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Thursday, 13 June 2019

Welcome, Poetry Friday bloggers and fans.

Poetry Friday is here this week. Thanks for joining the celebration!

I’m excited to host Poetry Friday this week because it’s a special day. The third graders at Northfield Elementary, where I am poet-in-residence each spring, have their poetry celebration this afternoon!

Thanks to everyone who has been following this residency and reading the kids’ poems. I have a few more to share today.

This year we wrote list poems, food poems, and played with our imaginations in a pocket poem workshop. Links to the posts in this series, which include workshop descriptions and student responses, are at the end of this post.

Please add the link to your post below. If you have a moment, leave a comment for the Northfield poets. They’ve been working hard on their revisions and I can’t wait to see the final poems today. The poems you read in this post are first drafts.

Pocket Poem
By Isaac A.

I have a jacket
a jacket made of pockets.
In pocket 9, I have a leopard
gecko. I take him outside
and feed him insects. I will
let him loose to hunt,
but I follow so he does
not get lost or hurt.
I think he likes me
when he squeaks and peeps
happily! I love him and I will
always let him eat and
drink when he wants to.

In my next pocket, pocket
66, I have a snake. He
slithers in my pocket.
He loves playing hide-and-
go-seek. But when I can’t
find him, I call his name.
“Snakey!” and he slithers
out from a rock, log, or a
fence!

***

My Jacket, Pocket #9
By Harry P.

I have a jacket
a jacket made of pockets.
The pockets all have numbers,
numbers on the jacket.
Number nine has special skis.
The skis would have
boosters and two powerful springs.
The boosters would help
because it would get
me up the mountain
faster than the list.
The springs would help
because it would spring
me back up when
I fell down. I would
smell metal and
motor oil. It feels bumpy,
rough, and hot.
So, yeah!
That’s what’s in pocket
number nine.

***

Pocket #2
By Brady S.

In pocket #2, I kept a magic shoe.
I could jump so high, I could touch the
sky. And ran so I went into the past.
The shoe turned red when I
went to bed. When I want to be
sneaky and grab the last piece
of cake, the only sound I make
is like a piece of grass getting
draped on the floor. What’s in the other
38 pockets? I don’t know, you’ll have
to guess. It’s not for me to tell you.

***

Saturday’s Doughnuts
By Cameron D.

I wake up in the morning
running as fast as Sonic.
I tell my dad,
“Let’s go!”
My brother and me fly into the car.
We drive and drive and drive.
With Krispy Kreme in our sight,
all brand new.
“Finally!” we both yell
as my dad orders.
We watch in amazement.
Doughnut after doughnut after doughnut.
Seconds seem like minutes.
My dad yells, “Come on!”
We jump in the car,
our mouths watering.
We fly inside our house.
We grab milk and eat, eat, eat.
After, we lay full with those doughnuts,
fresh and good.
The best treat of Saturday.
Saturday’s doughnuts.

***

Chips
By Cole S.

I like the pop of the bag,
the snap when I bite down,
the salty, crunchy taste.
I like every kind!
I like it — like potato chips,
Old Bay chips, and Doritos.

***

Four s’mores recipes from Dinner Then Dessert.

Marshmallow Mayhem
By Erin S.

Wait, campfire crackles.
Tents surround me.
It’s camping time!
We run in the fields and chase each other
instead of diving in the tent.
Far away, we see smoke
and that smell we’d know anywhere.
S’mores! We help make them because
there’s a huge amount of people.
Our reward is the gooey,
slimy marshmallows. We went
to cook, but mine fell down.
SPLAT!
I got another and this
time it didn’t fall.
Everything that made
a s’more was on it, but
the hardness of the chocolate.
We put them on the arm of our chairs.
Then we bite into the
creamy, gloopy, crunchiness
of the marshmallow or
s’more, as you could call it.
Then we doze away.

***

Words in My House
By Caroline J.

I hide words inside my house.
Words that make me happy.

Bed.
Comfortable.
Loud.

You can see them.
I find them waiting for me.
Like the hamster hiding inside my house.
You can see it.
I know what’s in there.

