Poetry Friday Roundup

Earlier this week, a sixth grade teacher asked me for help pulling together some resources for a lesson about Maya Angelou. In my research, I came across a poem by Kevin W. Riley, the principal of El Milagro, a charter high school in California.  It's not by Maya Angelou, but it's based on her words and her thinking.

Riley said this about his poem:

"A flurry of blogs—including Scott McLeod’s “Dangerously Irrelevant”– have invited their readers to write an open letter to President-Elect Obama.  It is a cool idea so I decided to write one.  If you scroll down to the next post you will find it.  But then I saw Larry King interview Maya Angelou about her poem “On The Pulse of Morning” which was written for Bill Clinton on the occasion of his first inauguration.  Dr. Angelou said she has not yet been asked to write an Inaugural Poem for President Obama but said she would write one for him anyway– which is also a cool idea.  So I wrote one of those too. 

This is my Poem on the Inauguration of America. It was written moments after CNN announced Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the United States. It gives voice— at least for me— to the deep emotions, the catharsis, and the extraordinary pride I feel in him. And in America.  And the very long road we have walked."

“I AM HOPE”

A POEM UPON THE INAUGURATION OF AMERICA
January 20, 2009
Written for Barack Obama,  the 44^th President of the United States
By Kevin W. Riley

“Here on the pulse of this new day, you may have the grace to look up and out and into your sister’s eyes, into your brother’s face, your country and say simply, very simply, with hope, good morning.”

–Maya Angelou “On The Pulse of Morning” 

I am
Hope– tempered, with no guarantee.
But if ever He loved a people
Surely now He has heard our prayers…
Whispered through days and years and generations–
Through all America’s time
To let us be who we must be;
To even once know what it means to be ONE nation.

Alas…
I am only Hope.
My arms are thin.
I speak as if all of God’s angels have somehow filled my lungs
with righteous air.
I am your mouth. His voice.
Our hands–
That the promise of humankind might at last be realized.

But I cannot be who YOU will not be…

Read the rest of Riley's poem here. 

 *******
One of the things that I have loved about Maya Angelou is that she was such a bringer of hope, such an "overcomer." I could share her brave, strong words with kids and tell them about all of the hardship she had overcome. I could share with kids how courageous she had been.

And I could say to my students, who have lives so hard that it regularly takes my breath away, "Look, you can do it too…"

Diane, at Random Noodling, has the Poetry Friday Roundup.

SLICE OF LIFE

Just last week  

I drove sixty miles

through a torrential downpour

and rush hour traffic

to meet you

I cuddled and rocked you

six pounds of pure spunk

all that black hair

"She looks like Elvira,"

said the nurse

and you really kind of did

yesterday

you and I

played water ballet

in pools around the world

spinning and diving 

floating on our backs

toes pointed skyward 

giggling always giggling

"Again, Auntie Carol,

let's do it again."

and we did

again 

and again

and again

this morning

you, newly graduated,

Baylor's marketing student of the year

will get on a plane

and move across the country

set up your apartment

make new friends

find a yoga class

 then in ten days

you will start your 

first adult job

probably making more money 

than your teacher auntie 

has ever made

Godspeed, dear girl, godspeed…

IT'S MONDAY- WHAT ARE YOU READING?

My adult book club is reading Sue Monk Kidd's THE INVENTION OF WINGS. Briefly, it's historical fiction, but based on the lives of two actual sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, sisters from an aristocratic family in Charleston, South Carolina. The Grimke sisters were some of the first female abolitionists on record.

For her 11th birthday, Sarah is given a slave, Hetty, also known as Handful, and the story is told in alternating chapters, by Sarah and Hetty.  It traces Sarah's grown up, her desire to become a lawyer, her father's stubborn insistence that she take on the more traditional Southern women's roles, and the choices she ultimately make. Handful is her own kind of rebellious, living as a slave, but making her own choices within those narrow confines.

As someone who loves historical fiction and love stories of strong women and women's friendships, I've thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.

On the professional front, I've just finished WORD NERDS. My school is about to embark on a major academic vocabulary campaign, and I've been reading as much as I can in this area. This book, written by a college professor and two teachers, one elementary and one primary, has lots of terrific and really practical suggestions for vocabulary instruction in an elementary classroom. I've shared lots of the ideas with my teachers and they are excited to try them out.  We're in the process of deciding what words to use, etc. Stay tuned for more in this area.

