I had the opportunity to talk via Elluminate to a class of students across the country last week and the week before. I have participated in many Elluminate sessions and I love them but I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about actually being the person who shared my thinking in an elluminate session. As a presenter, I tend to feed off the group's energy and I rely heavily on conversations and active participation. But it was definitely a learning experience and I continue to be amazed that we can all be sitting at home and learning with people so far away.
These visuals probably don't say much without the talk that went with them, but pulling this session together helped me reflect a bit on my vision for the elementary library--where we've been, what my goals are. Talking to others and making my work visible always helps me see the work differently. I always appreciate the opportunity to articulate my own thinking because it helps me become more clear for myself about where it is I am trying to grow and learn.
It took a little bit of work to create a presentation that I could share publicly like this, but as part of my own learning journey, I wanted to make it public. (my first slideshare:-) These slides show the space and events in terms of the bigger goals of the library--but it cannot begin to share the day to day conversations and learning that the children have. I would need a different format for that, I think.
Embedded in this slide show is the slides that I used early in the year to begin a yearlong conversation on "Who are you as a learner?" I don't know if the students would even remember that first conversation but looking back at it and reflecting on those initial thoughts, I love the way the kids are now beginning to use the library to support who they are as a learner.
April began with cupcakes and ended with guacamole.
The oak flowers looked so dainty against the blue sky when they were new. Then they streaked my car yellow with pollen and now there are so many on the ground that we will rake up gobs and mounds.
In answer to your question, yes, I wrote a poem yesterday, and no, I'm not going to post it here.
I do, however, have a few final observations about my NaPoMo poems. Remember the one-word poem? Did you follow the link to David R. Slavitt's poem? Did you realize that the discussion questions were part of my parody?
And that sprouting apple seed? I found it INSIDE my apple when I cored it. As much as I liked the poem it inspired, I was far more impressed with the idea of a pre-sprouted apple seed. I have planted it in a small pot on my windowsill and I anxiously await its reappearance.
The "If-You-Were" poetry form is the one that has inspired the best writing from my students. We will continue writing a poem a day for each other this coming week -- we have four friends left whose names haven't been picked yet. In the end, we will have written close to 300 poems total.
As the school year winds down and the students get itchy for summer, it is sometimes hard to get them to be smart and thoughtful (not to mention hardworking and productive). I will keep the Xs in the sky in my heart to remind me of the creative potential that exists in every child if they have the time to look and if I take the time to listen.
Franki sent a link to this book trailer and challenged me to try writing a Newspaper Blackout Poem. Every poem-a-day writer needs a cheerleader as thoughtful as mine!
He makes it look easy, no?
Here's my feeble attempt:
raise chickens
raise chicken dinner homegrown chickens chickens chickens sprouting chicks in the coop nonviolent rehabilitation
Like I've said many times, the kids in our library love any book about dogs. So, I had to get NAME THAT DOG: PUPPY POEMS FROM A-Z when I heard about it. This new poetry book starts out with a poem about naming dogs and how each is different. Then each page focuses on a different dog. From Aspen to Frank to Zipper, there are 26 different fictional dogs celebrated through poem. The poems vary in length and type but all have an element of fun. Each dog is labeled so readers know the breed of the dog highlighted. The book ends with a poem about finding the perfect name for a dog.
And, I was thrilled to see ANOTHER JAR OF TINY STARS is now available. Every other year, NCTE gives an Award for Excellence in Poetry. This award honors a living children's poet for his/her work. Several years ago, NCTE published A JAR OF TINY STARS, highlighting the work of the award winners' poetry. This year, NCTE has released this additional version which highlights the work of poets up through the last poetry award winner, Lee Bennett Hopkins. To choose which poems to include, students ranked the poets' work. Their votes helped to make the decisions for what to include in this book. It is a great collection with 15 amazing children's poets.
*A word verification nonsense "word" that here means one who is exalted, high-ranking, elevated, superior, lofty, eminent, prestigious, illustrious, distinguished, and/or esteemed. It is often used to describe a person whose invention (in this case, the Fib) has its own Wikipedia page. For the origin of Ingumpa, please see the first comment of this post.
