In Residence: Due Stanze

Welcome back to Northfield Elementary, readers, where I am spending May as the poet-in-residence.

Throwback Thursday:
One of my favorite residency photos.

The third grade poets have practiced word choice (list poems) and figurative language (animal simile poems). Today, we are working building on the list poem and learning about stanzas.

The word "stanza" comes from the Italian word for room. Often, I start this lesson inviting the students on an imaginary walk through my house. They expect to see a plant, some pictures, and maybe a coat rack in the entrance way. There is probably a microwave, stove, and sink in the kitchen. Is there a bed in the kitchen? No! The kitchen is for cooking.

Is it so strange to have a bed in the kitchen?
Design Bug doesn't think so.

We talk about the way the rooms of a house are organized around the purpose of each room. So why are poems organized into "rooms"? Each stanza might have its own purpose or main idea--kind of like a paragraph in prose writing.

The simplest way to teach stanzas is writing opposite poems. You can find a full description of my workshop here.

And this post has a poem-walk of the model poem, "Swift Things Are Beautiful" by Elizabeth Coatsworth.

Now entering la stanza della poesia, please welcome poets Avery,  Setutsi, Jen, Anlan, Arushi, Johanna.

Avery I.

Students and Teachers

A teacher mentors:

She grades worksheets,

possibly creates and gives a test.

A story is what she reads to her students.

Teachers spend lunch alone planning lessons.

A student learns:

You contentedly do a worksheet.

Tests with a million questions may come your way.

A chapter books is read aloud to you.

Students happily eat in the cafeteria with their friends.

Setutsi A.

Good Weather and Bad Weather

Good weather is bright sunshine.

In the night time a beautiful sunset brightens

the sky and hides the moon. Cool, crisp

weather blowing the leaves f one side

to the next. That is when it is not too hot

and not too cold.

Bad weather is rainy dark days

with lightning roaring up in the clouds.

Cold, snowy days, with foggy weather so you

can’t see too well in the distance. Snow is

freezing on your cheeks and ears. It makes

them turn pink.

This rosy-cheeked cutie is graduating
from high school on Saturday.
Congratulations to our Robbie!

Jen T.

Imaginary and Real Animals

Imaginary things are cute.

Unicorns that fly high in the sky.

Dragons breathing fire to burn things down.

Invisible koalas soaring over the town with no one noticing them.

Fish that don’t need water to live.

And real things are cute.

Horses that go galloping through the forest

Birds flying in the sky looking for food.

Koalas climbing in the wild of the forest.

Fish roaming and exploring the ocean.

Anlan L.

Cute and Creepy Animals

Cute animals are cool:

The playing feeling in a dog. The sound

of a cat purring at me. The eyes of

a bird staring at me, and the fur of a hamster

I am stroking.

Creepy animals are cool:

The 8 eyes of a spider

staring at me strongly. The scary hiss

of a cobra. The claws of a lobster pinching loudly,

and the teeth of a shark going up and down.

Arushi A.

Wild and Tamed Animals

Many animals are wild.

Lions pounce on their victims.

Tigers roam around secretly.

Sharks can smell their prey from a mile away.

Eagles soar high above, always watching.

Many animals are tamed.

Dogs light up your mood when you’re sad.

Kittens cuddle up with you beside the fire.

Canaries chirp a sweet song in their cage.

Goldfish wait patiently for their food.

Johanna A.

Extinct and Alive Animals

Things that are extinct are supposed

to be that way, because how would you feel

if a Tyrannosaurus Rex was running around or Spinosaurus,

Gigantosaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus and their pointy

teeth everywhere.

Things that are alive are supposed

to be that way. Then how would you

feel if a rabbit, or deer, or bird, or dog running

around everywhere with their soft hurt.

Read more about Carcharodontosaurus

Thank you to the Northfield ES community for hosting this annual residency. I appreciate having permission to share the third graders' poems.

Readers, the students love hearing feedback from you. Please leave a comment about our opposite poems.

Look for more opposite poems from the Northfield third grade poets tomorrow, Poetry Friday. Addio, poeti!

