"All Together Now" Festival: Color Out Poems

 

Local Arts Family Festival:

As one of the Stark Arts SmARTS artists in residence as a poet in the schools, I was invited to host a "Make and Take" table. I sponsored "Color Out Poems."

How to do it with kids yourself: 

1. Let students choose a page of print from a book you rip up, or from an online source,
which you can find by searching for "Blank pages to use for Black Out Poetry." I had both, thanks to the Stark Library book sales and my own search.

2. Show them some examples and tell them to seek out their own poem in the page. Remind them that it won't be the original narrative or essay, but different, that they may be capturing a feeling or an idea. I made three titled "Words I," "Words II," and "Words III," and printed out several from online, plus  this great example from California poet, Ruth Bavetta:

3. Have them circle the words that create their poem.

4. Color out all the other words, using blocks of color, blocking out lines, or drawing pictures with markers, crayons, or colored pencils. 

I was worried that it might be too hard for the littlest kids that showed up, that it might take too long, but I found that every child found something for themselves and many were devoted and thrilled to spend lots of time coloring.

Here are some of my favorite examples and moments from the day, leaving out faces on purpose:

Loved her t-shirt, "I AM THE FUTURE"

Everyone was so intense

My favorite poem of the day

My high school classmate, Lois Plante, brought her neighbor kids
to see her son as one of the clowns & they stayed to poem.

DAY 8 MEMORIES AND IMAGERY

TWO OHIO-BORN POETS 
and THEIR POEMS

David Wagoner and Grace Butcher

We will listen to David Wagoner's poem,

"The Ends of My Fingers," a narrative poem about his accident when he was three. Three of his fingers got cut off. The doctor sewed them on and told the young David 

...not to look 

inside or try to find out

what color they might be. 

He said he'd open them 

like a present with his fingers

next week when I was three. 

What do you think happened? Look at the photo I found of David Wagoner when he was five, on Lake Turkeyfoot with his father. What do you see?

Next we will hear Grace Butcher's poem  "The Farm When I was Five." It ends:

"I didn't waste it, Grandma.

There is this poem."

Here is Grace Butcher with her horse. She has been a champion runner, a motorcycle rider, and a horse rider and always a beloved poet.

Assignment:

Write a prose poem about something that happened to you when you were little. End it with a mystery or a quote.

(An aside: like the Gish sisters and David Wagoner, my dad, Russ Kendig, went to school in Massillon, and his sister raised horses here. This is a picture of him at age 17 on the horse named Pedro:)

 

DAY 7 DUEBER & DAY 10 FRANKLIN : A POETRY JAM

 COSTUMES 

Real poets dress up sometimes

PROGRAM

Reading our poems and showing our broadsides

REFRESHMENTS

Water, What a Beautiful Drink!

and  Red and Black Poetry Cookies

WATER, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DRINK

(Lyrics by Diane Kendig, from her family musical,
"Talk to the Moon," with music by Jack Taylor) 

Water, what a beautiful drink!
Water, just stop and think:

You can have it with chicken, beef, or bread

Without ever worrying, WHITE or RED,
Without the frig that you need for milk,
That you need for juice and drinks of that ilk.

CHORUS: Water, what a beautiful drink!
Water, just stop and think:

 You can have it just melted from the Nevada,
Or frozen and flavored Piña Colada,
Water, just stop and think:
What a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, |beautiful drink! 

DAY 6 BROADSIDES

POETRY BROADSIDES

What they are

Broadsides were posters invented in Europe in the 1600s and popular in America in the 1700s. They were made on old fashioned presses, where each letter had to be set individually and each page pressed with the inked letters, one page at a time.

Then in the 1960s and 70s, they became a popular way to publish individual poems, still using the old printing presses. Here is a press in downtown Canton,  "Print and Press Shop & Studios," which uses the old presses to print hand-made cards and given lessons in using these types of machines. 

Here is a news story about the printer and shop that shows "Letterpress Jess" making cards on the letterpress machines:

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/originals/as-stores-close-one-maker-says-its-not-time-for-a-goodbye-to-greeting-cards

Some broadsides are still made today on letterpresses. Many are collectors’ items. Here is a beautiful one by Akron poet Mary Biddinger

Many thanks to Mary and to the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center for permission to show you this poem. Find more of their great work in paper at their website .

Also, broadsides can be made with word processing, computer printing, or even hand printing and drawing. Whatever the poet has at hand.

Each student will make a broadside of one of their poems.

