Poetry Assignment
I have decided to do Thanksgiving acrostics with my students for my poetry project. I will do it whole class during November when we are studying Thanksgiving. We will read lots of Thanksgiving stories as well as lots of acrostic poetry. For their research I am going to try to find a Thanksgiving webquest that we can do as a class or in small groups. We will do our class poem with the word Thanksgiving, but I will let them brainstorm a list of Thanksgiving words to use for their own poems. I will give them an invitation that looks like a Turkey with the rubric printed inside. I will also give them another copy of the rubric to use when they are writing. I am planning on using the acrostic books we read for class as well as trying to find any books on Thanksgiving acrostic poetry.
A Study of Memoir by Amy Arnberg
Reading this article really helped me understand what a memoir is and helped me to kind of see what direction I’d like to go in when I begin my own. Some of the things that really jumped out at me were that in the beginning, she did not define what a memoir was for her students. She gave them a week to discover the meaning and to try to find books that fit the genre. That seemed to work because her students were so enthusiastic about it and it was meaningful to them because they created their own understandings. I also like how she used minilessons to guide her students understanding and conferring to help them along. It was great how the students were asking questions and finding their own answers. It seems that she had a pretty successful experience and that her students not only learned how to write a memoir but to create their own learning.
I Poem
Final Draft can be found under pages.
This is my first draft of my I poem. I am going to revise it this week so that it is formatted the same way that I want my students to do their I poems.
Statue of Liberty
I am the Statue of Liberty,
Symbol of freedom and democracy.
A guiding light standing on the simmering water,
Welcoming tired immigrants to an unknown world.
I am a gift from France,
A symbol of friendship between two nations,
A graciously recieved and long awaited gift,
For our nation’s only centennial.
I am a jumbled jigsaw of 350 pieces,
Carried in 214 crates across the unforgiving Atlantic.
To be restored to my creator’s vision,
Upon the lonely pedestal awaiting my arrival.
I am a copper crown of seven rays,
Symbol of the Earth’s seven continents and seven seas.
with twenty-five peeking windows that represent
Earth’s buried treasure of gemstones and heaven’s shimmering rays.
I am the keeper of the tablet and the torch,
Who is endearingly called Lady Liberty,
This symbol of freedom and democracy,
to all who stand before her now.
Concrete Poem
Swinging reminds me of childhood.
Swinging reminds me of ice cream on a hot summers day.
When I hear that familiar truck tune, I jump off.
Swinging reminds me of feeling free.
I can feel my bare feet in the tall grass and silky dirt.
Pole- to make the pole
chain, chain, chain…. to make swing chains.
swing, swing, swing… to make swing seats.
grass, grass, dirt, grass….. to make ground.
breeze, breeze, breeze…. to make the wind.
Concrete Poem
Concrete Poem
By: Bethany Gilbert
C amping in the moon lit woods
A fire glowing in the darkness.
M arshmallows are delicious with a
P iece of graham cracker and chocolate.
I n the morning I lie quietly
I N the cool cave of a tent
ListeninG to the whispering wind and snapping twigs.
My dog Abby on our last camping trip. It was very cold!!!
Chapter 9/ Extending Acrostic Poetry
I was glad that I read chapter 9 today, because it went so well with an experience I shared with my class today. We were reading Johnny Appleseed by Stephen Kellog and the author used the phrase “John loved to watch the spring blossoms slowly turn into the glowing fruit of autumn.” It was a teachable moment, because I was able to discuss the author’s use of language and also see if the students were comprehending the text. I think that tomorrow I am going to go back and make a chart of amazing words/phrases to post in my class for students to use in their writing and poetry. I also liked the idea of adding amazing words and language to a writer’s notebook. This would be beneficial to my students because they have not really found their own “voice” yet, and I think that they will be more confident in their writing if they begin to mimic other authors.
I thought that the article about extending acrostic poetry was very helpful. We are so stressed for time in schools and so pushed to teach reading and math, that sometimes we don’t have time for science/social studies content. I think that this is a shame and also unfair to our students. Unfortunately, the stress of standardized testing leaves science and social studies behind. By using poetry and acrostic poetry to teach content, you are meeting multiple goals. It also gives the students a guideline to write by and a format. I agree with “marinating” our students in poetry and content and I appreciate how the article pointed out that before going into poetry the teacher immersed the students in the subject.
Flicker Flash/African Acrostics/Silver Seeds
I think that all three of these books can be used in my first grade class. Flicker Flash was an amazing example of concrete poems. While reading the poems, I was thinking of ways to integrate this book when we talk about many different science concepts like light, seasons, and even plants. My favorite poem was probably Birthday Candles. The language and description actually helped me to visualize faces lit up by birthday cakes. I think that young readers would especially enjoy this. Silver Seeds was full of beautiful poems that would be good examples of acrostic poetry for young readers. So many young writers like to do acrostics, but like to start a new sentence with each line or just put a word on each line. This is a good example of how the text can be continued throughout the poem. It was hard to find a favorite poem from this book, but I found that I the shorter they were the more I liked them. I think because it gave such a complete thought in just one or two lines that really made me think about the poem. When I read African Acrostics I thought about what a great book it would be to teach adjectives as well as poetry. The language was very descriptive and I felt that the poems matched the beautiful photographs in the book. I also liked how the title of the poem was different from the beginning letters of the acrostic. My favorite was Leopard Plan because the letters that made up the words in each line weren’t the first letters of each line. I think this shows kids that it is okay to think out of the box when writing poetry.
Swinging on my back porch
With a book in my hand
Interested in the words that pop off the page
Not knowing that I am in this world
Going to keep reading and swinging slowly all night long
Always nipping at my heels
By my side through the night
Behind me everywhere I go
You must know that she is definitley man’s best friend!
Chapter 10 & Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
As a first grade teacher, I have the idea that it is difficult to teach poetry. Chapter ten gave me a few ideas to use such as using senses to write a poem and I really liked the idea of a sound poem. I think that these poetry writing formats can be modified for first grade. It may take some work on my part, but it would be worth it to read the poetry of my students. I realize that some first graders might think writing poems is difficult, but I am hoping to find a few kids who love it and I am hoping that it will inspire them to be writers. I also like how chapter ten talked about finding ideas for poetry by word storming. This could easily be done in my first grade class and by the end of the year they should be able to do their own word storming and list making.
Love That Dog by Sharon Creech was an amazing book that I read for the first time last summer. I love how Creech used poetry to tell a story. I also loved how you could see the boy developing as a poet and coming to love poetry. I think that students would be able to relate to this and that this book might help children who are struggling to write poetry. It also is a good way to introduce students to classical poetry.
