In Residence: Ode to Poetry

Last week was an exciting time at the Shovan poetry pad. On Monday, I made my last visit to Northfield Elementary. Families came to share a poetry celebration. Since I'd last seen the third grade poets, they had been working on brand new poems! What a thrill when the students handed me a book filled with odes and simile poems about poetry and our residency.

On Thursday, I found out that an Advanced Reader's Copies of my middle grade novel, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY, was delivered to my local independent bookstore. Beth at Green Row Books tweeted out a picture and got busy reading the book with her own fourth grade student.

A few days later, there was a package on our doorstep. Sam had to inspect it first. Inside: books!

I'm so excited that I'll be able to share THE LAST FIFTH GRADE with my friends at Northfield next year.

AND... I promise to post sign ups for a Poetry Friday ARC tour very soon!

This week's Poetry Friday links are at
Carol's Corner.

For the next few posts, I'm going to share some pages from the Northfield book of odes. 

I feel a little squeamish about sharing these poems. Many of them are odes written to me -- both lovely and a little embarrassing. However, I promised the Northfield students that I would share as many of their poems as I could. Today's poems are all by students whose work I have not featured yet.

In the poetry teacher similes, I have been compared to everything from a smart dolphin to a hungry owl. I appreciate the compliments, but I appreciate the hard work that went into these similes and odes even more.

Ode to Poetry

by Noah B.

Poetry is persuasive

and organized

because it is neat.

Poetry is epic

and terrific

because you work hard.

Poetry is rich

and yummy

because it is a

piece of cake.

Poetry is awesome because

the best poetry teacher

in the world

taught us

Mrs. Shovan.

Dolphin Teacher: Class we will be writing poems.
Dolphin Students: Yes, Yes

Dolphin Teacher
by Taylor S.

Mrs. Shovan is
like a dolphin.

Dolphins are smart
like you are
they love to learn
like you love.
You love to be
by people
and dolphins like to
play with other dolphins.
You also love to teach kids
like dolphins teach their babies.

Shovan is like an Owl
by Jackson M.

Mrs. Shovan is like an owl.
She is very smart and hungry
for well done poems written for her.
Her prey is still being worked on. Once I finish,
she wolfs down the wrong answer
and checks the right answers.
Then, she gives it back to me,
covered in pen, slobber, and ink.

Sunny Poet
by Mia P.

Mrs. Shovan is like an ice cream cone.
She is sweet and enjoying.

Mrs. Shovan is like a panda.
Kind and caring

Mrs. Shovan is like a warm sunny day.
She makes you happy.

Mrs. Shovan is like a hug.
She makes you feel good inside.

My heart is melting!

In this series:

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: Due Stanze: Poems by Avery,  Setutsi, Jen, Anlan, Arushi, and Johanna.

In Residence: Opposite Poems: Poems by Andrew V., Matthew L., Nathan W., Aly A., and Joanna B.

In Residence at Today's Little Ditty: Poetry Postcard Summer Activity for Kids and Families

In Residence: Shoe Odes: Poems by  Ilana M., Nicole C., Dylan L., Linnea J., and Ben K. 

In Residence: A Book Filled with Poems: Shoe Odes by Julie B., Kayla K., Alexandria D., Brianna C., Arif V., and Rowan C

In Residence: Hungry for Poetry

It's field hockey night at the Shovan household. Julia and I won't get in until after 8 pm, so dinner is on the fly. The guys usually grab pizza on their way home. If us girls are lucky, there are a few slices leftover for us.

Every time he's in  Hoboken, my husband visits
Benny Tudino's, famous for it's giant slices of pizza.
On a recent trip, our son got to meet Benny himself!

As you can see, food is never simple. There is often a story behind the things we eat. It might be a tradition, like turkey on Thanksgiving, or it might be necessity, such as having to plan around a teenager's sports practice. Today, I'm sharing student food poems that revolve around restaurants.

When the Northfield third graders and I worked on food poems, we talked about the stories behind our meals. I asked students to aim for seven elements in their poems. Initially, we looked at the five senses -- so that we were thinking beyond how a food tastes:

1-5: Use your five senses to describe the food
1. Taste (texture, flavor)
2. Smell (connected to taste)
3. See
4. Touch (with fingers, in mouth)
5. Hear (cooking sounds, eating sounds -- opportunity for onomatopoeia)

Next, we like to include two important narrative elements.

6-7: Tell a story around your food
6. Setting (where are you?)
7. Characters/People (who are you with?)

BONUS: Include an onomatopoeia word

Our model poem for this lesson is "Good Hotdogs," by Sandra Cisneros. Here is the poem read by a student from the Wingra School in Wisconsin, which I found on YouTube.

I hope you're hungry! Here are today's third grade food poems.

Untitled
by Christopher W.

I just was at the Y,
now I am driving over
to McDonald's.
My mom goes through
the drive through.

The cheeseburger
in the wrapper
is warm. I see
the brown bun,
the yellow cheese,
the red ketchup,
and the brown meat.

Burritos
by Dustin S.

