Writing about Writing & a Poetry Peek

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Photo by Amy LV

Students - One of the best parts of my days is when I have the opportunity to visit classrooms wtih writing workshops.  This week I had the chance to visit a third grade and a kindergarten classroom, both humming with writing and love.  At home here, I write all alone, but I, too, look for people to be a part of my writing circle.  You are these people.  The teachers and students I visit are these people.  My poetry friends are these people.  It really does feel "almost like a hug" when one has the chance to write and share with others.

Receiving a kind note from Jen Westervelt (you'll read words from her in a moment) reminded me that I have written about writing several times, so her note got me searching the files to see what I could find. This draft was a scrap written over a year ago, and I found it in my files. 

This short verse felt worth finishing, even with that weird little last nonsense line.  I didn't want to finish it in the spring of 2013, but this week I did.  So, thank you to Jen and to Lillie and Willow and all of the students in this class for inspiring me - through your words - to comb through my digital files.  I was happy to find today's small poem and hope that others in writing workshps know the feeling I describe.

Being a writer-packrat can be very helpful.  Don't throw those notebooks away or erase those files.  Someday, down the line, you might find a scrap that you wish to revisit.  Look through your old notebooks sometime, maybe even today.  Surprise your new self with the interesting thoughts of your old self.  Take an old piece and make it new.

Today I am very happy to host sixth grade English teacher Jen Westervelt, from Sherburne-Earlville Middle School in Sherburne, NY.  Many grateful welcomes to Jen as she introduces her students.

As part of Scholastic's TRAITS WRITING PROGRAM, my sixth grade students have been exploring the connections between the Writing Process (Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing...) and the Writing Traits (Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Voice, Presentation, and Conventions).  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's poem,"Writing Time," served as inspiration for these poems.    

Poems

Poems are like Paintings

Except telling a story through words

You might stare and be waiting

For great inspiration to come

You might get an idea one day

While walking down the street

It might start “hello” or  “far far away”

Or even great George the giant

Use transition, organization, ideas, and voice

These are all important in poems

There might be a sentence like “there is Boise”

Or “Hi my name is Bob”

This is all about you

The poem you write

And the ideas you use

If you do what you like

Could be poems about bikes

There’s no way you’ll  ever fail

Lillie Ashton

Writing is Life

Writing is life, It's naturally nice to write about life.

Like when your kindhearted friend sends you a letter, so 

you can feel radiant and beautiful and somewhat better.   

Writing is a source of showing you 

care about your friends that are everywhere and anywhere.So,

writing is life,

you can write to anyone even if he/she lives in the 

middle of nowhere.

Willow Austin  

Thank you very much to Jen, Lillie, and Willow for joining us with these thoughtful words and lines.  It is a joy to have you all here at The Poem Farm today.

Students are often our best teachers, and I continue to be thankful for the young writers from the Western New York Young Writer's Studio who are currently sharing their notebooks over at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks.  If you have not yet taken a look at these students' notebooks, I encourage you to come on over and get some new ideas for your own notebook.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in a giveaway of a book and a notebook too!

Jama is hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup over at the delicious Jama's Alphabet Soup.  Head on over for tea, croissants, and poems.  What could be better?

Please share a comment below if you wish.

Just Write - My Poem Writing Year #208

Students - writers often have many small writing preferences, things that don't matter in the end, but which may help us individually as we go.  Where we write.  What we write with.  What time we write.  These things may stay the same or change, and many writers find it helpful to keep some such rituals the same, keep a focus on the day's work.  What matters is not these things.  What matters is that we write, setting our words free into the wide world.

Teachers - as a writing teacher, I am always seeking out the wise words of other writing teachers.  Jane Yolen, in her book TAKE JOY, teaches us to keep our BIC (butt in chair).  She was the inspiration for "Plant your rear" in today's poem.  You can read more of Jane's sage writing advice at her website. 

Shop Indie Bookstores

This book, about finding one's own story, is a great read aloud.

Shop Indie Bookstores

So begin today.  Just get started.  You'll find an idea as you go.

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My Poem Writing Year #118 - Writing

Menu

by Hope LV (years ago)

This poem is dedicated to all writing workshop teachers.  Both this week and next, I will have the opportunity to work with the dedicated teachers of the Iroquois Central School District.  These teachers are taking off with writing workshops in their classrooms this fall, and I admire their grass roots desire to learn about teaching writing and to take it on.

In the early 1990s, I had the good fortune to study under Lucy Calkins at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University.  At that time, the office was full of staff developers and teachers including: Randy Bomer, Katherine Bomer, Katie Wood Ray, Carl Anderson, Isoke Nia, Sharon Hill, Karen Caine, Kathy Collins, Kate Montgomery, Pam Allyn, and many more.  I still learn from these teachers today.

Those years of pouring coffee, making copies, listening carefully, and eventually working in classrooms changed my life: writing life, teaching life, mothering life.  I learned that we can do what we believe we can do and what others believe we are capable of.

Believe!

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Sometimes When I Write - MyPoWriYe #91

Last evening, feeling quietly panic-stricken, I whispered to my daughter Hope, "I don't know what to write about."

She looked at me with a mischievous look in her eye and said, "Just start writing...like you always say to do."

Students - Writing can be scary territory for many of us.  Those blank notebook pages stare up from our desks, almost daring us to make a mark.  We stare back, sometimes unsure.  One way to get through that unsure feeling is simply to write right through it, to write anything.  The writing gods do come through...maybe not every single day.  But if we do our part, eventually they do theirs.
 

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MyPoWriYe #47 - Ideas & Draft Sharing

Sometimes when we sit down to write, it feels as if there is nothing to write about.  All of the good ideas have been used up, life just isn't so interesting at the moment, or maybe we're plain tired.  After 47 days of a poem each day, I can honestly say that through trust and with risk, an idea will always come.

Students - if you find yourself staring at a blank piece of paper for more than five minutes, it may be too long.  Just start writing any old thing...let one thing lead to another...and off you go.  Don't plan to write perfect words.  Just write!

Messy Drafts for "Ideas"

Here you can see the pages that led to the poem "Ideas (like peaches)",  above.  I began by writing about goodbyes, moved to writing about names and maps, wrote almost a whole poem about teatime, and then finally stayed with this idea poem.  

When I write, I feel like a dog getting ready to sleep, circling around herself three times.  Settling, settling, settling, settled.  How is writing for you?  Take some time today to talk with your writing friends about how you get started and what keeps you going.  Half of writing is knowing ourselves and knowing how to keep ourselves working and getting wordswordswords on the page.

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MyPoWriYe Day #38 - My Notebook

Notebook Stack

Photo by Amy LV

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