In Residence is an ongoing series this month. If you missed previous posts:

Planning the List Poem Lesson at Today's Little Ditty

First Student Responses: "Words in My Pet Goldfish," "Words in My Bed," "Words in My Life"

In Residence: Poetry Friday Words: Poems by Laura S., Jason Y., Jeffrey G., and Isa L.

In Residence: The Simile Zoo: Poems by Sabine S., Asher, Cecelia D., and Evelyn D.

In Residence: Day 2 in the Simile Zoo: Poems by Allie L., Makaela M., Parker P., Matthew L., Vincent T., Lila R., Naomi C., and Julia J.

In Residence: The Simile Zoo

It's Poetry Friday. I'm late to the party, because I've been spending the day at the Simile Zoo.

Diane Mayr is serving today's
poetry posts. Visit Random Noodling
 for some tasty words and poetic company.

"The Simile Zoo?" you say. "Never heard of it."

My Northfield Elementary third graders learned about similes in the second workshop of our residency. Today, I'll introduce you to the angry beasts, lazy sloths, and happy birds they created -- all animals that represent emotions or feelings.

Teachers: I posted instructions for the lesson several years ago.

The Simile Zoo: Lesson Part 1
The Simile Zoo: Lesson Part 2

My warm up for this lesson is a Zen drawing exercise. We draw our hands without looking at our papers (eyes stay on the object we are drawing). It's not the drawing that's important. Instead, we put the focus on simile building. Look at those strange drawings. What do they resemble? The process is similar to finding a shape in the clouds.

Here are some hand drawings from Ms. Hilliard's class. Check out the similes students made.

It looks like a starfish flipping over.

It looks like a tooth with a chip missing.

It looks like a MONSTER!

Now, please join me and the third grade poets on a tour of the Simile Zoo.

Sabine S.

When I feel happy

I am like a penguin.

Penguins love fish, and I jump in joy for ice cream.

I slide on my sled down the hill

happily, while penguins slide down the ice

in joy. Penguins jump in their pool without a care,

and I’m in my bathtub, humming and

playing with bath toys.

Asher

When I feel lazy,

I am like a sloth.

My face is blank.

I don’t get off the couch. I stay in one spot.

I move very slow.

I hang of the couch.

I am very slow.

I feel very light.

Cecelia D.

When I am hungry, I am like a wolf.

I sneak food, but I must be quiet.

My face turns a grayish-pale.

My stomach grows like a wolf does.

I get VERY MAD because it hurts

to starve. And I do NOT sleep because I had

no food. A wolf feels this way, too.

Evelyn D.

When I feel scared,

I am like a cat.

I run away from my fears

as fast as I can.

I feel helpless with

my cute meowing,

for my fears are the

opposite of positive

to me. Sometimes

my running fails me

though, all I can do

is whine and cry.

People think I’m happy

though, because they

think it’s cute and

they don’t see tears.

I also may run away

to protection that loves

me like a mother.

From Cutestpaw.com

Than you to the Northfield ES community for hosting this annual residency. I appreciate having permission to share the third graders' poems.

Readers, the students love hearing feedback from you. Please leave a comment about our simile zoo. More animal poems are coming soon.

Poetry Friday: A Child of the Mountains

Lately I've been dreaming about bears. One bear, in particular.

Brown she-bear from Alaska in Pictures.

I could explain this, my bears-on-the brain. There was a bear attack in my brother's Orlando, Florida neighborhood a few months after he came home to a surprise guest: a bear in his garage -- raiding the back-up refrigerator.

Recently, black bears  have been sighted near where I live in central Maryland.

But my bear is friendly. Like a hiking companion who joins me on long, outdoor walks. I'm not sure why she's visiting my thoughts, but I'm not complaining.

I've used animals as a poetry prompt before, to help elementary schoolers write about their emotions in a way that feels safe. You can read the lesson here (sorry for the wonky formatting).

Today, I'm loving this bear-poem from Gary Snyder.

this poem is for bear 
by Gary Snyder

"As for me I am a child of the god of the mountains."

