Margin Notes

TRY THIS TOMORROW: INSTRUCTIONS ON NOT GIVING UP by ADA LIMON

Last week, on an episode of The Good Doctor, the main storyline was quite compelling. It was about a woman with Long Covid who was suffering from debilitating brain fog. She yearned for the days before she caught Covid; when she was able to do her job as a biologist, remember daily tasks and string words together that made sense.

To counteract her symptoms of brain fog, she would write out poems in her notebook and try to memorize them. The poem Instructions on Not Giving Up by Ada Limon was the poem she reads at the end of the episode. My first thought was “How have I not heard this poem?”. It’s such a beautiful evocation of spring.

This would be a great poem to enjoy during Poetry Month.

Ada Limon reads the poem here: https://poets.org/poem/instructions-not-giving

Instructions on Not Giving Up by Ada Limon

More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out
of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s
almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving
their cotton candy-colored blossoms to the slate
sky of Spring rains, it’s the greening of the trees
that really gets to me. When all the shock of white
and taffy, the world’s baubles and trinkets, leave
the pavement strewn with the confetti of aftermath,
the leaves come. Patient, plodding, a green skin
growing over whatever winter did to us, a return
to the strange idea of continuous living despite
the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine then,
I’ll take it, the tree seems to say, a new slick leaf
unfurling like a fist to an open palm, I’ll take it all.

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TEACH LIVING POETS BY LINDSAY ILLICH & MELISSA ALTER SMITH

Apr

If you are familiar with the Teach Living Poets website or the #TeachLivingPoets community on Twitter, you will want to get your hands on this professional resource. If you aren’t already acquainted with the work of Teach Living Poets, be sure to spend some time with it this month!

Lindsay Illich and Melissa Alter Smith have created a professional resource that celebrates the work of contemporary poets and the incredible thinking students will do when we put compelling poetry in their hands and create the conditions for them to grow their understanding about it together. As they write in the introduction:

To quote Kevin Akbar, we are living in “a golden age of poetry” (“The Rumpus”). We hope this book helps us open up the world of contemporary poetry and renews your passion for language and literature, which is so vital to engaged teaching. Indeed, in our own writing and teaching lives, reading and engaging in this world has opened us to a flood of generosity from writers and other educators, invaluable gifts that led us to write this book. We hope it will lead you to your own projects that will be gifts to others.

Teach Living Poets is overflowing with ideas for bringing contemporary poetry (and poets) into the classroom. It features lessons and resources that you can implement right away as well as examples of student responses and written work. I especially appreciate the way the classroom snapshots highlight many teacher voices by incorporating activities shared by contributors to the website. Each chapter includes dozens of recommended poems—so be warned it can be a slow read if you, like me, stop and google every title and poet, but I promise it will be totally worth it.

If you are looking for ways to incorporate contemporary poetry into your reading and writing workshop, I highly recommend adding Teach Living Poets to your professional resource library.

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TRY THIS TOMORROW SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A RIVER

Apr

Sometimes I Feel Like a River helps us explore our connection to the natural world. This beautiful collection of 12 short poems captures the essence that our feelings are as innate as the natural wonders around us. This journey through a range of emotions universal to all human experience helps readers discover the connection between emotions as a natural part of our lives and the natural world. The author leaves us with the words to attentively experience and explore the world around us through a mindful nature walk.

This newly published book has tons of potential as a mentor text for repetitive interactions while also exploring and connecting with our own emotions and the emotions of others. Daniel’s words and Bisaillon’s illustrations are the perfect springboard for a sea of talk as readers are supported to make connections, notice, wonder and take to heart the essence of the author’s message. Daniel’s invitation for “A Mindful Walk and Roll” is the perfect short poem for students to read, discuss and carry in their pocket as they explore the outdoors no matter the season. I get excited just thinking about the short poem’s students could then write after studying the authors craft, exploring their own emotions and the natural world around them. Why not even explore creating their own illustrations using soft and wax pastels, cut paper, colored pencils, gouache, charcoal or even digital art like the illustrator to capture the wonder point that inspired their own Sometimes I Feel Like a … poem. Take it further and create a collective picture book for your readers to share with younger readers in their school community.

