passionately curious

Heart Mapping

To introduce the students to poetry, we were guided by Lucy Calkin's Units of Study for Primary Writing.  We talked to the children about how poet's look at ordinary things in new and unique ways.  As Calkins writes, they use "a poet's eye" to see the world.  We shared lots of examples, including this poem by Valerie Worth:

Safety Pin
By Valerie Worth

Closed, it sleeps
On its side
Quietly,
The silver
Image
Of some
Small fish;

Opened it snaps
Its tail out
Like a thin
Shrimp, and looks
At the sharp
Point with a
Surprised eye.

all the small poems and fourteen more, ©1994.
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

When teaching writing in general, there are always a few children who struggle to get started.  I often hear, "I don't know what to write," and without guidance, these children just sit - worried about choosing just the right topic or unsure about where to begin when they have too many ideas.  Although we remind them that poems can be about anything, ordinary or extraordinary, it takes more to get these kids writing. 

While reading Georgia Heard's Awakening the Heart, I was drawn to her heart mapping activity.  As she writes, "poet's write from their hearts about what we deepily care about."  Keeping in mind the things that meant the most to them, our students set out to makes their own "maps of the heart." Here are a few of them:

This was a great way to get children thinking about their ideas and something they could use as inspiration when they didn't know what to write about. 

Poetry in Ordinary Places

In her book, Awakening the Heart, Georgia Heard describes her wonderful poetry project that she calls the Living Anthology Project.  As she writes, 

"Poetry Anthologies often sit quietly on the shelves in libraries, but a 'living anthology' is a collection of poems that come alive on the walls of a classroom, school, town, subway, or streets so that poetry can become a familiar and everyday presence in people's lives."

My students have been listening to, reading, and writing poems for the last few weeks and as we prepared to display their work, we thought this project was a great way to launch National Poetry Month throughout the school.

After walking through the halls looking for places that might inspire poetry, the children read poem after poem, marking each possibility with a post-it.  They chose the places, ordinary and familiar, such as bathrooms, a water fountain, the library, a window overlooking the playground, and the nurse's office.  I didn't want to spend much time typing each poem.  Instead, we scanned the poems from their books which also allowed us to include the original and often charming illustrations.

Here's a favorite poem that I shared in October.  It fits this project perfectly and the kids love it!

Happy Poetry Friday!

Barefoot Books

During a visit to Boston a few years ago, one of my dearest friends took me to Barefoot Books.  I soon found out that this charming and inviting book shop wasn't any ordinary independent children's bookseller.   I was drawn immediately to the beautiful, vibrant artwork on nearly every book cover. I even considered purchasing a print by one of their talented illustrators, such as Sophie Fatus or Niamh Sharkey.  As I looked further, I soon found many titles that I could use in the classroom - books that celebrated diversity, culture, art and storytelling.  As their mission states,

At Barefoot Books, we celebrate art and story that opens the hearts and minds of children from all walks of life, inspiring them to read deeper, search further, and explore their own creative gifts. Taking our inspiration from many different cultures, we focus on themes that encourage independence of spirit, enthusiasm for learning, and sharing of the world’s diversity. Interactive, playful and beautiful, our products combine the best of the present with the best of the past to educate our children as the caretakers of tomorrow.

Explore Barefoot Books.  You won't be disappointed!

 

If I Had a Million Onions

Happy Poetry Friday!

It's the start of a much needed rest - Spring Vacation.  High energy and excitement in the classroom yesterday made it difficult to get much done.  Tired and looking toward a relaxing evening with children early to bed and a glass of wine, I was thrilled to find a special package in my mailbox when I arrived home from school.  As promised, author and poet, Sheree Fitch, sent my class one of her books, If I Had A Million Onions. The poems in this book are whimsical, sometimes silly, and hopeful - with words that are meant to be read out loud.    This one stuck with me as I flipped through the pages with my four-year old daughter in my lap.  I can't wait to share this book and Sheree's letter with my students!

Prayer

May no cats get in your sandbox
May your frisbees always spin
May your fridge be filled with oranges
May you love the life you're in.
May your teddy bear be fuzzy
May your rainy days be wet
May your teacher tell you stories
That you will never forget.
May your fingernails get dirty
May your underwear be clean
May your monster all be friendly
May your grass be mostly green.
May your world spin topsy-turvy
May you love from inside out
May your parents hug you always
may they hardly ever shout.
May your enemies eat sugar
May you play the Superdome
May your friends be slightly crazy
May you always have a home.
May your popsicles stay frozen
May your dreams be ture and deep
May you close your eyes and snuggle
May you have a good night's sleep.

©2005 by Sheree Fitch
Published by Trade Wind Books

Blogs and Copyright

Since attending the IL-TCE a few weeks ago, I started thinking more about the copyright and how it applies to my blog. A Creative Commons license is a simple way for "authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry".  Mostly, I use CC to search flickr for photos that I can use on my blog, but I'm eager to explore other resources.

I love to use poetry in my teaching.  Just the right poem can bring to life something we are studying in science or social studies.  Poems can be used to practice fluent reading, words skills, or teach vocabulary.  Most of all, they allow us to connect to a feeling or memory, explore the wonder of words, or just share a laugh.

When you explore other teacher sites, you can find pages and pages of poems and although author is usually given credit, it's unclear whether anyone has gotten his/her permission to publish that poem on the Internet.  This weekend, I decided to email a few authors and poets to see if they'd give me permission to quote a few lines or even include an entire poem on my blog.  The responses were surprising and wonderful:

Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your kind email and a special thanks for sharing my book with your kids in preparation for their sugarbush experience.  The short answer is yes, please quote anything from the book to assist other teachers.  I love to hear how my work connects with kids, so I hope to see some of it on your blog when I return from our friends' sugarbush Monday.  I'll be smiling all weekend as we set up the sugaring operation for the season, which is just getting underway here in the North country.
 
