National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.14

 

white privilege abounds

black lives matter on yard signs

and I write haiku

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.13

 

we teach the wrong things:

task completion, not passion

test taking, not joy

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

We've got seven weeks left, and I'm focusing as much as possible on passion and joy. Our newest fun: about 1/4 of the class is learning a new language using the DuoLingo app. 

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.12

 

this kitchen table

we are aging together

worn at the edges

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.11

 

after the cold snap

glorious magnolias

wear brown in mourning

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.10

 

illumination

sun shines through dirty windows

with no prejudice

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Text Set: Research-Books that Invite Readers to Learn More

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

If we want our students to understand that research can be about so much more than Googling an answer to a single question we have, we have to help them recognize their own curiosities. We also want them to know that often, the more you learn about a topic, the more you want to learn. There are several books that give readers just enough information to want to know more. This week's list features books that invite readers to learn more.

Go Show the World introduces readers to several Indigenous people who have impacted our world.  This is a picture book format so each person is introduced with an illustration and several Ines of text. At the end of the book, the author shares a short biography about each person introduced.  Using this book as a springboard for discussion about which people you are interested in learning more about, now that you know a little bit, could be powerful.

Many readers have people they love to read about. For me, I love to read about Jane Goodall. I tend to buy almost any book that comes out about her.  Books like yesterday's and the updated version of Enough! introduce readers to people they may be interested in learning more about.  The people featured in this book are featured because they changed America by protesting in some way.  So, readers learn a bit about people (who they may want to learn more about) as well as the issues they stood up for (which they may want to learn more about.) in this book.

Picture books are a powerful and effective tools for introducing young readers to times in history that demand more study and understanding.  Unspeakable shares the horrific events of The Tulsa Massacre and readers may want to learn more about this time in history.   Readers will leave with an understanding of this tragedy along with questions that would require more learning.

This book, by the author of We Are Grateful introduces readers to several Native American Truths in We Are Still Here. Traci Sorrell teaches readers about times in history that is often left out of history classes.  This book covers so much and each truth is a big topic on its own. Readers will definitely want to dig deeper to understand and act.

Poetry naturally invites engagement and curiosity. These three poetry books (Bravo, Shaking Things Up and Voices of Justice) introduce us to people who have shaped our world.  The poems and illustrations are powerful and give us just enough to want to know more. These poems can be used independently or as part of the entire anthology.

Follow @TextSets on Instagram for next week's Text Set!

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

 

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.9

 

singing in the dark

first one voice, then a chorus

early morning birds

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Hmm...looks like I wrote a version of this haiku last week! These two haiku reflect not just the glory of springtime, but also my despair about (and hope for) the direction our country is poised to go. Let's be the wrens! Let's be the chorus!

Happy First Full Week of National Poetry Month! I can't wait to get caught up on all you've created! Tabatha has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference.

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.8

 

one slice of peach left

in a wide indigo bowl

early morning sky

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.7

 

nervous, excited

first day at school...in April

together at last

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

My Remote Learning Academy students have been troopers (most of them, for the most part, most of the time). They've been learning through a screen and working in isolation for more than a year now. This month, they've been granted a small reprieve. It comes in the form of state testing, which must be done in person. But even the price of a morning spent testing is not too high for the opportunity to be inside a school again, in the physical company of classmates. We get two days this week, two days next week, and two days at the end of the month. This is what will get us through to the end of May. For once, I'm glad for the chaos known as state testing. 

For those who are following my spring bloom haikus, here's what the Virginia bluebells look like just one day later. See why they are classified a "spring ephemeral?" Now they are blue. Now they are bells.

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.6

 

Virginia bluebells

at first neither blue nor bells

spring ephemeral

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Sorry I sent you off to Google for sessile trillium yesterday!

(Here's one of ours...see the little one to the right?)

And here are my Virginia bluebells as of today.

They are getting the faintest blush of blue.