tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post2303478576312597783..comments2024-03-29T04:42:24.141-06:00Comments on TeacherDance: Poems Can Be MemoirsLinda Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-69846631201326893342014-06-15T21:32:06.893-06:002014-06-15T21:32:06.893-06:00Great write-up! Writing is a talent, and it must n... Great write-up! Writing is a talent, and it must not be wasted. As with everything that we had been entrusted, we should <br /><br />let it grow and share it with the world.><a href="http://www.coreforceworldwide.com/how-can-listening-be-write/" rel="nofollow"> writing <br /><br />ideas</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02946732174515763192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-23501113196310418392012-01-24T10:34:36.269-07:002012-01-24T10:34:36.269-07:00What a lovely collection of poems you put together...What a lovely collection of poems you put together here! So glad I found you through Poetry Friday. Looking forward to my next visit!Renee LaTulippehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15858405241136190640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-87209580330765090852012-01-22T21:23:25.378-07:002012-01-22T21:23:25.378-07:00Thank you Juliann. Oh, I hope you do try some poe...Thank you Juliann. Oh, I hope you do try some poetry. Just string those words together as you do so beautifully!Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-96135169613296072012-01-22T20:18:10.947-07:002012-01-22T20:18:10.947-07:00As a knitter and a teacher, I really love your poe...As a knitter and a teacher, I really love your poem. And I am inspired to try a bit of poetry myself this year. Even if it scares me :)Juliann in WAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15895551530087690102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-38183841160087081122012-01-22T06:40:52.827-07:002012-01-22T06:40:52.827-07:00Thank you Tabatha. I know that poem, but forgot a...Thank you Tabatha. I know that poem, but forgot about it. I have used some of his prose for the students.Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-55293784471845230742012-01-22T04:09:25.348-07:002012-01-22T04:09:25.348-07:00Great project, Linda! I tried to think of other me...Great project, Linda! I tried to think of other memoir poems for you. Maybe "Oranges" by Gary Soto?Tabathahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14367572663591077922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-57560094007834363892012-01-21T15:51:48.683-07:002012-01-21T15:51:48.683-07:00Thank you for the compliment Amy, and for the reco...Thank you for the compliment Amy, and for the recommendations too. I'd love to write the post, will wait & see what happens with the class & let you know. Early drafts of ideas are due next week. I'm excited to see what they choose!Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-73463680234398632092012-01-21T15:22:45.884-07:002012-01-21T15:22:45.884-07:00"with tiny rows that knit one, then pearl two..."with tiny rows that knit one, then pearl two<br />in colorful skeins of yarn..."<br /><br />I think that Marcus Millsap: School Day Afternoon is a poem I'll come back to - such pure imagery.<br /><br />Another one I like is Virginia Hamilton's "Under the Back Porch." And for me right now, I love "35/10" by Sharon Olds.<br /><br />I hope that some of your students choose to write their memoirs as poems... If they do, would you be interested in writing a guest post - classroom peek - for The Poem Farm? I'd love to have you!<br /><br />a.Amy L Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03830987204619914326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-12579410026462709562012-01-21T07:54:35.039-07:002012-01-21T07:54:35.039-07:00I love "a knit of who they are." Perfect...I love "a knit of who they are." Perfect!Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03805048784056376058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-59220334741699895542012-01-21T07:37:57.500-07:002012-01-21T07:37:57.500-07:00Thank you Tara. How wonderful that you are doing ...Thank you Tara. How wonderful that you are doing memoirs too. I like the idea of writing the prose, then re-writing as poems. Maybe that will happen in this group too?Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-27707203400503497722012-01-21T07:13:59.284-07:002012-01-21T07:13:59.284-07:00You captured the essence of teaching memoir so wel...You captured the essence of teaching memoir so well, Linda. And thanks for sharing the other poems as well - we're taking our memoirs and casting them as memoir poems as a final project in writing workshop - these will serve as wonderful mentor texts!Tara @ A Teaching Lifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07195982194362559883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-85056692465316880432012-01-21T06:42:40.830-07:002012-01-21T06:42:40.830-07:00We will try to meet, but at least sometime in the ...We will try to meet, but at least sometime in the near future! I'll look forward to June. Thanks for the comment.Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-30822683717928033462012-01-21T05:11:10.353-07:002012-01-21T05:11:10.353-07:00How wonderful that you have a poem of your own to ...How wonderful that you have a poem of your own to include with the other mentor texts!<br /><br />I hope you and Carol get to meet at CCIRA. I'm jealous that I won't be there -- but Franki will. Be sure to say hi to her! And both of you keep your calendars open for a June TC meeting when I'm home to visit Mom!Mary Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078793537148794310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-30985751980030343722012-01-20T21:29:49.124-07:002012-01-20T21:29:49.124-07:00Linda,
