Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
OK, I perhaps went a little overboard with Sandra Markle’s Snow School, which I loved! This book was so full of wonderful, vivid action, so my first poetryaction is simply a list of verbs. It’s my way of thinking of all of the things the young snow leopard has to learn to do, in their barest, briefest form.
Then I wrote another poetryaction. In this one, I share the lessons from the mother’s point of view. This might be a found poem–sorry, I have started to keep better notes about the origins of each poetryaction as I write it, but I’ve donated this book to a school and can’t recall whether I actually lifted words/phrases out of the text or not. Anyway, this one really represents the visceral struggle a snow leopard engages in just to survive. We sometimes think of predators as being invulnerable, and this book reminds us that they’re not.
Check out my Pinterest boards of poetryactions and bookalikes if you’d like to see more:>)
Teacher/poet/blogger/Renaissance woman Mary Lee Hahn over at A Year of Reading has the Poetry Friday Roundup today. Don’t miss it!
P.S. If you’re in a predatory frame of mind, I have a 30 Painless Classroom Poems book called A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey.? All predators, all the time:)
24 Responses
Laura, how I love what you have done with this Poetry in Action. Mother Knows Best-what a fitting title that is so accessible for young readers!
Thanks, Carol–I appreciate that!
Laura, how I love what you have done with this Poetry in Action. Mother Knows Best-what a fitting title that is so accessible for young readers!
Thanks, Carol–I appreciate that!
Laura,
Yesterday, I had a flat tire and called AAA. One of the questions I was asked was, “Are you in a safe place?” or something similar. Safety is important…even more important than getting back on the road. Fortunately for me, I was at the motel where my husband and I had spent the night. We were safe. Animals in the wild face danger daily. You did a great job of showing this from two points of view.
Yup, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, right? That’s one reason teaching gets harder and harder. It’s difficult to make kids care about story or math if they’re hungry that day or had a friend get shot the day before. 🙁
Laura,
Yesterday, I had a flat tire and called AAA. One of the questions I was asked was, “Are you in a safe place?” or something similar. Safety is important…even more important than getting back on the road. Fortunately for me, I was at the motel where my husband and I had spent the night. We were safe. Animals in the wild face danger daily. You did a great job of showing this from two points of view.
Yup, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, right? That’s one reason teaching gets harder and harder. It’s difficult to make kids care about story or math if they’re hungry that day or had a friend get shot the day before. 🙁
Laura, I love this series, and I love how the first poem boils it right down to those essential verbs. I don’t know this book, but I’m wondering if kids could write a similar poem using just nouns to help them learn about the features of an animal and their habitat. I’m not familiar with Flight of the Honey Bee either, but I’m adding both books to my list right now.
That’s a great idea, Catherine! That could definitely work.
Laura, I love this series, and I love how the first poem boils it right down to those essential verbs. I don’t know this book, but I’m wondering if kids could write a similar poem using just nouns to help them learn about the features of an animal and their habitat. I’m not familiar with Flight of the Honey Bee either, but I’m adding both books to my list right now.
That’s a great idea, Catherine! That could definitely work.
I love how your first version “cuts to the chase,” so to speak. 😉 You always do such a beautiful job of capturing the essence in these short poetryaction poems, Laura.
Thanks, Michelle!
I love how your first version “cuts to the chase,” so to speak. 😉 You always do such a beautiful job of capturing the essence in these short poetryaction poems, Laura.
Thanks, Michelle!
I’m intrigued by the idea of describing an animal in verbs. Or really any situation. Hmmmm. I’m going to save this one to share with teachers and students. And I love “Mother Knows Best.” Think I need to write one of those for my college-aged sons!
Hehehe–you should’ve written it by Mother’s Day. You might’ve had a better chance of getting away with it:>)
I’m intrigued by the idea of describing an animal in verbs. Or really any situation. Hmmmm. I’m going to save this one to share with teachers and students. And I love “Mother Knows Best.” Think I need to write one of those for my college-aged sons!
Hehehe–you should’ve written it by Mother’s Day. You might’ve had a better chance of getting away with it:>)
I love the whole post, but I snorted when I got to this part: “All predators, all the time.” You crack me up!
:>)
I love the whole post, but I snorted when I got to this part: “All predators, all the time.” You crack me up!
:>)