Welcome to my National Poetry Month project for 2017! Students - Each day of April 2017, I will close my eyes, and I will reach into my box of 64 Crayola crayons.
Aerial View of Crayola Box
Photo by Georgia LV
Each day I will choose a crayon (without looking), pulling this crayon out of the box. This daily selected crayon will in some way inspire the poem for the next day. Each day of this month, I will choose a new crayon, thinking and writing about one color every day for a total of 30 poems inspired by colors.
As of April 2, it happened that my poems took a turn to all be from the point of view of a child living in an apartment building. So, you'll notice this thread running through the month of colors. I'd not planned this...it was a writing surprise.
I welcome any classrooms of poets who wish to share class poems (class poems only please) related to each day's color (the one I choose or your own). Please post your class poem or photograph of any class crayon poem goodness to our Writing the Rainbow Padlet HERE. (If you have never posted on a Padlet, it is very easy. Just double click on the red background, and a box will appear. Write in this box, and upload any poemcrayon sharings you wish.)
Here is a list of this month's Writing the Rainbow Poems so far:
And now...today's crayon. Red!
Cooling Off
by Amy LV
Students - I needed to do a bit of research for today's poem. I have not lived in a big city for a long time, and when I did live in New York City, I was not a child. I never played in spraying fire hydrants. I wanted to write about doing this today, and so I needed to find out, "Does this really happen?"
Yes it does.
But in order to be safe, it is important to get a special cap for your city fire hydrant. Otherwise, it will spray 1,000 gallons per minute, compared to 20 - 25 gallons per minutes with a splash cap. Too much spray, and water is diverted from where it's needed: fires. And too much spray can also push people around and get them hurt.
Here is what a spray cap looks like.
From the NYC Water Facebook Page
Click to Enlarge
It is delightful to learn new things just because you're writing a new poem. Quite often when I am writing a poem, I find myself winding my way down a little research trail...
Today's poem also has an interesting rhyme pattern. Can you figure it out? Which words rhyme?
Another something to notice in today's poem is the way that I made the fire hydrant seem almost like a person who enjoys the company of children. We call this personification, when a writer gives human qualities to something not human. I enjoy using personification because it allows me to pretend that I am thinking and feeling as something besides my plain old self -- today, a fire hydrant loving children in summertime.
If you are Writing the Rainbow with me, perhaps your color for today will make you think of an object that you imagine has some human feelings. Or perhaps you, too, will find yourself doing a bit of unexpected research.
Whichever path you choose (or whichever path chooses you), embrace it.
Colors can take us anywhere. And if you'd like to join in with your own poem at our Writing the Rainbow Padlet, please do! It is growing every day, full of ideas and poems by poets of all ages.
And please don't miss the links to all kinds of Poetry Month goodness up there in my upper left sidebar. Happy nineteenth day of National Poetry Month!
Please share a comment below if you wish.
Such fun to see that fire hydrant drawing and know where red had taken you. I imagine that playing in the water from a fire hydrant must be summer fun at its best.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorites so far. Thanks for the extra info about hydrant caps...I always wondered how that worked...
ReplyDelete