3. Who is speaking? What is the evidence in the poem for your answer?
4. What is being compared or described? Explain.
5. To what senses does the poem appeal? Elaborate.
6. Does this poem make you laugh, or does it make you cry?
7. What does this poem remind you of?
8. What characteristic of the genre of poetry alerts you as a reader that this is a poem?
9. If you were to put this poem to music, what would it sound like? If you were to illustrate it, what colors would you use?
10.What questions do you have for the author?
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The back story: Franki and I were discussing what we had ready for the blog this week. I confessed to have hit a wall with the poem-a-day challenge. She suggested I write a one-word poem. We Googled it. We found Slavitt's poem. There is such a thing. (Who knew?) I was amused and inspired.
The discussion questions are the ones I use with my fourth graders as they get ready to answer questions on the state tests about poetry. I thought they worked quite well with this poem.
I introduced GarageBand this week. It is mostly music creation software but has so many possibilities for elementary school. I started out by just teaching kids how to record their voices and to add some background music. We used poetry and kids had a ball reading the poems in different ways, trying new voices, adding a bit of music or a sound effect her or there. It is not a tool I know well, but I can't wait until I know it well to introduce it. My goal in teaching media literacy is for kids to see what is possible, to read with a critical eye and to create with tools available. I don't need to know everything about GarageBand in order to introduce it to kids. I taught myself the basics and we are jumping in together.
One of the challenges, from a writing/creation perspective, is that students don't have a lot of models for what they are creating. Or, they have a lot of models but haven't yet made the connection to the tools that will help them create the things they see. So, as I move forward with GarageBand over the next few weeks, I wanted to throw some possibilities out to kids. I want them to see many options for their work with GarageBand and the other tools we've used this year. I have learned, in my 23 years of teaching, that if I give kids some possibilities and some open ended play time with a tool, they come up with many, many ideas that I would never have imagined.
When I think about creation, I want the students to eventually have a menu of possibilities to show their learning, to create new understandings, etc. One of the things that has struck me in the library, seeing so many different classes each week, is the way the students approach new ideas. When I introduce a new piece of software or a new web tool, they definitely need some play time. They have a ball just trying things out. Then they need to pull back and seem ready to see what they can actually make or do with the software. So, now that kids have done a bit of playing with GarageBand, I want to show them these samples--different pieces where music plays a part. Not that I want them to replicate any of this--that is the reason I wouldn't show them one at a time. Instead, I want it to be a way to begin thinking of the possibilities for this software and the way it might work with other tools they have.
Having a toolbox of possibilities for creation is key for moving ahead with creation and communication.
Sharing several examples of a familiar story like "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" will show kids how different each story can be if you change the way you read/sing it and if you change the music and/or sound effects. For one lesson, I might show several different versions of one book to open up the possibilities and to show kids how sound can impact presentation. Two samples are below. One uses student art which is another thing I want kids to start thinking about.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
After I fell in love with Pete the Cat, I found more songs by this artist. One that I think has huge possibilities with older kids is The Three Pigs song by Eric Litwin. I think taking favorite tales and creating story/songs might be fun for some kids. This is a great example.
Three Pigs audio http://musicishere.com/artist/19819-Eric-Litwin/19795-Smile-at-Your-Neighbor
The kids have become very familiar with PIXIE and FRAMES this year. Drawing tools and some basic animations are making sense to many kids. I want them to take a look at creations like the following songs to see how music and drawing can go together in new ways.
The Elephant Song
5 Little Monkeys
Because so many of the tools are new for kids and because they are just beginning to see the possibilities, much of this spring is about planting seeds, knowing that kids are amazing and will come up with ideas that I cannot possibly imagine. I can't wait to see which of the things from these samples they pick up on to try and which other things they find on their own.
Disclaimer: All blog posts, opinions, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes are our own.
Franki and Mary Lee are both teachers, and have been for more than 20 years.
Franki is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Beyond Leveled Books (Stenhouse), Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse), and Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop (Scholastic).
Mary Lee is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse) and has poems in the Poetry Friday Anthology, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books), Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, National Geographic Books of Nature Poems, The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-15 and 2016), Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poems are Teachers, National Geographic's The Poetry of US, and IMPERFECT: Poems About Mistakes.
