This week, as a substitute teacher, I taught several poetry lessons, which is fitting as it is National Poetry Month, or NaPoWriMo. I tired to engage a group of grade 7/8 students in studying the iconic Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken." I will not claim the Great Poetic Enlightenment of Modern Youth because they just weren't into it the way the curriculum would demand of them for a decent grade. Since poetry is subjective, how can they be asked to analyze poems that have no meaning for them?

First line, and I lost them already: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," and one of them thought of the yellow brick road and the whole class couldn't let the whole Wizard of Oz thing drop. I actually said, “poetry is subjective, but that is definitely not what this poem is about.” And then we went on to talk about choices and paths (and yellow roads, again), and regret and how Frost used a lot (too many?) of words to say all that. I told them how many modern poems tend to use the 'less-is-more' philosophy when it comes to words. The good news was that they were able to record their first connections (thoughts /reactions/ emotions) from the poem, so they could note the yellow brick road connection, which wasn't wrong (really), it was simply how they connected to it -- and really, Dorothy took one path -- right down that rabbit hole, and if she didn't, the movie could have been awfully boring!

In the past, I have found that using their favourite (school appropriate) song lyrics are a better way to reach youth. There are poetic devices galore to meet curriculum requirements and they are motivated to share the songs that have meaning in their lives, and how the artists use poetic devices to get the meanings across to their audiences. Lyrics for their favourite songs are an excellent way for students to access poetry that interests them and motivates them. Another great way for students to connect to poetry is through Slam Poetry. One time, I showed some Slam Poetry to a class, and they were awed, "We didn't know this was poetry, Miss!" they exclaimed. And then they wanted more.
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Another class was asked to write Limericks. Their teacher sent us outside and told them they needed to write two limericks and show me. When they approached, I bellowed, "Limerick me!" or "Show me your Limerick!" I gave them the option of reading their own poem to me or allowing me to read it. At the end of class, some of the students wanted to share their creations with the class, and then we snapped to show our appreciation, like in Slam Poetry.
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Here are some Poetry Resources:

Iron Maiden -- Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Donovon -- Jabberwocky

Here's a funny: Poetry Class - Saturday Night Live -- Students take lyrics from classic rock tunes in hopes of fooling their poetry teacher.(Aired 01/21/95)

EB Academics for Middle School ELA Teachers Channel on YouTube is my newest resource find, and it has amazing ideas to teach poetry to Middle School students:

1. Poetry: A New Perspective
2. How to Teach Poetry with a Game
3. How to Teach Poetry More Effectively
4. Try this Engaging Poetry Activity
5. Poetry Idea: Two-Voice Poetry
6. A Fun Poetry Activity

 
Read, Write, Think Poetry Month Resources
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Imagine, if you will, this familiar scenario:
Teacher, holding up several Crayola markers without lids: "What happens when we don't put the lids on our markers?"
Class: "They dry out!"
Teacher, holding up the near empty cup where the Crayola markers go: "Where have all our class markers gone?"
Class: "They have dried out!"
Teacher: "Hmmmm...."

This is a daily conversation in the Kindergarten classroom - unless, of course, all of the markers have already dried out and it's only November and you are waiting for the New Year to try again, because you figure, "A new year; new markers; new goals." And, it's always a bit of an enigma because, clearly, the students demonstrate a knowledge that IF the lid is not put back on the marker, THEN it will dry out.

I was working with a boy who was colouring with markers and I noticed that many of the lids were at the bottom of the container and many were on but they had not been snapped shut. I watched him put the lids on, so I asked him if he knew about the "magic click". He shook his head so I demonstrated snapping the lid on all the way until we heard the 'click' sound. He definitely wanted to make those markers click, too, and he definitely tried to do it. He exerted all of his strength but there was no "magic click." He seemed disappointed so I suggested that he use the table top to help him, which worked. I remembered an article that I had recently happened upon (probably on Facebook) about youngsters coming to us in Kindergarten without fine motor strength, making them unready to hold pencils for proper letter formation, thus causing difficulty when they are writing and doing other fine motor activities, such as using scissors.

• The Guardian, Feb. 2018: www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/25/children-struggle-to-hold-pencils-due-to-too-much-tech-doctors-say

I realized that something similar was likely happening here... so, I studied the other children as they used Crayola markers, and sure enough, most of them were also putting the lids on (so they thought), but not achieving that "magic click." So, listen up Crayola! I get the purpose of the 'click', but children have changed, so this is now a design flaw. And, while you're at it, maybe make the markers triangular prism-shaped so they do not keep rolling off tables!

As a result of this observation and upon reflection, instead of shouting out, "I see markers without lids!" I will sit down at the creative table and do a mini-lesson to a small group, who can then act as the Marker Ambassadors to spread the word to the others.

