POETRY INSPIRATION...

Yesterday I received the January/February issue of South Dakota Magazine. I was especially pleased to discover an article entitled "Seasons of the Moon" by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve.  Katie Hunhoff, the editor, shared how Sneve created haikus for her grandfather's translations of the Lakota seasons to the Gregorian calendar to encourage her students to write poetry.  Here is an example for one of the months:  December: Moon When Horns Break Off.  Sneve's haiku:

Proud trophy falling

Bares majestic sovereign's head

Crown returns with spring

What an interesting way to introduce and teach the haiku! As educators we find inspiration for our teaching all around us.  

CONCRETE POETRY...

One of my greatest joys of being an educator -- even as a "retired" one -- is that I still find opportunities to share my educational experiences.  At a family gathering I was visiting with my grandson who teaches in a middle school.  When he mentioned that he was just about to start a poetry unit, I asked him if he was familiar with concrete poetry since I thought it might be an interesting way to introduce his students to the unit.  He wasn't familiar with the form -- and perhaps it might be new to other educators.  Check out this website  https://www.poetryfoundation.org for some interesting examples.

I also would suggest another way to create interest in writing poetry would be to try blackout poetry.  Probably the best known resource is https://austinkleon.com/category/newspaper-blackout-poems/
However, I would recommend checking out this site too: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/john-depasquale/blackout-poetry/

I have used both of these techniques with all ages and found the results to be quite powerful.

ENHANCING THE 5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY...

Muriel and I have been putting together some useful materials for those of you who are ready to go beyond the 5 paragraph essay with your students. We strongly feel that there are many of you out there that want to see your students' writing become more interesting to read but are not quite sure of how to go about changing their style.

Our podcasts are meant to get your students to look at essays in a whole new way by building on what they have already learned about essay writing. We start out very simply with how to create engaging introductions - how to hook the reader.

The second podcast targets effective conclusions and transitions and the third addresses different ways to organize an essay. We use student examples as well as our own and published writing to show the effectiveness of making slight changes to the 5-paragraph essay. All three can be found on Spotify or use the attached link.

Titles:

•Breaking the Barriers of the 5 Paragraph Essay - Introductions

•Writing Conclusions With the Help of Mentor Texts

•Organization and the 5 Paragraph Essay

Breaking the Barriers of the 5 Paragraph Essay

WRITING: MEMORIES OF WINTER...

This is a difficult time of year – happy and festive with all of the holidays.  Gathering together with loved ones on Thanksgiving and Christmas is wonderful.  It is especially joyous to welcome new family members.  However, it is also a sad time of year – remembering our family members who have passed on and realizing how quickly time is moving on.

Thankfully, I have vivid memories of these holidays of past years.  One wonderful picture shows my four younger brothers decked out in colorful winter pajamas lining the stairs in our family home.  Another picture captures the mounds of snow piled up in the center of Main Street.  I grew up in a small South Dakota town, and clearing the streets after a snowfall meant depositing the snow between the two lanes of traffic – as winter went on the “mountain” between continued to grow.  It was a fun place to climb – if one were careful about the traffic!

Still another memory that surfaces is my dad hooking up our sleds behind the car and taking us for exciting, bumpy rides around the area. We also used to drive the car down onto the frozen river and spin around!  I don’t think we worried much about the dangers of our activities then!

I especially enjoy receiving holiday cards/letters from friends and relatives – it’s so great to renew connections.

So put on the holiday music, trim the tree, and decorate the house – and enjoy this special season!

Wishing you all a joyous season -- Muriel

OUR WRITING GROUP #2...

Reading over Muriel's previous post reminded me to say a few words about our writing group. Once a writer, always a writer, I guess. The Writing Project gave me the freedom to write for myself, and in every situation where I've worked with teachers, I have encouraged them to write for themselves. There is something about having to puzzle through finding the right word or expression to make my thoughts clear on paper that creates an empathy in me for others who write. This is critical in working with students.

I can't emphasize enough how helpful it is to try out the writing prompts you give your students before or at the same time you assign them. Where do you struggle? They undoubtedly will stumble in the same way. Did you have trouble creating an exciting introduction? Your students have the same problems and can benefit from seeing how you tackled the prompt. Or you can be brave and share your rough draft and ask for their input. Tell them what you are struggling with and implement their help.

