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Happy Poetry Friday!
Thank you, Carmela, at Teaching Authors for hosting our round-up this week. I'll be hosting next week and I'm already excited!
At school, we've just finished the fourth annual Poetry Pandemonium. It's lots of fun and also serves as a review for students of figurative language such as metaphor, simile, rhyme, repetition, rhythm, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.
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| Poetry Pandemonium 2022 The winning poem? Nothing! by Kat Apel |
One of our teachers mentioned to me that we have so many poems stored in our archives, "now you can re-use poems for next year and not have to go searching for new ones."
Well, yes. But, for me, searching for poems is a big part of the fun. This past week, I spent my reading time with the poems of Imperfect II. poems about perspective. an anthology for middle schoolers edited by our own Tabatha Yeatts.
First, what a project! Tabatha has edited a beautiful, beautiful book of verse from poets of varied backgrounds, ages, and experiences. Altogether, there are dozens of poems written specifically for middle school students. This collection is a wholly fresh and new source of poems for Pandemonium V. Thank you, poets! Thank you, Tabatha!
I am fortunate to have two poems included in Imperfect II.
What You Don't See
How easy it is for me
to get lost in my head.
How following directions in class
is doubly hard
when you interrupt
to add extra details, or
a story or tell that kid
to sit down again.
How doing anything
while you watch me
is impossible
as I wonder what
mistakes you see
and then, I freeze.
Unable to continue.
I wish you knew
how to help me
succeed with ADHD.
~Linda Mitchell (p 72)
Tabatha has enriched the experience of Imperfect II with a blog, Imperfect II . It's a wonderful place to read, think and write about perspective.
Thank you, Tabatha, for creating Imperfect, Imperfect II and binding all our perspectives together through poetry. It is a real gift to be included in such a work. I so appreciate the chance to work with you in this way. And, I love how this community is providing important poetry for kids.
Another star poem on the padlet:
https://padlet.com/mitchellhubeimom/4bzbfu2cg5k7awk5
Linda, congratulations on your two published poems at Tabatha's amazing anthology, Imperfect II, for middle-schoolers. You certainly captured the narrator's voice in your poem. Thank you also to Tabatha for designing an anthology that will be related to students at such a vulnerable age.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I LOVELOVELOVE your Poetry Pandemonium! What an amazing way to get kids talking about the features of poetry!! And I second your thoughts about Tabatha's projects, and the way she "bind[s] all our perspectives together through poetry." She is definitely a force for good in the world! And your poem...so many kids will feel seen when they read it. I thank you on their behalf.
ReplyDeleteYour Poetry Pandemonium must be a wonderful thing to get poetry into students' lives, Linda. And I agree, it would be fun to search for the poems. Having a teacher understand the feelings of someone with ADHD as your poem shows would be a gift for that student. I wonder how many students loved your poem, perhaps even secretly?
ReplyDeleteWonderful ADHD poem -- these seem rare and much needed. Your padlet poem was so poignant and timely. Been thinking of you whenever I see stars anywhere -- in images + poems. :)
ReplyDeleteI love your ADHD poem and am intrigued about the "perspective" blog! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAw, Linda. That ADHD poem is wonderful. I do think students will feel seen, as Mary Lee says. Congrats on the publication!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Linda!! For your contributions to the IMPERFECTs and to poetry love in person and online! 💕
ReplyDeleteYour poem is wonderful, Linda, and offers an embrace to readers who have this different perspective and some insight to those who don't. Congratulations on having your poems in the anthology!
ReplyDeleteI'm back to say that I visited your star padlet and Wow! "Bless" packs a heavy punch. You are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteLinda, the Poetry Pandemonium sounds like such fun! I wish I could be in your class!
ReplyDeleteThe voice of "What You Don't See" feels so authentic. It's so perfect for the Imperfect II anthology, as is your poem "My Hoody." I'm honored to have a poem in the same anthology.
Such a wonderful insight into the ADHD mind. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOh I love the Poetry Pandemonium. What a great idea and word (pandemonium) for this time of year!
ReplyDeleteMy son graduated last Friday so I missed PF...thank you for featuring IMPERFECT II so thoughtfully and generously! xo
ReplyDelete