It’s Poetry Friday! Karen Edmisten is our hostess this week. You’ll find our weekly celebration on her blog. Karen has a poetic tribute to Leap Years’ extra day to share with us.
All week long, my Kindergarten students and I have been participating in an international #KindergartenBioBlitz. (If you use the hashtag on Twitter, you’ll find lots of fun posts from teachers across North America.) Each day features a different prompt for processing what we observe in nature during our daily walk. On Monday we made predictions, on Tuesday we shared noticings, on Wednesday we shared wonderings, on Thursday we shared “This reminds me of…,” and today, the final day, we tell the story of our experience. My mentor, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, saw a list of our predictions and observations and remarked that they looked like the beginnings of poems. With that inspiration, I used a little poetry midwifery magic to create our BioBlitz story. I’m about to share it with my students and I hope they like it!
Many thanks for hosting this week, Karen. Now let’s bring on the poetry!
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Wondering and Wandering 
Hi Christie,
Oh I do like this. I like the repeating of Bioblitz and the rhyming you were able to bring into the poem!
I hope you students like it. Curious how Amy LV got to be your mentor and how you work that out. She is a wonder!!! Glad I am coming around Poetry Friday and hope to be back next week. It’s a new goal to show up more often!!! I do love it.
Janet Clare F.
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Hi Janet. I use the term “mentor” informally. Amy is a huge supporter of classroom teachers and we found each other on social media a few years back. She’s been a wonderful source of encouragement and support over the years.
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What a delightful capture! I’m sure the kids (and parents) will love it! I must share your link and bioblitz idea with an Aussie early years teaching friend.
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Please do, Kat! And here is the link to the prompts from the originator. https://steller.co/s/participating-in-kindergartenbioblitz-4VuuNTetdyB/p/1
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Christie, it is exciting to exchange Kinder ideas across North America. You and your kinders have had a busy week and I like that you were able to sum up your activities into a poem. I am sure the little ones will love what you wrote as they nod in agreement as you read aloud.
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They were so funny, Carol. I shared credit for the poem with them and they kept saying, “but you wrote it.” They are still so literal at the moment, they couldn’t understand it it was their words and phrases I used to craft it together.
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This is really cool and I bet your kids loved it. Thanks so much for sharing.
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I love that you are getting your Kinders into poetry — seeing it, gathering it, writing it (and eventually, one day, realizing that’s what they’re doing, lol!) So delightful!
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Thanks, Karen!
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It makes me so happy to see your kindergartners outside, bioblitzing! And that you’re turning your class’s observations into poetry.
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That is lovely! Poetry midwifery, indeed. I especially love the way you and each purse with bioblitz. It celebrates both the rhythm and the activity!
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You are such a positive force in the world, Christie. I so appreciate all that you do to generate a love of nature and words with your kindergarten students.
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Thanks, Molly. That’s very kind. Stay healthy up there, friend!
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