Enjoy this magical season when "something's stirring in the woods"!
 
All best,
Marsha Wilson Chall

 

DEAR LISA :
    Life crackles with  wonder-filled serendippity.

I just finished writing a novel and one of the characters is a Grade Two teacher. why ?
I think you are all saints!  Please, I'd be honored.  You have author permission.
And I would love to send you a new book for your class.  Send me your address?

seriously joyful,
Sheree Fitch

Hi Lisa,
Thank you so much for supporting my poetry. You have a great blog. You do, however, have to list the copyright info under the poem or poems, available on the copyright page of the book. My editor has told me that two or three poems from each book is the maximum.
Thanks again and please look out for my latest, just out: comets, stars, the moon, and mars. It's just gotten a rave review from Kirkus, and I hope you enjoy it. And remember Pluto's not a planet!
douglas

Hello Lisa,
I spoke to Mrs. Anglund last night, and she would be very pleased for you to use the poem on your blog.  I'm assuming it's the one in "Morning Is A Little Child," correct?  Unfortunately, Mrs. Anglund is one of those rare people who does not own a computer, so she won't be able to see what you've done online.  However, I can print the page when it's finished and send it to her by post.

Thanks so very much for your interest.  Best wishes to you and your students.
Tony Davies (Forum Administrator for The Official Joan Walsh Anglund Website)

I didn't imagine this process could be so simple and rewarding. It doesn't hurt to ask! I think Tony Davies, listed in the last response, said it best:

"if you can, please add "used with permission of the author."  That may inspire others to request permission.  It is really most appreciated that you have done so...It's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, but an author's words are often like their children--it's good to know where they are wandering! "

Sugarbush Spring

After weeks of below normal temperatures and snow, we are longing for a Chicago spring. A fieldtrip to the sugarbush makes it seem not so far away.  Each year, we travel south to the Indiana State Dunes and Chellburg Farm to learn how the native Potowatmi, the pioneers, and the Chellburg Family of the late 1800s harvested sap to make maple syrup.   

Sugarbush Spring is one of the several stories we share before this field trip.  This story is about a young girl who learns from her grandfather the method of tapping the trees, gathering the sap, and boiling it down to a golden syrup.  Beautifully written, this fictional story is filled with important facts that make our trip to the sugarbush more meaningful.  Thank you to author Marsha Wilson Chall for allowing me to quote a few passages here:

The taps leaves scars in the trees.
    Let's find two holes in a maple, one on each side, like front and back belly buttons.

Wide trees are too old to tap, skinny ones are too young.
    "Let's tap this one!" I shout, and try to reach around a trunk as wide as Rosie [the horse].
    "Too old," says Grandpa. "See all the taps? She's given and given till she's nearly given out."
    "How about this one?" I ask, wrapping my hands around another tree.
    "Too young," Grandpa answers.  "She needs all the sugar she makes this year.
She'll be ready when she fills up your arms."
    All around the sugarbush, I measure who's ready, filling up my arms with trees.

The sap begins to run when warm days alternate with freezing nights.
We drill and tap and hang pail after pail until my feet are freezing and the drip-drip-dripple of a hundred trees has stopped.
    "Grandpa, the trees are empty!," I shout.
    Grandpa laughs. "They're just too cold," he tells me.  "We'll have a freeze tonight.
They'll rest up and run hard again tomorrow. Time to head back."

The syrup is ready when it reaches 219 degrees Fahrenheit.
    Already the sugarhouse smells like pancakes.
    "Is it syrup, yet?" I ask Jim.
    "Too soon," he says, and taps the thermometer. "Should be two hundred nineteen degrees. Seven degrees to go."
    I keep my eye on that thermometer: two hundred fifteen...two hundred sixteen...The bubbles creep higher, swelling to the top of the pan. "There she blows!" I yell.
    Jim flicks in a drop of cream, and the sap settles right back down, dark and gleaming. "A watched pot never boils over," he tells me.
    The silver needle jumps-two hundred eighteen degrees.  The sap boils to fine, golden bubbles...Two hundred nineteen! Jim pours a caramel bubble from his long tin scoop. "We've got syrup!" he shouts.

Sugaring Time

Sugaring Time

When winter's thaw
Has just begun,
Then maple sap
Begins to run.
Up the tree
And out the spout
Into a bucket
The sap drips out.
Two horses haul it
From the grove
To where it's boiled
On a stove.
Then from a faucet
To a kettle.
The syrup quickly
Heats the metal.
But when it cools,
After a while,
You pour it on
Your pancake pile.
The work is done.
It's time to eat.
Sugaring time
Is surely sweet.

From Winter Eyes, ©1999 by Douglas Florian
used with permission of the author

Lunar Eclispse

Here's a great composite of the lunar eclispe yesterday. (via kottke).  Looks like these images were compiled using flickr toys - something I wrote about just a few days ago!  The learning continues!

Comic Life

Sherry Ziolkowski, Web Specialist in Arlington Heights District 25, presented a great session at IL-TCE called Comics in the Classroom.  I was eager to hear this presentation because my colleague, Lucy Gray, recently told me that our school has a site license for Comic Life. I'm planning to teach my students this application so we can do something with it for an upcoming Oregon Trail Unit (perhaps with primary source photos). Supposedly ComicLife is easy for students to learn and teachers can choose the template for them. See Sherry's link above for a step-by-step description. This is my first attempt using photos from our early October fieldtrip to an apple orchard.   

Spell with Flickr

Here's another fun tool that takes images of letters from flickr to create the words that you spell.  If you don't like a letter, click on it and you'll get a new one.