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TRY THIS TOMORROW: POETS ON COUCHES

Apr

During the pandemic, The Paris Review created Poets on Couches, a series of videograms in which poets read another poet’s work and discuss it. From their couch, they describe their personal responses to the poem they have selected and comment on its craft. They share their noticings, curiosities, and connections to other writing.

The archives from 2020 and 2021 offer a wide range of poetry and reactions to it. Each post includes the transcript of the poem and a short video. This is a tremendous source of poetry and models of poetry discussions. You might incorporate this series by:

inviting students to watch the video and then discuss how their responses to the poem are similar or different
watching a selection of videos and creating an anchor chart of “what we talk about when we talk about poetry” strategies
sharing some of the videos as a way to introduce students to new poems and poets
using the videos as models for students to create their own Poets on Couches poetry responses

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TRY THIS TOMORROW: POETRY MENTOR TEXTS

Apr

One of the most time-consuming tasks as a teacher is the gathering of mentor texts. For all your poetry mentor text needs, you must follow @Joseph_Fasano_ on Twitter. He is the host of a daily poetry thread. He begins the thread by posting a poem and includes the topics of the text. He, along with his almost 20K followers, continue the thread with posts of poems matching the topic.

Example poetry thread topics:

How to use this:

Explore how the same topic can produce varying themes
Make your own collection of texts on the same topic
On an online platform, follow the same pattern of the original poster starting a thread
Students pick a topic of interest and practice the skills you are currently teaching
Use the threads as research for a reading multigenre

I love it when readers come together to share texts and collaborate. Happy hunting!

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APRIL IS POETRY MONTH 2023

Apr

April is Poetry Month and Margin Notes will be featuring ideas for celebrating poetry this month…and all year long.

We’ve updated our Poetry Month Resource Round-Up. You can access it here.

For poetry writing inspiration, enjoy I Want to Write Something So Simply by Mary Oliver

I want to write something

so simply

about love

or about pain

that even

as you are reading

you feel it

and as you read

you keep feeling it

and though it be my story

it will be common,

though it be singular

it will be known to you

so that by the end

you will think—

no, you will realize—

that it was all the while

yourself arranging the words,

that it was all the time

words that you yourself,

out of your own heart

had been saying.

To inspire you reading, enjoy Grant Snider’s comic Understanding Poetry

You will also find poetry ideas in our Craft Studio and Try This Tomorrow posts.

Happy Poetry Month!

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TRY THIS TOMORROW: MAGAZINES ALWAYS AVAILABLE ON SORA

Mar

If you have students who struggle to find reading material and seem to spend more time browsing than reading, here is something you can try tomorrow. Check out the magazine selection on SORA. Over 70 magazines are available at all times and there is no limit to the number of checkouts. If you wish you had more non-fiction choices in your classroom library, now you can- through SORA.

Here are just a few of the titles available:

"National Geographic Magazine" (magazine) cover "Newsweek" (magazine) cover "Car and Driver" (magazine) cover "Popular Mechanics" (magazine) cover "Outdoor Life" (magazine) cover "HorseWyse" (magazine) cover

For information about SORA, please have a look at the EECD Virtual Learning Sharepoint.

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TRY THIS TOMORROW: TINY MEMOIRS

Mar

The New York Times Learning Network is always a go-to source for lesson ideas and mentor texts. They have just announced the winners of the 100-Word Personal Narrative contest. These tiny memoirs are based on the NYT column, Tiny Love Stories. The Learning Network has created this step-by-step guide for teachers that includes mentor texts. The winning tiny memoirs are excellent student-written models for a mini-study on mini-memoirs or to generate ideas for longer memoirs and personal narratives by having students start with writing small to see where their thinking and writing take them.

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HANDS BY TORREY MALDONADO

Mar

Hands, written by Torrey Maldonado, is a story that every teacher must read and have in their classroom library. When my colleague returned from NCTE with a signed copy, I was elated. I placed it on my book stack with the promise to get to it right away. But life happened and obligatory reads took over. My advance reader copy got buried in my stack waiting for me to find the time it deserved. On this languid Sunday afternoon, my advance reader copy, no longer advanced, found its way into my hands and it did not leave them until I finished this story written from the heart.

