Reverso, Poetry Peek, Tarantula - Oh My!

This is a reverso, Poem #22 in my series of poems about poems.
It is also #213 in my year-long quest to write a poem each day!

Several months ago, I walked into our local bookstore, B is for Books, and owner Jane Bell handed me Marilyn Singer's book MIRROR MIRROR.  "Here," she said.  "I got a review copy of this, and I want to give it to you.  You'll love it."  She was right.  I loved it, and I was intrigued.

A reverso, a form invented by Marilyn Singer, may be read from the top down or the bottom up. It's a tricky form, playful and mysterious, and I never wanted to try it.  "Too hard."  

Not long after, however,  Tricia of The Miss Rumphius Effect offered the reverso form up as a Monday Poetry Stretch in April.  I didn't play.  Two weeks ago, my daughter Georgia came to me with MIRROR MIRROR, proclaiming, "I LOVE this book!  It's amazing!"  Then, this past Monday, an incredibly smart teacher came up to me holding the Marilyn's book.  "Have you seen this before?" she asked.  So here we are.  Finally I tried.  It was not easy, but it was fun.  I'll try it again.

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Poem #22 in my series of poems about poems...upside down!

Greetings to all of you, teachers, students, homeschooling families, old friends, family, and new friends from Kidlit Con!  (I hope there are many of you here on this Poetry Friday!)

Today I am thrilled to offer you our seventh Classroom Poetry Peek into Mrs. Sallye Norris's first grade classroom at Puster Elementary School in Fairview, Texas.  Sallye is an old friend of mine.  We were best-friends-ever as American Rotary exchange students living in Denmark from 1987-1988, and today, we are still great pals.  I truly admire her intellectual curiosity and bright spirit.  Sallye's students celebrate Poetry Friday...listen in.

 Teacher Sallye Norris

There was a Sumo

He was so...fat I used Sumo

as a basketball.

by Drew Turner

Cat

I'm a cat

the best thing ever

made.  I'm better than

a dog.  You don't have

to give me a bath.

All I want is for you

to pat me on my back.

by Claire Easley

Flower

Please don't take me home with you.

I might die and I'll never see you.

Leave me outside for sunshine and

rain.  You might see me some

other day.

by Gina Peoples

When you stretch

me out I look

ridiculous!  And sometimes

I get loose!  You

also wear me

a lot!  I am stuck

in a box! full

of silly bands!

by Delaney McDuffie

Each Friday, the first graders at Puster Elementary visit each first grade teacher in a round-robin type of rotation.  Each teacher teaches a lesson in a subject that is of great interest to her.  I love poetry and language, so my lessons revolve around these things.  My goal for the learners is to help them view themselves as authors and poets and to foster a love of language.

Our first several weeks of poetry rotation were spent discovering poetry.  We spent time talking about words that sounded good to our ears: words that were interesting or funny or felt good on our tongues.  We read poems aloud, listening to see if the poem rhymed or not.  We read the poems Amy posted on her site.  We sang poems with gentle rhythms.  We drew pictures of what the poem meant to us in our hearts.  Together, we wrote poems about the huge tarantula I found in my house and kept as a pet!  Every week, each child was given a copy of the poem we read to put in a poetry notebook, take home, and cherish time and again.

After several weeks of exposure to the world of poetry, we began writing poetry of our own, using Amy's "Pumpkin" poem as a catalyst.  The learners picked objects and listed, in speech bubbles, what each object might think or say.  Then I encouraged them to turn those thoughts into poems.   You could have hard a pin drop (except for all of the verbal sounding out!) as they began imagining their objects talking.  They wrote and shared with each other, and their excitement grew.  One little boy turned to his table mates and exclaimed, "We're poets.  Did you know that?"  

That afternoon, a mom e-mailed me asking, "What did y'all do today?  My child has been writing poems and taping them all over the house."  We're nine weeks into school, but the kids are already viewing themselves as poets!  I can't wait to see what they're doing by the end of first grade!"

Thank you many times over to Sallye and her students for sharing a peek into their own Poetry Friday with us today.  Teachers and homeschooling parents:  I invite you to share on a future Poetry Friday.  Please just drop me a note if you are interested.

Tomorrow is October 30, the last day of SPARK 10.  I plan to post my response to Amy Souza's beautiful photograph, "Dahlia Soft Focus", in this space and look forward to seeing her response to my poem, "Everynight Everywhere".

In addition to being Poetry Friday, today is also National Cat Day.  You can see our family's four cats - Pickles, Firepaw, Sarah, and Mini - over at Jama Rattigan's wonderful cat celebration today.  Check out Jama's blog to see many beautiful cat pictures and stories of authors, illustrators, and their beloved kitties - just slink on over to Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup!  Jama always sets a delightful table, and today is purrfect.

Toby Speed, my wise and witty roommate from Kidlit Con, is hosting today's Poetry Friday at her blog, The Writer's Armchair.  As a person who spent last weekend with Toby, I can promise that her company is thoughtful and full of whimsy and charm.  Enjoy all of your poetry travels today...and Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow I'll be teaching a class at the NFRC Fall Conference all about finding writing ideas through poetry!

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