Poetry Friday, Week 2: Preparing to Teach a Lesson

1/14/2022

It's early Friday on the west coast. I am heading into a fifth grade classroom and get to teach poetry today.
Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading is hosting Poetry Friday. I am going to have to share her poem "What Does a Pomegranate Know" with my fifth graders today as I am using the prompt, "What Does a [your subject] Know?" I have been thinking of this prompt since reading an earlier version of Mary Lee's poem

>I've been thinking about this book of late. Joyce Sidman has a perfect mentor text,
"What Do Trees Know?

Michelle H. Barnes at Today's Little Ditty, interviewed her here and created a Deeper Thinking Poem Challenge.

In 2015, I wrote:
WHAT DOES THE RAIN KNOW?
   by Jone Rush MacCulloch

                              What does the rain know?
                                   Sponge clouds gathering moisture
       School children running between raindrops
   The pop-up gardens of umbrellas.

                              What does the rain know?
       The wind whispering secrets
       School children with open mouths catching raindrops
       The beginning and end of rainbows.

Today I will be sharing this poem, two ways to do it with students. I'll show them my notebook wonderings. One way focuses on the senses the other focuses on strong verbs. I hopefully will get to confer with students and revise with them as we load them to Padlet which I will share next week.

Kathryn Apel link

1/14/2022 04:58:56 pm

Oooh. A pop-up garden of umbrellas. What a delight! (And such a strong image, bringing colour and depth to your poem.) I am also in love with your sponge clouds. Hoping your day of poetry with Year 5 was a joy!

Mary Lee

1/15/2022 04:48:39 am

I'm thrilled to (virtually) be back in a fifth grade classroom! How did your lesson go? Do share some of the students' poems. Lucky them, lucky you!

Linda Mitchell

1/15/2022 05:20:39 am

How fun! You get to be a sort of Grandma teacher -- going into the classroom with a very sweet lesson that also holds lots of nutritious learning. What fun and I'm loving the idea of 5th graders choosing a subject to think deeper about. That line about the taste of the first spring rain--beautiful!

Carol Varsalona link

1/15/2022 01:13:42 pm

Jone, your lesson for students sounds like it will go just fine. The children will love what you offer and I hope some of their poems will shared for my Winter's Embrace 2022 Gallery.

Michelle Kogan link

1/15/2022 09:56:18 pm

Sounds like an intriguing poetry session, I'm looking forward to your students poems. Watching "for wonder with the moon" how enchanting, thanks Jone!

Bridget Magee link

1/16/2022 03:15:17 am

Sounds like YOU know the way to teach these young poets! Love your mentor poems and that Mary Lee's poem came at just the right time. Would love to hear how things went. :)

Elisabeth link

1/16/2022 08:33:06 am

I love the poetic form of "What the ____ knows" ... Your two poems are so different, but each effective and evocative in their own way. Thanks for this glimpse into your poetic process and your teaching preparation!

Ruth link

1/16/2022 11:00:29 am

What a great lesson! Hope it went well!

Linda Baie link

1/16/2022 11:52:23 am

I love that you're sharing these with students, imagine they will be happy to try their own idea of what "something" knows, Jone. And I love the idea of "sponge clouds". We really could use a few here in Denver!

Laura Purdie Salas link

1/16/2022 12:18:34 pm

Oh, I love these, Jone. I hope you had a fabulous time with your 5th graders. I shared a Deeper Wisdom poem a few months ago, and the rest of the Poetry Sisters did them, too: https://www.laurasalas.com/poems-for-teachers/what-detroit-knows-poetry-friday/

Heidi Mordhorst link

1/16/2022 02:44:30 pm

Lucky duck! I hope it went well, and that form we love, how does it work with kids? It's all in choosing the right item, I guess...I like "whip up liquid sugar for saplings."

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Poetry Friday, Week 2: Preparing to Teach a Lesson

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