Go, go, go!
We're almost there.
Coming down the highway
and, Oh!
We just pulled up.
Ahhh... Chipotle.
The line all the way back
to the cash register.
It takes 25-30 minutes to order
but WOW! It's worth it.
Burritos!
Chicken, rice, corn,
lettuce, tomato.
I love burritos!

Untitled
by Claire W.

Warm, sunny evenings, my stomach growling loudly,
I fling open the door with a slam.
My dad follows me to the car. Beep!
I go in and see my familiar face in the mirror.
With a vroom, we head off to Red Lobster.
I walk to the restaurant door and into my nose
the wonderful scent of delicious food makes me drool!
I order this pizza with vegetables on top. It's good!
But one thing comes before -- the bread.
It's baked perfectly. Golden, crunchy layers,
brown bottoms. It tastes like heaven!
I choose the top and it crunches around in my mouth,
fresh made! Clang! The plate on the table,
my order steaming hot. It disappears in a couple of bites.
My stomach is pleased with my decisions.
My dad bundles up the leftovers for tomorrow afternoon.
We leave, and I feel a warm sensation tingling in my throat.

Thanks, Northfield poets and families for allowing me to share these wonderful food poems. I'll have more delicious verse for you tomorrow.

In Residence: Take a Hike!

It's Memorial Day weekend, fellow writers.

Let's take poet Mary Oliver's advice and remind ourselves:

"how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields"

From "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver

Julia is leading us on a stroll
to Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.

But before we head out the door for a holiday weekend hike, the Northfield third grade wants to whet your appetite for streams and wildlife with their nature-themed opposite poems.

Listen to the sounds we hear around us.

Loud Things Are Beautiful
by Laura J.

Loud things are beautiful:
the loud crash of thunder,
the roaring of waves
and the pounding of rain,
the rushing of water,
and the loud, roaring cry
of a lion in pain.

Quiet things are beautiful:
the quiet trickle of water,
the flutter of willows,
and the lapping of a bay,
the snores of a donkey
and the gentle showers
in the middle of May.

Remember to check the weather before you head out on your hike, and pack your sunblock or your rain poncho.

Stormy, Sunny
by Rachel Y.

Sunny weather is pleasant:
Colorful rainbows and the sun,
bright blue skies.
Yes! No clouds.

And stormy weather is harsh:
Dark nimbus clouds,
whirling tornadoes,
streaming floods,
loud thunder and bright lightning.

Sometimes being quiet on a hike allows you to see nature in action.

Land and Sea
by Ariana G.

The land is ready to be explored.
The horse is galloping down the field.
The cheetah is napping.
The cat is stalking.
The grass is waving.

And hte sea is ready to be explored.
The dolphin is playing.
The waves are rolling.
The seaweed is drifting.
The sea turtle looks like it's flying
through the water.

If you're camping, be sure to pack plenty of water. And if you build a fire, watch it carefully or it might turn into a dragon.

Water and Fire
by Meena K.

Water is an incredible thing:
fish swimming in a pond,
beavers building dens in a river,
sharks in an ocean.

And fire is incredible too:
two sticks rubbed together,
two rocks rub rub,
dragon breathing fire out
into the air.

All poems posted with permission of the authors.

Thanks, Northfielders, for leading us on this hike through our imaginations. If you'd like take a real poetry hike with your children, check out this book -- written by students:

Find out more at Scholastic.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Next up: Northfield food poems.

In Residence: Poetry Zoo

Welcome to the Poetry Zoo!

This zoo doesn't have cages. Lazy lions, grazing buffalo, and playful frogs populate the stanzas of this destination, as imagined by my Northfield third graders. Just look out for the ferocious T-Rex.

You won't find a T-Rex at our local Baltimore Zoo.

It's a beautiful Poetry Friday, so after you stroll through our animal opposite poems, you'll want to visit the gift shop for some poetry souvenirs. Violet Nesdoly -- this week's Poetry Friday host -- has shelves of poems and posts for you to browse at her blog.

Put on your walking shoes, and let's see the animals.

[If you'd like to read about my opposite poems workshop, start with Tuesday's post.]

As you can see, the third graders were working on description. Although these are list poems, the poets gave each animal an action or a description.

Carnivores are Strong
by Noah W.

Carnivores are strong:
The lazy male lion
that waits for the females.
The ferocious T-Rex
that shows no mercy.
The beautiful wolf
that howls at the moon.

And herbivores are strong:
The fast antelope
that runs from the cheetah.
The huge buffalo
that grazes in the savanna.
The huge elephant
that carries huge loads.

We spent a little bit of time talking about poetic techniques like alliteration, but many students use these skills naturally in their writing. Mary's poem has some beautiful alliterative lines.

The Exciting World
by Mary S.

Under the water is exciting:
when the sneaky crocodiles feed on the fish,
when the whales start talking and the smart dolphins start diving,
when the sharks are quick in the waves
and when the eels start swimming freely.

Out on land is exciting:
when the fast cheetah and the mighty lion
fight for the grazing buffalo,
when the swift horse goes running wild,
when the courageous falcon flies over its prey,
and when the powerful elephants start
trumpeting away.

