Jonathan - the Poet

I got a kick out of this poem.

This morning I told Jonathan that it was a free writing
assignment. In other words he could write about anything
his heart desired...as long as he was writing.

We have been studying poetry for a while now and
for most of this morning a flock of starlings had
been hovering and landing off and on in the field
across the street.

Put those two things together and add Jonathan's
creative vocabulary together...you get this:

The Birds, Birds, Birds
By Jonathan K.
Inspired By
Edgar Allen Poe’s
The Bells


The chittering, chattering
Birds, Birds, Birds,
The twittering, twattering
Birds, Birds, Birds
The Kickling, Cackling
Rippling, Rattling chorus monotony
Of the
Birds, Birds, Birds
Birds, Birds, Birds
Birds.
The beady blinking eyes
Of the
Birds, Birds, Birds
Birds, Birds, Birds
Birds, Birds, Birds
Birds, Birds, Birds
As they sit…

He amuses me!
He must be my son!
Becky K.

A Fun Writing Exercise

This can be fun if you are doing a unit on poetry and want to encourage your students to think descriptively. Chances are the end result will be silly but that is what makes it fun.

Have your student(s) cut a blank sheet of paper into approximately 25 slips. Next they will write short phrases on the papers. For example: The spotted dog, The fluffy pillow, The short boy with brown hair, etc.

Next have them make up about 15 slips of paper with verbs and adverbs such as: swang the bat wildly, ran after the ball, jumped from the swing carelessly.

Now, this is more fun the more children you have adding to the creative pile. All of the slips get turned face down and each child gets to choose until all are gone. Making sure that they get equal amounts of descriptive phrases and then everyone getting verbs.

Have them write a poem or paragraph using the papers they have chosen as the base. They are allowed to add a word here and there to smooth it out but you must be able to tell that it came from the papers that they have chosen.

It is good for a laugh every time and helps to break up the monotony of daily writing exercises.

This helps your child develop the ability to naturally use adjectives and look at the things around them differently.

Hope you have some fun with this. If you do it let me know. I would love to see some of the things your kids come up with.

Becky K.

Writing Poetry

Yesterday I enjoyed surprising the kids as we continued in our study of poetry.
We began a new book called Poetry Matters, Writing a Poem from the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher. As we finished reading and discussing they were getting all set for me to tell them to write a poem.
I had already decided that I want to get further into the book and build some momentum before I get them to put it into practice. You should have seen the shock on their faces.
I wonder if they weren't just a tad disappointed...hmmm...maybe Chelsea. I doubt very much that the boys will ever be sad to skip writing.

My goals for this Poetry Unit:

1. Enjoyment of poetry writing.
2. The ability to read poetry aloud.
3. For creativity to be inspired...about more than dragons and video games! :-)
4. Increased observation skills.
5. To enjoy reading poetry.
6. Memorization of at least one classic.

There is more, but you can get the idea of where I am headed with this.

At this point in the book I would definitely recommend it to you. It is written in an easy to read conversational tone. I would guess that your 4-8th graders would gain the most from it. I am happy to use it for all of mine. I figure if it is written in a way that I can enjoy it... and not feel as if I am being talked down to, so will my older boys.
It definitely inspired conversation. The reading stopped several times as they piped in with good comments. I LOVE it when that happens.
You can see how it has effected me on my Jabberwocky post at Hospitality Lane today.
So...with the understanding and qualification that I have not read the entire book...I would encourage you to check it out. I am borrowing this one from our local library.

Blessings on your day!
Becky