THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY

THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY
April 12, 2016
Showing posts with label holiday meal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday meal. Show all posts

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Poetry Friday: Down Days

Writerly Friends, it has been quiet over here at Author Amok because life has NOT been quiet at the Shovan household.

Santa Claus is on vacation, but
Poetry Friday never rests!
Thanks to Donna at Mainely
 Write
for hosting this week.

When last we posted, the gifts were wrapped, the in-laws were about to arrive, and we were preparing for a festival of eats that could have fed a bus-load of Shovans.

Our holiday table is a mash-up of traditions. Two of our five Christmas Eve fishes (rockfish and crab) were in the Maryland crab soup -- in honor of our adopted state

Our main course was Pasta Aglio e Olio with walnuts and anchovies my  husband's Italian family only eats on Christmas Eve. If you make it right, the anchovies are not at all "hairy."

And for dessert on Christmas Day, I made my mother's English trifle. That's a story and a poem for another time.

A poem about my grandmother's Christmas trifle
made its merry way to Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect
for the Poetry Friday holiday exchange.

A few days later: more family in Florida, meeting a brand new nephew for the first time, a snow storm, high school applications for my daughter, my son building his own computer, me participating in Pitch Wars (!) and getting an issue of Little Patuxent Review ready for press, and a house filled with life and cookies.

Then, this Monday, everything magically returned to "normal." 

Whew! Hello, Routine! I missed you.


It's taking me a few days to get my self together (substitute jammies for Calvin's birthday suit, and you'll get the picture). I'd gotten used to eight hours of sleep and watching Doctor Who with my middle schooler.

It's around this time of year -- we're returning from the holidays, it's gray outside, and there's a full half of the school year to go -- that people get a little down. Not just us grown up writers, but our students and young friends, too.

Down Days

My mom’s at work, my dad’s online.
No one comes to wake me.

Even the dog forgets he should
jump on the bed and shake me.

My socks don’t match. My hair poufs up.
My homework isn’t packed.

My lunch has only healthy stuff.
We’re out of treats and snacks.

Dad gets annoyed when I point out
I’m going to miss the bus.

He says he’ll drive if I’ll just stop
making such a fuss.

Some days are like a fast, cold stream
and I’m a little fish

lonely in this great big school

afraid to make a splash.


Okay, okay. I admit that my first version of this poem had a different last stanza:

lonely in this great big school
afraid to make a splish (splash!).

I thought it was adorable, but no one else did. And my middle school daughter, she just found it confusing. It's one of those lines that's going to bother me forever.

For all of us feeling a little low, let's break out our light boxes, take the dogs for a walk, and get some sunshine.

You've got to love a routine that includes returning to Poetry Friday.


Thursday, October 24, 2013

Poetry Pajama Friday: Kill Your Darlings 4

Hello, Writerly Friends.

It's Poetry Friday! Irene at Live Your Poem has invited us to sit on her virtual coach, hang out, and talk poetry today.

There's room for everyone at the Poetry Friday Party.
This couch at www.indulgy.com
Remember Jack Strong, from yesterday's book review, JACK STRONG TAKES A STAND? The kid was so over-scheduled, he staged a sit-in on his living room couch.

I know many educators and their students don't just suffer from over-scheduled "free time" after school. With requirements such as the Common Core, state mandated testing, and adequate yearly progress, the school day itself can feel like racing on a treadmill.

That's why everyone loves special school days so much.

One year, I was poet in residence at an elementary school where everyone, EVERYone could talk of nothing but the upcoming Holiday Meal. You know, that mouth-watering day in November when the cafeteria serves turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. Just thinking about Holiday Meal was bliss-inducing. Why? It was barely better than a Swanson's TV dinner. But Holiday Meal only came once a year. It was a delicious break from the usual pizza, bagel and yogurt, or beef tacos.

My most beloved Swanson meal had
a tiny chocolate cake. Mmmm.
When my children were in elementary school, one of their favorite annual events was Pajama Day. This day of coziness usually  happened on Read Across America Day. There were books, there were slippers. Lovies and stuffed tigers and tiny satin pillows were packed into backpacks for school. Children spent much of the day snuggled up on bean bag chairs reading. For FUN.

My son loved it so much that one time, when I was room mom at my daughter's pre-school, I staged a toddler version Pajama Day. That was pretty freaking cute and awesome.

Writerly Friends, I have a Kill Your Darlings problem that is not awesome at all.

I wrote a Pajama Day poem for my MG novel-in-verse, THE LAST FIFTH GRADE OF EMERSON ELEMENTARY. It is cute as all get-out. And I think it have to cut it.

I wrote "Pajama Day" for the manuscript's second iteration. I was trying a different concept -- a poetry *yearbook*-- by adding occasional poems to the Spoon River inspired manuscript. These covered the first day of school, Halloween, the Talent Show, Pajama Day, Valentine's Day.  

Except THE LAST FIFTH GRADE eventually developed beyond the yearbook concept to an actual novel, complete with narrative arc. (Miss Hill's wacky fifth grade class must unite to stop the evil Board of Ed from demolishing their beloved school.)

Is "Pajama Day" still earning its place in the novel? Does it move the story forward or help develop the characters? Before I kill this darling, I'd love to get your feedback.
Product Details
Candy hearts pajama pants from Amazon.
Pajama Day
By Jason Chen and Katie McCain

Oh, how we long for
the most relaxing
school day of the year.
On Pajama Day
our backpacks don’t feel
like they have extra gravity
from two tons of books.
They are jammed
with pillows and stuffed animals.
We skid down the hall
like penguins slipping on ice
because giant fuzzy slippers
and floor wax
are a dangerous combo.
Sparkling snowflakes,
roller skating elephants
and candy hearts cover the legs
of our fuzzy fleece pants.
For indoor recess
we get out our pillows
and write poems on the floor
(everyone laughs
when Mark starts to snore).
We love Pajama Day
because we

Zzzzzz.

Read about Tarra, the roller skating elephant.
Pros:
  • It's about Pajama Day, one of the best days of the school year!
  • The poem provides a breather after a series of serious, winter is dull, and "I'm feeling down" poems.
  • The details are so yummy, I can feel my fuzzy fleece PJs calling to me.
  • The poem marks a subtle transition in the love-hate friendship between Jason and Katie.
  • Beta readers say the poem has elements of both character's voices.


Cons:
  • "Pajama Day" is the only poem in the novel written in two voices, so it doesn't quite fit.
  • The poem doesn't move the main narrative forward.
  • It may be a little TOO yummy.
  • Pretty sure it's a darling.


What do you think, fellow writers? Please leave a comment with your advice.

There are more posts in the Kill Your Darlings craft series here:


Next up in the Kill Your Darlings series, we have a guest blogger!

MG author Elisabeth Dahl (Genie Wishes) is stopping by next week. She cut a major storyline from her novel before it was published. Elisabeth will give us all the crafty dirt about killing her darling.

geniewishesdahl