2024 Progressive Poem is Here

The Kidlit Progressive Poem was created by Irene Latham and is now being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. This is my 5th year participating in the collaboration, and I am always inspired by and learn so much from the other poets who contribute, and I am grateful they let me play along!

Here are the lines from Patricia, Jone, and Janice.

cradled in stars, our planet sleeps,
    clinging to tender dreams of peace

sister moon watches from afar,
    singing lunar lullabies of hope.

almost dawn, I walk with others,
    keeping close, my little brother.

It was suggested that we consider "the experience of a war child, a climate refugee, a migrant" and I hope I have done that! I also noticed and wanted to keep the -ing verbs to start the second line, so here is my contribution:

hand in hand, we carry courage

    escaping closer to the border.

Irene at Live Your Poem has tomorrow's line. You can follow the poem's journey below.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

Galaxy

It is April, and I am going to do my best to join many others in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading, writing, sharing, and celebrating poetry each day. On April 8th we will experience a solar eclipse, and my hometown is the longest totality in the state of Indiana. We are expecting several tens of thousands of visitors to my town of 17,000. I thought it only fitting to write about sharing my sky with them. 

Much of my inspiration this month will be from the Teach Write monthly writing prompts. Today's word is galaxy and I wrote a definito poem. This form was created by Heidi Mordhorst and is a "free verse poem of 8-12 lines (aimed at readers 8-12 years old) that highlights wordplay as it demonstrates the meaning of a less common word, which always ends the poem."

a collection of a billion stars,

clouds of gas,

and particles of dust

moving together through space

trying to defy gravity

ellipticals, 

spirals, 

irregulars.

with a black hole in the center

gobbling anything

that gets too close

-galaxy 

Check out the Kidlit Progressive Poem, which is being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. You can follow the poem's journey below.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

Gravity

 

It is April, and I am going to do my best to join many others in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading, writing, sharing, and celebrating poetry each day. On April 8th we will experience a solar eclipse, and my hometown is the longest totality in the state of Indiana. We are expecting several tens of thousands of visitors to my town of 17,000. I thought it only fitting to write about sharing my sky with them.

Much of my inspiration this month will be from the Teach Write monthly writing prompts. Today's word is gravity, and I used the Shadorma form, a five-line poem with a 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable pattern.

Pulling like

gravity toward

the night moon,

leaving tides

to wash away the footprints

you left on my heart.

Check out the Kidlit Progressive Poem, which is being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. You can follow the poem's journey below.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

Aurora

It is April, and I am going to do my best to join many others in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading, writing, sharing, and celebrating poetry each day. On April 8th we will experience a solar eclipse, and my hometown is the longest totality in the state of Indiana. We are expecting several tens of thousands of visitors to my town of 17,000. I thought it only fitting to write about sharing my sky with them.

Much of my inspiration this month will be from the Teach Write monthly writing prompts. Today's word is aurora

The elfchen is a form that has been popping up a lot lately. It is a type of cinquain that uses a word count of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 instead of a syllable count.

Line one--A thought, an object, a color, a smell or the like

Line two--What does the word from the first row do?

Line three--Where or how is the word of row 1?

Line four--What do you mean?

Line five--Conclusion: What results from all this? What is the outcome?

Image by RENE RAUSCHENBERGER from Pixabay

Displayed

northern lights,

night sky dancing,

with green, purple ribbons

aurora.

Check out the Kidlit Progressive Poem, which is being organized by Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche. A different poet adds a line each day for the month of April. You can follow the poem's journey below.