Next reads: 

I was planning to buy this book sometime this summer, but last night, I was out walking the dog. Came across one of those little "take one/leave one" home libraries. Of course, I always have to check them out, and guess what I found????!!!!! Star and I will head back there today to drop off a book or two.

On the adult/YA fun front, I'm going to read RUN, DON'T WALK. It's a memoir of a physical therapist at Walter Reed. I love memoirs and feel like that's a genre that's often overlooked for YA readers, so I'm always on the lookout for books that might interest them. I checked this one out of the public library.

Can't wait two more weeks until I really have time to read!

POETRY FRIDAY

Throughout the month of April, I read Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's fabulous Thrift Store poems. Most days, I commented on her poems. One day, Amy had a giveaway and I won!

I won! I won! I won!

 I won THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE. And in addition to the anthology,  Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong threw in an extra book, the fourth grade student anthology edition.

As a literacy coach, I'm always looking for ways to make poetry easy and accessible for teachers to use and this is a fabulous resource! So much to love about the Poetry Friday Anthology series:

• The teacher anthology includes 218 poems by 77 poets- you'll know many (most?) who you will recognize from Poetry Friday.

• Each student anthology includes the 38 grade level poems from the teacher anthology, but then also five bonus poems! It also includes a glossary, as well as a list of 60 science-related websites for kids.

• The poems are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards. There are poems on just about any science-related subject- the scientific process, animals, geology, atoms, the water cycle, sound, famous scientists, the solar system-- that you can imagine.

• There are some bilingual poems! More than half of the students at my school speak Spanish, and I'm always hunting poetry for my Spanish teachers. I find myself going back to the same old favorites- Alma Flor Ada, Francisco X. Alarcon, Gary Soto- again and again. I love those poets but it's really nice to have some new and different poems to share (maybe you could do a whole bilingual edition Janet and Sylvia??? PLEASE!!!!!???)

• Each poem features a "Take Five" section; five things- multimedia resources, ideas for choral reading, discussion suggestions, related books and poems, links to science concepts, etc.- teachers could use to make the poem/science concept accessible to kids.  Most are simple and could be pulled together in a matter of minutes. My teachers, especially those that are a little nervous about poetry, are going to love these ideas/

• There are a TON of extra resources. Some of these resources are poetry related- there's a section on why to read poetry aloud, another on how to read poetry, ideas for how to start a poetry collection in your classroom and poetry blogs for teachers and kids. Others are science related-- a glossary of science terms, science-related poetry books, more than 60 science websites for kids. 

• There is also an e-book edition that would be super easy to use in classrooms.

A terrific resource. Thanks so much Sylvia and Janet!

BESADO POR EL SOL
por Guadalupe Garcia McCall

No es solo tu piel la que
siente sus rayos cariñosos y calidos
El sol amó a la tierra
que abrazó a la semilla besada por el sol
que desdobló sus hojas besadas por el sol
y cultivó el tallo besado por el sol
produjo el trigo besado por el sol
que se convirtió en panecillo besado por el sol
que fue horneado en una cocina besada por el sol
y fue untado por mantequilla besada por el sol
porque también  tú lo amabas.


SUN-KISSED
by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

It is not just your skin that
feels its warm, loving rays.
The sun loved the dirt
who hugged the sun-kissed seed
who unfurled its sun-kissed leaves
and raised the sun-kissed stalk
who produced the sun-kissed wheat
which became a sun-kissed roll
that was baked in a sun-kissed kitchen
and was slathered with sun-kissed butter
because you loved it too.

You can hear Guadalupe read these poems at the Pomelo Book website. 

Violet Nesdoly is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today.

It's Monday, What Are you Reading?

After 61 consecutive days of posting, I've now gone 18 days without posting. No excuse, really, just that end of school year craziness. Because of that, I haven't been reading much.  I have, however, been listening to books (reading by ear?) as I drive back and forth to my mom's facility in Colorado Springs. Here are a couple that I have enjoyed:

CRACKER: THE BEST DOG IN VIETNAM

Ok, so anyone who knows me very well knows I am a total fan of dog books. This book, by Cynthia Kadohata, chronicles the relationship of a service dog and his handler in Vietnam. I cried when I listened to the first chapter and I cried when I listened to the last chapter.  A really terrific story!

