementary schools.

Today's writing prompt is for high schoolers. You'll find it at the end of the post.

I've come to know Dennis Kirschbaum's poetry through the anthology. Nostalgia is one of the themes of Dennis work, but he always manages to look at the past without rose-colored glasses.

Dennis' poem X-Men speaks to the trappings of childhood. We understand the speaker's youthful admiration for the Fantastic Four, but also how they help the speaker navigate his way into adulthood.

X-Men

by Dennis Kirschbaum

John’s “Avengers” numbered 16 to 127 formed the core

so we kept the collection at his house.

I was sucked in through the Fantastic Four, whose stony,

aloof, orange Thing spoke to me at a gamma level.

Iron Man and the giant, emerald Hulk,

hid tender emotions beneath impenetrable metal

and impervious hide.

Tapping superhuman powers, I bought hundreds.

I earned a small fortune, bringing the daily “Sun”

and spent it in 25 cent increments,

flying to Jeppe’s Comic World in the summer heat,

burning like the Human Torch, and cooling down in the rare air

conditioned basement where a crisp stack waited in a milk crate

with my name on it.

Each was read once, then catalogued on blue-lined

index cards, and carefully protected in special plastic

that could withstand water, extinguish fire,

and repel radioactive spider venom.

By the time I left for college, the boxes filled half the room.

Later, I returned to find John had sold every one.

Mortally wounded by the Abomination and his Forces of Evil,

I remembered my training. I didn’t cry.

Just a grimace, as I slunk from the scene,

tattered shirt clinging to my swelling green skin,

purple pants stretched, ripped,

and blown apart at the knees.

Posted with the permission of Dennis Kirschbaum.

Dennis Kirschbaum is the associate vice president for Campus Advancement at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. He runs, bakes and writes a poetry blog, The Steaming Cup, from his home in Washington Grove, Maryland.

HS Writing Prompt:

After reading "X-Men," have students choose a favorite super-hero. Real heroes need not apply. It has to be a fictional character. Someone with powers.

Next, ask students to free-write any memories they have connected with that character.

Once the memories are written down, ask them to write what aspects of the character appealed to them as little kids.

Enough brainstorming! Time to write. I was always partial to Storm.

Who gets the honor of hosting Poetry Friday on the first day of National Poetry Month? It's Amy at the Poem Farm. Stop by the farm and enjoy all of the NPM posts and projects.

Sestina: High School

We've been visiting with my middle schoolers at St. Jane Frances School this week.

After our lesson on wordplay, we were ready to write our final poem -- a sestina.

The sestina is a complex form structured around end words rather than a rhyme scheme. You can read about it here.

These are the steps we used to write a group sestina in Ms. Habicht's 8th grade class.

1. Brainstorm possible topics
We came up with a list, then voted. The class chose "High School" as the subject of their poem.

2. Brainstorm end/repeating words
We generated a large list, but narrowed it down to the six we wanted to use in our poem. They are:

CHANGE
NERVES
LOST
TEACH
FRESH
FRIENDS

3. Work in groups
Ms. Habicht split the class into six groups, one for each stanza of sestina. (They'd write the final stanza, or envoi, later). I gave each of the groups a sheet with the order of the six words for their stanza.

Ms. Habicht and I were impressed with the final poem. It captures the mixed emotions these students are feeling as they prepare for high school.

Since my son is also an eighth grader, this poem feels very real to me.

High School
 

by St. Jane Frances School English Class 8-1

Everything we once knew will change.

From the moment we step into school, we are nervous –

yet excited. We feel lost

like in a maze of people, who may teach

us the ways of high school. Fresh-

men like us will find true friends.

It’s time to say goodbye to our well-known friends,

and get ready for our big change

of becoming fresh-

men. Our bodies begin to show all signs of nerves

as our teacher

hands us the map of the school, knowing we’ll still get lost.

We reflect on the memories that will never be lost,

remembering walking through the Bazaar with green-tinged friends

and Mr. Kane strumming his guitar instead of teach-

ing. Although we seem confident, we are terrified of change

and hope that next year we can hide our nerv-

ousness, as we begin the blank page: the year we will be called fresh.

