Poetry in February

One of the very best parts of my week was sharing poetry with 2nd grade. These young readers know my love of books, but I also wanted them to know that poetry is one of my most favorite genres of all.  I knew their teachers were focusing on poetry in language arts, so I decided to supplement/support their instruction with a mini-lesson during their library time.

My inspiration for this lesson came from the two books pictured below. I consider both to be must-haves for anyone using poetry in their classrooms or libraries.  (I will forever be grateful to Georgia Heard, Dr. Sylvia Vardell, and Janet Wong for their work.)

I had several goals (besides their language arts standards, of course). One was to establish the library as a place where poetry could be celebrated. My message: "We have poetry books and this is a place where you can read poems aloud and share them!" I also wanted to read poetry to them and help them hear the lovely music a poem can play. And, I wanted them to "discover" poetry that they liked on their own.

I had a lot of goals! 

We sat around my storytime area. I told them how much I loved poetry and asked if I could share one of my favorite poems with them: "The Library" by Barbara A. Huff. It's a wonderful ode to libraries! Then, because it was Super Bowl weekend, I shared "Super Bowl Sunday" by Jane Rush MacCulloch from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books, 2015). I had fun acting out the eating in the poem and we all joined in on the last word: "Touchdown!" 

I shared "Poem Like the Sea" by Patricia Hubbell next. They thought it was very funny that I was sharing a poem about a poem! I read it once aloud, then showed it to them. "Tell me what you think," I said to the class.  Slowly, hands went up with noticings about rhyme, repetition, line arrangement, and verses. During this discussion, I used teachable opportunities to tag on to their own learning. I celebrated their observations, asked questions for clarification, and connected one learner's answers to another. At just the right moment, I sent them off to our tables where I had placed poetry books -- hand-picked by me! I asked them to read poetry by themselves or with a partner. They immediately found poems about favorite topics like dinosaurs and chocolate and recess. And I noticed them walking over to each other to share what they'd found. I asked if anyone had found any poems they enjoyed. Hands went up immediately, and though I had not asked them to read the poems aloud, most wanted to do just that! And many did! And two boys came together in one class to read a 2-voice poem! With everyone that read aloud, I read right with along with them-- mainly, to provide support in case they came upon a word they didn't know, but also to celebrate with them.

After checkout, many came back to the poetry books to read more. Several brought me books from the tables and asked if they could check them out. I said "Of course!" with detectable joy in my voice. (Couldn't hide it.)

Now, the poetry section is a bit of a mess, and it looks depleted but to a school librarian, this is a very good thing! It means the books are being read!

The next part of the poetry lessons will continue next week. But I have already learned so much.

Post MidWinter

Upon my return from ALA Midwinter:

I was invited by my wonderful principal to share my experience on our morning announcements broadcast, and I was happy to do so! I talked about how amazing the experience was, and I brought along one of our copies of THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE by Dan Santat,  the 2015 Caldecott Medal Winner. It was great to be able to show the students the new cover with the Caldecott Medal (which I had just affixed that very morning).

That week, I also read THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE to 1st -5th grade classes, wearing a crown similar to the ones the Caldecott committee wore in Chicago. I never tired of the book, and each time, saw something new. "He did the unimaginable," is my favorite line of the book because it makes me think of my own learning journey. Since I read the book aloud to classes, I purchased more copies both for the library and for gifts, and I have yet to see the book in the library for very long at all.

One particular effect of the ALA MidWinter experience: I couldn't stop talking about it.
In fact, when a group of visitors from a nearby school district dropped by the library last week, I found myself giving an impromptu presentation on the Caldecott Award and the value of picture books -- and I did not run out of words.

I read 2015 Geisel Honor Winner WAITING IS NOT EASY by Mo Willems to kindergarten, asking the classroom teacher to read either Gerald or Piggie's part. This type of team reading was a definite success, and I saw the beauty of the book even more. The night sky filled with stars is definitely a wonderful surprise to share with Gerald, Piggie!

I returned with a long list of books to read and  purchase based on what I had seen at MidWinter. I read books at booths or in sessions where they were being discussed. My order list is growing!

I also can't believe I experienced a blizzard. Wow! I'm so glad I took pictures!

And because I promised myself I would write a poem about the experience, here is my draft:

Snow City

The snowflakes slide
lightly down.
Never stopping.
Through a welcome window
I watch them glide
past buttery lamplight
then lose them in piles--
too many to see.

How is it that I am here?
here in this snow city
in this place
Now?

I am a visitor --
a traveler --
a WONDERER --
standing in warmth
looking down
at the snow city
below --
marveling.