A bear down under the cliff.
She is eating huckleberries.
They are ripe now 
Soon it will snow, and she 
Or maybe he, will crawl into a hole
And sleep. You can see
Huckleberries in bearshit if you
Look, this time of year
If I sneak up on the bear
It will grunt and run
The others had all gone down
From the blackberry brambles, but one girl
Spilled her basket, and was picking up her
Berries in the dark.
A tall man stood in the shadow, took her arm,
Led her to his home. He was a bear.
In a house under the mountain
She gave birth to slick dark children 
With sharp teeth, and lived in the hollow
Mountain many years.

          snare a bear: call him out:
honey-eater
forest apple
light-foot
Old man in the fur coat, Bear! come out!
Die of your own choice!
Grandfather black-food!
                   this girl married a bear
Who rules in the mountains, Bear!

Read the rest of the poem here.

I love the way that animals -- in our dreams, in mythology and storytelling -- are keepers of the animal-nature in human beings.

I hope the only bears you see on Poetry Friday are in your dreams. For more poetry posts, visit this week's host, Jone at Check It Out.

Sheep & Wool Festival

Happy Poetry Friday, everyone.

This weekend is the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival at Howard County Fairgrounds, where I live.

It is billed as one of the biggest all-things-yarn events in the country. My daughter and I went for the first time last year, when I was still fairly new to knitting.

Several hand-made socks, hats and scarves later, I admit to being obsessed. How do I know? I am going to a fancy-heel knitting class this morning. My dreams have been filled with yarn festivities.

Long before yarn took over my sleep, I paired with photographer Jerry Weinstein for a poetry/art project. He is a local nature photographer. I pored over hundreds of his images, but couldn't get one face out of my mind. A precursor of things to come?

Baaaad Hair Day


“At the Sheep and Wool Festival: Howard County Fairgrounds, MD” – Photo by Jerry Weinstein


You know you want
To comb your fingers
Through my
Rock star locks.


Curls hang
From my forehead
Like clumps of ripe grapes.
Your mouth says, “Oh.”


No comb’s going to tame
This shagginess,
Tease out summer grass
Left from romps in the meadow.


You think you can
Pull off my look,
Weave this wavy mane
Into a woolly sweater,


Knit my fleece
For a pair of fuzzy socks?
You know the truth:
It looks better on me.

Why don’t you just
Take a picture?

Laura Shovan

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo (a picture of a picture). You get the idea!

Hosting Poetry Friday today is Terry at Family Bookshelf. Enjoy -- and if you're anywhere near central Maryland this weekend, stop by the Sheep & Wool Festival.

National Poetry Month Issue 14/15

It's hard to believe National Poetry Month is halfway over. All month, I've been featuring poets from my home state, Maryland.

(Many of them have work in the new anthology, Life in Me Like Grass on Fire: Love Poems, published by the Maryland Writers Association.)

Can I brag a little bit? Children's author and Poetry Friday blogger Heidi Mordhorst plays for Maryland's poetry home-team.

Another local powerhouse: Mike Clark -- publisher of the Maryland art and literary journal Little Patuxent Review -- who is also a fine poet.

It must be the snuffly smells of spring that inspired Heidi and Mike today. Both sent in pet poems.

In Heidi's poem, there's a little bit of wishful thinking.

Griffin's Stomach Rumbles
by Heidi Mordhorst

In hunger
my furred tail flicks
my muscled hindquarters
set themselves tightly back
ready to spring

In hunger
my wide wings beat
my keen eye climbs
the sky, scans the ground
ready to strike

On how to hunt

only my talons and claws agree

Heidi Mordhorst, 2010

all rights reserved

Posted with permission of the author 

Mike Clark's adorable and chubby little pug is the subject of his poem. 

Rainbow Dog

by Mike Clark

My sad faced pug

with a tongue

that laps his face,

and an under-bite

that surrenders

any chance

at good looks

gets a rainbow

of colors on his

sandy colored coat

to show that Nature

loves the least looking

of us.

Posted with permission of the author.

Student poems from my "Animals are like Feelings" simile workshop is posted here.