All of the other kindergarten teachers whom I shared this epiphany with, said something to the effect of, "Oh, geez, I shout at them about that ALL the time!"  On behalf of all of us out there, I'd like to apologize to our dear students, who were indeed, to the best of their ability, putting those back on the Crayola markers... "We're sorry! And to make it up, we shall now play some games to strengthen those fine motor making muscles" (See above.)

This post focuses on pied colouring pages of seven Easter Eggs to paint.

One little girl (G1), immediately settled at the table, grabbed her paint brush and started filling up her eggs with colours.  Being the Arty soul that I am, I joined her at the table.  I started filling my eggs with patterns.  Two other girls came over  (G2 and G3) and they wanted in on this Egg-painting Extravaganza.  I gladly gave up my paint brush and used a pencil to fill in the rest of my eggs.

Now, working with water paints sounds simple, but it provides ample opportunity to problem solve: too much water results in a wishy washy colour; if you don’t rinse the brush well enough, the colours blend in the tray; you are limited by the colours in the tray,… or are you?!

G1 filled about six pages of eggs with solid colours before she was brave enough to try some patterns and colour-blending.  But she kept counting the eggs she had left to colour, thus working on her numeracy skills, naturally, without being instructed to do so.  This nicely illustrates how young children use their daily “play” activities as natural learning opportunities, and how a knowledgeable educator can use natural conversations to encourage the process.  This girl probably filled about 70 eggs, increasing her exploration and discovery as she proceeded.  

G2 was quite meticulous in her methods.  She only used one page of seven eggs, but she immediately realized that she could mix her own colours by layering them directly on her paper.  She discovered this by simply observing what happened when she placed the different colours beside each other.  (The colours blend where they meet, making a new colour.)  I said, “I love making new colours! It’s super neat because you can make your very own colour and then it’s fun to give it a name.”  She agreed.  I gave her validity of her process and provided an opportunity for higher order thinking.  She also stated she was going to make a lighter colour.  I asked her, “How are you going to do this?”  She proceeded to choose a lighter colour to mix with a darker one. These special moments of wonder and awe come so often in young learners as they engage in art (and play).  It happens naturally.  An educator’s skill lies in providing the materials for the students.  The educator does this with intent.  Of course, the young learners explore things that were not even thought of by the educator!  - This is true, you know it is!  And, of course, recognizing these ample moments for rich conversation to push their thinking further.
Now, back to our learning situation… I used paper towel to wipe excess water off my brush and  G2 noticed this method that I had subtly modelled.  She began to do the same.  She independently took this line of thinking further; she decided that she could mix colours on the paper towel before applying the process to her paper.  The final discovery she made was that she could paint her finger and press it to her paper, making mini-eggs, with a finger-print pattern.  I told her that was a great idea and I immediately did the same to colour the rest of my eggs. (Recall, I gave up the third paintbrush to G3 because I am a sacrificing teacher… ha ha!)
Throughout the whole situation, G3, very quietly, observed me, and she went about using the pencil to try her own patterns to fill her eggs.  She also tried what G2 did with her careful blending and finger-painting techniques.  I provided gentle encouragement and reassurance, and she became increasing braver in proudly showing her work.

The Goal of Educators: to nurture the belief in our students that “I can do ANYthing!”
Here’s another nugget of fine advice from Bob Ross, 
“The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.”
Young children really do believe that  they can do anything - watch them play and listen to them tell a story!  They have this bold and fiery attitude until they are told differently; life will tell them differently; as a teacher, I aim to nurture and develop it.


Even the boys, whom had gravitated to the intentionally-chosen computer game, were learning turn-taking, which is very hard to do - nobody enjoys waiting, but 5 year olds really hate it!  But these are some topics for another day and another post:)

​Clever Teacher Move #1: Sneaky Transitions...
Me: “As we walk back to the classroom, I want you to think about 2 words: PIG and PARADE.  When we get back, I want you to look inside your brain at the picture those words made and SKETCH it on the paper on your desk, and, go!”
(We discussed the word SKETCH so that they would not be surprised and upset if they are not done after 5 minutes.)

Clever Teacher Move #2: Schema-collecting, sharing & oral communication...
We sat around the perimeter of the carpet with our pictures.  I chose students to tell one thing that they put in their sketches and anyone else who also put that item in their picture raised their own up to share.  (The option was there if students did not wish to share.) We could easily see the things that were the same or similar and the things that were different.  New ideas were also generated and the students were eager to go back to their sketches and add more.  I told them to hang on to those ideas because they were going to use them in a little while.