PARTS OF OUR POETRY BROADSIDE

Required:

*Title

*Author (by Your Name)

*The Poem
Check for spelling, punctuation, missing words
 Have Ms. Diane check your editing before you make final copy

     

Optional: 

*Border decoration (Top,  bottom, and/or sides) - LEAVE SPACE

 *Art

*COLOPHON: Information about the publication: like date, place, font, dedication, how made,  

                    

 

DAY FIVE; WRITING, READING ALOUD, REVISING, READING ALOUD

DAY 4 ; DRAFTING OUR IDEAS, RHYME AND ALLITERATION

 

WE HAVE TWO TASKS TODAY

First

We will get some paper and sketch out our ideas for our poem on heroes, answering the three questions I posed last class: 

1. Why are you writing this praise poem?

2. Who are the heroes you are praising (1-3) and give some details about them

3. How do they inspire us? What do they inspire you to do?

And maybe, think about a title. Can you use alliteration like Amanda Gorman did?

Second

The NYT had a page for kids on what makes us happy and what doesn't make us happy, based on scientific research:

We will fill in a smiley and a  frowny face on the things that make us happy and unhappy and tape them to poster board-- and ours will have a rhyme or an alliteration. Here is Diane's

😊Masks help us stay healthy and out of the hospital

😓Wearing a mask
     Can be a hard task

DAY 3 Intro to Amanda Gorman and Writing About Heroes

 Amanda Gorman is a poet made famous by being the youngest poet to read an Inaugural poem this past January. (Info on that poem is linked on the bottom of the page,) The success of that
poem led her to be invited to write and recite a new poem for Super Bowl LV. It is an ode to heroes in our year of Covid-19, and we are going to study it and write an ode to our own heroes.

Here two sports announcers introduce the poem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iyaee8AP-M

 

Here is her reading the Super Bowl poem (for our ears):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ejbSCjg2qo

Here is a backup video: https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/02/07/amanda-gorman-super-bowl-lv-poem-video

Here is an interview where she talks about herself: her childhood problems and her successes and her writing process:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/lesson-plan-discuss-22-year-old-amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem-the-miracle-morning/

Here is a copy of the poem (for ours eyes):

"Chorus of the Captains"
        by Amanda Gorman

 

Today we honor our three captains
For their actions and impact in
A time of uncertainty and need.
They’ve taken the lead,
Exceeding all expectations and limitations
Uplifting their communities and neighbors
As leaders, healers, and educators.

James has felt the wounds of warfare,
But this warrior still shares
His home with at-risk kids.
During Covid, he’s event lent a hand,
Live-streaming football for family and fans.

Trimaine is an educator who works nonstop,
Providing his community with hotspots,
Laptops, and tech workshops,
So his students have all the tools
They need to succeed in life and school.

Suzie is the ICU nurse manager at a Tampa Hospital.
Her chronicles prove that even in tragedy, hope is possible.
She lost her grandmothers to the pandemic,
And fights to save other lives in the ICU battle zone,
Defining the frontline heroes risking their lives for our own.

Let us walk with these warriors,
Charge on with these champions,
And carry forth the call of our captains!
We celebrate them by acting
With courage and compassion,
By doing what is right and just.
For while we honor them today,
It is them who every day honor us.

Discussion: 

Who have your heroes been in this past year? Why? 

Can anyone find any examples of alliteration in the poem? Any rhyme?

The poem, like the classic ode has three sections: the strophe, antistrophe, and epode. You don't have to know those terms, but let's look at how Amanda Gorman is using them: The strophe (Stanza 1), The antistrophe (Stanza 2-5), and the Epode (Stanza 6). 

ASSIGNMENT: Your assignment will be to write an ode to your hero or heroes from the past year. Your poem needs three parts:

Part 1 - Tell what your poem is about, why it is honoring

Part 2 - Choose 1, 2 or 3 heroes. For each, have a stanza where you describe in detail what that hero has done for you and/or for others.

Part 3 - Tell how these heroes have inspired you and what you are going to do now because of them.

====
For teachers:

This is a PBS News Hour Lesson Plan for teaching the Inaugural poem.:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/lesson-plan-discuss-22-year-old-amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem-the-miracle-morning/

DAY 2 DUEBER: AND FRANKLIN: revision

 Yesterday we drafted poems about our school. Robbie, Ms. Diane's dog found them very interesting:

The first draft is often messy, as we can see:

Ms. Diane typed them up for us to see today, and we will decide if we want any changes:

DUEBER SCHOOL, 2021

 by Mrs. Grady's class

We love our school: Fun! Cool! Awesome!

It is colorful inside – decorations of red and many colors—

and outside, with its tan bricks and a silver sign: DUEBER SCHOOL.

In the 1800s, it was big and tall, with dark red bricks.

There are smells of pizza and Mrs. Grady’s pumpkin air freshener, 

Sounds when the Canton firetrucks and police cars go by

And fire drills and Miss Shower speaking announcements.

It’s different this year:

We wear masks,

We need to be six feet apart.