You can try that with students, or...

Elementary School Poetry Prompt:
Read today's model poems again. In order to write them, the poets had to put aside how they feel about their fur-friends and just observe.

Heidi noticed that her cat dreams of being a bird of prey. Mike noticed that his so-ugly-he's-cute Pug isn't just a mess, he's a living rainbow.

In both poems, the pet becomes something much grander. What grand thing -- a bird of prey, a rainbow -- does your pet remind you of or wish it could be?

An extension -- read PF Blogger Laura Purdie Salas' Stampede: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School with your students. It's a wonderful collection of animal simile poems.


Today's Poetry Friday host is Diane at Random Noodling. She's got the neon "Welcome" sign out just for you!

Poets' Tea Friday

I've been out of the loop for a few weeks. It seriously has been a frenzy of teaching, editing and parenting. Plus, it's Shovan birthday season (4 birthdays, 5 weeks, 109 candles -- not counting ones to grow on).

I haven't seen my friends at Lisbon Elementary School in almost a month. The fifth graders have had time to polish their poems, practice their public speaking skills, and get ready for the big day ... today's Poets' Tea.

Parents and administrators will stop by to hear the poets read their work. We'll have some treats to celebrate the end of the residency and all of their hard work.

Here is a sampling of poems I hope to hear this afternoon. This group is from a simile lesson, "Animals are like Feelings." You can find the lesson posted here (please excuse the squished formatting -- Blogger ate my spacing).

When I Feel Mad

by Josh G.

When I feel mad,

I am like a red and

angry bull, throwing people

off that want to ride me, looking

mad and fierce. I run

in a ring chasing a

person.

I know we can all relate to that feeling. Other people's problems and emotions weigh us down. It's safe to write about wanting to explode and rant in a poem. This writing prompt can help kids put a little distance between themselves and out of control feelings.

Hyperness

by Gloria M.

When I feel hyper,

I am like a white mouse.

My tail is wriggling around

With a mind of its own.

I look around eager to bat

Something side to side, then smash it.

I jump from table to dresser,

To desk.

Flailing around like there

Is a cat behind me.

My tail whacks a vase off

A table.

It makes a bang when it

Hits the floor.

The two-leggeds yell at me.

I don’t care, I flail, and

Whack and run and smash

And feel happy.

The response from her peers was great when Gloria read this poem. They loved the image of a mouse bouncing from one piece of furniture to the other. I like how Gloria's mouse is aware that it's acting hyper, but chooses not to stop itself.

Our next animal is also hyper, but for a reason. Logan's little squirrel is so busy preparing for winter, he can't focus on simple things. I know I've felt that way before.

Busy

by Logan G.

When I feel busy, I am like

A squirrel. I rush place to

Place trying to find food

Before my hibernation. I can’t

Think and I forget things

Like where I’m going. I just

Want to get home and rest

For hibernation.

I like the specific animal that Caitlyn chose for her poem. Manatees move more slowly than whales and dolphins -- a good choice for "relaxed."

When I Feel Relaxed

by Caitlyn K.

When I feel relaxed

I feel like a blue manatee.

I gracefully swim around

The calming ocean.

I slowly eat away at my

Sea grass.

I follow my mom around

As she swims through

The blue, calm water

That flow around me.

Thanks again for the staff, administrators, and families of Lisbon Elementary for supporting the arts through our residency. Also, for giving me permission to share the students' amazing poems.

This week's Poetry Friday host is Carol at Rasco from RIF. She has a fascinating post about poet Phyllis Wheatley -- the first African American to have a book published. Stop by and take a read.

Poetry Friday Is Here . . .

and I'm saying, Not again!  Not about hosting -- it's been a long time since I played Poetry Friday hostess -- but about the poem I'm sharing today.

"A Giraffe Is Not Standing Beside Me" is one of my favorite Not Poems. It's by Jean Meyers, a longtime New Jersey educator who was one of my first poetry pals.

This is a great one to share with children.

Jean's delicious descriptions reveal the power that language has over our minds. With her evocative guidance, your brain can't help but imagine the nonexistent giraffe.

