Hi Families,
Before
I begin, put aside all your ideas about WHY poetry is good for
children. Some of those ideas are probably true but that's not why I am
about to invite you to work with me on a little project.
Two
weeks ago I spent time in Minneapolis presenting a two day workshop to
teachers on "inquiry". As part of the process I displayed a few
examples of the children's poetry that was completed during our unit
that explored colour in our lives. One teacher made a comment that the
poem didn't really make sense to her. Well, I could relate. A lot of
poetry doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either. That however,
has not prevented me from writing my own, encouraging it in others and
more importantly, trying to see into the world view of the other through
their words, phrases and organization. You see, for me it's not all
about making sense of the poem, but more importantly, trying to connect
with another's way of seeing the world because in that we are drawn
together in some pretty interesting ways.
I hope you'll agree and that you'll participate in my invitation.
I
will start a poem here and write it somewhere on the IB wall at
Creative Minds. You can write your poem there or here, sign it or not.
It doesn't matter. What matters is that we are all sharing ideas
around the theme of water. We'll read these to the children every day
and also invite them to write some poetry too. I ask that you not edit
yourselves to the point where you feel you "can't" or "shouldn't". You
can even write in your other languages (even pig latin).
For instance, I sat thinking about the waters of Zanzibar and I quickly scribbled:
water
sparkling
flowing velvet
at the tip of my toes
These
10 words brought me back to the waters and then a cascade of other
ocean images came to my mind. That lead to me thinking about how we
should make a small film with the children at the beach and then more
ideas arose. I had to stop short. Why not just allow the words to
bring forth the senses?
So
I leave you with the idea and hope that I can encourage you to write.
If you don't want to write your own, bring in poems that you like about
water. Let's help the children play with language as they engage in
this inquiry and let's build connections between us through our sharing
our interests and experiences in this format.
Kate
