What Will Your Verse Be?

Will your inspired by poem tell your tale?

Inspired by "Where I'm From"

In an inspired by poem, writers use the original poem as a guide. Lines, spacing, rhythm, and stanzas usually mimic the model poem.  The topic is similar but adapted to fit the writer. 

Using George Ella Lyon’s poem as a model, write your own inspired by “Where I’m From” poem. Think about sensory details of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch in your life. Picture your house and your neighborhood. Consider people that are important to you--parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, and people you admire. Think about things from your life that made you like you are--activities, events, family traditions, and hobbies.

Where I’m From 

by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush,

the Dutch elm

whose long gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,

from Imogene and Alafair.

I’m from the know-it-alls  and the pass-it-ons,

from perk up and pipe down.

I’m from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb

and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,

fried corn and strong coffee.

From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger

the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box

spilling old pictures,

a sift of lost faces

to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments–

snapped before I budded–

leaf-fall from the family tree

Reading Poetry

Poems are built on ideas, experiences or emotions in a condensed form that makes the reader search for understanding.  The reader should slow down, think about each line and the words in it, and then reread and reconsider.

However, to understand poetry the reader must not go gently, but should attack.  As we begin to spend time in Reading Workshop with poetry/word study, students must overcome their fears and dive into the language of poetry.  Whether it be as a reader, analyzing the work of others, or when revising their own work, students must go full speed ahead.  They need to take the advise given by Eve Merriam.

How to Eat a Poem

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice
that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

What is Merriam's point?  What about the poem makes you think that?  What thoughts do you have when tearing into her poem? Or others? How does this compare to the way you revise your own poems?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdot/10362168/sizes/s/

Let's See, What are Good Poetry Titles?

Weird Students
Mismatched Socks
Riding Vader (My Horse)
I Ate Too Much Chocolate
Cheesy Biscuits and Garlic Breath
Hard Workers
Eli is Not So Shy Any More
Just Plain Megan
Cafeteria Noise
Why Do You Make Me Have to be Mean?
The General aka Mrs. Hardin
Frank the Tank (Kaminsky)
Frank Gets Class
Rainy School Days
Zoom aka Carter
Zoom Thinks He's a Super Hero
The Last Class Was Boring
It Was All My Fault
I was Boring
We Were Still Asleep
Last Night I Had Bad Dreams
Why Does Tacey Work So Hard?
Distracting Class
Off Topic
Writing
World Hunt
I Hate to Lose
My Truck Got Washed Today
I Want to Cry
Not
720 Classes in a Year
My Heart's a Stereo
I Want to Be the Next American Idol
Everybody Now, Slide to the Left
Courage Enough to Write
My Diet Starts Next Monday
Grandma Has Gas
Talk Less, Write More
Afraid of Poetry
Dreams, Desire, Dedication, and Dish Washing
My Chucks Have Blue Shoestrings
Whining Instead of Working
Flo Rider (I Cry)
Music Makes Me Think
Are We Going to Sing Today and Other Questions Students Ask Every Day
Can I Go to the Bathroom?
How Many Topics Should I List?
Is This OK?
Allison Got Her Name on the Sign
Seriously, Aren't you a Little Sick of Cats Because I Am
Alexis, Allison, and Ashton
Earn a Brave Buck
A Little Less Cry and a Lot More Effort
My Sense of Humor is Underappreciated
Nose Pickers
Eddie's Hair
Take a Load Off Fannie
Morning Announcements
It's For not Fur
Red Card
You Can't Have My List
I Wonder What You Don't Know That I Don't Know
A Spot in Time and It's Not a Dalmation
Spaghetti Face
I Hate Sporks

The Author's Feelings

Have you ever thought about what the writer was feeling? In most instances, great writing is the result of situations or problems that spark strong feelings. The writer is faced with an emotional situation and uses writing as an outlet. 