The knitting metaphor is so great. That who...Linda,<br />The knitting metaphor is so great. That whole idea of weaving parts of truth…hmmm. I usually get great memoir poems out of kids after reading Don Graves' BASEBALL, SNAKES, AND SUMMER SQUASH. Graves is masterful, I think, at taking those teeny snippets of memory and creating a universal truth.<br /><br />I would love to meet sometime. Don't know if it will work at CCIRA - I'm presenting a couple of times and have some other stuff related to being a past president. I might be able to get together on Thursday after the sessions are over, or early Saturday morning, or we could just do a TC coffee time sometime…Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13294455230627182656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-19496698597066251272012-01-20T17:08:49.221-07:002012-01-20T17:08:49.221-07:00Great selection of poems. The students are sure t...Great selection of poems. The students are sure to have fun writing their own memoirs.Diane Mayrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09767689319000732296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-61269927145684268952012-01-20T16:50:12.039-07:002012-01-20T16:50:12.039-07:00Thank you! I'll look it up for sure.Thank you! I'll look it up for sure.Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-30166670260171453312012-01-20T16:49:04.401-07:002012-01-20T16:49:04.401-07:00Thanks, Jama. I believe food is one of the keys th...Thanks, Jama. I believe food is one of the keys that unlock memories. You're so right to notice.Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-10772217835631516992012-01-20T16:18:07.648-07:002012-01-20T16:18:07.648-07:00I've always liked "The Centaur" by M...I've always liked "The Centaur" by May Swenson. (Actually, I forgot the name & author and had to Google my favorite line just now to find it... I read it as a child and certain lines just spoke to me and stayed with me.) Here is a link: http://babsonarabians.com/Readers_Corner/The_Centaur.htmJenniferMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09603450967368808356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-32499428677439074072012-01-20T08:43:26.601-07:002012-01-20T08:43:26.601-07:00Memoir poems! Sounds like it's going to be a f...Memoir poems! Sounds like it's going to be a fun class. Enjoyed all the poems, and duly noted that two of them mentioned sandwiches. Yes, I'm obsessed! <br /><br />Never had a brown sugar sandwich before -- but that poem did remind me of my latchkey child school days. Didn't live anywhere near a farm, but the narrator's feeling of "after school freedom" resonated with me. I could do anything I wanted before my mom got home from work. A friend and I did fashion shows using my mom's high heels. There were refreshments, of course. :)<br /><br />Nice introductory poem!jamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07859083373087448194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-60123830778028234852012-01-20T08:18:45.441-07:002012-01-20T08:18:45.441-07:00Thank you Myra. It's exciting to be teaching ...Thank you Myra. It's exciting to be teaching a group again, eager to write and eager to learn how to use words in new ways.Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-63635092825441352132012-01-20T08:14:13.878-07:002012-01-20T08:14:13.878-07:00I love how most of the poems you shared don't ...I love how most of the poems you shared don't particularly rhyme - I think it frees the children from studiously finding a word that rhymes instead of actively sensing from within what shade of word to use for which emotion.<br /><br />I was particularly taken by the lines from The Summer I was Sixteen:<br />"Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles,<br />we came to the counter where bees staggered<br />into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled<br /><br />cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses,<br />shared on benches beneath summer shadows.<br />Cherry. Elm. Sycamore."<br />- oh, to be sixteen again.<br /><br />And I love your introductory poem too:<br />"write their lines, a knit of who they are,<br />with tiny rows that knit one, then pearl two<br />in colorful skeins of yarn."<br /><br />- I am sure you're looking forward to seeing your children's quilted selves with their skeins of truths. :)GatheringBookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04477710897574769648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-74494815100498761232012-01-20T08:13:18.930-07:002012-01-20T08:13:18.930-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.GatheringBookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04477710897574769648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-61081146332414499852012-01-20T08:01:18.744-07:002012-01-20T08:01:18.744-07:00Thank you for the idea, Irene. I know the poem, b...Thank you for the idea, Irene. I know the poem, but hadn't thought of it. I'll add it to my list!Linda Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14983144542632353870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319624163132382197.post-25990124582651735752012-01-20T07:53:24.849-07:002012-01-20T07:53:24.849-07:00Love "a knit of who they are." My go-to ...Love "a knit of who they are." My go-to introductory piece for students to try is "Where I'm From" by George Ella Lyon. I love how the pieces you've chosen are specific, small snapshots. Could really help the overwhelmed student. Thanks for sharing!Irene Lathamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04905936104127707762noreply@blogger.com