Trevor’s experience with his family and friends and finding himself through that turmoil will speak to every student in every classroom. Hands sheds light on the quiet strength of the student falling asleep during class who feels like they are in an impossible situation and doing their best to hold it all together. Trevor Junior’s current reality is a mirror for students that need hope that they too can respond to their challenges in ways that empowers them. His experience speaks to the capacity of human connection and that we can seek advice and help from those in our lives who will help us make the right choices, from our “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” as described by the acronym in the author’s note:

“Fight for me

Respect me

Involve me

Encourage me

Nourish me

Develop me

Stand by me.”

I love how Maldonado ingeniously threads how hands can be used to in many ways throughout each chapter: to express ourselves, to interact with the world around us, to create, to care for others, to communicate our love for others, to fight, to hurt and harm others. This aligns beautifully with Maldonado’s exploration of the different implications of the word promise throughout the story and how it too can be used to give hope but also make us feel hopeless. How fitting is it that Maldonado’s inscription on the inside cover is a promise of the impact of educators, “Our world is in your hands.” I hope you get your hands on a copy today!

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CRAFT STUDIO: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Mar

What I was reading:

The “What’s the Difference?” and “__________ vs __________” posts from Mental Floss are excellent examples of a unique take on descriptive and explanatory writing. Some recent examples are:

Calzone vs. Stromboli: What’s the Difference?

Em Dash vs. En Dash v., Hyphen: What’s the Difference?

What’s the Difference Between a Sound and a Noise?

What’s the Difference Between Hard and Soft Water?

What Moves I Notice the Writers Making:

As I read these four texts, I can identify many of the qualities of effective description and explanation:

Explaining how something came to be: “Calzones originated in Naples as a portable alternative to pizza. The name translates to ‘pants leg’ because customers can enjoy the doughy package while walking around rather than sitting down to eat pizza with a knife and fork.”
Explaining how something works: “Groundwater sourced near porous rocks, for example, will contain more minerals, while water from glaciers has almost none. If your water picks up calcium and magnesium in large amounts en route to your tap, it’s considered hard water.”
Describing the relationship between the two subjects: “While all noise is sound, not all sound is unwanted noise. It can also be subjective. If you love heavy metal, that’s pleasant sound. If you hate it, it’s noise.”
Using details supported by research and/or outside sources: “According to Bon Appetit, the biggest factor separating strombolis from calzones is how they’re assembled.”
Including a classification system: “According to the US Geological Survey, anything below 60 mg/L is soft, up to 120 mg/L is moderately hard, 121 to 180 mg/L is the hard stuff.”
Incorporating figures or data: “…but if the calcium is over 100 parts per million (ppm), you’re likely to notice something seems a little off.”

I also noticed several craft moves that are not specific to descriptive and explanatory writing:

Starting with similarities to introduce differences: “Strombolis and calzones are pizzeria staples for a reason—they consist of many of the same ingredients as a pizza and can easily be assembled using dough scraps and leftover toppings.”
Organizing information with subheadings that group details: “Em Dash vs. En Dash” “En Dash vs. Hyphens”
Providing a variety of examples: “This includes compound words like old-fashioned and left-handed; longer phrases like merry-go-round and run-of-the-mill; and numbers like twenty-seven and two-thirds.”
Incorporating a bullet list of examples: “You should opt for a hyphen over a dash in these situations as well:
- To signal that a word is continued on the next line.
- To signal that a word is being spelled out, letter by letter.”
Beginning by connecting with what readers probably already know or believe about the topic: “Few people say, ‘That’s a lovely noise,’ for example, or ‘What’s all that sound?’ If those present as clunky to your ear, you’re halfway toward figuring out the difference between the two words and when to use each.”
Introducing a topic with a question: “So what exactly is ‘hard’ water, and how does it actually differ from ‘soft’ water? Also, what counts for just plain water?”
Closing by circling back to previous examples: “If you love heavy metal, that’s pleasant sound. If you hate it, it’s noise.”
Defining technical or subject-specific vocabulary: “As its name suggests, an em dash is roughly the length of the letter M, while an en dash more closely matches an N. A hyphen is shorter still.”

Possibilities for Writers:

This type of “What’s the Difference Writing” combines elements of explanatory and descriptive writing. It invites students to write about a topic of interest that allows they to share their insider knowledge or to write to satisfy their curiosity about a “What’s the difference?” topic they’ve been wondering about. The __________ vs. __________ structure can be used as a framework for students compare two texts on a similar subject or theme, two perspectives, or two pieces of writing in the same form or by the same author.

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