Blog Break -- NCTE

Both of us will be just a tad busy this coming week at NCTE, so we won't be blogging. We hope to connect with many blog readers, Poetry Friday Peeps, and Twitter followers at NCTE!

Poetry Friday -- If Truth Be Told

Unsplash photo by Charles Deluvio

I'm the type

who'd rather have dumplings

than blossoms

Issa, 1814

Unsplash photo by nabil boukala


I'm the type
who'd rather have breakfast
than cocktails

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I'm the type
who'd rather have sunflowers
than roses

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I'm the type

who'd rather have bikeways

than freeways

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I couldn't resist using Issa's haiku as a mentor text. It's so unlike any other Issa haiku that I've received in my email inbox via Daily Issa. 

What type are you? What can you learn about yourself through your "rather haves?"

And how perfect is it that Jama, author of DUMPLING SOUP, is our Poetry Friday hostess today? Head over to Jama's Alphabet Soup and check out the drool-worthy doughnuts and accompanying poem.

Slices of Life

SLICES OF LIFE, by Grant Snider

...for the rest of this visual poem, click here.

Wouldn't it be fun to give students the verbs Snider uses, have them create a visual poem, and then compare their creations to his?

Maybe we need to try it first...

You WILL Like These Two Books!

I (Don't) Like Snakes
by Nicola Davies
Illustrated by Luciano Lozano
Candlewick Press, 2015

The little girl doesn't like snakes, and her family tries valiantly to convince her otherwise.

Give Bees a Chance
by Bethany Barton
Viking Books for Young Readers, 2017

The narrator and his (?) friend Edgar like all the same things...except for bees. The narrator convinces Edgar (and readers) of the importance of bees.

Poetry Friday -- Maps and Compasses

Unsplash Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel

The Thing About Maps

words by Seth Godin, poemizing by Mary Lee Hahn

Sometimes, when we're lost, 

we refuse a map, 

even when offered.

Because the map reminds us that we made a mistake. 

That we were wrong.

But without a map, 

we're not just wrong, 

we're also still lost.

A map doesn't automatically get you home, 

but it will probably make you less lost.

When dealing with the unknown, 

it's difficult to admit that there might not be a map. 

In those cases, 

a compass is essential, 

a way to remind yourself of your 

true north.

THE COMPASS OF LEADERSHIP

by Hugh MacLeod @GapingVoid.com

I love it when the Universe chats with me.

We began our geography work in social studies recently. When this bit by Seth Godin showed up in my inbox, I knew I wanted to share it with my students. The fun thing (ONE of the fun things) about 5th graders is that they are beginning to be able to think abstractly and symbolically. Lots of them got the symbolism and message in The Thing About Maps. Then, a day later, the Gaping Void cartoon landed in my inbox. I have a couple of strong girls who are negotiating the tricky line between bossy and assertive. The cartoon was a good reminder of the qualities of a positive leader. We talked about our personal compasses, our very own "true north"s. 

Hopefully, you will find your way to TeacherDance, where Linda has the Poetry Friday roundup for today!

Great Dads

Two books with great dads who both understand and validate the fears of their children.

Lily's Cat Mask
by Julie Fortenberry
Viking Books for Young Readers, 2017

Dad and the Dinosaur
by Gennifer Choldenko

illustrated by Dan Santat

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2017

#classroombookaday

One of my students was on a picture book reading binge. She brought me The Pencil, by Allan Ahlberg and suggested it for #classroombookaday. In the story (which another student thought had the feel of a religious creation story) nothing exists but a pencil. Then the pencil draws the world into existence. Things start getting out of hand, so the pencil draws an eraser. Even that doesn't work, so the pencil draws another eraser and they annihilate each other (Noah's Ark, anyone?). The pencil starts over. Carefully.

While we were on the subject of erasers, I had to read my favorite eraser book, The Eraserheads by Kate Banks. These erasers come to life and have adventures. Are the eraserheads alive for real, or just in the imagination of the boy? You decide.

I had just read The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken, and it seemed like the perfect next read. In it, the creator, in the course of drawing, makes mistakes and then makes the mistakes into something wanted. Total surprise ending in this one. It will blow your mind.

The fourth book in this set is one I put out for students to pore over and ponder on their own because it's wordless -- Lines by Suzy Lee. In this book, the lines are made by the blades of an ice skater's skates.

Then, surprise of surprises, this weekend I read Sam & Eva by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Two children (are they drawing on the walls?!?!) can't agree on what to draw. Then, their drawings pick up on the escalating disagreement and things really start to get out of hand. Literally. The two children draw an escape and start over -- each offering an olive branch to the other.

There's something quite magical about the connections between books!

Poetry Friday -- Mentor Texts

You've heard about it, you've marked it "To Read" in GoodReads, maybe you've even ordered it and have it on your stack. Move it to the top of your stack, make some time, and dig in! Once I started reading, I was hooked. I wanted to keep reading, but more than that, I was anxious to start writing and try some of her ideas with my classroom of writers.

With a short week this week, I decided to ease my writers into informational writing with some of the strategies from Poems are Teachers, and definitely by using the mentor text poems (one from a professional poet and two from students accompany each section). My goal was for them to develop fluency in generating ideas and drafts, and to show them that a minimal amount of "research" is needed in order to jot a draft. I was also hoping that all of our work thus far in the year with "Unpacking Poems" (hat tip to Tara for the idea) would evidence itself in the students' poems...and it DID! Alliteration, similes, thoughtful stanzas, repetition, and more! Finally, a future goal is that my students will transfer both the fluency of ideas and drafting, as well as the use of rich and creative language to their informational writing. Once you dig in and start reading Amy's book, you'll see how your students' work writing poetry will do what the subtitle says and "Strengthen Writing in All Genres."

