Amy Anderson April 7, 2010

 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.

 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  Regie Routman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, (7)

 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)

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

 “…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.

 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

 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

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

Went to the corner Walked in the store Bought me some candy Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no more Went to the beach Played on the shore Built me a sandhouse Ain’t got it no more Ain’t got it no more Went to the kitchen Lay down on the floor Made me a poem Still got it Still got it Things by Eloise Greenfield

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 you on 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 shadows drifting across our ceilings the moment before we wake up. What we have to do is live in a way that lets us find them.  Tiny Topics Notepads

 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.”  Regie Routman, Kids’ Poems: Teaching First Grades to Love Poetry, (11) Using poems of children from previous years Kids’ Poems examples in folder

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

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 Start with a feeling, Talk to the object you are writing about…

Go Wind by Lilian Moore Go wind, blow Push wind, swoosh. Shake things take things make things fly. Ring things swing things fling things high. Go wind, blow Push things - wheee! No, wind, no. Not me - Not me!

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

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.

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

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.