April 1 Patricia Franz at Reverie
April 2 Jone MacCulloch
April 3 Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
April 4 Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
April 5 Irene at Live Your Poem
April 6 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
April 7 Marcie Atkins
April 8 Ruth at There is No Such Thing as a God Forsaken Town
April 9 Karen Eastlund
April 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
April 11 Buffy Silverman
April 12 Linda Mitchell
April 13 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
April 14 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
April 15 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
April 16 Sarah Grace Tuttle
April 17 Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
April 18 Tabatha at Opposite of Indifference
April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
April 20 Tricia Stohr-Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
April 21 Janet, hosted here at Reflections on the Teche
April 22 Mary Lee Hahn at A(nother) Year of Reading
April 23 Tanita Davis at (fiction, instead of lies)
April 24 Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
April 25 Joanne Emery at Word Dancer
April 26 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
April 27
April 28 Dave at Leap of Dave
April 29 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
April 30 Michelle Kogan at More Art for All

Beginnings and Endings 26/31

Image by Hans from Pixabay

Another March comes to a close, and I am reminded of beginnings and ends. Each finish line becomes a new starting line in races, in relationships, in life, and even in writing challenges. 

The month of writing stories ends, and the month of writing poems begins.

The connections between slicers ends, and the connections between poets begins.

The words stacked in stories ends, and the words beating with rhythm and rhyme begins.

Looking for the small things in my ordinary day ends and looking for small things in the sky begins.

I missed five days in the challenge for the first time in eleven years. I am disappointed but not devastated. I captured life as it happened. I watched old seasons in my life change and come to an end, and I watched new and exciting ones emerge. 

And isn't that really what finish lines are for?

 

Thank you to the writers at Two Writing Teachers for creating this safe place for us to meet, to share, and to grow as writers. Thank you to my Teach Write community for supporting me, celebrating with me, and holding me accountable every week during check-in. Thank you to the slicing community for reading my words and letting me know that they somehow touched you or inspired you in some small way. 

My next starting line!

. 

In April, I am going to do my best to join many others in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading, writing, sharing, and celebrating poetry each day. On April 8th we will experience a solar eclipse, and my hometown is the longest totality in the state of Indiana. We are expecting several tens of thousands of visitors to my town of 17,000. I thought it only fitting to write about sharing my sky with them.

All Because of a Diet Coke 25/31

In December we placed my mother in a memory care facility. At that time, she was addicted to Diet Coke. Many times, she would forget to eat, but she always had a can of Diet Coke in her hand.

Diet Coke was also the reason she was placed in a behavior unit. She was in her room with her recliner and her mini refrigerator stocked with her own Diet Coke. As she was getting up to get one, a nurse told her to sit down.

I know you don't know my mother, but no one tells my mother what to do. She has been too independent for far too many years while working in a male-dominated field for someone to tell HER what to do. 

That command didn't sit too well with her, and she became "violent." That started a downward spiral in which my mother has never fully recovered from and sadly never will. To this day, she can't walk on her own, she can't feed herself, and she can't carry on a full conversation. All because of a Diet Coke.

Today on my way to see her, I thought, "What if I take Mom a Diet Coke today? Would she like that? Am I starting something I shouldn't be?"

I pulled into the McDonald's drive-thru, still debating on whether this was a good idea or not. As I approached the speaker to order, I almost pulled out of line. But at the last minute, I decided to order her a small Diet Coke and me a Diet Dr. Pepper.

I pulled up to pay, and the cashier said, "Did you order the drinks?"

"Yes, I did."

"No charge today. The man in front of you paid for them."

When I gave Mom her first drink in almost three months, her face lit up, and she smiled and said, "That is good."

That man will never know how much joy he brought into the world today...all because of a Diet Coke.

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

5-4-3-2-1 Reflection 24/31

It's Friday! What are you reflecting on? 

Today, I decided to try different categories to reflect upon. I typically use these thnking stems:

5 things that made me smile
4 words to describe my week
3 plans for the weekend
2 things I learned
1 goal for next week.

But thanks to Amy at Living Workshop, I decided to change it up a bit!

