It’s Poetry Friday! Laura Purdie Salas is our hostess this week. You’ll find our poetic celebration on her blog, Small Reads for Brighter Days. (Love the new site name, Laura!) Laura has an update on her #20for20 project, writing in 20 different places. I can’t wait to see where she’s writing next!
This week I want to introduce you to a new poet. His name is Hunter and he is in my Kindergarten class. Hunter has what I believe is an old soul, the soul of a poet. In addition to loving all things nature, he adores writing. (We are soul mates!) As you can imagine, I am nurturing the writer and poet in him. He loves to write stories, including a 30-page version of the Ninjabread Man, and is beginning to get a real feel for poetry.
Today I gave my whole class a writing challenge. We had finished up our current unit of study and weren’t quite ready to launch the next. It’s a dreary rainy day here, so I gave each child a copy of this photo.
I was curious where each child would go with it. They were told they could either write about the photo, literally, or see where the image or mood took their imagination. Here’s where Hunter’s went.
To honor his work, I chose an image which I think is the perfect accompaniment to his final words. Here is my take on his poem, Rainy Day.
I can hardly wait to see what he writes next!
Many thanks for hosting this week, Laura. Now let’s bring on the poetry!
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Wondering and Wandering 
Wow! Way to go Hunter. I love the choice you present in response to a rainy day.
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This time of year is fun because they are so much more independent. Time for them to flex those writing muscles!
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Hunter really helps us feel the rain, doesn’t he? Slippery, wet, puddle-y rain! I am super impressed that he wrote a 30-page Ninjabread Man story. He is a born storyteller.
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He sure is. Great things to come, I believe!
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Oh, this is super! Hunter commands the words to say what he wants to convey. Love it!
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Thanks, Laura. It’s pretty special, and so is he.
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Dear Ms. Wyman,
Thank you for writing with your class! You are teaching everyone that their voice matters. I believe that too.
Dear Hunter,
Here are two things I like about your Rainy Day poem. First, I like the way you repeated “wet face…wet boots,” and how you ended each stanza with the same line, “It’s raining today.”
Second, I love how in the 2nd stanza you included both puddlestompers, who I think LIKE the rain, and rain-NOT-likers. We all put up umbrellas, don’t we?! Your poem made me wish for a rainy day with colorful boots and umbrellas. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Ms. Mordhorst
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Thank you, Heidi! I can’t wait to share your feedback with Hunter!
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Oh, what a keen poem your budding poet Hunter composed! And I love the image you gave them, brings in a bit of light on a gray day with all those colorful umbrellas.
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Hunter’s poem made me smile. So many great details–wet face, wet boots, puddle stompers, rain-not-likers!
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You are the perfect teacher for Hunter (that’s my brother’s name and he is a musician). Your Hunter already understands the magical rhythm of language. I love “puddle stompers, rain not likers.” So inventive and fresh.
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Wowwowwow! What a wonderful start to my week, Christie. Thanks to you and Hunter, both, for the inspiration.
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What joy! And what a treasure. Hunter will brighten your year – and you will shape his life, not ‘just’ as a teacher (wonderful though that is!) but as someone who really sees and hears who he is, and nurtures that.💗
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I adore Hunter’s puddle-stomping, rain-loving poem, and the image that inspired it! How lucky he is to have you as his teacher. Thank you for sharing this with us, Christie!
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