Starting out the year as a fresh-

man, middle school lost

in the past. Fighting nerves

as I try to make new friends.

Having mixed feelings about the oncoming change,

I wave goodbye to my teachers.

New school, new teachers.

It’s time to start fresh.

I’m excited about the challenge of change.

The fear of getting lost

scares me. I don’t want to leave my friends

because making new ones works on my nerves.

Chills race up my spine as I nerv-

ously glance at my new teacher;

remembering old friends.

I am a recluse freshman,

lost,

imagining myself in these halls of this new exhilarating world of change.

Sometimes change is good without the nerves

of feeling lost. I try to navigate my way to new teachers,

Fearing freshman year, though I know I’ll make the best of friends.

Thanks to the families at St. Jane Frances School for giving me permission to post the children's poems this week.

National Poetry Month is almost here!

All month, I'll be posting classroom-friendly poems by Maryland poets. These poets are featured in the new anthology Life in Me like Grass on Fire, just out from Maryland Writers Association. 

Wordplay Lesson

Today is the big day! I'm heading to St. Jane Frances School for the middle school poets tea.

Teacher Pat Habicht is a big fan of poetic form, particularly the sestina. This site has the rules of the form, which includes choosing six "end-words."

My favorite book on form is by Ron Padgett.

It takes some skill to stretch those six words, which each appear at least seven times in the poem. To prepare middle schoolers for sestina writing, I do a workshop on wordplay.

The model poem is "Murder Most Vowel" by Robin Hirsch. You can find it in the book FEG: Ridiculous Poems for Intelligent children.

(Read a review of FEG by Naomi Shihab Nye here.)

Begin by choosing a one syllable word. I picked BEAN.

Now run that word through as many vowel sounds as you can. You don't have to use all of them in your wordplay poem, but it's good to have choices.

BEAN
BEN
BIN
BON
BONE
BAN
BANE

These are going to be the end words for the lines in a short wordplay poem. It may not make sense. That's okay. Try to weave the end words around a silly little story.

I had several failed attempts and thrown out beginning words ("mood," "chair," "Sam" -- none of which worked for me), before I settled on "BEAN." When you're writing, aim for a last line with a joke or an off-rhythm, just as Robin Hirsch does in "Murder Most Vowel."

Here is my poem:

“What’s for dinner Mom?” asked Ben.

“A casserole of fish and bean,”

Mom said. “Look out! Don’t eat that bone!”

A rib stuck in his throat, the bane

of Ben’s young life – since then he has been

floundering.

Ms. Habicht and I allowed the students to work in small groups or alone. Composing a poem around a list of words is a challenge, but the middle schoolers were up to it. 

Here are some of their wordplay poems. These samples will give you a good idea of how creative kids can get with this lesson.

Expectations of  a Love Story 

By Courtney B. and Madison F. 
Beginning word: "Read"

If you read

about a rude

man who rode

to town to raid

the castle to rescue

the princess to ride

off into the sunset,

remember to rest.

Wily Will’s Wheel

by Hannah K. and Johanna M. 

Beginning word: "Wall"

Once, there was a large, navy-blue whale

who swallowed a round wooden wheel

that was used to make fuzzy silver wool.

The wheel’s wily owner, Will,

chased the whale into a well.

Will dove through the well’s wall,

and the whale swallowed him whole.

This one cracks me up:

Fabio’s Fall

by Jack C. and Ryan S. 

Beginning word: "Fall"

On a cold fall

day, a boy named Fabio fell

into a ditch. He was trying to file

his newspaper clippings full

of interesting facts.

As he fell, he yelled, Fail!

It was his own fault.

He felt like a total fool.

Fabio is still stuck in the ditch with a major concussion and two broken legs.

Madison and Kelsey's poem gives a good sense of how you can build a little story around the word list.

The Stolen Sail

by Madison W. and Kelsey L. 

