#304 Wonders About Little Kitty Socks

Kitty Socks

by Amy LV

Students - one of the good things about having a theme writing week is that your mind chews on your theme all of the time.  I've found myself thinking about socks on many occasions this week, considering different types of socks, who wears what kind, expressions with socks, anything socklike.  Today's poem idea came as I snuggled our fuzziest cat, Mini Monster, who does not have socks at all!

This is poem #6 of sock week, a week of writing a new poem about the same topic each day.  You can read more about this challenge, inspired by Jamie Palmer's fifth grade students here.  You can read and comment on these students' poems-about-one-subject on their kidblogs.  You can read several same-subject poems by homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica at FamilySchool.  Trust me: it will be a treat for you to visit these student poem spots.

Teachers - a challenge such as this one mirrors what poets do when they write a collection around one topic.  Choose an idea and examine it from all angles, just as you would a beautiful shell, or an emerald, or your own child.  There are so many possibilities, and each of us has doorways into writing that no other person can find.

This month brought us the 2011 Comment Challenge, hosted by Pam Coughlan and Lee Wind.  The goal of this challenge was to leave 100 comments at children's literature blogs between January 6 and January 26.  Lee Wind designed the logo, including all 131 mastheads of the blogs that participated.  You can find The Poem Farm's logo in the bottom right corner.

Yesterday I won three books at the culmination of the 2011 Comment Challenge. Lucky me...I found great new blogs and soon I'll have new books to read.  Thank you Pam and Lee!

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Poetry Friday, Books, Socks, & #303

So Many Lives

Photo by Amy LV

This is poem #4 in my series of poems about books and reading and words.  My weekly ritual of writing about the same topic on a special day has been nourishing and a good stretch too.

Today's second poem is #5 in sock week, a challenge inspired by fifth grade teacher Jamie Palmer's class's project in Webster, NY. For each day of this week, several of Jamie's students are writing a new poem every day and posting them on their kidblogs.  Each has chosen one subject and continues to explore that subject on the seven days of this challenge.  With topics ranging from balloons to dogs to the ocean and lacrosse, they are creating all kinds of individual poetry collections.

I, too, am in on this project along with homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica from New Hampshire.  Nathaniel is writing about hermit crabs, and Jessica is writing about fireworks.  Poetry Friday is a perfect day to hop over to Family School and compliment them on their growing collection of poems.

 Draft of "Secret"

by Amy LV

Students - I wrote this poem because my daughters often wear mismatched socks.  I enjoy seeing their checked and striped feet sticking out from the ends of their pants, and it makes me happy to know that they feel free from having to look like everyone else.  Yesterday as I wrote, I imagined a girl who felt trapped by having to look popular and perfect, expensive and cool.  I imagined that this girl might rebel in a small way by wearing crazy combinations of socks.  For even when we feel trapped, we can find ways to preserve ourselves.

Did you notice that these two poems have quite a similar rhythm?

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Elaine's Wild Rose Reader.  If you linger there, you will be treated to all sorts of poems, book recommendations, and poem-thoughts from Elaine.

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Do Your Socks Get Lost? Or Not? #301

Here, Sockie!

by Amy LV

Well, you THOUGHT they were lost.  But maybe not.  This is poem #3 in the write-about-a topic-in-many-ways-challenge, posed by fifth grade teacher Jamie Palmer to her students at Klem South Elementary in Webster, NY.  I have very much enjoyed reading their kidblogs, and hope that you will soon have the opportunity to read them too.

Students - this poem brings up the question, "Are things really as they seem?"  I had a good time imagining that socks aren't really lost but rather, just playing a (one sided) game with us each morning.  What about your topic?  Is there another way to look at it?  Go ahead.  Hold it up to the light and twist it around in a sunbeam.  I'm sure you'll find another way to see it.

This is a mask poem, or a poem written in the voice of something else.  I love writing poems that allow me to pretend I'm a raisin or an airplane or a sock...it's like dress up time!

So far we have an enrichment class in Caledonia Mumford, NY and homeschoolers Nathaniel and Jessica joining us in the challenge.  You can read Nathaniel and Jessica's poems here.

It's never too late to be a part of this journey.  Just leave a comment, and let us know.

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One Topic Many Ways - Sock Week - #299

Chipmunk Sock

Photo by Amy LV

Last Friday, I had the good fortune to spend time in two joyfully rich classrooms in Webster, NY.  One of these classes, Jamie Palmer's fifth grade at Klem South Elementary, has been writing poetry, and I visited with a little lesson about how we can approach any topic in many different ways.

 Model Writing Subject

Photo by Amy LV

With a roll of toilet paper as a model, we discussed how there are many ways to shine a light on any subject. Here are just a few ways one might choose to write about a lowly roll of toilet paper:

           * Speak AS the toilet paper - I love doing somersaults...

           * Talk TO the toilet paper - Oh, little roll of whiteness...

           * Describe the toilet paper -  A small soft cylinder...

           * Think about toilet paper through time - People once...

           * Tell a real story about toilet paper - I found it...

           * Tell an imagined story about toilet paper - It talked...

           * Impose another genre: letter, recipe, how-to - First...

           * Give a list about toilet paper - Pink and blue, soft and...

           * Share facts about toilet paper - This paper disappears...

           * Ask, "What if...?"  - What if toilet paper rolled away...

           * See toilet paper through another's eyes - Too scratchy! 

           * Play with the sounds of the word/idea -Toilyoilet paper...

          

When I left the class, teacher Jamie and I had a few minutes to talk.  She said, "I'm going to challenge my students to a MyPoWriWe ("My Poem Writing Week") next week.  And as a double challenge, I will see who can write seven poems about the same subject!"

I, too, am taking Miss Palmer up on her challenge, and we invite anyone else who wishes to join us in writing seven poems in seven days - all about one topic.  Of course these daily poems will be quite different from each other, but they will all stem from one main idea.  My idea: socks.  If you'd like to play, you will chose your own idea.

Please just leave a message in the comments or link to your blog or classroom website if you're in.  Within the next few weeks, Jamie's class will share some of their "many poems about the same topic" with us.  

Students - writing a poem each day for the past 299 days, I am very grateful that one can write about the same idea from many angles.  We all have favorite writing topics, and having found many "windows" into one topic has helped me to explore the same subjects in a variety of ways. 

Sometimes Elaine Magliaro shares variations on a topic at her generous blog, Wild Rose Reader.  You can read two of her poems, two ways, here.

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