Sunday, April 7, 2013

Guest Post: Janet Fagal for 2013 Progressive Poem

Today I'm excited to welcome Janet Fagal, a poetry enthusiast whom I had the pleasure of meeting this past November at NCTE. While she doesn't have a blog (yet!), she's got poetry in her heart, and I am so pleased to have her contributing her line here at Live Your Poem.

And here's the poem so far, with Janet's line at the bottom:

When you listen to your footsteps
the words become music and
the rhythm that you're rapping gets your fingers tapping, too.
Your pen starts dancing across the page
a private pirouette, a solitary samba until
smiling, you're beguiling, as your love comes shining through.

Pause a moment in your dreaming, hear the whispers

Don't you love it?! Thank you, Janet! And now.... drum roll, please....

Introducing a future Kidlitosphere blogger: Janet Fagal
Today I am so grateful to Irene Latham for allowing me to be a guest blogger so I can participate in the 2013 Progressive Poem. Some of you may know me as a commenter who goes by Janet F. and Janet Clare on FB. I have yet to start my own blog, but one is coming, I promise.
I loved watching last year’s Progressive Poem grow. I was lucky to meet Irene at NCTE in November along with Laura Purdie Salas, Mary Lee Hahn, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Leslea Newmann at Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell’s session about their book, The Poetry Friday Anthology. Perhaps you have seen this photo where we all sported pink to support Sylvia’s recovery from breast cancer treatment.
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During the last 10 years of my 40 year teaching career, I discovered the expansive power of poetry for its own worth and as a teaching tool. Better late than never! Almost by accident I developed an approach that puts poetry at the heart of the classroom. My 3rd graders eagerly learn poems by heart without any pressure or homework or testing. I actually never tell the children we are going to do this, it just happens naturally! By the end of the year we have a Poetry Night where they recite over 40 poems for close to an hour. Most of the poems are by published poets, but some are poems the children have written.

Here’s a link to a 3 min. video clip that gives an idea about how Poetry Night looks, though this was an encore Poetry Night done as a fund-raiser in mid-September and the children had not been together since June!!! But you’ll get the idea.
We mainly learn and recite as a group, but if the children ask I let some do solos or recite poems in small groups. The best part is how easy it all is. I didn’t know any poems by heart when I started. With all the generous poetry resources available on the Kidlitosphere, any teacher can easily replicate what I have done and tailor it to meet her kids’ ages, community and curriculua.
The children love doing this, and because we work as a group, they learn the poems in a very short time. They may cue one another on tricky parts and the group recitation creates happy bonds. It doesn’t take much class time to accomplish, either. Children are natural sponges for oral language at this age. But recitation and performance are not the only benefits. There are many educational side benefits, too. Besides learning about poets and poetry, the kids are exposed to rich vocabulary and sophisticated language. Academic content shows up in some poems and re-reading poems helps with reading fluency which aids comprehension. The quality of their own writing grows from being immersed in the poems we share. And the list goes on!
Today while traveling I found an Indie bookstore, The Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington, CT. I was so excited to learn that Marilyn Singer often goes there for book signings and readings. Kate Coombs’ wonderful Water Sings Blue was on the children’s poetry shelves (note the plural) along with Caroline Kennedy’s fabulous new anthology, Poems to Learn by Heart, which includes one of Janet Wong’s poems and has a teacher’s guide written by Sylvia Vardell. I took it to be a sign. I want to help spread a love of poetry all over the country because I know firsthand about its power to make a difference in kids’ literary and personal lives.
Thank you to all of the poets and writers who keep giving us wonderful words to sprinkle in children’s hearts. I am delighted to add my voice to the growing chorus of those who are realizing the power poetry has to change and brighten lives. And by the way I told the bookstore about the exquisite new Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and they are going to order it! I take my role as “poetry cheerleader” and “Ms. Pied Piper of Poetry” very seriously! (Thanks, Pat Lewis!)
I have made many poetry friends in person and online in the past couple of years and I am particularly grateful to Heidi Mordhorst who first told me about the Kidlitosphere, and Janet, Sylvia and Laura Purdie Salas who, like Irene, have been welcoming and supportive along with so many other bloggers! I had been looking for this community for quite a while and am so glad to be here.

Thank YOU, Janet! So happy to hear about all the ways you promote the love of poetry. And we're all so glad to have you as a part of this year's Progressive Poem. Can't wait to see where the poem goes next!