Lots of fun to talk about this concept with your children and students.
I hope you will enjoy this poem as much as I do.

A Giraffe Is Not Standing Beside Me

by Jean Meyers

The nature of linguistic negation makes it virtually impossible to draw a picture of such a statement. PBS "On Language"

No knobby antlers nudge my shoulder,

no demure eyelashes shade the brown eyes

in the horse-face that peers into mine

from atop a bending neck.

No rounded-square brown markings

dot the hide that ripples

under my tender tentative hand,

no spatulate hooves support

slender legs.

No leaves drop around me

from rubbery browsing lips,

and no sharp grassland smell

rides the wind.

The fact

that a lion

is not lurking

in the shrubbery

has nothing

to do with it. 

Thanks to Jean Meyers for permission to post this poem.

Thank you for joining the poetry party. I'll be checking in and posting comments/links more throughout the day.

Charles Ghinga has a lovely metaphor poem about the month of August at Father Goose.

Happy birthday to Amy at the Poem Farm. She is on Day 128 of her poetry journey -- wow! Amy is sharing a one of her poems about poetry -- poetry as a gift.

Jama Rattigan reminded me today that poetry is gift that grows more rich when it's shared. A few weeks ago, I sent her a food poem by Washington state poet laureate Sam Green. Jama contacted Green and learned the story behind his poem, "What the Culinary Arts Teacher Knows About Grace. You've got to read her amazing post at Alphabet Soup!

The Shell by James Stephens at Bildungsroman reminded me of Kat Falls' YA novel, Dark Life, which is set in a future undersea Earth colony. The poem and book would make an interesting pairing.

Toby has links to several poetry-related articles at The Writer's Armchair today. Former national PL Robert Pinsky's piece on poetry for kids (he doesn't like the saccharine stuff) is a must-read.

At The Opposite of Indifference, Tabatha has a funny Billy Collins short that she heard on NPR's Marketplace.

Mary Lee is sharing a poem about why it is better to be a cat than a human.The cats in the poem are in permanent vacation mode -- no busyness about them.

Julie Larios has been away for a while. Let's welcome her back. Julie is thinking about the anniversary of Hiroshima. She has a verse from Byron's Don Juan at The Drift Record.Some day I'll have to tell you all my family chestnut about Lord Byron.

Diane Mayr has three posts for us, an original poem about Facebook at Random Noodling , a look at previous national poet laureate Kay Ryan's newest collection at Kurious Kitty , and a quote by Ryan at Kurious K's Kwotes.

Thanks, Diane for also posting on behalf of traveling Andy at The Write Sisters, who has "Morning on the Desert" by Katherine Fall Pettey. It's another "take a breather" poem. Seems like everyone wants to hold still and enjoy what's left of summer today.

Ruth has a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (my birthday buddy!) Here it is.

Alison Stevens wrote about Four Brown Toes, which I assumed were tanned tootsies but Alison's much more creative than that in her fun bed-time conversation poem.

Like me, Doriane's been struggling and juggling schedules this summer. She's sharing a Psalm to remind us all to take a breath and enjoy the days we have.

The Stenhouse Blog features "Backyard" by Mary Oliver. The back yard in the poem could be my back yard after we returned from vacation. Fried marigolds -- I haven't had the heart to dig them up.

Sherry has a Wordsworth poem about the mysterious Lucy, subject of a series of his poems -- yet no one knows who (or if) she really was.

Jeannine Atkins is turning prose into poems at her blog. She asks, "What's too much and what's too little" when using poetic devices like alliteration and symbolism.


"Children's Poetry and the Cinderella Syndrome," which Elaine is reposting at Wild Rose Reader. The article is about children's poetry awards. Elaine -- thanks for including the comment from editor Alvina Ling and your response.

It's not easy to write a poem that "records" a conversation, "James Tate's poem Her First Novel", does so and will make you laugh. Thanks, Karen Edmisten, for sharing that poem.

Looking forward to going back to school? Janet's sharing a brief review of Marilyn Singer's poetry picture book, First Food Fight This Fall at All About the Books. The poems follows a group of elementary schoolers through their school year.

