Monday, April 16, 2012

The Poet Within (Poetry Paper Included)

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as six- and seven-year-old poets.  They don't need to know how to rhyme.  They don't need to follow specific patterns or strict rules.  They just need an opportunity to find the poet within.  I have proof these young poets exist.
(My Grandfather:  1 grandfather fighting for our life died in the army I wish I should have seen him but I can't why?  Please let me I beg you.)
(7 cats and 3 kittens:  Mom cat pregnant one kitten came out dead!)

(Boring Cat:  Walks around boring! Orange boring!  hisses triple boring!  It hates us heart breaking!)

(My fish:  My fish jumps up and down like a dolphin.)

(Puppies:  A beagle a poodle a hound Arf puppies everywhere coming going chasing their tail.)

(Grandpa:  Grandpa died!  Sad no more jokes!)

(My Fish:  My fish died cross-eyes flushed him down the toilet he went somewhere.)
*She told me her fish was cross-eyed when they flushed him.  :)

I believe that certain scaffolds are helpful when making the switch from narrative or expository writing to poetry.  As simple as it may sound, paper is important.  Shorter lines will help kids make the transition from story-like language to poetic language where line breaks are essential.  (You might have noticed that some of them are experimenting with meaningful line breaks already.)  Below is the paper Lucky Calkins suggests using.  It's all yours if you'd like a copy.  (My apologies that it's upside down.  Technical difficulties you see.)


The poems above were written within the first week of my poetry unit.  If you're interested in how these kids were able to find the poet within in such a short time, check out my guest blog where I outline the first three days of teaching the wonderful genre of poetry in my room.  Say hello to Tammy from Klinger Cafe while you're there.





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18 comments:

  1. I love this. Thank you so much. I'm your newest follower.

    Kimberley
    First in Maine

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    1. Thanks Kimberley. I'm glad it was helpful, and thanks for following!

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  2. Those are SO cute! I am very impressed! =) Thanks for the poetry paper!

    Ms. Smith
    Adventures of Ms. Smith

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    1. You're very welcome Ms. Smith. Thank you for coming by.

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  3. Thank you so much for the comment on my Reading Recovery linky page! I am now following you! I would love for you to choose a blog post you've written that does something "Reading Recovery-ish" and link up! =) http://hojosteacherstore.blogspot.com/2012/03/calling-all-those-who-love-reading.html

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    1. HoJo, thank you for following. I'll see if there's a Reading Recovery post I can link up.

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  4. Your students have done an amazing job! The first one about the grandfather touches your heart!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Thank you Lori. That grandfather poem was indeed a powerful one. He's a poet for sure.

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  5. Hi Tammy, I am a poetry lover, so I am glad you shared this post. I went back and read your guest post about how you introduce your poetry unit. I like how you described poets as people who look at things in a different way. I just started a poetry unit last week, so I am going to take your ideas and try them out with my class. Thanks for sharing!
    Connie
    welcometofirstgraderoom5

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    1. Connie, I appreciate your comment! I'm glad that this was useful. Let me know how it goes.

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  6. What little poets you have in your class! Their poems are beautiful. The first poem about his Grandfather made me tear up a little bit! What darlings :)

    Julie
    Light a Fire in Third Grade

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    1. Julie, they are indeed poets. It amazes me what they can come up with. Thank you for coming by!

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  7. Today I followed your post completely in class for Day 1. The kids LOVED it!! The sketches and "poet thoughts" were very insightful. I can hardly wait until tomorrow and Day 2!! Thank you again for being my guest. Maybe you'd like to come back sometime???? hee hee.
    Tammy2

    First Grade @ Klinger Cafe
    dtklinger@gmail.com

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    1. Tammy, wow I think that's absolutely cool that you're trying these lessons out with your kids. You must share some poems soon! By the way, much of what I'm using is founded in Lucy Calkins' K-2 Unit of Study. Heard of it? It's very impressive. Anyway, share soon, kay? (I always love visiting Klinger Cafe!) :)

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  8. I love Lucy Calkins and your poems! Great job with the poetry post!

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    1. Thanks for reading Sandi. Lucy's pretty smart about these things! My kids are better poets because of her.

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  9. These poems turned out great!! I did poems last year on my final placement and the kids loved them. We made them into a book so they could go back and read each others work!

    If you have time check out my blog! I'm new to the blogging world! :)
    Stephanie
    http://onetwowhatdoido.blogspot.com.au/

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    1. Stephanie, isn't poetry fun with kids? I love that you made yours into a book. (I'm all about making classroom books.) At the end of our unit, each of my kids choose one poem to publish for a poetry anthology, and they each get their own copy. I'll definitely be checking out your blog.

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