AMONG READERS & POETS

Literature Circles
Our Literature Circles have been up and running.

One group concluded Judy Blume's Freckle Juice last week, a piece of realistic fiction about a boy who wants freckles. Why? So he won't have to bathe as frequently. That group will launch a new book before the week's end.  

A second group is nearing the end of Cynthia Rylant's Gooseberry Park, a tender story of the relationship between a protective Labrador retriever named Kona and a squirrel named Stumpy who has just had babies. Add in Murray, a bat who can't fly straight, and you've got a sweet story about friends acting like family.

The last group is up to their elbows (or eyeballs) in Avi's Poppy, which traces the daring quest of a timid mouse searching for a safer home for her extended family. She has to face her own fears as well as the villainy of a resident great horned owl to help the family.





All three books lend themselves to discussions about family, the choices people (or dogs, squirrels, bats or mice) make to improve their lives, and how authors present life lessons through characters.  

Poetry Writing

The group has also been drafting winter poems, inspired by the season. The children first read three published poems to serve as inspiration: John Updike's January, Douglas Florian's Winter Eyes, and Katherine Mansfield's Winter Song. The kids read the poems to themselves and then chose favorite lines/stanzas to read out loud to us. We looked more closely at each poem and talked about poetic choices the authors made, pointed out descriptive language and untangled what the poets might mean with some more abstract lines. The children then did choral readings of each poem in duos and trios.


Here's John Updike's poem:

 January

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
Near the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees' black lace.

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.

The group then brainstormed words and phrases about winter. Those ideas were collected on chart paper for all to see and work from, if they chose to. Drafting began, with a template offered by me to help structure the poems. Poets had the choice to write independently and without the template if they felt inspired on their own. The drafting went on for several days and the focus increased each day. The poets have almost all typed up their first drafts. We are now ready for critique. Today, four poets shared and got compliments and suggestions about their pieces via our "Compliment Sandwich" critique procedure. We'll continue tomorrow. Revisions and publishing will follow. I am excited for them to share their beautiful words.