Just as a real zoo has a map, showing how the exhibits have themes, we used stanzas to organize our ideas. Charlotte's poem keeps the wild animals separate from the tame ones.

Wild Animals Are Dangerous
by Charlotte

Wild animals are dangerous:
the lion full of fangs,
the powerful giraffe,
the rearing snake,
the charging bison
and the stalking cheetah are all dangerous.

Tame animals are safe:
the friendly, playful frog,
the racing rabbit,
the hopping robin,
and the lovable dolphins are all safe.

Thanks, Northfielders, for giving me permission to share your poems. I hope everyone enjoyed today's trip to the Poetry Zoo! We're spending the weekend at another Baltimore institution -- Balticon. It's the annual Science Fiction and Fantasy convention, with amazing workshops for both writers and fans. See you there.

In Residence: Poetry Stories

Greetings from Northfield Elementary School, Writerly Friends!

Ms. Grim's class began our residency with growing and shrinking poems this year. Although this prompt is simple, it lends itself to narrative poetry.

But first, I am sharing an old post with details about the grow/shrink workshop, first published in 2008.

This is why I love teaching poetry...

Yesterday, I was working with a third grade in Dundalk, Maryland. We were writing "Grow/Shrink Poems."

My model poem for this lesson is Stephanie Izarek's deceptively simple, "Under the Sky Is."

A view of the sky from the London Eye.
Photo: J. Shovan

The poem begins in the great big sky. In a few short lines Izarek takes us to a place where things are so small, "we can never see" them. You can read the poem here: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=1558

It's a wonderful first day poem. Kids love the repetition (each object in the model poem is "under" the object from the previous line). Their job is to start with a big object (the sky) and end somewhere small. Or, they can begin small (a seed) and grow the poem (outer space). Even first graders can use language and ideas creatively with a structured form like this.

One boy sitting in front was stuck. No ideas. I asked, "What are you interested in?" Shrug. "What do you like to do after school?" Shrug. "Do you know if you want to grow or shrink?" Shrug.

I noticed he was fiddling with a small, round magnet, about the size of a washer. I asked him, "Can we start with your magnet?" No shrug! A glimmer of hope.

"What do you see around you that the magnet could attract? Start small." He looked around the classroom.

A desk, he told me. I scribed. A blackboard. Then, "The City of Gold."

Wow. Did I just witness a huge leap of the imagination? Okay, he was inspired by the second "National Treasure" movie. But how did we get from a blackboard to a city of gold? Amazing.

The reluctant poet proudly volunteered to read his work to the class at the end of the lesson!

Since that 2008 post, I have created a writing frame for this lesson. If any readers would like a copy of that to use in the classroom, let me know in the comments. I will email it to you.

On to today's poets!

Mela starts her shrinking poem with a simple list of smaller and smaller objects. Her inspiration -- which adds a touch of narrative -- appears in the poem's last line.

Shrinking Poem

by Mela W.

Under the tree is a dog.

Next to the dog is a cat.

Under the cat is a mouse.

Under the mouse trap

there is a mistaking step that the mouse made.

SNAP!

"Under a tree is a dog."
Sam is enjoying the cherry blossoms.

I like the way that Cade's poem gives us, line by line, a vivid visual image of this pond.

Grow Poem

by Cade D.

Over the rocks in the pond is a baby tadpole

Over the leaves in the pond is a frog.

Over the grass in the pond is a dog swimming.

Over the edge of the pond

there are two boys catching tadpoles with a net and a bucket.

Tadpoles teeming in our neighborhood frog pond.

Did you notice that both of today's poems ended with action? That's a great way to leave the reader with something to think about. Did Mela's mouse get away? What did the boys in Cade's poem do with their tadpoles?

Thanks again to the Northfield community for allowing me to share the third graders work.

A Stay-cation @ the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society

You know how a vacation's sort of not really a vacation? (For example: Visiting Florida so you can change your adorable nephew's diapers, as we explored in the last post.)

This week, Author Amok is en vacances at the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society -- aka HoCoPoLitSo -- blog. 

This was HoCoPoLitSo's most recent event. By all accounts, amazing performance.

I'm guest posting about being a visiting writing teacher at the local GT Summer Institutes, working with fourth and fifth grade poets. The title is "Summer School Spark."

This is a blogging stay-cation for me because HoCoPoLitSo is based in my home town. But it's the kind of stay-cation where you get to spend time hanging out at your big sister's best friend's really nice house, which has an awesome library, and if you're lucky somebody famous might drop by because her family has connections. As long as it's not Billy Collins, because I defy him a little bit in my post.

Disobedience, Ms. Amok!

HoCoPoLitSo is a longstanding literary organization in our area and helped give the journal I edit, Little Patuxent Review, its start. They've hosted readings with some stellar writers over the years. I've been to wonderful HoCoPoLitSo events with such luminaries as Terrance Hayes (no one should be that good looking and that talented, seriously) and Edith Pearlman (amazing reader -- see her if you ever get a chance). Wow.

Thanks for the invite, HoCoPoLitSo! Here is the link to my guest post: http://hocopolitso.org/2013/08/14/summer-school-spark/