Poetry is one of my favorite units of the year. As we wrap up our final week of test prep, I've begun to really allow the creativity to shine. We have been looking at the many different forms of poetry and today we focused on Haiku. After listening to a haiku in my Community Class in Church on Sunday inspired by Psalms I decided we too would go looking for things to inspire our Haikus. I've often read Haiku Hike and allowed the kids to make watercolors then write the poetry, but today we went outside. Granted it was not within a forest, but I really wanted them to notice their senses and the things around them.
As we looked upon the empty playground I said, "You know things look so different without 175 students running around. What is this picture saying to you?" Really I am talking rhetorically more to myself then to anyone in particular because of what it was saying to me, but a young man turned to me and said, "I imagine the Wild West, but without gun slingers."
"True, I believe a different competition is played somewhat like outlaws and the sherriff,"
His eyes light up! "Can you imagine soccer in tumbleweeds?!" He exclaims. Then he vigorously writes.
Isn't it important to listen to those little nudges of inspiration?
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It's great that you took them out to look, to think, but I loved that you did that nudge & opened another door. Would you ever have thought of those two things? He should be so excited!
ReplyDeleteI love how you let the student discover his own way.
ReplyDeleteGreat example of using our surroundings to tap into their imaginations. I'd love to know what he wrote. MaryHelen
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