On the first day, I spread my "Activists and Trail Blazers" shelf of picture book biographies on the meeting area carpet. We browsed the books, jotting notes about what we read, about what we noticed in the illustrations, or about connections we were making. Midway through our time, we looked at the mentor poems in the section "Listen to History" (p. 18 and 21) and I sent students off to try a draft. Here are a couple of the more polished first draft poems and the book that inspired each poem:

"In America, You Can Achieve Anything"

Discrimination is "whites only."
Discrimination is no prom.
Discrimination is closed doors.
Discrimination is skin deep.

Honor is head held high.
Honor is good grades.
Honor is medical school.
Honor is Olympic gold.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Try Hard

Two trainers one passion

Try hard

Train hard

Stolen bike

Fight for rights

Try hard

Try to fight

Rare in light

Try hard

©M., 2017

MLK's Dream Day

Not everyone is treated the same.
Not everyone had the same things we have now.
Who is to blame?

One man stepped forward.
On August 18, 1963,
he said his famous speech
"I have a dream."

©J., 2017



On the second day, we tried the same thing, but I put out a shelf full of animal books from my nature nonfiction section. The mentor poems in Amy's book were from the "Find Ideas in Science" section (p. 32 and 35). Here are a few more first drafts and the books that inspired them. You can probably tell that writing a mask poem was one of the suggestions!

Creepy Crawlers

I have 8 eyes
I can be small
I can be big

I can crawl
Jump and bite

I love bugs
I have more than
One leg or two or three

What can I be?
What am I?

(jumping spider)

©A., 2017

Hello, my little prey!
I see you came to the luminous light.

But you shouldn't have.

As the people say,
"Don't go to the light."

I can be 1 or 2 or 3, *
but can you guess me?

Who am I?

(Anglerfish)

©M., 2017

*"Smaller males join their bodies to mine, latching on with their teeth until their skin fuses into mine. I eat for all of us, sharing the nutrients from my bloodstream."

Mr. Tree

I, Mr. Tree, have been here
longer than you, I've been here longer
than your mother and father.

I, Mr. Tree, give you oxygen
and in return you give me water and food.
I will help you until I go TIMBER!!

I, Mr. Tree, live in your back yard
with Miss Flower and Sir Grass.

I, Mr. Tree, am still here as a seedling
after I pass on.

©H., 2017


(H's poem shows that your writing might wind up taking you in a very different direction than you expected!)



Brenda has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Friendly Fairy Tales.

The Literacy Connection: Words of Wisdom from Pam Allyn

The Literacy Connection events are always two of my favorite days of the year.  Last week, we were lucky to learn with Pam Allyn and it was an amazing day!  So much that I have been thinking about all week.  And such an amazing group of people to learn with!

At the end of the day, all of us full of great energy!

Pam left us with lots of wisdom and the following is a list of things I wrote down that I wanted to think more about. So much positive energy and hope and belief that we can make good things happen for our students.  I thought I'd share these wise words from Pam with you.

You get to know going to sleep at night that you did something.

Busy People get things done.

Open yourself to the potential that’s in you for the work.
All of us can be better.
The thing about literacy is how urgent it is.

All of my work is about a sense of hope.

Literacy is the foundational goal of all goals.

At the end of the day, we have a lot more power than we think.

Much harder to turn a 15 year old than it is to turn a 5 year old.

Let’s think about what we can do to make us.

We can make something happen. We don’t have to wait.

We do have a lot of evidence for what really works. But sometimes we don’t really believe it.

All the research shows us that independent reading where kids get to make choices is a key part of success and will improve test scores.

Deficit language is really hard for kids to get over.

We were so lucky to have Pam with us for a day last week. In April we'll have Ernest join us to close out the year. (You can register to hear Ernest at The Literacy Connection's website.  As part of our yearlong study this year, we are reading the book that Pam wrote with Ernest Morrell, Every Reader a Super Reader. It is an incredible book that I highly recommend. 

Poetry Friday -- WonderFALL

WonderFALL
by Michael Hall
Greenwillow, 2016

Brightly colored trees? Check.
Clear blue skies and comfortable temperatures? Check.
Arkansas Blacks available from Ochs' Fruit Farm at the Farmers Market? Check.
Fall comic from Incidental Comics? Check.
27/29 parent conferences completed? Check.
First formal observation in the books? Check.
Science test graded and returned? Check.
Ready to welcome 30th student to the class next week? Check.
Even more ready to enjoy a four-day Fall Break? Check, check, CHECK!

And what better way to welcome Fall and a bit of a break than with a few selections from Michael Hall's WonderFALL.

An oak tree is the speaker in these poems:


PeaceFALL

A gentle
breeze is
jiggling
me.

I hear
my
acorns
drop.

Plink,
plunk,
plop.


PlentyFALL

Apples,
apples,
ready to
munch.

Yellow,
red,
green--
crunch,
crunch!


BeautiFALL

Autumn
colors,
all around.

And look
(rustle, rustle) --
I'm dressed
for the
season,
too.


I hope your fall is treating you well (or spring, as the case may be in the Southern Hemisphere)! Join Leigh Ann at A Day in the Life for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup!