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: Once Again, with Feeling!

Greetings, Writerly Friends.

I am continuing my series of posts from Northfield Elementary School, where I am in residence this month.

In writing poetry with elementary schoolers, I'm looking for every opportunity *I* have to compliment the students. Their rough drafts might include a descriptive detail that the reader can visualize, an imaginative idea, onomatopoeia that pops, or a jazzy rhythm. Today I'm sharing three Northfield poems that stood out for their energy.

What is energy in a poem? It's a combination of an enthusiastic voice and natural rhythm. I can't teach that. The poet has to hear it in his or her head.

But first, let's talk about stanzas.

One of the most useful tools -- and possibly overlooked -- tools in poetry is the stanza. Not only are stanzas a way of organizing our thoughts, they can also be used to create rhythm, and to make a poem visually interesting by balancing print and white space on the page.

Try this next time you're revising a poem: rewrite the poem in couplets, then tercets, then quatrains. You might find a stanza length that works well, but this technique can also reveal places where your language needs tightening up, or highlight internal rhymes.

The Northfield third graders are focusing on the stanza as tool for organizing their poems. We keep it simple, writing opposites poems that have two stanzas.

The model poem for this lesson is Elizabeth Coatsworth's "Swift Things Are Beautiful." You can visit this post to read a poem walk -- which gives details on how I guide students through a discussion of the poem.

If you'd like to read a full description of my stanzas workshop, here is Teaching Stanzas Part One and Teaching Stanzas Part Two (with poem walk).

Imaginary and Real Animals
by Hayley R.

Real animals are beautiful.
A dog on a silent moonlight night.
A panda eating bamboo all day long.
A hamster spinning on its wheel.
A monkey swinging on a tree.

Imaginary animals are beautiful:
Pegasus flying in a great story.
A dragon has fiery breath.
A vampire's white face turning into a bat.
A phoenix, that red fiery bird, flying through the night.

"That red fiery bird, flying through the night."

Read about this mythological bird at Wikipedia.

Jacob's poem is an example of how feeling and energy make a poem fun to read.

Up and Down
by Jacob B.

The clouds are up.
The birds are up
The sky is up at the top.
The tree goes up too.

We are down on the ground.
A house is down too.
Animals are stuck down here too.
Clouds drop down with the rest.

"A house is down too."

Orchard House, home where
Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women.

Connor chose such a unique topic for his opposite poem, I had to share it with you. I love the sense of humor here.

Sizes
by Connor B.

Being short is fun:
You can hide in hide and seek,
crawl into bushes and get the ball,
sneak around and steal a cookie,
and get to the front of a group easier.

Being tall is fun:
You can look over people,
run faster in races,
kick harder in kickball,
touch people out in swimming,
and keep the ball away from anyone you want.

"Sneak around and steal a cookie."

Have you tried this recipe?

Thanks once again to the Northfield educators and families for giving me permission to share the students' work.

Tomorrow, we'll look at opposite poems about animals.

Big and Small, Happy, Sad, Opposite Poems to Make You Glad

Sun or snow?
Yes! Not no.
Fast or slow?
Stop. Then, go!

The Northfield third graders have been working on opposite poems. The full lesson is available here.

How do we get these emerging writers to think beyond writing a simple list of objects? Our model poem, "Swift Things Are Beautiful," was about fast and slow things in nature. Why didn't Elizabeth Coatsworth just put together her poem like this:

Swift Things Are Beautiful (List Version)

Swift Things Are Beautiful:          And Slow Things Are Beautiful:
Swallows, deer, lightning,             Sunset, waves, ember,
rivers, meteors, wind,                  opening flower, ox.
horses, runners.

This weekend, the Preakness is running in Baltimore.
Look for strong-withered horses!

We set up our brainstorming for this lesson much like the above -- a simple t-chart listing items for our poem. We think of three to four items (at least) for each stanza of our opposites poem. But how to take these lists and spin a poem from them?

Many of the students write animal poems: fast/slow, big/small, water/land all lend themselves to animals opposites. I ask these students to give each animal an action. I have an old student sample to read as a model. My favorite line in that poem is "crabs are pinching."

The Blue Crab is Maryland's State Crustacean.
Find a list of state symbols here.

Jeffrey took this advice to heart, extending the animal actions into descriptive lines for his animal opposites poem.

Jeffrey C.

Animals Big and Small Can Be Clever

Big animals can be clever:

Elephants picking up grass with their nose,

Whales squirting water out like a hose,

Giraffes picking leaves from tall trees.

Small animals can be clever:

Mice sneaking away with cheese,

Hummingbirds moving their wings

As fast as a cheetah in the grass,

Grasshoppers jumping around.

Visit BioKids online!

And, as I point out to the students, it's fine if two students write on the same topic. Each person's mind works in unique ways, so the resulting poems will be different. Here is Sam's take on big and small animals.

Samuel H.

Some Animals Are Big

Some animals are big:

Elephants stomping in the mud,

Whales swimming through the water,

Rhinos charging at each other,

Hippos diving into the water.

Some animals are small:

Mice running through the grass,

Beetles flying in the air,

Chipmunks digging into trees,

Turtles swimming

Peacefully in the water.

The Diamondback Terrapin is the Maryland State Reptile.

Ashlyn's Happy-Sad poem starts as a simple list of items. However, in stanza two, her poem moves beyond the list, taking a turn with the word "If."

Ashlyn B.

Happy Things Are Wonderful.

Happy things are wonderful:

When you get an A+ on a test

Or get a massage for your feet.

You win your soccer game

And you get a surprise treat.

None of these things are lame.

Sad things are despicable.

If you hurt yourself

Or lose a toy

And cry for help

Yet no one bothers to come.

If this ever happens

Or comes to your mind,

Just think of the good things

And you will be fine.

Tomorrow, the last group of opposites poems. Then we will build on two elements from this lesson -- brainstorming opposites and using action to describe -- for a workshop on portrait poems.

I See the Stars at Night: A Lesson in Opposites

How do we get our bearings in a poem? Is the action set in the day or night? Is the emotion happy or sad? Are the people or animals in the poem working or resting?

One way to organize our thoughts in a poem−and to help readers find their way−is to use stanzas.

At Northfield, the third graders know that stanzas in a poem operate much like paragraphs in regular writing.

“Stanza” is the Italian word for “room.” (Read about the word's origins here.) 

I ask students to imagine that I am welcoming them into my house. We talk about what they would see in the front hall, the kitchen, even the bathroom (that gets a few giggles). 

So why would poetry borrow that word stanza? Because, one of the students will share, reading a poem with several stanzas is like walking into the different rooms of a house.

Since the third graders know we are doing opposites poems today, they quickly figure out exactly how many stanzas our poems will have.

Next, we brainstorm pairs of opposites on the blackboard. Some favorite topics for this poem are: delicious and disgusting, summer and winter, home and school, old and young, real and imaginary animals, night and day, hot and cold, busy and lazy, fast and slow.

Fast and slow is the topic of the model poem I use on opposites day. The poem and the guts of this lesson were shared with me by poet-in-the-schools Rosanne Singer. She was my mentor poet.

(Artists coming into the MD State Arts Council school residency program student teach. We accompany an artist on one residency, observing first and picking up classes throughout the week.)

Swift Things Are Beautiful

Swift things are beautiful:

Swallows and deer,

And lightning that falls

Bright-veined and clear,

Rivers and meteors,

Wind in the wheat,

The strong-withered horse,

The runner’s sure feet.

And slow things are beautiful:

The closing of day,

The pause of the wave

That curves downward to spray,

The ember that crumbles,

The opening flower,

And the ox that moves on

In the quiet of power.

by Elizabeth Coatsworth, author of The Cat Who Went to Heaven, 1931 Newbery winner.

At Goodreads.

Students love to pick out their favorite lines in this poem. We look at our hands and say, “Veins really do look like lightning!”

We pat ourselves on the back between the shoulders because that’s where our withers would be if we were horses.

One year, I had a class that was particularly taken with the line "The closing of day." I brought their teacher the Jane Kenyon poem "Let Evening Come" so they might further explore the idea of light and shadows settling at dusk.

Embers often need some explanation, but enough children have been camping or have fireplaces at home that they recognize the glowing coals, once they are described.

Someone always brings up the wonderful last two lines.

Because our culture equates power with speed, the slow, powerful ox creates a great discussion. The students often bring up other slow, powerful animals: tortoises that live over 100 years, elephants. This year, one boy mentioned that glaciers are slow and powerful. I'd never thought of that before. The class added the concept of slow, powerful water, using the Grand Canyon as an example of a gradual but powerful change to a landscape.

Thanks again to the Northfield community for giving me permission to share the third graders' wonderful poems.

I love the way Emma uses description in her poem so that we can guess which animals she's talking about even though she doesn't name them.

Emma B.

It Is OK to Be Big

It is OK to be big

If you have a long trunk,

Or a long body to keep you swimming,

Maybe a long neck to reach high,

A big body to keep babies safe.

It is okay to be big!