© 2015 Cynthia Alaniz

A meager attempt at poetry, but I will revise!

I am so grateful for the ALA MidWinter experience!

Poetry Visit

Yesterday I had a particularly wonderful moment that I just had to write about.

Two first graders walked into the library with a notebook in their hands. They walked up to me at the desk and asked if they could show me their work. I said "yes!" of course.

When they opened their notebook, I saw three lines of writing and a title . . and then a syllable count on each one. I realized that these students had written a haiku. A haiku!! (Their teacher had told them about haikus, but they didn't remember the name.) 

I could not contain my excitement! I absolutely love poetry and especially poetry written FOR or BY children.

I asked them to read it aloud to me. The haiku was about sunshine and how "cool" it was! And it was so lovely I asked them to read it to me again. I told them it was because -- as I've learned -- poetry is meant to be read aloud.

So when they read it to me again, I closed my eyes to hear the beauty of it. And it made me smile.

And I think they got the idea that this kind of stuff brings me such joy!! I know their teacher knows this, and that's probably why she sent them.  I can't thank her enough for that! 

So then I told them that we had lots of poetry books in the library! We walked over to the 811s where I pulled out some titles for them to browse through. (I wanted to show them Hi, Koo! (Scholastic, 2014) but it was checked out.)

I asked if I could display the poem in the library, and they said "Yes!" with big smiles on their faces. But they said they wanted to recopy it and illustrate it first. 

Then they walked away and I just couldn't stop smiling.

Does writing happen in the library? Yes.

Is it easy to celebrate poetry in the library? Yes. 

Those students brought me some sunshine yesterday.

Poem In Your Pocket Day Wrap-Up

Poem in Your Pocket Day became such a wonderful event, and so much more than I expected.

I sent out an email to our staff before the week began. I invited them to share poems on our Poet-tree (see previous post). I also told them about this day and asked if my students could come and share poetry with their classes. The response was so heart-warming. It deserves its own blog post, but as I try to put it into a great narrative, I realize that just listing the awesome moments will be enough.

Here are SOME of the wonderful things that happened on Poem in Your Pocket Day.

• Our principal came to our room to hear our poetry. He gave them feedback on their poetry and was clearly pleased! But what I reveled in was the complete perfection of the moment. My students were creating poetry, they were excited about it & even MORE excited about sharing it. The moments are possible when we give students choice & show them that we are writers, too. The excitement spreads!

• My students organized a schedule for groups to visit classrooms and share. Sometimes when they returned, they brought back younger poets with them from other classes to share poetry with US.

• In the hallway, teachers stopped our class to share poems they pulled out of their own pockets.

• I stopped classes in the hallway to read a poem. Each time I was met with a captive audience.

• Teachers had their students show ME their poems as they waited in line.

• My students shared poetry at the lunch table.

• Our poet-tree is filled with many additions of poetry from every grade.

• I spotted an enthusiastic cluster of kids in the library checking out poetry books.

• At indoor recess on Thursday, a group of my students had a poetry reading in the hallway. They had a nice-sized audience. Afterward, one student in another class sat at a table and wrote a wonderful poem about leaves.

• Even though it was rainy, and we have had lots of sad news in our country last week, I found spots of that special joy that can only come from kids.

• I shared "A Quiet Day" by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater. It's a lovely poem about a great day.

• The finale? Our principal returned to our classroom in Friday to read us his own original poetry! He wrote one especially for our class. As he read it aloud to us, I was brimming with tears!

This week is proof of how much joy poetry can bring. I want that to continue throughout April, May, June, July, etc., etc.

I hope you can celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day next year with us, and read poetry all year long!

(Sidenote: I highly recommend THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY: POEMS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR WITH CONNECTIONS TO THE TEKS by Dr. Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. It's a great resource for teachers.)

Our Poet-tree

April is National Poetry Month. I have been promoting it at my school as much as possible. Our teachers are doing such great things with poetry already! I'm hoping they will be able to bring poetry out and share it with everyone. I thought the Poet-tree was the perfect way to do that. (It's not my idea; I read about it somewhere awhile ago! )

My students created the display. It's right outside one of the entrances to our school library. All I did was tell them the name and purpose of the project, and they figured out the rest. They asked a lot of questions about how to make the parts, but I let them find their own solutions. (They created paper leaves and distributed them to classmates with instructions to "Write a poem here!" ) On each leaf you will find a small verse. Just making the tree was a great lesson in problem solving.