Back to our writing group, we bring a piece of writing we have been working on during the past month or so. We try to bring fresh work each time we meet. My writing has been all over the place from a factual biography of my grandmother to an editorial on ageism. I generally look back to short pieces I have written in various workshops or something that is nagging at me in my daily life. I'll post a few in future blogs.

The format of our sessions doesn't vary much from time to time. We usually start out with a prompt that we all write to for 5 minutes. We follow this with individual sharing. Next, we share the writing we have brought from home. Generally there are 4 or 5 of us and we, individually, read our texts aloud. Feedback is given if requested, otherwise, the writer generally talks about what inspired the piece and where she wants it to go. We generally end in 2 hours.

At the moment, I am sifting through letters written to me by friends and family after my first year in college. I'm hoping my writing group can help me find a way to fit them together. More later.

OUR WRITING GROUP #1...

Last week I hosted a gathering of our “retired” Minnesota Writing Project teachers.  We organized our group a couple of years ago, and we try to meet bi-monthly to share our writing.  We have found the group to be especially rewarding, and I couldn’t agree more with a recent post from NWP.  Here is part of that post:

"NWP teacher-leaders say it all the time—discovering the NWP was a defining moment in their professional lives.

It opened doors to new ways of thinking and teaching. It gave them the professional home they deeply desired and provided them with a platform to extend their leadership beyond the classroom door.

Perhaps that's why the NWP Legacy Study showed that over 90% continued to work in education throughout their careers.

In a time when so much in our country and our world feels unpredictable, the Writing Project remains committed to the values and beliefs we have held dear for 45 years.

• Writing is an essential skill in our digital age, central to communication, learning, and citizenship.
• Teachers’ knowledge can be put to work to improve the teaching of writing.
• Teacher leadership makes it happen.

The National Writing Project has been a powerful professional home for teachers K–university and across the curriculum for 45 years.”

-MURIEL

ANN PATCHETT IN PERSON...

Okay -- I should have written this post sooner!  Ann Patchett was a delight.  She did the entire program by herself -- first informing us that we didn't need to take any notes because the writers/books she would talk about, we could find listed on her website. annpatchett.com  She owns a bookstore at the Nashville airport and has the opportunity to read/meet many authors.  She also receives requests to travel to various locations to interview them.  Thus she has formed many wonderful relationships -- she related such entertaining stories of Alan Alda, Tom Hanks, Kate DiCamillo, among others.

She also shared the difficulties of writing The Dutch House without telling the story.  With a contract to produce a book for a September 2019 launch, she encountered many obstacles.  During that time she became somewhat obsessed with writing children's books that germinated from mishearing the word landslide to writing a children's book about lambs sliding!  Needless to say, she kept us entertained!

Then the next week I had the opportunity to hear Phyllis Root.  Her most recent children's book The Lost Forest, illustrated by Betsy Bowen, relates the amazing story of the lost forty, a pine forest allowed to grow untouched for nearly 100 years.  Although it is a children's book, it contains detailed sketches and information about the history of this area and the life of surveyors. https://phyllisiroot.com/

ANN PATCHETT PREVIEW...

I'm looking forward to hearing Ann Patchett tomorrow.  I just finished reading her newest novel, The Dutch House which I thoroughly enjoyed; however, I'm hoping that she will talk about her writing process.  I accidentally picked up her book This is the Story of a Happy Marriage and was pleasantly surprised that she shares her journey as a writer.  I'll share more after I hear her tomorrow!

MORE ABOUT ME, MICKI...

Writing has always been a part of my life but it became a passion when I was introduced to Nancy Atwell through her book, In the Middle, while teaching 7th and 8th grade English. From then on, I consumed book after book on the writing process and became a Fellow of the MN Writing Project at the University of Minnesota. Through the support of other teachers there, and the director, Muriel Thompson, I continued to grow as a writing teacher in the St. Paul Public Schools. 

But that wasn't enough. I wanted other teachers to know and use what I knew. I received a PHD in literacy from the University of MN and became a curriculum specialist in literacy7-12 in my home district, St. Paul. As a specialist and then as Literacy Program Manager 7-12, I supported teachers across the curriculum in embedding writing into their curriculums. It was exciting and rewarding, so much so that when I left St. Paul, I was offered a chance to help in the reorganization of Mpls. North High School by working with The Institute for Student Achievement out of Columbia College in NYC. For 5 years, I helped teachers embed writing into their curriculum whether it was art, phys ed, social studies or English.

Today I'm still working with Muriel, involved with creating podcasts, helping districts problem-solve literacy issues in their schools and doing personal writing