I've been trying to expand my middle school horizons. Libba Bray's Beauty Queens is kind of a Miss America meets Survivor theme. Laugh out loud funny in some parts, lots of room, I think, for really rich discussions. I probably wouldn't take this below eighth or ninth grade.

Poem #30- People

Woooo Hoooo! 

Poem #30! 

Poem the Last! 

Poem We Did It! 

If you have been following my blog this month, you know I've spent the past 30 days writing poetry with Mary Lee Hahn and Kevin Hodgson. Mary Lee dreamed up this crazy poetry challenge, "Our Wonderful World" and the three of us have wandered the world writing poems about wonders old and new.

The past few days, Mary Lee has focused us to think about the small wonders in our daily lives and we have written about sunrises, chocolate, and imagination. Today's wonder is people and I actually wrote two poems.

The first is about writing poetry with Mary Lee and Kevin. This is our second year together-- Mary Lee organizes the whole shebang on her blog and then Kevin and I just sort of show up clutching our poems every morning.

This morning, as I was thinking about our month, the image that occurred to me was the clubs that we used to have when we were kids. Someone's family would get a new refrigerator or washing machine and we'd spend days building a club house out of the box. We'd cut out windows and doors,  gather rugs and curtains and pillows and somehow, there was always a vase of plastic flowers. Then we'd forage for food- peanut butter sandwiches and koolaid and cookies, and settle in for long afternoons of reading or playing games. Did anyone else have those cardboard box clubs? That's my first poem…


 "Poetry Club"

And so
three of us
(and an occasional passerby)

found an old refrigerator box
cut out a door
and a couple
crooked windows

dragged in a rug
a few pillows
and a vase of plastic flowers

foraged for peanut butter sandwiches
and grape koolaid
apples and of course
a little chocolate

then crawled inside
with notebooks
and pencils

and had ourselves
a poetry club.

(c) Carol Wilcox, 2014


And then a couple of weeks ago, Mary Lee organized a tribute for Franki's birthday. Franki is another fabulous friend and I was delighted to honor her on her special day. At the same time, I kept thinking that we also needed to honor her co-blogger, Mary Lee. And so I've decided to write about one of the most wonderful people I know-- Mary Lee!


"You Were There"

Decided to start a blog
Didn't know anything
Couldn't add book covers or links
Had never heard of CYBILS or Poetry Friday
And you were there
Patiently coaching
a total stranger

Solitary confinement
for twenty days
banished and
even my family didn't know
where I was
you were there
sending notes of encouragement
and upbeat DVD's.

"I'm coming to Denver.
Let's go to Tattered Cover"
you were there
with a box of red velvet cupcakes
(that even now, years later,
my boys still talk about)
and we wandered the aisles
talking books
and teaching
and life.

Writing poetry
every Friday
an entire month in April
you were there
setting up the calendar
choosing a theme
doing all the grunt work
so the rest of us could enjoy
a community
of poets

Amazing teacher
brilliant poet
heart-giving friend
How grateful I am
for your "thereness"
in my life.

Hugs and poems,
Carol 

Poem #29- Imagination

Harvard, Annenberg Hall, by Jacobolus, found on Wikimedia Commons

 All month, I've been writing poetry around the theme, "Our Wonderful World" with Mary Lee Hahn and Kevin Hodgson. Today's topic is imagination and Mary Lee's poem made me cry. Be sure to visit Mary Lee and Kevin's sites.

"Imagination"

You bring the shirt
to  me
in the lunch line
burgundy
with white letters

Harvard.

"Look,"  you say.
"Look what I won."

I look into your
dark, dark eyes.

And I think about
how far Harvard
is from Denver.
Two thousand miles
east on I-70.
Roughly thirty hours driving. 

But more importantly
I think about
how far Harvard
is away
from your world.

you
oldest of three
speaker of Spanish and English
lover of books and math and science

two weeks ago
you told me
how your hotel cleaning mother
helps you hide books 
from construction worker father
who tells you to
stop reading so much

you are a respectful boy
who wants to obey your father
but you cannot stay away from
the printed word
just this month
you have devoured
the Lord of the Rings series
and two Christopher Paolini tomes

I look into your
dark, dark eyes.

And I know this is a holy moment.

"You could go to Harvard,"
I declare.

"You could
definitely

go to
Harvard."

(C) Carol Wilcox, 2014