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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

A Spring Poem



In eighth grade I had a great ELA teacher.  She was young, she was hip, she liked us (which was more than I could say for many of my teachers that year). She had us reading books, participating in book talks and book clubs.  She let us (gasp!) choose our own books to read.  She assigned writing projects that were challenging but fun.  She gave us room to express ourselves in our own ways, often not dictating that we had to do things her way.  She was awesome!  One of the projects we did was to write a poetry book.  She immersed us in reading poetry and then let us choose a few mentor texts to use when writing our poetry.  I wrote a poem using the mentor poem [In Just-] by EE Cummings.  For whatever reason, that poem has stuck with me and each spring it comes to mind.  Here is my new attempt using the same mentor poem.

[In Just-]

In just-
Spring
When the world
Is
Flower-delicious
And the bees buzz
My ears

In just-
Spring
When the world
 Is
Flutter-iffic
And the colors
Flash
Before my eyes

In just-
Spring
When the world
Is
Puddle-tastic
And the mud
Beckons
Calls to me
Sp
         l
          a
                 sh!

6 comments:

  1. I love your In Just Spring poem! This is great - I love that you revised your poem for this year too. I think sharing an exemplar text and then writing in that style is fun for students and us :) I loved all the onomatopoeia in your poem, and the emphasis on those words.

    Your 8th grade ELA teacher sounds fantastic! I love your comment that she would let her students develop and explore content without her dictating that the finished product had to look like hers. I tell my students something similar, as their answers are supposed to be different to mine and their friend's.

    Great post!

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  2. Playing with words! I love your new words, they are perfect. Please spring come a little quicker!

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  3. Wow!! Your 8th grade ELA teacher sounds as though she was ahead of her time:-) Obviously, she inspired you......and now you are inspiring us....

    What a deliciously delightful poem.....it put a spring in my step and a smile on my face.....:-) Thank you for sharing!!!!

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  4. This is awesome, what a great poem to use as a mentor text. Sounds like your 8th grade year made quite an impact.

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  5. I love that the world is "flutter-iffic." Thank you for sharing your wonderful poem!
    Catherine

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  6. This will bring more 'spring' in my step, now hopefully the season will cooperate too. Beautiful poem a la Cummings, Robin. And congratulations on your 100th post (I peeked at yesterday too). What a bunch of writing! It's been a good time this year getting to know you, Robin.

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