We were 26, then 13, now there’s 10 of us in the room.

It always feels warm: no AC…till this year,

And next year, it won’t be a school but a food place.

We are going to miss Dueber School.

FROM DUEBER SCHOOL IN CANTON, OHIO 2021

by Mrs. Jones' class 

Our school is awesome.

On the outside yellow daffodils grow in the grass

And the tan brick building’s silver sign says, “DUEBER SCHOOL.”

In the 1800s, it was big, high, red-brown brick

Near Dueber Hampton Watch Factory.

Time. We learn time in school.

Our school smells like food, like chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy.

We like our school because it has wonderful teachers.

Our teacher, Mrs. Jones, is the best. She says:

“Booty in the chair, not in the air,” and “Sit down.       Now.”

Other sounds: the firetruck goes by.  Mr. Andy mowing the grass.

And we scream on the playground. We always do.

Last year, we talked to everyone on line on a little screen.

Google meet would keep going off.

Now we meet in the room, keep our masks up.

Next year, we go to Cedar School

And this? It’s going to be a food center.

Good-bye Dueber.

 

MASSILLON CITY SCHOOLS ARE THE BEST

Franklin is the best school ever

It has the best teachers (Gardner, Schrock, Knight)

There is a lot of history in Franklin

In 1901, the old school was taller and had taller windows,

          Fewer flowers, fewer trees

          Chimneys, pillars, a pointed roof and a lot of steps

These are some of the things we know about the old Franklin.

But now, by all the trees, before you turn in here,

You see an abandoned church and a fence where a horse used to be

(Mrs. Gardner says he got out all the time)

Then, you turn in and see a long low building, a gray wall

With silver letters: FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,

A flag, buses, cars. You hear screaming on the playground,

Our outside voices, buses pulling out.

Inside it smells like kids.

And you hear the click of cafeteria trays,

kind voices, and lots of talking and describing:

“Pull up your mask,” “You must use social distance,”

“Cough on your arm.”

You see tons of clocks, letters, and numbers.

àNext year we go to the Fourth Grade School

And learn lots of new things.

 

DAY ONE: GROUP POEM ON OUR SCHOOL Franklin

 Prompt: 

Today, we are going to write a group poem about our school: its history; what it looks like, smells like, feels like; what we remember of our first days here; saying good-bye? 

Research, thinking, discussing 

Some history:

1) Franklin Elementary School (1901-1909)

 "In 1901, a new building was erected to replace Richville Avenue School; it occupied approximately the same location as the former school. It was planned so that its east side would face East Street (the present Third Street S.E.) and its west side would face Fay Street S.E. This school was named Franklin Elementary School and contained eight rooms." (from "A History of Massillon City Schools")

2) The Gish Sisters

Some images:  

Richville, which became Franklin

The old Franklin Elementary:

A class at the old Franklin Elementary - 1905: Lillian Gish in the photo

Our school today:

I am indebted to Massillon archivist 

Mandy Altimus Stahl

for the history and images of Franklin Schools. Please visit this terrific museum virtually or in person when you are in the area, 

 

DAY ONE: GROUP POEM ON OUR SCHOOL Dueber

Prompt: 

Today, we are going to write a group poem about our school: its history; what it looks like, smells like, feels like; what we remember of our first days here; saying good-bye? 

Research, thinking, discussing 

Some images related to our school

We will post our poem here when it's ready.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH WITH CANTON AND MASSILLON KIDS

Sponsored by Arts in Stark county's SmARTS program,  I head off next week to
begin a month-long residency in two area grade schools, second graders at Dueber Elementary in Canton, Ohio, and Franklin Elementary in Massillon Ohio. 

My plan is to first, to write a group poem about their school-- more exciting than you think as we are going to look at some history. (Hint: Lillian Gish is believed to have attended one of them in her childhood.)

Second, we will look at Amanda Gorman's Super Bowl poem for what we can learn about the number three, alliteration, and rhyme and then write poems about our own three heroes in Covid. 

Third, we will look at a poem by 94 year old poet David Wagoner who lives in Seattle but was both in Stark County and has written a poem about his childhood accident there. Maybe we will have our own long-ago childhood memories to write about, like in kindergarten, oh, three long years ago.

Their teachers want us to work on reading fluency, so we will do some oral readings of poems on popcorn and summer and their own poems. 

The last day, we will have what one teacher calls, "A Poetry Jam" with reading and rapping their own poems wearing Amanda Gorman and Billy Collins headgear. We'll exhibit the broadsides they have made-- because poetry is for the EYE and the EAR.  And we'll eat Fisher's Smiley Face cookies iced in the school colors with a P for Poetry. 

If you you'd like some lessons or some prompts, check in here next Monday, April 5th.