The young teachers all agreed that fourth-graders make very interesting poets.
"Kids are more open to strangeness," Anthony Blake said, "They're open to being strange and weird."
Definition of Oobver Dam
by Amis Cooper
looking down at oobver
dam, seeing the water
run, hearing the water
rush, feeling the cold
breeze across our
face, almost wanting
to jump in the rushing
water
A Definition of Sisters
by Ella Spahn
Sisters are two of a kind,
similar and unique.
They help each other through life
With someone to play
and stay with
forever. Staying so close
to see what they become,
not just their talent but
to see two sisters to stay
in touch, forever…and forever.
"It's exciting," Joy Clark said, "Usually they surprise us with their creativity."
"They're less inhibited," Zachary Schwartz said.
The poetry teachers at Cooper Elementary School last week were all graduate students at the University of Arkansas who are part of the Writers in the Schools program. They are in the Master of Fine Arts program and also teach some undergraduates on campus. They travel all over the state, visiting any schools which invite them. Representatives of the program have been at Cooper Elementary four times since 2012.
In Deronda Smith's classroom, Schwartz went over some rules of poetry.
"You need to be concrete," he said, explaining the difference between tangible and intangible
Descriptive language needs to be specific, he said, and students should be using all five of their senses.
The fourth rule, he said, is controversial. Don't rhyme, he told the students. Rhymes limit a poet to certain words which may not be the best description.
"Be weird," he told the fourth-graders and added, "Think outside the box."
Each classroom has two lessons with the U of A graduate students. Then, students turn in their poetry and the best poems are put aside for an annual anthology.
The cover of the anthology is also student artwork.
General News on 02/28/2018