The end of the Slice of Life Challenge means that NaPoWriMo is about to begin.
NaPoWriMo,National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April. My Literacy differentiation group actually started today, since we only meet on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Th kids groaned when I told them about NaPoWriMo. We talked about what poetry is and how you get to bend the rules sometimes. I showed them my previous NaPoWriMo journals, but refused to read anything out of it yet. I gave them their NaPoWriMo journal (just a cover page on a bunch of folded pages) and their first prompt: write a poem with a lie.
They knew they had to take some time to quietly think, then write. It took them a bit to get settled, but I could tell when it happened, when the grumblers had turned into poets.
When they seemed to be getting restless again I announced it was time to share. They knew that sharing would be optional but that I would share my writing. I just wouldn’t share it before they started. I read my poem from today:
I didn’t take your toy.
OK, I touched your toy, but I didn’t take it.
Maybe I took your toy, but I didn’t play with it.
So, I played with it a little, but I didn’t have fun.
It was sort of fun, but I wasn’t rough.
I guess I might have been a bit rough, but I certainly didn’t break your toy.
Honestly!
The kids laughed and a few volunteered. I read my poem form last year, and then almost everyone volunteered.
By the end, I think I had them all convinced it wouldn’t be too bad a month.
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