5 things I'm grateful for

• warmer temperatures--we had beautiful weather today and expected for tomorrow.
• playing cards with family and friends
• quiet time at night
• colleagues who think like I do
• grading complete before the weekend

4 things on my mind

• the number I saw when I stepped on the scale this morning
• deadlines
• poems for my National Poetry Month project
• wall I need to do before we are invaded by the eclipse people in nine days

3 things to do tomorrow

• enjoy an Easter celebration with family
• finish revising my Choice Literacy articles (see #4)
• take a walk

2 things I want less of

• sugar (ok, this may be a need and not a want!)
• cold, spring days

1 goal for next week

• finish reading my book--Simon Sort of Says be Erin Bow

I love how this reflection allows me to think about my week but also leads to new slice ideas!

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

Dear Standardized Test 23/31

Dear Standardized Test,

Welcome to room 614. It is almost that time of year when you invade our classrooms across the state and take residence for two weeks or longer. So, when I say welcome, I am really lying to you. There is nothing welcoming in my greeting.

I look at my students today and see those students who are no longer on medication due to a nation-wide shortage and wonder if they are going to be able to sit through your grueling hours-long daily visit. I look at those students who came to me reading below grade level but are now showing so much growth and wonder if your reading passages are going to be a slap in their face and make them feel defeated before they even get started. I wonder if all my students will have parents who take away their phones so they will get a good night's sleep. I wonder if they will have a good breakfast waiting on their tables when they wake up. I even wonder if they will wake up and be at school on time.

I wonder...

I wonder...

and the list goes on.

I look at my colleagues who begin to question themselves. Questions like have I done enough? 

I refuse to be one of those teachers. A teacher who feels her worth is based on your visit into our classroom these two weeks out of an entire school year. A teacher who is asked to look at her students as a test score, an evaluation point, or merit pay compensation.

You cannot defeat me. You cannot question my ability as a teacher and my students as learners. You will walk into my classroom on April 15th. We will be cordial because that is what we are required to do. But we will open the door widely when our time together is over.

There is so much more I could say but the bell is about to ring, and my students are about to enter my classroom. We have more learning to do today.

We are approaching the end of year when we should be celebrating our time together as learners. And that is exactly what we will do.

Sincerely,
Leigh Anne Eck
6th Grade English language arts teacher

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

A Little Chuckle 22/31

Image by Jan from Pixabay

Starting a new unit with my students is full of anticipation. What new texts and new teaching ideas do I add this year? What do I want change? What do I want to do again?

To begin our unit this week, we immersed ourselves in reading argumentative texts. This year, I added one about changing Halloween to the last Saturday in October. Teachers would love that idea, and I thought students would enjoy reading it.

The only problem was that it wasn't well-written. I debated on how I was going to use it. Do I show it as a bad example, or do I let students figure it out themselves?

I chose the latter.

After dividing students into groups, I passed out a different text to each one. They were to read the text, find the parts of the argument, and determine its strength. As I passed out the text, I gave the Halloween text to a group of boys who are strong thinkers and problem solvers. I circulated the room yet tried to listen more to their conversation. 

"Is this the claim?

"I think so, but they say the opposite here."

"Why did they write a new paragraph here?" 

"Is this a new reason?

"This doesn't make any sense."

I let them struggle a bit, and then went over to tell them I gave them the more difficult example. After groaning, we talked a bit about why this argument wasn't strong, how the writer rambled, and how the text was poorly organized.

Finally, one student looks at me and says, "Is this how you feel when you read our essays?"

I laugh and tell him, "Yes, sometimes it is!"

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March. 

Currently I'm... 21/31

Image on Pixabay

It is Saturday night. 

The house is quiet--my favorite time of day.

My spring break is just about over, and I sit here counting my blessings, and wondering what I am going to write. It seems like a "currently" post would be quite fitting.

Currently I'm...

listening to only the hum of the refrigerator.
thinking about participating in the Classroom Slice of Life Challenge.
reading Dear Student by Elly Swartz.
drinking a Dr. Pepper Zero
eating Utz Sweet BBQ chips
wondering if I should grade my students' constructed responses tomorrow.
loving watching basketball with my daughter in her new house
needing some warmer temperatures

wishing my latest book order would arrive.
hoping my mom continues to get good care at her new nursing home
leaving to go play online Euchre with my family!

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we 
share a slice of life during the month of March.