37 comments:

  1. Good morning, Janet and Irene! Janet, you are very kind to thank me, but you would have Pied-Pipered yourself to this community in no time even without me. Thanks for being such an enthusiastic cheerleader online, in your travels, and in your classroom. (Next year is going to be my poetry by heart year.)

    And thanks for this line for the PP, too! I liked when the poem got physical in Doraine's line, putting Matt's rhythm into Amy's footsteps, and now your "dreaming" echoes Gayle's smiling, beguiling and shining and the whispers connect back to Joy's words and Jone's pen. It's gettin' good!

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    1. Thank you, Heidi. But honestly I really did not know anything about the blogosphere of kid's poets until I went to Janet and Sylvia's session. Then when you came up to me afterward and explained, I started checking it out. Slowly at first, then once I "got it" was really happy to be getting to know so many wonderful poets, teachers and people who want to help children with fabulous poems and literacy experiences. SO glad my line "fits"! I am working on writing more poetry, so that is good, too!!!
      Janet F.

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  2. Beautiful line, Janet. Can't wait to see how the progressive poem progresses!

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    1. Oh, so happy you like it, Gloson. I am excited to see where the poem heads.
      Janet F.

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  3. I love the change of direction here. Beautiful line, Janet!

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    1. Thanks, Catherine. I tried out a lot of different directions. Really, I felt a big sense of responsibility to the next 23 poets!!! But it was fun and so glad you like it.
      Janet F.

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  4. Nice to meet you, Janet, and to see the great things you are doing to promote poetry in your community. Love the line, too. Quietly contemplating where it may lead after the beats of the first stanza.
    Can't wait to see your blog. I recently joined the Poetry Friday blogging community and it has totally enriched my life. As they say, "Just do it!"

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    1. Thank you for your blog encouragement!! Also so glad you like the line and I agree, it will be very interesting to see what comes next. I can't express how much the children love learning poetry this way. In my school and in others I have visited along with kids in a neighboring city where my friend started a poetry team that met at lunchtime!!! I love how it appeals equally to boys and girls!! Be keeping it fun and genuine, it really clicks with kids and then......well, poetry rules!
      Janet F.

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  5. Wonderful post, Irene and Janet. You can't chat with Janet for 3 minutes without her amazing enthusiasm for children's poetry coming through. Pied Piper for sure! (And--great line. Fun to follow the progressive poem as it slowly grows.)

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    1. Thanks, Laura!! Watching kids gain so much from poetry is the highlight of my teaching career! And with so many great poets around, teachers have a bountiful array of poems to choose from. Not least among these are both PFA books by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell. Love!
      Glad you like the line I wrote. Let's see where this poem leads!
      Janet F.

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  6. Excellent line, Janet. Nice introduction to a new verse.

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    1. Thanks, Gayle for your brightly beguiling line. It was so full of power and had a great rhythmic feel. Glad you liked my line!!!
      Janet F.

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  7. It is a pleasure to see the children in the video Janet. So much good that happens in the classroom is about relationships & words. Your students will remember these poems long from now. It's a beautiful gift to them. I hope you'll start your blog soon-can't wait to see it! Love the line you've added; a turning in the story will make us all think even more about our additions! Terrific post! Thank you Irene and Janet!

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    1. Thanks, Linda. I love those, kids!!! I agree, the poetry acts as a glue and I now have kids in gr. 3 -11 in my district who have participated in my poetry program. It is fun to have the older ones come back to join in with the newest "crop" of poetry lovers. I know I may never know how the poems live with my students once they are older, but I have faith. thank you for your comment here and also so glad you like the line. I kept re-working my ideas and am glad you saw that it added a little turn. I loved the meter and rhymes that came before, too.

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  8. I just watched the video and it brought tears to my eyes. How lovely to see such confidence and joy in the faces of children!

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    1. Oh thank you so much for your comments about "my" kids. They really do love Poetry Night. It is one of those "priceless" moments. We never really have a complete practice as it would take too long so Poetry Night is magical in that it will never happen again for those kids. I sit there as happy as can be watching them recite poem after poem. It is informal yet polished and the best part is it is so easy to accomplish. The last poem in the clip was written by little Nic. He loved the poetry! His poem was about our classroom and I just did a happy dance when he showed it to me the first time. Having poetry part of the regular experience in the classroom brings surprises and joy! Thanks for your lovely comment.
      Janet F.

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  9. I like the post and the line! Thanks!

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  10. Lovely to see the kids on the video, Janet, and also to see what a wide variety of poetry you all do together. Great stuff!

