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Thursday, March 8, 2012

Finding more memories...

One of my favorite writing lessons is teaching my students how to "find" poems in another piece of writing.  Tonight I have decided to try "finding a poem" in one of the journal entries I have written for my son.

November 4, 2011

Today you built your first snowman of the year.
Today you gave your snowman a baby carrot nose, coffee bean eyes, coffee bean mouth, yellow satin scarf and a Cal Poly ball cap.
Today you surprised me by building a second snowman...and I said it couldn't be done!  Shame on me.
Today you lost a tooth!  A front tooth.
Today you belly laughed when you said, "Eli licks lollipops" because your tongue tickled the spot where your tooth used to be.
Today you shot a balloon down from the ceiling with a sling shot you made with Papa and Uncle Ed.
Today you held baby Estelle.
Today you made snowflakes.
Today you left a light on for the tooth fairy.

My found poem...

November 4, 2011

Your first snowman of the year
surprised me.
A second snowman?
I said it couldn't be done.
You belly laughed
and
held
snowflakes
for the tooth fairy.

13 comments:

  1. Neat! I'll have to try that! I love how you have journaled about your son's life and then gleaned a beautiful poem from the journal.

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  2. Great writing in both pieces. Now I wonder what poems I can find... Thanks for sharing a good idea.

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  3. I have it on my "to do" list to try writing a found poem. I've been hearing a lot about them lately. Yours turned out great!

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  4. Beautiful -- thanks for reminding me of a simple way for my students to explore their own words for poetry.
    Kevin

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  5. This is the second great poetry idea I've gotten today! Thanks so much!

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  6. Perfect example of how to create a found poem. Thanks for giving me something to show teachers. You rock!

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  7. I love your found poem. I loved doing this with students. For some, this was their first written poem ever. You never know where a poem will hide either.

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  8. Love it, love it. We could even do the highlighting with Diigo and online texts. Thanks for the idea!

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  9. I love finding a poem in a story, such a great idea!

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  10. This was really cool to see your process and the product.

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  11. Your journal to your son is a sweet idea that he'll love when he gets older. Your found poem is wonderful! Students really enjoy writing found poems. I like them too.

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  12. What a great idea. I oved the poem

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