Poetry: A Shared Writing Experience

My first graders have been busy reading, listening, noticing, and creating poetry.  I'm already considering different ways to tweak and improve this unit.  In my district we use Lucy Calkins' Units of Study for Primary Writing.  I also use other resources, such as Kid's Poems by Reggie Routman.

Some of the key understandings that I want students to take away from this unit are: 

• Write about things you REALLY care about
• Consider word choice
• Use only the words you need for your message
• Poems can be short
• Poems utilize line breaks, white space, and repetition
• Endings are important-Poems need a sense of closure

Some important considerations for me are:

• Start with lots of examples-exposure to poetry is important
• Choice is important-allow students to choose what they'll write about and which poem they'll publish 
• Give students the opportunity to share their work daily

As we finish up our poetry unit, my students are been busy polishing their own poems.  A few days ago we created a class poem about pizza.  This poem was inspired by Kid's Poems by Reggie Routman.  We brainstormed words first, like hot, red peppers, peperoni, cheese crust, Hawaiian, black olives, mushrooms, and pineapple pizza. This is what our working copy looked like.

This is our final product:

I Love Pizza
by Mrs. Ruckes' Class

Pizza, pizza
People like
different kinds of pizza.
Pizza, pizza
People like
different kinds of toppings.
Cheese,
Pepperoni and
Ham
Pizza, pizza
Everyone loves pizza!

The kids were so excited about our class poem, and couldn't wait to publish it.  So we did.  Now, who should illustrate it?  Perhaps I will... I think they'll like that.

Next Steps?  Creating our Poetry Anthology.  These will make great gifts for the end of the school year.

When writing a class poem, do you guide your students to write the poem a certain way?
or
Do you just let the magic happen?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

How Can You Change Seem Into Heal? (SOLS)

As I was reading Debbie Diller's post, Poetry Friday: A doublet, I was inspired to try one of my own.  I was not familiar with doublets, and became intrigued by the one she created.  According to Debbie, "In a doublet, a word is changed, one letter at a time, into another word and arranged vertically into a poem." 


What may seem to take forever,

are the important things we seek,

the things desired by a meek heart.

Inspiration from the muses we meet,

are as vibrant as the color of a beet.

The thought makes my heart skip a beat.

I sense the heat of it

as my thoughts begin to heal.

Waiting Is My Friend (SOLS)

This poem was inspired by a post I wrote this morning called, Waiting.  You can take a look at it here.

Waiting,
In line
At the grocery store.
Sign says,
Express Lane.
I'm not moving
At express speed!
Still holding
My few items.

Waiting,
Sitting here,
Sitting there.
Lost in
My book.
Unaware
Of the time,
Still waiting
My turn.

Waiting,
At my computer.
Click
Click, click.
Too many
Pages load.
Green bar appears.
Come On!
Error.
End Task?
Still trying,
Still waiting.

Waiting,
To Calm down.
Did I read
That correctly?
Did I hear
That right?
Thinking,
Processing my thoughts.
Not now,
It's too soon to respond.
I'm waiting,
To clear my head.
To make sense of it all.
Waiting is my friend.