April holds special power over me. It is the month of my birth, and it is National Poetry Month. From a very early age, my parents surrounded me with poetry. My mom read aloud all her classic favorites, and I remember being rocked in the old rocking chair falling asleep to the rhythms of the rhyme. My dad was a poet and read to me sweeping epic poems that would capture my imagination and scare me just a little. Very early on, I started to write my own poems usually about animals or the weather. Words and images would pop into my head, and I’d create a poem. Sometimes they’d rhyme, but mostly I loved thinking about how to paint the images I imagined with words. I loved stringing words together. I loved the way they formed in my mouth and rushed out into the air. Poetry was magical, and I felt I had some of that magic in me.
Now, as a poet and teacher, I enjoy bringing that love of the spoken word to children. This month, Deborah, my friend and dear librarian at the school where I teach, invited me to be the guest poet during her library times with 1st through 4th graders. I shared poems from a book that I was published in called, Clara’s Kooky Compendium of Thimblethoughts and Wonderfuzz by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. I took Janet and Sylvia’s poetry courses and have been published in two of their books; the other book being What is Hope? I shared the process of writing poems and getting them ready for publication. I shared some of the poems that I wrote that were not selected but which I loved. I wanted to inspire the children to write for their own pleasure, that’s how their stamina and skills will grow. One of the highlights for me was when the 1st graders helped me read my poem “Silly Sillies.” I had fun creating it and chanting it to myself, but when the children helped me perform it, it made my heart swell with pride. It gave them joy, and that’s the gift I wanted to give to them.
The group of 2nd graders wrote weather poems after listening to my poem “Slish-Slosh!” I told them I got the idea for the poem many years before when I was in one of their 2nd grade classrooms. The children had come in from recess soaking wet from a sudden rainstorm. One of the students exclaimed, “There are puddles in my shoes.” And that’s when my poetic mind took off. I told the teacher, who was and is a dear friend of mine, that we should all sit down and write rain poems. She smiled and said that would be great, but it’s time for math. So, the class went on to do math, but I went to my office to write a poem and shared it with them later.
Back in the library, the 2nd graders brainstormed types of weather and forms of poetry. I wrote them on a big board so they could refer to it as they wrote. Some wanted to write in pairs. Some chose to rhyme. Some drew out concrete poetry with clouds and umbrellas. One student had a strong beat in mind from the song “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons. I was amazed how she kept that beat in her poem. And I had not thought to talk about rhythm as a form of poetry, but Evelyn did. I know that when I share poetry with children that I will learn so much, things I haven’t thought about before. Children have a fresh and unique perspective on the world. I think that’s why I have enjoyed teaching them and watching them grow. They are like little poems all to themselves. I hear the rhythm of their giggles; I see the wild images of their imaginations, and I am restored.
Second Grade Poetry Gallery
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 