Sometimes feelings of joy need to be shared. Other times relief in dealing with sadness or grief comes from sharing through writing. In this poem, Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes, he describes facing the challenges in life. 

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor --

Bare.

But all the time

I'se been a-climbin' on,

And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners,

And sometimes goin' in the dark

Where there ain't been no light.

So boy, don't you turn back.

Don't you set down on the steps

'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.

Don't you fall now --

For I'se still goin', honey,

I'se still climbin',

And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

What was he feeling as he wrote this poem? How does that relate to your feelings as a reader? Do think there is usually a connection between the author's feelings and the reader's feelings?

Image from http://beninjapan.blogspot.com/

Bring Some "Ing" to Your Poetry

Good poetry is alive, bringing the reader inside and making him think, or wonder, or laugh, or cry. And to bring the reader in nothing works better than action verbs. Thus the need for some "ing."

Screaming, shouting, racing, zinging, glistening, clinging, spinning, howling, catching, hooting, buzzing, violating, falling, sprinting, vaulting, pouncing, scaling, attacking, lunging, foraging, galloping, whipping, creating, gambling, whaling, slashing, wondering, listing, faking, destroying, escaping, dreaming, visualizing, imagining, bouncing, scraping, flailing, editing, revising, writing . . .

Make Your Words Count in Poetry

Cut out all those words.  This is poetry so you don't need them.  In fact, if the word doesn't do something to clarify meaning, or help make your point, just delete it.

Get rid of all those annoying little words and leave only the ones that matter.  You really don't need all those "it's" and "is's."  Nor do you need those are's and were's. Trim the fat and excess words.  Make your poem meaningful and exciting.

The best thing about poetry is that the author makes the rules.  You can choose whether or not to use capital letters, sentences, and punctuation.  The only rule is write in the best way to make your poem meaningful and understandable.  Just write so your reader relates to your message.

Author's note:  There are divided thoughts about using apostrophes in certain circumstances to show plural.  The general thinking is that it is allowable in a few instances if it helps considerably with making text more easily understood and more readable.

Image from http://kerileebeasley.com/

Make a Poem

Take this poem and rewrite it. Make it yours. Use your imagination. Be creative. You can read other student's poems HERE.

A boy
walked down
the path

He thought
about kids
at his school

He wished
they were
a little nicer

He didn't know
how to make
it happen

He tried
smiling at them
and it worked.

Revising Poems

So you get a first draft of a poem and it seems pretty good.  Now what?  Is it ready to publish?  Everything is spelled right.  It makes sense.  So how do you revise?  How do you make it better?  What can you do with a basic poem like this, that has a good topic choice with a nice twist at the end and make it into an A+ poem?

Thank you to Maddie for allowing us to experiment with her writing.

That one kid makes me sad,                              

That one kid makes me mad.

When I see him I just go Eww!!!!

I don’t like him,

He doesn’t like me.

We fight all the time.

She started it!

No he started it!!

He makes me go crazy,

I make him flip out.

But the truth is………

He’s my brother.

One area that could be improved is word choice. The Reading Workshop Poetry Rubric says, Word choice is exact, colorful, and interesting. What words could be changed to improve this poem?  Is there a synonym for sad that would be more interesting? Or mad? Or doesn't like?

We could also look at improving and adding sensory details like the rubric describes as, Uses sensory details to help the reader see, hear, feel, and/or think.  What could be changed to help what the reader visualizes?  Could the "one kid" be described in some way?   What changes would help the reader see the fight?

The rubric also says, A natural rhythm and structure. Is there a way to put this into stanzas that would improve how it flows and sounds to the reader?

Regarding effort, reflects the effort to create a special piece of writing. What could be added to build this into a more meaningful poem?



You can see the revised poems HERE.

Inspired by Poetry

Some of the best poems are often those that are inspired by another poem.  The concept is to take the framework of a poem you like, and then revise it to make it fit you.  Just remember to always give credit to the author by stating, "Inspired by . . ."

