Poetry in a Pot...

What a week!

For the Poetry in a Pot project the students have to write a haiku. It is a difficult form of poetry, at best, but for some reason the kids enjoy them. I use the traditional model of three lines, five-seven-five syllables, about nature and with a contrast. By the time I've read two or three dozen, they all begin to sound alike. Next year, the poem comes first...then the pot. It is exhausting trying to guide seventy/eighty kids in writing poetry of any kind, but perhaps if they complete the difficult part first, they'll be more likely to create some fair images.

I have discovered that haiku is an exercise in:

1. Futility if a teacher fully expects to get a top-quality poem. :/

2. Discipline for the student when I am the teacher and he has to edit time and time again.

3. Patience for the teacher when she is working diligently to guide the student to a decent first line.

3. Revelation for the teacher when she discovers a kid who just won't give up no matter how many edits are required.

Only a few of the students have finished their poems, but all have finished the pots. I think they turned out better than last year's group. I really like the use of different textures and colors together. Even the all-leaf pots turned out great. :D

( Poetry Pots... )