Free-Verse Poetry

This week my students read a poem containing a story. It was about some sticks in the woods at night.
Then I asked them to write their own poem. It didn't have to rhyme. It just had to contain a story. Their ideas are so sweet! Here are some of the poems that they wrote:

Poem #1- 
The wind was blowing, and it was raining.
It was a storm!
I was scared!
I almost popped.
My sister was laughing at me.

Poem #2- The Day at the Park
One day I went to the park.
I was riding my bike and doing some tricks on my bike.
I saw some kids playing with sticks.
I got off my bike to play with the kids.
It was fun.
Then it was time to go.
I said goodbye and got on my bike.

Poem #3- Dogs
Once there was a little girl that had five dogs.
They were really nice.
Sweet and Cute.
And the little girl loved them very much.

Poem #4- Picking toys
Once upon a time a little girl had a mess.
Her mom asked her if she can clean her room.
She said no.

Poem #5- In the Woods
I was in the woods trying to go find my cat.
And I saw a pretty butterfly.
But some came in the woods running to me.

Poem #6-
Last night a girl named Kaitlyn went to pick up sticks with her big brother Christian.
She loved to pick up sticks.
If she got to at least 30 or 40, her mom would make her, her favorite dinner.

Poem #7- 
Last night a little girl named Kania was outside picking up sticks.
She saw a flower in the woods on the grass.
It was cool.

Some of my students didn't have time to finish their poems, so I am going to give them some extended time to work on these on Thursday. I hope I have more to publish after that.

Poetry

Some of my students wrote poetry. See if you can pick out the words that rhyme. Although some of my students wrote poems without rhyming words. It was fun to assign this because they were asked to read a few of Shel Silverstein's poems before writing their own. Here's what they came up with:

Poem #1: The Snap Trap
I set up a trap one night.
And the next night at midnight I heard it snap.
I went to check it and it was a little baby racoon.
I set her free.
Be gone little baby.

Poem #2:
The rose has gone far away.
The flower goes very very far away.

Poem #3: The Doctor Then Soccer
I want to go to the doctor
then go to soccer.
The doctor is fun,
than plain old soccer.
Soccer is way too boring.
The doctor is so much fun.

Poem #4: 
I pet my mouse in the house.
The dog hogs the food.
I see the cake baking.
I eat a pie with a sigh.
The cook reads the book.

Poem #5:
I see a snake eating cake.
I hear a pie cry.
I see a cake bake.
I see a duck stuck.

Poem #6:
My shoelace was tied.
I promise that I did not lie.
My shoe would not tie, but I will try.

Poem #7: 
I will play with you
Play with me too.
We can play with my shoe.
It will be fun!
Let's go run!

Poem #8: The Petting Zoo
There is a petting zoo.
Not the kind of petting zoo with pigs and chickens.
The kind with bats and bears.
The boys were zesty and zealous.
The girls were not.


Pretty fantastic poems, don't you agree?! You may wonder how they found some of the vocabulary that they used in their poems. I asked them to pick out one or two words from another poem that they read to use in their own. It was a great way to give them some indirect vocabulary instruction. The student that wrote poem #8 really challenged himself by picking out the words "zest" and "zeal". I helped him to understand what they mean. Down to my final three weeks with them... I can hardly believe it!

Feed the Dinosaurs!

Today Mrs. Porterfield and I took the students outside to use up some old bread and feed the birds. We are officially on spring break now and had two loaves of Panera bread sitting in our classroom that we wanted to get rid of before the holiday. As she was explaining to the students what they should do with the bread, she told them that the pieces they break up will feed the birds and the squirrels to which one student yelled out... "AND THE DINOSAURS!" I couldn't contain my laughter. It was the sweetest thing this child could have said, and he was completely serious. Oh the second grade imagination... I love it!

A Strong Handshake & A Thank-You

This morning in our morning meeting, I explained to my students that I have a job interview in a few days. I explained the importance of professional behavior when I walk into the interview. I shared how my professional behavior in an interview will show the hiring personnel that they could trust me with my own group of students. I proceeded to explain the importance of a handshake. It was well received. The students  really seemed to understand how the way that they act shows me that they can be trusted, just like I show that I can be trusted with a classroom of children by how I act in a job interview. After trying to convince me to teach them in third grade next year, we went around the circle and shook our neighbor's hand as well as saying a good morning. It was a great start to a wonderful day.

Later in the morning we practiced writing thank-you notes. Second graders love to write thank-you notes especially because they truly love to make their friends, parents and teachers feel good. They know that a thank-you note just does the trick. I received three thank-you notes. I get a little bit choked up when I read them because I have just come to love these children so so much!

Dear Miss Hartman,
How are you doing? What will you do over spring break? When I'm sad you make me happy and smile. I love that you are my student teacher. You are very sweet and nice. I will be sad when you leave here. You make me smile everyday. I will remember you forever.
Love.

Dear Miss Hartman,
Thank you for all your help. You help me on the computer and my work. I like it when you help me. It is helpful.
Love.

Dear Miss Hartman,
Your my best friend. Don't leave me. I'll never forget you. Will you forget me? Your what makes 2nd grade fun! It was fun with you!
Love.

Happy Fausnaught Day!

I recently taught my students about customs and cultural traditions that exist all over the United States. I was trying to help them connect to the fact that Tennessee gives the rest of the country various customs and traditions such as wood carving and square dancing. I shared a personal story concerning Fausnaught Day celebrated on Fat Tuesday every year in Pennsylvania. I talked about this day and tried to describe the delicious donuts that result from it. They were entranced with this tradition from my hometown....
It gets better. My mother sent me a half dozen of my favorite donuts this past week. Well after enjoying the first one, I decided that I must do something with some of the others. There were too many for me to eat before they went bad. I took two of them in on Friday morning for a special treat. It made me so excited to share this artifact in my classroom, and all of my students enjoyed a taste of them. Let me be honest, this is my favorite part about teaching. Besides the fact that I just love donuts, I got to share an artifact with my students to help them connect what they learned about culture and tradition with real life.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Today during parent/teacher conferences, the interactions and time spent talking and listening to the parents just touched my heart. There is nothing comparable to loving parents that want the very best for their child. It is something that every child in the world needs, and when I was faced with the reality of this love in so many folks’ expressions today, I just got a little bit choked up. One of my favorite things is telling a parent the wonderful things about their child. I just love to see the look of pride and relief in their eyes. I love to catch their expressions when I share something sweet that their child has said or done to me. And in light of all that God has done in and through my student teaching journey down here, today my most wonderful and memorable moment came when a parent told me that they notice a difference in their child. I have a student that I have spent some quality time with who was very quiet when I came down here in January, and she has just bloomed beyond what I thought possible. I just cry thinking about it and praising God for it. I get to be God’s instrument in this classroom right here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Wow! God has blessed me in tremendous ways. There are no more words to describe this feeling. 

Use a map of the earth to find your way home, Miss Hartman.

Fun quote from this week came when I opened a magnetized box containing my birthday snack. On it was printed an ancient map of the earth. My students told me that I could use it if I got lost or if my car broke down on the way back from Tennessee. I tried unsuccessfully to point out to them that I couldn’t use a map of the world to guide me on the interstate in the U.S. They couldn’t seem to understand, and they were just so excited to advise me J