The Other Me

Written by Kristine O'Connell George

The other me knows what to wear,

fits in, doesn't stick out,

is one of them.

The other me remembers jokes,

doesn't get teased

by anyone.

The other me doesn't have big feet,

doesn't stumble,

doesn't drop her lunch tray.

So where is she,

this amazing

Other Me?

Reading Workshop students, please take this poem, or another of your favorites and write an "Inspired by" poem.

Image from http://tvtropes.org

What Makes a Good Poem?

Today we will ask the experts.  Students in Reading Workshop, what makes a good poem?  Or, what makes a poem good?  As you looked through poetry books the last two days, what did the best poems have in common?

When you looked through a book, what made you want to keep reading it?  What made you want to put a book back and try another one?  What made the difference between a book that grabbed your attention and gained your interest from a book that bored you?

Image from http://www.dailywaffle.co.uk/2012/09/my-five-favourite-pieces-of-poetry/poetry/

No It's or Is's Allowed in Poetry

Cut out all those words.  This is poetry so you don't need them.  In fact, if the word doesn't do something to clarify meaning, or help make your point, just delete it.

Get rid of all those annoying little words and leave only the ones that matter.  You really don't need all those "it's" and "is's."  Nor do you need those are's and were's. Trim the fat and excess words.  Make your poem meaningful and exciting.

The best thing about poetry is that the author makes the rules.  You can choose whether or not to use capital letters, sentences, and punctuation.  The only rule is write in the best way to make your poem meaningful and understandable.  Just write so your reader relates to your message.

Author's note:  There are divided thoughts about using apostrophes in certain circumstances to show plural.  The general thinking is that it is allowable in a few instances if it helps considerably with making text more easily understood and more readable.

Image from http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/tag/linking-verbs/

You Need Some "ing" in Your Poetry

Is your poetry alive?  Or does it just lay there squashed and ragged, like a mushy apple smashed on the road?  Maybe it needs a little "ing" put into it.

Good poetry is alive, bringing the reader inside and making him think, or wonder, or laugh, or cry.  And to bring the reader in nothing works better than action verbs.  Thus the need for some "ing."

Screaming, shouting, racing, zinging, glistening, clinging, spinning, howling, catching, hooting, buzzing, violating, falling, sprinting, vaulting, pouncing, scaling, attacking, lunging, foraging, galloping, whipping, creating, gambling, whaling, slashing, wondering, listing, faking, destroying, escaping, dreaming, visualizing, imagining, bouncing, scaping, flailing, editing, revising, writing . . .

Image from http://newtimesfrontier.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/the-ing-factor/

Ten Random Acts of Kindness and a Poem

We are beginning to focus on poetry in Reading Workshop.  The best poetry sparks some sort of emotion within the reader.  A good poem should make us laugh or make us cry.  It might surprise us or make us think.  It might open our hearts and connect us with the writer.

As we work towards the craft of becoming writers, and with the hope of opening awareness of others, students have a special assignment.  During the next five days, give to someone else.  The task is ten random acts of kindness.  This can be to a peer, a friend, a relative, or a total stranger.  The point though is to focus on the interaction of the person involved.

On Friday, Reading Workshop students will pick one event, emotion, thought, or idea from the week and share it in a poem.  I am sure with this year's students, there will be some amazing poetry.

The Feeling of Christmas at My House

As the holiday season approaches, family is what matters.  At my house, the Christmas breakfast is where all of the greatness of Christmas comes together.

The Christmas Breakfast

As the season approaches

sentiments turning to family

and the Christmas breakfast

eating together.

Steaming mugs of coffee

amid piles of torn wrapping paper.

Thankfulness for all we have

and the joy of the day.

We come to the table

with warmth in the house

and in our hearts

and celebrate our lives.

The assignment for students is to pick one part of their lives that best reflects their family and the holiday season, and write a gift of poetry.

Some Student Poetry

Here are a few samples of students' poems.  To see more, just click on the links on the sidebar.

