Today in the library...

Today in the library, we are writing Japanese Haiku poems inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons so that we may learn to write a traditional haiku poem for entry into the annual Young American Poetry Digest Contest.  Having so much fun teaching them about haiku.  The sixth graders today find it unbelievable that the poem only has 17 syllables!  And the frustration they exhibit when they attempt to write one of their own usually comes as a result of having not enough or too many syllables per line.  To inspire them, I'm playing Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter for them by Vivaldi.  Many of them recognize these movements and it really does get them in the right spirit for their favorite season.  

At least one of my students gets their poem published each year.  Nine students were honored last year.  We keep a copy of the book in the library.  It's a delight to see them so excited to finally be "published".  

Happy Reading!
RC