I sent out an email to our faculty inviting them to have their students put poems on our poet-tree. (In a day, we've had about 10 more poems added.) Teachers are sending ME emails saying how much fun their students are having writing poems, and my own students get so excited when they see that someone else has added to it.  We are also now checking it often to make sure it stays up. 

 

Another wonderful side benefit of this tree is that my students want to add poems to it every day. Many of them bring the poems from home, while others write them in class. I would say that LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech started it all. 

 

This one little project is giving students an opportunity to connect as we celebrate language. Our dual language classes are writing poems in Spanish to display, too!

 

As I write this, I ask myself this question: How often DO our students collaborate with students from grade levels?

 

As a library school student, I see this in another way, too. This gives students one more reason to come to the library! I'm also going to get students from other classes to work with my students IN the library to write poems. I believe our library spaces are perfect locations for writing!

What are you doing for poetry month? Have you created a "Poet-Tree"?

 

 

Authors Who Help Us

This is my tattered but precious classroom copy of one of my favorite books: LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech.

I read it every year during my Writer's Workshop unit on poetry. It's a short-enough book that I usually finish it in one or two sessions. But I don't finish it BECAUSE it's short. I finish it because my students don't want me to stop reading it. (That's the sign of a great read-aloud.)

Today we got to the part where Mr. Walter Dean Myers visited Jack's classroom. (If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it). Jack is the main character, and he's written a poem based on "Love That Boy" by Mr. Myers. We talked about how great it was that Mr. Myers visited Jack's actual classroom. We've had an author visit this year, and we've Skyped with some of them, too. So the thought of having an author come into our classroom was wonderful to think about. Curious, I asked my class who THEY would want to have visit our own classroom.

A flurry of names flew about the room--names blurted together in excited shouts and frantic exclamations. . Here are a few of them:

• Sharon Creech
• Katherine Applegate
• Dan Gutman
• Barbara O'Connor
• Rick Riordan
• Jeff Kinney
• C.A. London
• James Dashner
• Amy Dyckman

You should know that this is only a partial list. There were many more-- too many for me to keep track of. Most of them were familiar. Some were not. (I really loved that. It means my readers are discovering authors on their own!)

I realized I'd opened up the flood gates with this question. The answers kept coming, and everyone had a name to share. Or two! Or five!The conversation continued on Edmodo that evening, and I read the posts from home feeling utterly pleased.

My students could name authors so easily, and I knew this was possible because they'd done more than read their books. They had connected with these authors in meaningful ways--ways I hadn't really taken notice of until today. I was bringing in books, doing book talks, showing book trailers, recommending books, but I wasn't the only one helping my students develop a love of reading: the authors (who weren't even in the room) were doing their part, too. It seems we've all been working together like one big literacy collaboration team.

And as I wrote this post, I started to understand something really fantastic. My students had been WISHING that these authors would step foot in our classroom, but all of them already had! Sharon Creech had shown us poetry was a way we could all express out thoughts! Ame Dyckman brought us our very own robot that makes everybody smile. Barbara O'Connor gave us an opportunity for rich discussions. C.A. London took us on crazy, fun adventures that made us laugh. Rick Riordan is in our class every day with his friend Percy. And Katherine Applegate? She retells Ivan's story whenever we like! All we have to do is pull that special book off the shelf! (Our read-aloud of THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN helped build our classroom community in ways I still discover daily.)

This discussion helped me reaffirm my sincerest admiration for children's authors who share their talents as they do. I couldn't teach without them.

Here's my OTHER copy of  LOVE THAT DOG. It's one of my treasures.

Now it will be a reminder to me that I'm not the only literacy role model in my classroom. I have many friends who help. Some of them are listed in this blog post.  





It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! I'm joining Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts to share what we've been reading this week. I'm happy to take part in this meme!

Last week consisted of two after-school meetings, lots of work for library school, Valentine's Day, and a fabulous author visit (plus some side projects). So my leisure reading was limited.

Last week I read:

I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Published: December 26, 2012

Hardcover, 32 pages

 

I loved this poetry collection of sweet haikus! We read these toether as a class on Valentine's Day, and it was the perfect book. It inspired my students to write haikus themselves.

 

 

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

Publisher: Philomel

Published: February 12, 2013

Hardcover, 288 pages

 

 

This book is a delightful collection of little mysteries that all connect in the end. The story is smoothly written, and the characters are so intriguing. There are people with Talents and there are people who are Fair. This book also includes wonderful cake recipes that match each character. I highly recommend it.

 

 

What I plan to read this week:

 

I will be reading textbook chapters and journal articles, but I will also treat myself to these:

 

Every Day After by Laura Golden

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

 

 

What are you reading this week?