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| Horton Center, New Hampshire |
I’m glad to be back after a long
absence which included two months volunteering in Japan, writing a new picture
book manuscript, and the launch of my YA historical novel. I haven't written much poetry, and I’ve missed the richness of this
community! This week's Roundup is at Reflections on the Teche. Thanks, Margaret!
Last year I shared a
Build-a-Poem poetry workshop for middle-graders. I’ve just used the same basic building
idea with a group of terrific young teens at a New Hampshire camp in the White
Mountains. They gave me permission to post some photos.
The week’s theme was “Get
Real-Finding Your True Self.” Each day they studied what that might mean as a
Christian. So with a few paint chips, a handful of words from a word pool,
and my own example, they wrote poems with new names for this self they were discovering.
Scaffolding consisted of “My real
name is..., My name used to be…, In my dream my name was…, and Tomorrow my name
will be… .” This Re-naming poem is not my original idea, and I am sorry to say
I can’t remember the source! If anyone is familiar with this exercise, please
help me out.
It was a fun exercise, and not
too academic for a summer activity. Two Deans and other camp staff jumped right in and wrote poems, too! In one
hour we had built a poetry wall.
Congratulations on all your recent writing accomplishments! And thanks for sharing your poetry workshop ideas. I love seeing how other teachers approach teaching poetry elements to young people. = )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bridget. We learn so much from each other.
DeleteI'm so glad I visited your blog today. Welcome back. How can I get your book? The link doesn't work. I saw a name activity like this one on Facebook. The link led to this site: http://spiritualnetworks.com/photo/579512/positive-energy-name/
ReplyDeleteI checked out the Spiritual Works link, Margaret. Extraordinary Surprise Dragon-that's me! Cool. I am indeed happy to be back this Poetry Friday and dipping into all the offerings. I fixed the link for Feathers & Trumpets, and it's available on Amazon, too. Thanks for your interest!
DeleteI love reading about your poetry workshop ideas. And I bet kids had so much fun writing these on blocks and then building with them--I'd like to try that sometime!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Buffy. Find a wood workshop with lots of scrap wood!
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DeleteI love the poetry wall, Joyce, and certainly admire the idea. I hope you don't mind if I share it too with those teachers I work with? What fun for the students to reflect and to see the work of all at the end!
ReplyDeleteOf course you may share, Linda. Thank you.
DeleteJust bought your new book, Joyce! I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tabatha. I hope you enjoy!
DeleteWelcome back! This is a really interesting idea. I want to try it with our middle schoolers when we go back in a couple of weeks. I especially like how you gave them a little boost with the scaffolding. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. If you play around with it yourself and give them an example of how to expand their thoughts beyond the "template", they'll have more meaningful results. It sounds like a great activity for starting out a new year - new beginnings, new names! If you email me, I'll send a document with words for a word pool. joyceray at gsinet dot net
DeleteNow this type of team-building exercise I can definitely live with. The poetry wall is beautiful. :)
ReplyDelete