Sofa.
Safe.
Table.
Exciting.
TV.
Happy.

Happiness is in there.
My family is in there.

The words are playing together
when I am saying or thinking them.

Warmth.
Conversation.
Laughter.
Breeze
is in my house.

My friends the words
go home before I do.
But they never
go away.

***

Thanks again to the Northfield community for allowing me to share these poems. All are posted here with permission.

I’ll be back next spring with a new group of third grade poets!

For more of this year’s student poems, please check out:
Poems from Third Grade, Part 1 — List Poems (Ms. Spencer, Ms. Sochol-Solomon, and Ms. Scavo’s classes)
Poems from Third Grade, Part 2 — List Poems (Ms. Hilliard and Ms. Trodden’s classes)
Poems from Third Grade, Part 3 — Food Poems (Ms. Hilliard and Ms. Trodden’s classes)
Poems from Third Grade, Part 4 — Food Poems (Ms. Spencer, Ms. Sochol-Solomon, and Ms. Scavo’s classes)
Poems from Third Grade, Part 5 — Pocket Poems (ll Third Grade Classes)

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36 responses to “A Poetry Friday Celebration”

  1. Mary Lee Hahn says:

    I want a jacket with all those pockets! Wonder what I’d find?!? I’d rather have skis and magic shoes than leopard geckos and snakes! Oh, chips! I love chips! Now I’m going to have to raid the bag and crunch some! Don’t even get me started on s’mores. I’m the kind of girl who roasts marshmallows over the flames on the stove!

    Fun, fun poems! Thanks for rounding us up!

    • Laura Shovan says:

      I also want that jacket, Mary Lee. The s’mores poet made a wonderful decoration to go with the poem. I’ll post a photo next week.

  2. Thanks for hosting, Laura – will be back in a bit to enjoy your wonderful-looking post!

  3. jama says:

    What fun poems — great job! Especially like the food poems (no surprise). Now I’m craving doughnuts, chips, and s’mores! I also like the idea of having a jacket with lots of pockets holding so many fascinating things. 🙂

    Thanks for hosting this week, Laura!

  4. Molly Hogan says:

    What a great collection of poems you’ve shared! Pockets are big in my household, so I’m tempted to try one of those jacket poems. I’m already considering what might be lingering there. Probably an unfinished to do list! Well done, Northfield poets!

    • Laura Shovan says:

      I’m proud of the third graders’ hard work. I hope you’ll try the pocket poem — it’s kind of a “heart’s desire” exercise.

  5. What a creative group! I love them all, especially Words in My House. Congratulations, poets!

  6. I love poetry written by children, and these are exceptional. It says a lot about your expertise and inspiration. Thanks so much for sharing them.

    • Laura Shovan says:

      Thank you, Cheriee. Children are capable poets — the language skills they use every day in speaking are the tools of poetry.

  7. Talented and creative group of kids there! I love those jackets with all those pockets…and I was especially impressed by Caroline’s concept of ‘hiding words’ around the house. Thanks for sharing all of these!

  8. Ruth says:

    Thank you for hosting and for sharing these wonderful poems!

  9. […] plenty more poetry to be found, though, so be sure to head over to Laura Shovan’s blog, where she is hosting today’s Poetry Friday roundup with some choice selections from her […]

  10. Thanks for sharing these terrific poems from your poet-in-residence gig, with these 3rd grade students! I love all the pockets in the pocket poems, and I’m partial to the gecko–what a lucky critter. I also like all the hidden and special things in the “Words in My House” poem!

    Thanks also for hosting the Roundup Laura!

    • Laura Shovan says:

      Thanks, Michelle. I always love seeing what the kids come up with for their pockets. They have such creative ideas.

  11. Linda Baie says:

    When I look for a new jacket, pockets are an important part of the choice & now the students’ poems inspire me to put a few more interesting things in the pockets, perhaps not living, but the gecko sure sounds fun. I love the delicious words for the s’mores, but that final line is a great end, “doze”. The ‘hiding of words in a house’ is lovely. I might start looking for my own words to hide. Thanks and congratulations to all the writers, Laura. Thanks for hosting!

