The Poetry Eaters

Last week's Becoming a Writer workshop for 3rd and 4th grades had certain magical vibes to it. Outside the windows it was dark, cold and windy and so inside, for compensation, we just had to make it cozy. We sat around a bigger table with only one light shining above while everything around sank in darkness - the classroom was reminiscent of the setting in Van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." Execpt, we did not eat or peel potatos, we read children's animal poems. 

Students make illustrations to their own poems about animals

Below, are some animal poems we ate at the table:

Wasps

Wasps like coffee.

Syrup.

Tea.

Coca-Cola.

Butter.

Me.

A rabbit

A rabbit

bit

a little bit

an itty-bitty

little bit of beet.

Then bit

by bit

he bit

because he liked the taste of it.

Or, another poem by the renowned Irish poet W. B. Yeats: 

To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No

Come play with me;

Why should you run

Through the shaking tree

As though I'd a gun

To strike you dead? 

When all I would do

Is to scratch your head

And let you go. 

Students' illustrated animal poems coming up this week!