Poetry Writing In Your Classroom : Some Helpful Resources

Poetry works so well for me because it fits so easily into the daily teaching day. Whether there is an indepth lesson or just ten minutes to share and discuss pretty words, it always works. Here are some resources to guide you as you carve out time for poetry.

Opening a Door: Reading Poetry in the Middle School Classroom by Paul Janecko.  One reason I love this book is because each poetry lesson is set up ready to go. He gives background for the teacher in topics that include form, structure, image, and figurative language. There are As You Read and After You Read activities for students, a copy of the poem, and then a follow-up response page. Some may think it a bit canned, but for teachers not really comfortable teaching poetry, or teachers with five preps in a day, the format is user friendly. Tomorrow I have a sub and it will work well introducing a poem for the class.  Some poems in the book are “Famous’ by Naomi Shihab Nye, “A Room in the Past” by Ted Kooser, and “The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe. The collection of poems he chose is another part of the book I enjoy.

Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard. I love in her introduction when she says “poetry, like bread, is for everyone.” She spends time in this book explaining poetry environments, reading and writing poetry, toolboxes for crafting poetry, and revision of poetry. When I use this book I always turn to the activity shown on the cover. It is called heart mapping, and is a prewriting activity that gives students many ideas for their own poems. She has students make a map of all the important things in their heart such as people, places, memories, and moments. From there she begins poetry writing. It works!

A Crow Doesn’t Need A Shadow: A Guide to Writing Poetry from Nature by Lorraine Ferra. This book helps us take our students to the world of nature to write poems. She has a section called Poetry Field Trips which includes wildflowers, weather, and birds and other animals. The chapter I always return to is Growing a Poem Naturally. It begins with a word list and moves into creative experiences. This volume also includes beautiful pencil sketches of ways to publish the poems.

Getting the Knack: Twenty Poetry Writing Exercises by Stephen Dunning and William Stafford.  The twenty practical poetry exercises are laid out in steps making it simple for the writer or teacher to move through the writing with ease. Some exercise topics are List Poems, Memory Maps, Found Poems, and Confession Poems. I return often to the Headline Poem activity where students begin with words and phrases found from a newspaper’s headlines. Then the task is to discover and present- in an artistic and attractive way- connections in the language.

This is my collection I always keep front and center. I always believe resource books can be adapted for many grade levels. Other titles I would recommend are: Poetry Matters by Ralph Fletcher, Writing Across Cultures by Edna Kovacs, Starting With Little Things by Ingrid Wendt, and Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons by Nancy Atwell.

Pretty Words

Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:
I love smooth words, like gold-enameled fish
Which circle slowly with a silken swish,
And tender ones, like downy-feathered birds:
Words shy and dappled, deep-eyed deer in herds,
Come to my hand, and playful if I wish,
Or purring softly at a silver dish,
Blue Persian kittens fed on cream and curds.

I love bright words, words up and singing early;
Words that are luminous in the dark, and sing;
Warm lazy words, white cattle under trees;
I love words opalescent, cool, and pearly,
Like midsummer moths, and honied words like bees,
Gilded and sticky, with a little sting.

Elinor Wylie

The Winter Collection: Some Writing Books for Inspiration

   Frosty windows and snow drifts indicate the winter season is near. It is an ideal time for wrapping up in a quilt, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate, and settling in a soft chair with a favorite pen, journal, and some writing books for inspiration.

   After being motivated by visiting writers and having time to write each day during the Summer Institute, Writing Project fellows have good intentions of revising that creative nonfiction piece, polishing another favorite poem, or modeling their own revision process for students. Other stuff gets in the way. Personal writing moves down the list of priorities. For the winter collection I have compiled a short list of useful books on writing. This group may help you keep going when you have run out of inspiration, energy, or creativity. Hopefully this collection may also provide fresh ideas to use with your own student writers.

    Steering the Craft, Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. Le Guin. I am drawn in already by the great title! This Portland, Oregon writer has organized her book by topics surrounding the craft of writing, and then includes writing exercises, examples from known literature, and further reading. She begins the book with a chapter entitled “The Sound of Your Writing” using a little poem by Gertrude Stein called “Susie Asado” as a model for sound.  Other chapters include “Repetition”, “Point of View and Voice”, and “Indirect Narration”.  This book is helpful particularly if there is one specific area of writing you want to focus on without reading a whole volume.

   Writing Toward Home, Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way by Georgia Heard. In each chapter of this book the author gives a narration on a topic, following up with a writing prompt to inspire the writer. She takes experiences and lessons from her life and guides the writer to put those life experiences into their own words. “Let Writing Lead the Way” is a favorite chapter because she admits failures in her own writing and ends with questions we can ask ourselves as writers.  Home and autobiography are themes throughout the book helping the writer find an authentic voice and well-chosen words.

    The Writer’s Notebook, Unlocking the Writer Within You by Ralph Fletcher is a compact book that carries a big punch. He introduces the Writer’s Notebook idea then provides thoughts on notebooks from authors including Paul Fleischman and Naomi Shihab Nye. His chapter called “Lists” is full of practical writing ideas for any situation. His last chapter “Writing About Writing” is a perfect ending to this book. He answers questions and shares others’ thoughts on writing. “Your notebook should fit you the way a favorite pair of jeans fits your body. Let it reflect who you are.” If you are short on time and want some practical, yet inspiring ideas, this is the book for you.