Beginning word: "Sale"

There once was a guy named Sal

Who lived in a horse’s stall.

He stole a sail

That wasn’t on sale.

He went and sat on his stool

By the window sill

After months of searching for him, he was finally caught.

Hannah's poem is one of my favorites from this workshop. It turns out, you don't have to be silly to play with the words in this exercise.

Playing with Love 

by Hannah L.
Beginning word: "Hot"

It’s not shaped like the candy hearts

that melt sweet words on my tongue. It can hurt,

for it’s not always perfect, and can hit

you anytime, anywhere. It fills you with a heat

that burns through your heart, red hot

like a wildfire in July’s height.

It doesn’t know hate,

nor does it give a hoot

about appearance or heft.

It is something I can’t wait to be hoisted

up by. It is love.

I hope you have a chance to try this lesson with your own students. I'd recommend it for advanced 5th grader writers through adults. As I said, it's a challenge, but can also be fun.

Tomorrow, I'll post a sestina written by one of Ms. Habicht's eighth grade classes. They are preparing to move on to high school, which is the theme of their group-written sestina. 

Prose Poem or Flash Fiction?

One of my favorite lessons this year was the portrait poem. I put it back on my school workshop menu after a long hiatus.

At St. Jane Frances School, teacher Pat Habicht and I brought books, fine art transparencies and photographs cut out from the newspaper for students to write about.

In this lesson, I tell students to first describe everything they see. Then, imagine the photo or painting is a television screen on pause. What happens when they press "play?" What does the person in the image do next?

Michael E. wrote in response to a painting from poet/artist Shonto Begay's wonderful book Navajo.

This could be a poem, if Michael works on line breaks. But it could also be the opening of a short story.

That's fine with me. The important thing in a first draft is getting ideas on paper. The author can decide what the piece will be later.

Rodeo 

by Michael E.

They are going to the rodeo, plowing down a long desert highway. The rider is in the back, with stores of food and tools, resting on the spare tire. Sore and tired after many rodeos, but it’s how he makes his money. He’s reading a magazine, dozing sometimes into a sleep. His friend sits opposite him snoring. The men and women in the front talk quietly amongst themselves.

Posted with permission of the poet and his family.

I can imagine the dialogue that comes next, what the men and women in the cab are saying about the rodeo rider while they think he's sleeping. 

More middle school poems are on the way as we count down to National Poetry Month.

Simple Odes

One of my favorite poetry workshops for schools is writing simple odes.

I use the same model poem for elementary and secondary students, Gary Soto's "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes." (There's a printable version for teachers here.)

With younger students, I ask everyone to take off a shoe and write an ode to it. They need a tactile object to smell, touch, and see in order to write a juicy ode. I've posted the full lesson and some elementary responses here.

Middle schoolers understand the use of tone in a simple ode. The words and phrases we use give the reader a new, elevated experience of an every day object. These students no longer need the support of an assigned topic.

I've had wonderful odes on the EXIT sign in the classroom, a bookmark, and in Sarah P's very juicy ode, an orange.

Ode to the Orange 

by Sarah P. (7th Grade, St. Jane Frances School)

The small sphere of sunshine

is revealed as the knife

slices into the golden flesh

of the orange halves.

Juice swells from the orange,

ready to burst

as it        d

                r

                i

                p

                s

d

  o

     w

         n

from the knife

like the color of

precious honey.

The golden tiles of the orange

piece together

like glass forming a mosaic.

As the fragrance

of the orange rises

the divine aroma gathers around me,

tempting me to take a bite.

I can’t resist and sink my teeth in,

getting a sneak peek of heaven.

Posted with permission of the poet and her family.

I love Sarah's playfulness in this poem. The descriptions themselves aren't enough to capture the experience of eating an orange, so she uses some concrete-poem techniques to add to the reader's sensory experience of this "bright object."

Thanks to St. Jane Frances School in Pasadena, MD for allowing me to share student work. I'll be back with more middle school poems tomorrow as we gear up for National Poetry Month.