It is okay to be small

If you have a shell to keep you safe,

Or a small squeak for your mom,

Maybe you can hide really well.

If you fly very high you are safe.

It is OK to be small!

"A big body to keep babies safe." From Kangroos.Org

Evan's poem reminds me of "Let Evening Come." He shows the busyness of day, contrasted with the slowing down, peaceful feeling of night.

Evan M.

Day is so fun:

Go outside and run,

Go play rugby in the grass,

Go to the park with friends,

Put up a lemonade stand,

Hear the birds chirp,

Go inside at the end of the day.

I see the stars at night:

After a long day

In the sun, after a day

With my friends,

Go inside and eat

Dinner with my family,

And then go to bed, read a good book

Then say goodnight

To the world in your bed. 

I loved the conclusion of Andrew's poem. The inside fun stanza includes things my family enjoys doing together.

Andrew P.

Outside, Inside

Playing outside is fun:

Like climbing the stairs

Of the tree house,

Spinning in circles

On the tire swing,

And climbing to the

Tippy top of

The trees.

Inside is fun also:

Rolling the dice in

Board games like Sorry,

Dancing around in

Charades,

And watching a movie on

Family movie night.

I hope your Mother's Day was both fun and peaceful, everyone. I'll post more third grade opposites poems tomorrow.

Free printable vintage Mother's Day Cards!

Teaching Stanzas Part 1

This month, I am in residence at Northfield Elementary School.

One of the lessons the third grade team likes to do with their students is on stanzas. Thanks to fellow Maryland State Arts Council artist-in-residence Rosanne Singer, who shared a version of this lesson with me in my early days with the program.

The skills we aim for in this lesson are organizing ideas and working within a theme. We use opposites to make it simple. Since opposites comes in pairs, the children quickly understand that our poems with have two parts. For some writers, the result will be a two-part list poem. Other will extend this to add descriptions -- active verbs, setting, vivid adjectives.

Dark and light is one suggested topic for this poem.

In poetry, we have something like paragraphs to organize ideas. The fancy poetry word is "stanza."

I love the word stanza because it means "room" in Italian. Therefore, when you read a poem with multiple stanzas, you can imagine walking through the rooms of a house. Each room is organized around its own purpose and contains the appropriate items. You wouldn't keep your blender in the bathroom, right? (For a poem on this topic, see Robin Hirsch's "You Enter a Poem," from the fabulous book, FEG.)

I use a cooperative activity to help the students brainstorm opposites. It's a little matching game. 

Everyone gets a card with one half of an opposite  face-down on his or her desk. The card might say "Night" or "Big" or "Delicious." I explain that during this quiet activity, each student must find his or her partner (Day, Small, Disgusting). Once they've found each other, the pair will write their opposite words on the board. I time them, just for fun, and make it a competition between the classes. The world record is 24 seconds. Most classes can do it under 45 seconds -- a good indicator of how well they can work together.

We talk about these word pairs and how they might be developed into a poem. This is how I sneak in the idea of a theme. So, the Night/Day poem might be about nocturnal and diurnal animals, or "things I like to do" at night time and in the day. The Big/Small poem lends itself to animals or nature. Delicious/Disgusting would be about food.

We might take a few minutes to generate additional opposites. Over the years, students have come up with some great ideas: wild vs. tame animals, real vs. mythological creatures, boring vs. exciting, happy and sad.

The mighty, mythological griffin.

I'll post more of the lesson tomorrow. Here are a few of the third grade poems to whet your appetite. Thanks to the Northfield staff and families for giving me permission to share the poems.

Yummy & Disgusting

by Matt B.

Yummy food

Spaghetti is awesome dances

in my tummy, ice cream so freezing

I'm Frosty the Snowman. Soda, I can

slurp. I just need MORE!

Disgusting food

Onions, oh Onions, if there is one I

must throw up. Sauerkraut is very

weird, the shape, the taste, oh god

do I have to eat it? Cabbage is wet

it makes my hand soggy.

Thanks, wikipedia.

Fun in the Sun

by Owen B.

In the summer you

go swimming with

the sun beating

on you. Sandcastle

building at the beach.

Plants growing taller

than you. Watering your

plants instead of school.

In the winter it's cold

when you're in the snow

when it's so white with

the quiet wind blowing

in your face.

Dry & Wet

by Bridget T.

Dry things are fun:

tanning in the hot sun pouring

down on you.

Walking in the warm sand.

Lying on a warm towel.

Wet things are awesome:

the big ocean.

The icy soda in your hands.

The cold hose on your

sink to wash the sand

off of your skin.

Tomorrow, Part 2 of the lesson and more wonderful third grade poems.