    • Laura Shovan says:

      Thanks, Linda. It’s so much fun to imagine what might be in our poetry pockets. The teachers told me that our third graders especially loved writing about food this year.

  12. Poems in pockets written by young poets who have an imaginative flair have me thinking about student poetry tonight. There are so many to enjoy and so many that are inviting, like the Marshmallow Mayhem and Words in My House, Laura. I am sure that the 3rd graders were proud to share their work, as they should be. Congratulations to all the writers. Thank you for hosting PF tonight. I will be posting later because I am trying to prepare for my granddaughter’s 2-year-old birthday party in Virginia.

  13. What an imaginative bunch you’ve been working with! They clearly put so much of themselves into these poems and it totally paid off. Love them all! Thank you for posting Caroline J’s as the last one so that those warm happy feelings can keep lingering as long as possible.

  14. These are all so fun! I’d love a jacket with lots of pockets. I like the idea of keeping leopard geckos in there–I’d need one for my bearded dragon. And all the food poems are making me hungry! doughnuts and potato chips and marshmallows! And I hope the one poet finds the hamster hiding in the house. We had one of those once.

  15. Great job, Northfield 3rd graders! Thanks for hosting this week, Laura.

  16. Your prompts and work with these students pull out little poetic miracles from their pockets.

  17. I need a magic jacket! I love these poems–the poets have come up with so many specific, sensory, delightful details about their jackets, food, etc. So wonderful! Thanks for hosting, Laura!

  18. Kay Jernigan McGriff says:

    What fun poems! It’s hard to choose a favorite–I’m now craving chips and s’mores and doughnuts. The words in my house poem is simple delightful. And I want a jacket with magic pockets! The first one really hit home today–my daughter is working at a vet clinic for the summer, and this week a client brought in his venomous snakes for their annual inspection–cobras and vipers and rattlers and even a gila monster, oh my!

  19. Thanks for doing the roundup this week, Laura. I was an elementary teacher for more than thirty years. I retired in 2004. One thing I miss about teaching is writing poetry with my students. Enjoyed reading the poems you helped those students write.

  20. Oh, now I really want to sew a jacket with all of these magical pockets…and in addition to these objects, I think I’ll stuff all of those yummy foods in too. But mostly, I’ll tuck one of these poems in each pocket. Just delightful! The words chosen and not chosen are just perfect. Line breaks, use of repetition and imagery…I loved them all. Thank you, poets, and thank you, Laura for sharing and hosting today. I would like to be in your class! xx

  21. What a wonderful, creative bunch! The pockets, the food, the coziness of words and home! 🙂 Your young poets shine, Laura!

  22. Linda Mitchell says:

    What a wonderful job you have, Laura! I love the jacket poems…with so many special pockets. I need a jacket with pockets for things I’m always forgetting these days. Wouldn’t that be great? Such creative minds working to create poems for each other and us! Bravo. I love them.

  23. Fantabulous!
    I am in love with Isaac’s leopard gecko – so alive!
    Harry’s springy special skis give his poem a super-boost.
    Brady’s has super powers too, most surprisingly in the sound of a blade of grass being dropped on the floor – beautiful.
    Cameron’s “Doughnut after doughnut after doughnut” perfectly describes that Krispy Kreme magic.
    Cole’s poem is super-snappy! Especially the first two lines.
    Erin’s poem is a gooey tribute to persistence!
    Caroline’s poem makes every writer’s heart happy – and extra congrats on a killer final stanza there.
    Well done, poets, and many thanks, Laura, for sharing! :0)

  24. […] Friday has come and gone. And this week, Laura Shovan hosts Poetry Friday. Thanks, Laura. And be sure to check out her blog and see what other poets have […]

  25. Susan Bruck says:

    What wonderful poems–I hope you’ll share some of the final versions. I love the pocket poems. How fun to imagine what I would keep in a jacket made of pockets. I love the food poems, too. But I think my favorite is “Words in my house.” What a wonderful house that must be!

  26. How fun! Kudos and congrats to the writers. Thanks for sharing.

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Laura Shovan

Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.

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