Amy Anderson April 7, 2010

1. Amy Anderson April 7, 2010

2. Why Poetry? • Maybe you've heard before that poetry is magic, and it made you roll your eyes, but I believe it's true. Poetry matters. At the most important moments, when everyone else is silent, poetry rises to speak. • Ralph Fletcher, Poetry Matters, 2002.

3. The Benefits of Poetry • Alternative to traditional writing forms • Requires fewer words to make a meaningful message • De-emphasizes mechanics • Focus on careful and creative word selection • Uses imagery • Express feelings with a personal voice • Incorporates all five senses into writing • Inspires a love of poetry • RegieRoutman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, 2000. (7)

4. Poetry in the Primary Grades • Children have a natural talent for writing poetry and anyone who teaches them should know that. Teaching really is not the right word for what takes place: it is more like permitting the children to discover something they already have. • Kenneth Koch, Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry (25)

5. Poetry in the Primary Grades I am the kind of writer who writes in peace and quiet. I am the kind of writer who really feels the rain and the wind That feeling makes me want to sway from one way to another. It’s all in the heart. Written by a five-year-old kindergartener from the Bronx

6. A Place for Poetry • “…the emotional climate of the classroom is one of the most important factors in setting up an environment that will nurture the poet inside all of our students.” • Georgia Heard, Awakening the Heart, 1998.

7. Preparing for a Unit of Study • A Poem in Your Pocket • Chorale poetry readings • Read Alouds • Honey, I Love and Other Poems by Eloise Greenfield • Creatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia Heard • Moon, Have You Met My Mother? By Karla Kuskin • All the Small Poems and Fourteen More by Valerie Worth

8. Poetry Mini-Lessons • Seeing with Poets’ Eyes • Listening for Line Breaks • Hearing the Music in Poetry • Showing, Not Telling • Hearing the Voices of Poetry • Word Choice (Using Honest, Precise Words) • Patterns/Repetitions • Using Comparisons/Sustained Metaphors • Strong Endings • Poem Shape/Use of Blank Space • Lucy Calkins Stephanie Parsons. Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages. 2003.

9. Seeing With Poets’ Eyes Pencil Sharpener by Zoe Ryder White I think there are a hundred bees inside the pencil sharpener and they buzz and buzz and buzz until my point is sharp! *Observation Activity

10. Hearing the Music in Poetry Went to the cornerWalked in the storeBought me some candyAin’t got it no moreAin’t got it no more Went to the beachPlayed on the shoreBuilt me a sandhouseAin’t got it no moreAin’t got it no more Went to the kitchenLay down on the floorMade me a poemStill got itStill got it Things by Eloise Greenfield

11. Living our Lives as POets A child wrote a letter to poet Naomi Nye asking “How do you make a poem?” The poem “Valentine for Ernest Mann” was her response… Valentine for Ernest Mann You can't order a poem like you order a taco.Walk up to the counter, say, "I'll take two"and expect it to be handed back to youon a shiny plate.Still, I like your spirit.Anyone who says, "Here's my address,write me a poem," deserves something in reply.So I'll tell you a secret instead:poems hide. In the bottoms of our shoes,they are sleeping. They are the shadowsdrifting across our ceilings the momentbefore we wake up. What we have to dois live in a way that lets us find them. • Tiny Topics Notepads

12. Sharing Kids’ Poems • By sharing kids’ poems, the message is: “Kids just like you wrote these poems. You can write poems too.”… “They don’t see themselves as poets until they see other children as poets.” • RegieRoutman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, 2000. (11) • Using poems of children from previous years • Kids’ Poems examples in folder

13. Showing, not Telling Splash Mountain I was shivering and closing my eyes. Squeezing my dad’s hand. My heart is beating very fast. Just before the drop! It was like I couldn’t breathe. By Leah

14. Hearing the Voices of Poetry Start with a feeling, Talk to the object you are writing about… The Moon Please moon come out. I smile when you come out. I want to go to bed. I like to snuggle when I go to bed. By Sean

15. Patterns in Poems Go Wind by Lilian Moore Go wind, blowPush wind, swoosh.Shake thingstake thingsmake thingsfly.Ring thingsswing thingsfling thingshigh.Go wind, blowPush things - wheee!No, wind, no.Not me -Not me!

16. Patterns in Poems My Cat My cat is trying to catch the deer. The deer was running but my cat was still chasing him still chasing him but my cat was finally close to him. He found out it is too big for him. By: Kenny

17. Using Comparisons to Convey Feelings Inside My Heart by Zoe Ryder White Inside my heart lives One birthday party Two jazz bands Three wrestling puppies Four dancing birds Five laughing babies Six blasting spaceships Seven lucky fireflies and A sky full of stars.

18. Using Comparisons to Convey Feelings I couldn’t go to my friend’s house I saw in my heart 2 wrestlers punching each other 3 kids stomping very loud 4 kids shutting the door loudly 5 teachers moving desks 6 giants playing the drums 7 people throwing 5 books at a time 8 babies crying loud 9 classes screaming loudly 10 bands playing the horn But my dad called my friend and now they are home and I jump up and down and say “yay” By: Aneri

19. Sustaining a Metaphor Me and My Brother Me and my brother played in the playroom very loudly. That makes the playroom wake up and shout. The playroom looked very surprised and very woken up from its sleep and very glad to see me and my brother playing in it. It was so happy that it shouted and danced and it sang and it spinned and spinned all the way to the car and brought toys for me and my brother.