From A Daily Bailey
I Think I'm Going to Puke

I’m not really feeling well
It’s something that I ate
I think I’m about to puke
It tasted like fish bait

Uh oh!
I’m gonna spew
I’m really, really sorry
If I get some on you

It’s all over the carpet
It kind of looks like plums
Hey! What’s that thing there?
It looks like lots of thumbs

I shouldn’t have eaten that food
It looked like an old baseball mitt
I’ll never eat it again
Not even a little bit

It’s all over the room
Even on the couch
I’m sorry it got everywhere
No need to be a grouch

I went and cleaned up                                                                       
Now it’s all gone
Next time I’ll go puke
Outside on the lawn

From Gabrielle's Gabby Page

Divorce, Divorce

Where do I start

It’s a course.

Divorce, Divorce

Why do our parents do that?

It makes me sad.

Divorce, Divorce

My sister and I

Had to cry

My Sister by Keifer

Inspired by Sara Holbrook

My sister is
a splinter
deep down in my skin


My sister is
a baseball game
one I can not win


My sister  is
a rat
with her little mice

Keifer's sister is the sweet looking one on the left.  Hhhhhmmm!

My sister is
a cucumber
one I want to dice


My sister is
a bug
one I want to crush


My sister is
an apple
that has turned to mush


My sister is
a bumble bee
always stinging me


My sister is
just mean
come on can’t you see

So Many Ways to Say it in Poetry

How else can you say it?  As we looked at one student's opening line of his poem, so many ideas for sharing were discovered.  We started with Poetry is not me


And came up with this list:

1. Poetry is unreasonable
2. Poetry is not what I write
3. Poetry is not my thing
4. Poetry has something I don't
5. Poetry is not bad
6. Poetry is not understandable to me
7. We can't connect
1. We play phone tag
2. The call is never answered
3. The meal doesn't fill me up
4. The hot sauce is mild
5. Poetry doesn't add up
6. We can't be together
7. Poetry and I aren't alike
8. Poetry doesn't have Internet
9. Poetry is like a game with no Xbox
10. Poetry is like eggs without bacon
11. We are two peas from different pods
12. Poetry is like pancakes without syrup
8. Poetry never answers my phone calls
9. I don't go with poetry
10. Poetry doesn't pick me up
11. Poetry and I don't mix
1. Poetry won't get in the blender with me
2. Poetry isn't the ice cream for my milkshake
3. We just don't mesh
4. Poetry is the book with no words
5. Poetry is the gun with no powder
6. Poetry is like the butt with no gas
7. Poetry is like bird doodoo on your windshield
8. Poetry is a clock with no hands
9. Poetry is a clock out of time
10. Poetry is an IPod with no music
11. Poetry is a battery with no charge
12. Poetry is a sentence with bad grammar
12. When I ring the door bell, poetry never answers
13. Poetry and me don't fit
14. Poetry is like a shirt that is just too tight
15. Poetry and I don't see eye to eye
1. Reading poetry is a fistfight
2. Poetry is like an annoying little brother
3. Poetry is like Lane on a bad day at school
4. Poetry is like black and white TV
5. Poetry bullies me
6. Poetry is a charging bull (and I am a red cape)
7. Poetry punches me in the mouth
8. Poetry is a hole in the shoe of a snowy day
16. Poetry is like reading with foggy glasses
17. Poetry is the seed that just rots in my garden
18. Poetry pizza has no pepperoni when I get my order
19. We were never meant for each other
20. Poetry and I are breaking up
21. Poetry loves me but I don't like poetry
22. Poetry is like a crap sandwich for lunch
23. Poetry and I don't get along
24. Poetry is a pie with no crust
25. Poetry is a puzzle with missing pieces
26. Poetry tortures me with its bits and bangles
27. Poetry is the math that just doesn't add up
28. Poetry was never my type
1. I'm smile and poetry cries
2. Poetry isn't the girl for me
3. Poetry is not my sweetheart
4. Poetry is sweet to my sour
5. Poetry is the wrong kind of tissue for my cold
6. Poetry is night to my daytime
29. Poetry was never my thing.
30. Poetry just ain't my bag, baby
31. Poetry is a baloney sandwich
32. Poetry is like last year's fashion
33. Poetry is to reading like the Bengals are to football
34. Poetry is like my wife's shopping problem
35. Reading poetry is like kissing your sister
36. I don't exactly like poetry
37. Poetry is like shopping for groceries with mom
38. Poetry is like slipping on oil
39. Reading poetry is like having your mom pick out your clothes
40. Reading poetry is like shopping without money
41. Poetry is like playing with your sister
42. Poetry is like life without video games
43. Poetry is colder that my ex-girlfriend
1. Poetry freezes my heart
2. Poetry freezes my sun
3. Poetry freezes my turkey on Thanksgiving
4. Poetry is the dark side of the moon
5. Poetry and Pluto are twins
6. Reading poetry chills my eyeballs
7. Reading poetry is like being burried alive
8. 
   