   The Sound of Paper, Starting From Scratch by Julia Cameron.  Cameron is well known for her book The Artist’s Way, but when it comes to setting up rituals for the writing life, this book is a keeper. She introduces three writing tools to use in “your backpack” throughout the book. They are morning pages, artist dates, and walks. She then introduces us to a series of essays about the creative life, each coming to a close with an idea to explore. One favorite of mine is called “Keeping Our Footing” and the exercise has the writer focus on activities that bring relief and grounding. Yes, the list includes laundry, making fudge, and mending!

  

The NIWP Spring Confernce Is Coming March 8th and 9th 2011!

NIWP has  rolled back the spring conference rates to 2007 levels!  The total cost for a full two day conference, with Barry Hoonan as the keynote speaker will be only $80. One day fees have been reduced to a low $60.  The conference is the same format as before with a well-known, dynamic keynote speaker and the NWP standard of teachers teaching teachers in the afternoon. There will be 16 concurrent sessions including topics such as writing in the content area, grading, and vocabulary. Our workshops provide for thoughtful discussion of topics important to you and your students, as well as practical strategies that can be implemented in your classroom the next day.

Our other big news is the change of conference sites. In an attempt to make the conference more accessible and convenient for attendees, we have moved to the Spokane Convention Center. This move ensures ample parking in area lots—some as low as $5.00 per day, and access to area restaurants for lunch. We will be meeting in the conference auditorium for the morning sessions and move down the hall to the breakout rooms in the afternoon.  We hope this will allow you to arrive at the conference relaxed and ready to network with area teachers!

For more information contact Carol Nelson at carol@niwp.org or visit the NIWP website soon for registration information.

A Northwest Treasure

William Stafford is a northwest treasure. I can't think of a poem he has written that I haven't liked in some way. Here is one for today.

Remembering

When there was air, when you could

breathe any day if you liked, and if you

wanted to you could run, I used to

climb those hills back of town and

follow a gully so my eyes were at ground

level and could look out through grass as the

   stems

bent in their tensile way, and see snow

mountains follow along, the way distance goes.

Now I carry those days in a tiny box

wherever I go. I open the lid like this

and let the light glimpse and then glance away.

There is a sigh like my breath when I do this.

Some days I do this again and again.

-William Stafford

How Hard Do We Push?

Our students have learned the routines of writer's workshop. They know the steps of the process, they understand what a mini-lesson is, and they also have now seen a rubric. I always see the second quarter as the time to "dig in " and get serious about writing in my classroom. I now know my students better and can gauge what they need as we move through writing time in class. Now comes the tough question for the teacher. How hard do we push?
Some students are ready to take off and find a quiet corner and start a short story. Others are still needing support every step of the way. Then there are the students that don't think they have a story to tell. "Nothing happens in my life." "I can't write about that. I just stay in my room". "I don't have anybody important in my family". It is more important than ever that we know our students. That is how we know how hard to push. Writing makes students vulnerable. Writing involves taking risks. Writing is hard.
We continue in November to coach, support, nudge, nurture, and praise. Every day we take it one step at a time.

What is Orange?

  What Is Orange?

Orange is a tiger lily,
A carrot,
A feather from
A parrot,
A flame,
The wildest color you can name.
Saying good-bye
In a sunset that
Shocks the sky .
Orange is brave
Orange is bold
It's bittersweet
And marigold.
Orange is zip
Orange is dash
The brightest stripe
In a Roman sash.
Orange is an orange
Also a mango.
Orange is the music
Of the tango.
Orange is the fur
Of the fiery fox,
The brightest crayon
In the box.
And in the fall
When the leaves are tuming
Orange is the smell
Of a bonfire burning.
---Mary O'Neill

Books for Encouraging Poetry Writing

 Teachers are busy people. Teachers are "on" the whole day and when the day ends they want a bit of time to be "off", but they also love reading, writing, and words. Teachers often want to do personal writing if time can be found after a full day of teaching.
I am often asked to recommend books that are an inspiration for personal writing.With this post the focus is on poetry writing books. It is often more manageable to grab paper and write a few verses of poetry when only fifteen minutes is available here or thirty minutes there. These books have excellent suggestions that would work with writing poetry with students also.
Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem by Wendy Bishop
What I love about this book is how each section starts with invention poems by published poets, then Bishop provides invention exercises using that poem.  "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens is the poem she starts off with. Inventive exercises are also available using  "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams, " Why I Miss the Midwest" by Michelle Liles, and "Praise Made of Water" by Nancy Willard to name a few of my favorites.  Any writer could use this volume once a week for a year and never run out of ideas. It is that good.

I love Ted Kooser. I love his poetry, his website, and how he has made poetry accessible to the people with his "American LIfe in Poetry" syndicated column featuring a poem a week by a wide variety of poets. His book The Poetry Home Repair Manual, Practical Advice for Beginning Poets is another guide I turn to often. The chapters on writing from memory and working with detail have reminded me often of new tips to try myself. He ends the book with a chapter entitled " Relax and Wait" which we often forget to do as we finish a draft of writing.

I will do future posts on other books on writing. Check the local library for these titles, or if you are in Moscow, the Bishop book has multiple copies available in our NIWP library in the IMTC.