Miss Erin will not tell a lie in her powerful original poem.

For those of you enjoying Shark Week on TV, Theresa at Looking for the Write Words also has an original poem, one she co-wrote with a student in the voice of a great white shark.

You'll find another student-written poem posted by Maureen, with some lovely sensory lines about snow to cool you off on this humid summer day.

Something Else is Alive -- free writing workshop!

I imagine this midnight moment's forest:
Something else is alive
Beside the clock's loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.
-- from "The Thought Fox" by Ted Hughes

Are you free as a bird Monday evening? Good!

The Little Patuxent Review has invited me to lead one of their wonderful literary salons. It's at the Columbia Association Art Center -- Monday, May 10, 7:30-8:30 PM.

My workshop is "Something Else is Alive": The Power of Animal Metaphors.

Here's the description:

What makes animal  metaphors an enduring and powerful part of literature?

Some fictional villains slither like a snake or prowl like a wolf. Conflicts can make a novel's protagonist retreat into her shell like a turtle. Authors as varied as children's novelist Kate DiCamillo, fantasy author J.K. Rowling, John Updike and poet Ted Hughes use animals in their work to express deeper truths.

Bring an animal totem, a favorite animal poem or a related piece of prose to share and discuss. Be prepared to write. Teens are welcome!

I'll be signing my chapbook, Mountain, Log, Salt and Stone, (here's a review) after the salon.

The C/A Arts Center is located at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045.

Powerful Tanka

My third grade students at Northfield are finished with tanka.

Here's a last one, by Ethan H. I like the way we don't know the shark is speaking until the fourth line of the poem.

Shark, by Ethan H.

King of the ocean.
Very strong and painful.
Hammerheads, too.
I feel nothing can stop me.
Prey is terrified of me.

Children love writing about animals. Using the animal, they can describe their own feelings from a little bit of a distance. It's a great way to get kids to open up about emotions that might otherwise feel scary.

You can find a full lesson on comparing emotions to animals here.

Next, Northfield students share opposites poems. But we'll take a break for Poetry Friday and a recommended picture book by poet Carole Boston Weatherford.

A Tasty Treat for Poetry Friday

Last week, I led my final ekphrastic poetry workshop for the Maryland Humanities Council program, "Totally Ekphrastic: Picturing America through Poetry." The poetry sessions were an off-shoot of the NEH's Picturing America art curriculum.

It's sad to say goodbye to my good friend, the American Flamingo. We laughed together. (One student said, "It reminds me of cotton candy." Another: "It looks like it's doing yoga.") We cried together. (Kids asked me, "Can flamingos fly?" Since they are no longer wild in the U.S., I'd never seen one in flight. We had to look up the answer -- they can.)

As I worked with the image, John James Audubon's biography, and kids, I found myself discussing American history with students -- Audubon recording birds when much of our country was wilderness, his role as a naturalist, the fact that flamingos now live only in captivity.

A discussion about art that leads naturally into learning about American history -- that's what this program was supposed to be all about. There's a great George F. Will article about "Picturing America." He praises the program as the type of low-cost, high benefit initiative our government should do more often.

In my workshops, I heard a lot of elementary schoolers' poems about flamingos, wolves, elephants -- whatever animals struck their imagination.

One thing that definitely caught their attention: I shared Laura Purdie Salas' book, "A Fuzzy Fast Blur: Poems about Pets" as a model of poems about animals.

The hands-down favorite poem was, "Come in, Come in!" which Laura gave me permission to share today. (The snake below isn't the snake from her book, BTW. You have to check that one out -- it's grinning as it eats its dinner.)

Come in, Come in!

by Laura Purdie Salas

I'll make it easy

I'll open wide

I'll hope that you

will slide inside

Snakes eat mice

Some find that sad

But here's the truth:

They don't taste bad!

Had to include this photo. At least this mouse gets the last laugh!

You can read Laura's post about "A Fuzzy Fast Blur" here. She happens to be hosting Poetry Friday today, so stop by for more poetry.