Friday, September 28, 2012

Leaf Planes & Writing Places


A New Place to Write
Photo by Amy LV

Today's Notebook Page
Photo by Amy LV


 
Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today, instead of sitting on my couch to write, or settling into our breakfast nook or into the big purple chair...I wrote out in the chilly sunshine at the table you see above.  Writing in a new place got me started in a new way...by sketching a leaf that fell onto my table.

I did not plan to write about the leaf or about the sketch, but later...sitting in my car...waiting...I sat and wrote.  I had already sketched, had already read Aaliyah's poem below, had already fallen in love with the colors of our hill on this very day in autumn.  It felt like a good free verse day, and so off I went. One thing led to another, leaves turned to paper airplanes...and here you go.

This is something I plan to do more in the next few weeks: write in different places than usual.  It makes sense that my brain will be open to new ideas in new locations, and I am excited to try this experiment.  You try it too.  Write in a different place.  See what you find.

I am very grateful to again welcome Mrs. Laurie Luft's poets from Spencerport, NY.  Last week, Trevor shared a poem suggesting a clever use for swimming goggles, and this week he is back with a beautiful love poem.  Aaliyah joins us with a joyful celebration of fall, singing to colors that I was just noticing today!  How lucky we are to have these second grade poets here with us on this Poetry Friday.


Drake

Drake my true treasure.
The one that always puts a smile on my face.
He the, the angel that always watches over me.

by Trevor



Fall

Leaves falling in the fall.
Blue jays singing through the fall leaves.
They’re calling me.
Turning colors in the fall.
There are people raking Leaves.

by Aaliyah


Thank you Trevor, Aaliyah, and Mrs. Luft, for spending time and space with us today.  And a big "Hello!" to everyone else in your class.  Where will you write today?

This week over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks, Barry Lane shares his notebooks as well as a generous giveaway of two books and a CD.  The drawing will take place on Sunday. 

Marjorie is hosting today's Poetry Friday party over at Paper Tigers.  Visit here for wordgoodies!

Please share a comment below if you wish.
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17 comments:

  1. Trevor and Aaliyah - Beautiful poetry. Nice work. Aaliyah - great description of fall. I can see the people raking the leaves, and I can see the leaves continue to fall! Isn't it funny how leaves fall in the fall?!

    Trevor - wow. Drake was certainly a very special person in your life. I can tell by your poem. Thank you for sharing something so personal and beautiful. I know he was your younger brother, and you're right, he is watching over you. He's in Heaven, and he's an angel there, just like he was here. I do hope the great times you had with your brother and your entire family last forever and continue to put a smile on that face of yours. You, like Drake, are a treasure.

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  2. Amy, I love the personification of the tree!

    Trevor and Aaliyah, thank you for sharing your beautiful poems.

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  3. Hi Amy-thanks for sharing your poem from outside, an absolutely best place to be in the fall! I can just see the leaves drifting, flying down. And Trevor, I can see your poem about your angel is special to you. I'm glad you wrote about him. Thanks for another read for fall memory, Aaliyah. It's not time for raking yet where I live, but I'm looking forward to it and have many memories of the leaf piles in other years. Thank you!

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  4. Trevor,

    I was blown away by your beautiful poem! Not only is it extremely well written, it is the perfect description of Drake and how you feel about him. May he forever put a smile on your face - he IS an angel, and so are you.

    Aaliyah - gorgeous words! Fall is my favorite season, and you captured it perfectly.

    I am so impressed with you both - thank you for sharing!

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  5. Amy, this is one of my favorites from among your lovely poems. There is a gentle friendship that you capture, both with the tree and with your paper-airplane loving friend.

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  6. I love the repetition "who loves folding, who loves throwing, who loves watching." Its rhythm makes the poem's heart beat so deeply. I also love the humor in the last line -- that friend sounds like a brother to me!

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  7. Such a beautifully relateable poem, Amy...I especially like the last 2 lines!

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  8. Amy,
    Great post and I loved your journal sketch of the leaf. Great poem and please thank Trevor and Aaliyah for sharing their poems too.

    I enjoy listening to your poetry.
    Thank you and Happy Poetry Friday.

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  9. from my seat on the bus-home-from-work, i watched as a desk on someone's front porch filled with shining yellow leaves. ah, a poet's desk!

    the music of your lines sang to us this morning as we shared our oats and poems.

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  10. So many good parts to your post. Love Aaliyah and Trevor's contributions today. I too have been the target of a tree lately, can't help but giggle when I get a leaf stuck in my hair. I love the thought of sharing in that joy with the tree.

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  11. Love the similes, love the word choices of rustle giggle, love this poem and love you. ALV POWER!!!!!

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  12. What I love about this, besides everything, is that I didn't even realize it was free verse until I read the rest of your post. Your rhythms and word choices and subject matter are just so intensely poetic that every poem reads like a song. So beautiful, and the relationship with the tree is delightful.

    Thanks so much to Trevor and Aaliyah for their gorgeous, reflective poems.

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  13. Way to go Trevor and Aaliyah! And here's to Amy's lovely poem, too...and her awesome new writing space.

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  14. Lovelovelove that rustle-giggling tree!

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  15. Amy,

    Such a wonderful post for inspiration on a Poetry Friday in fall. After we listened to you read it once, several students immediately wanted to hear it again...great poems are like that! Ben said, "That was just perfect, the way she said that...the part about the paper planes falling like leaves on a windy day." Thanks to you and your guest poets. Such treasures to put a smile on our face like the blue jays singing through the fall leaves. LOVE that!

    ~Theresa

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  16. I love the rustle-giggle in your new writing place, and I also love the idea to try writing in new places.

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  17. Amy,
    I find the idea of place in writing interesting. We all have the places we love to write. However, I find being in new places helps me to see things differently. Your post made me think of:

    Stenhouse Blogstitute and a piece by Maureen Barbien on the significance of places we write: http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2012/07/16/blogstitute-week-4-no-detail-is-too-small-tell-about-the-place/

    and

    This post by Sharon Creech I just loved: http://sharonkaycreech.blogspot.com/2012/02/habit-of-seeing.html OK....and this one: http://sharonkaycreech.blogspot.com/2012/02/beaches-and-writing.html

    You have me thinking about place in writer's workshop. I know there is comfort in writing in familiar places where you know how to work, but I'm wondering what it would be like to every once in awhile change the place.

    Hmmmm,
    Cathy

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