44. Poetry is the cold water shock of breaking through ice
45. Poetry is like looking in the mirror before makeup
46. Poetry is a poor sport
47. Poetry is like a car that won't start
48. Poetry is a rainy day
49. Poetry is like lunch in the loo
50. Poetry is reading quicksand
51. Poetry is a green vegetable
52. Poetry is like a broken heart
53. Poetry is like a sauerkraut sundae
54. Poetry is more of a pain than my little sister
55. Writing poetry is worse than cleaning your room.

It's amazing how students that don't like poetry can come up with so many poetic ideas.

Want to Put a Little Ryhme in Your Life?

We are working with poetry in Reading Workshop.  We have focused on free verse poems, and a few concrete poems, but sometimes it is fun to write a rhyming poem.  A great tool for this is at Rhymezone.

Pick a topic and see what you can do.  Write something that makes the reader laugh, or cry, or both.

I knew from the first day,

these students were weird.

But partway through the year,
It's worse than I feared

I tried to help them,

they definitely needed steered

But partway through the year,

It was worse than it appeared.

I wasn't sure what to do,

Their brains had been cleared.

And partway through the year,

No senses had reappeared.

I gave them good advise,

because I knew they needed steered.

But partway through the year,

their brains were still smeared.

It could be the teacher,

at first I feared.

But partway through the year,

His efforts should be cheered!

Have a nice day students!   You don't like my poem?  Well show me what you can do!

Poetry--I Ain't No Poet

Staring at blank faces,
students whispering,
bored and uninterested
as we start a new project.

Trying to spark a fire
that energizes and makes believers,
hoping Love That Dog
will bring out a Jack.

The unbelieving boy, Jack
who couldn't write
and didn't believe
he had a message inside.

With several Jacks
looking so miserable
as thoughts swirl around
filled with dread.

But there's a writer inside
waiting to overcome
a mind screaming
I ain't no poet.

A Christmas Gift of Poetry

Students are writing Christmas poems as a gift of writing. No gift means more than a heartfelt poem.  Students are writing a free verse poem for a family member to give over the holiday.

This list has ideas for topics that students brainstormed.

Food	Family Time	Traditions	Memories
Christmas dinner	Family together	Christmas Eve	Special gift
Christmas breakfast	Shopping	Getting up early	Cutting down tree
Nuts and bolts	Traveling	Christmas morning	Special time together
Cooking together	Things they do for me	Hanging stockings	Visitor
Making cookies :)	Decorating the house	Decorating the tree	Trip
Baking together	Wrapping presents	Opening presents	New Pet
Homemade noodles	Christmas party	Playing euchre	Accidental Openings of gifts
Oyster dressing	Putting up lights	Visiting Family
Making smokeys	Playing with gifts	Waking up parents
Spicy pretzels	Playing games	PJ's on Christmas Eve
Chips & dip		Family Picture
Pies		Stockings First