A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes is one of my favourite books and is a go-to item in my Supply Teacher Bag O’ Tricks!  It takes a silly idea and proceeds to build an argument based on the author’s opinion that a pig parade is a terrible idea. I’ve used this story for pure enjoyment, of course, but most often it leads off to work around opinion/persuasive writing, depending on the grade level.  And, yes, I do use this story for middle school kids, too, because it really does follow a pretty obvious formula that can be easily replicated by the students in their own work.

For this group, due to time limits, during reading we simply counted all of the authors reasons as to why he thought a pig parade is a terrible idea.  We also briefly discussed his explanations for those reasons.

Clever Teacher Move #4: Offer choice...
After reading:
A __________ parade is a _______________ idea because…..
I told the class that they were to complete the words in the sentence and then either use words, pictures, or both to finish the sentence.  In passing, I also suggested that they use interesting words, other than 'good' or 'bad' which provided an enrichment component for some (differentiation on the fly).  Knowing this particular bunch of students, I fully expected many pictures, but I also got many more words than I had expected to get.  I think it is because it was each student’s personal choice.  As the students handed in their masterpieces, I got further elaboration if required, but the pictures did a mighty fine job of depicting what they were meant to - quite the group of artists, I tell you!

​Gratitude Attitude Alert!  
One of the best things about my 10th year of occasional teaching is revisiting lessons.  With reflection, they adapt and change and become even better than before.  And knowing my students allows me to tailor the lessons for each class and/or grade level.

​That’s exactly what happened with this art lesson… On the phone, Dear Classroom Teacher said to me, “Do you remember that flower art lesson from a couple years ago? Do you want to do that with them?” Well, great, I thought.  I love teaching art and making art with children, but the lesson could be bettered.  In the original lesson, I showed them a sample (top right), demonstrated making the flower (as pictured on the left side of the top right photo below), and then the students went off to spend 3 minutes copying my picture and they were done and most of the pictures were the same.

Of course, the luxury of knowing my position days before allows advance preparation, so I went to my library for the DVD, and an Art idea book that had a sunflower picture that we could use as one source of inspiration. I found a handy Crayola resource chart (see above) depicting a couple of other styles of painting flowers.
The students were well into the animated version of Van Gogh's life, and unfortunately, due to time restraints, I had to cut it short so that we had time to explore the paints, as well as make our art.  We discussed Van Gogh's use of colour in regards to how the pictures made us feel and thought about how he felt while he was painting them.  I told them that since Dear Classroom Teacher's instructions were painting flowers that was the only rule (aside from filling the page).  Some of the kids came up to me and asked if they could do a video game flower... sure!... a monster flower? Sure! Field of flowers, potted flowers, single flowers, whatever! 

There was no brown.  Tragedy? Not at all.... they had to make their own by collaborating with the students in their groups, so they did, and we had many different shades of brown.  If we had more time, I would have given only primary colours, plus white and black, so that the students would have been forced (ha ha HA!) into more problem-solving than they did... and many of the students created their own colours in separate plastic cups.  While circulating, I asked them to name their colour creations as an impromptu enrichment activity, or asked them to explain how they came up with their colour.  Of course, a few students will always be finished sooner than I'd like, but most were engaged right up until clean up time!  Done one picture; make another! All good:) And, while I was not yet in the habit of documenting student work, I do have an updated flower picture for my files!


Clever Teacher Move #5: Preparation for Cleaning Up...
The fun of conducting painting art lessons with no sink in the room is Awesome, but luckily, with preparation, the kids were actually able to be fairly neat.  I used Word Work trays to put paint in egg cartons on, plus empty mixing containers, brushes, and even some brush alternatives (anything can be used as a paintbrush!)... We covered the desks with the big paper used earlier in a math lesson and I filled water containers to rinse the brushes out and provided paper towel to wipe excess paint off brushes before dipping in next colour.  And, I had to be a meanie and tell them "no painting on hands or finger painting because we have no sink access" and we simply had a short discussion on why I needed to make that rule... they knew; kids are smart when we give them time to think:)  Finding drying space was also quite a challenge... I so wish I took that picture.... there were paintings drying on every flat surface in the classroom.  It was Art-ly Awesome!

I hope you enjoyed:

• Clever Teacher Moves,
• If I Were a Classroom Teacher... Next Steps and Questioning, and
• Gratitude Attitude Alert!
• the concept of VGB - a Very Good Book (a very versatile read-aloud that is good across ALL grades; has enjoyment factor + matches curriculum expectations),  
• references to a Supply Teacher Bag O' Tricks,  
• the importance of Reflection To Guide Change, and
• a Bonus Clever Supply Teacher Move...

                                              ... And, it's all in a day's work!