    Also love your new line in the progressive poem -- as Heidi says, it's gettin' good!

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    1. Thanks, Renee! I can think of a few poems of yours I might be adding to our repertoire!!! One of my favorite parts is the kids are all in for all varieties of poems. I offer and they receive and participate. It is a delight to be part of. Your two boys could do this, too!!! Maybe even in Italian! Glad you like the line!! It was more of a responsibility than I realized, but I gave it my best....can't wait to see where it heads next.
      Janet F.

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  11. Janet, It is such a pleasure to meet you here. I, too, teared up watching the video of your students reciting their poetry. What a wonderful experience for them, and so invaluable.

    Yes! I love this new line you've added!

    One of the things that so much fun with this progressive poem is that it never goes in quite the direction you thought it would. Each line so creative and yet such a reflection of the individual poets. Thanks again, Irene, for this opportunity. I look forward to watching the poem grow.

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    1. Thanks, Dorraine. So glad you like the reciting video and my line. I am so happy to be part of the Poetry Friday PP!! It will be interesting to watch where the poem goes. I appreciate your comment.
      Janet F.

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  12. Interesting line! The poem could go anywhere...eager to see what Monday brings!

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    1. Me, too, Matt. I wrote what seemed like a "gazillion" versions and possibilities. I thought it seemed like the poem needed to be able to go in a different direction or not....so curious to see what happens next and btw your line just rings. I have the entire thing memorized now. For my "first time" I am glad I had an early-in-the-month date (I think!). It's a whole other world participating compared to simply enjoying.
      Janet

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  13. Janet,
    Love your line! I am wondering about the whispers!!

    The video was priceless. I am creating a poetry resource page on my blog for teachers. I am collecting links to sites that will assist teachers in teaching poetry in their classrooms. I have found these over the last couple of years since I became active in the kidlitosphere. I am adding a link to your video! Kids would love performing poems and it would increase their interest and enthusiasm. Wow! You did such a great job with those kids. (By the way, my page is my poetry month project, so it's still in the draft stage.)

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    1. So happy you saw the video, Penny. I have a very old website that someone made for me quickly, but I didn't have time to add to it, thus a blog seems ideal. It is poetryonparade.com for a bit more background if you want to check it out. My blog will give more details and it is really an easy, yet powerful thing to see and do. Kids love it, so I am happy more teachers might think of trying it. I call it a new twist on an old idea. My mantra though is no pressure and keep it positive. I know that works! Other twists might, too, but I would never want to see it made as an individual assignment for a kids who is too nervous or fearful to do this. (I have never had a kid refuse!)
      Janet

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  14. Janet! What a wonderful line - our poem is so full of sound and movement - truly tappable. And this video is simply beautiful. What fortunate children to have worked with you. Wow. Thank you so much for all of your poetry cheers: at conferences, here on the blogs, in bookshops, and most importantly...with children. xo, a.

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  15. Thank you, Amy! I continued my poetry march through Connecticut with a visit to Oblong Books in Millerton, NY (just over the border!!) They did not have the largest selection of kids' poetry books. Many of the classic ones. I did put Dark Emperor in one mom's hands, but no Forest and no Water Sings Blue. I talked up both books and the clerk said she would pass on the titles to someone who orders. I mentioned that yours in particular would be great for Earth Day and Kate's too. The kids every year we do our June Poetry Night are the same and the response by the parents, friends and community, too. Everyone is amazed and loves it. Me probably more than anyone. They sparkle. Last year's kids were really something and I hope to put some of their poetry recitation on my new blog! So easy to accomplish. I wish more teachers would give it a try and think Caroline Kennedy's new book may help with that a bit!!! If you can be at the Olio at IRA I really plan to highlight the PFA and poets!! I will have your book so you can read one if you like!

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  16. Your link to Julie Larios's blog (on the left) is broken. It should be:
    http://julielarios.blogspot.com/
    I'm enjoying the progressive poem.

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    1. Thank you for the alert. Fixed now! Happy National Poetry Month, and thanks for visiting.

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  17. What a beautiful post! I love what you do, Janet.

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  18. Thanks so much, Caroline. I love finding kindred spirits on the blogosphere!!! So happy to have found you!

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  19. There's lots of good stuff packed into this post. Janet Fagal, you're a true friend of poetry--so good to have you spreading the word!

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  21. Thank you, Janet Wong! You are a poet's poet spreading poetry to teachers and students via the two Poetry Friday Anthologies. And so much more. If teachers only knew how easy it is to get children to learn so much by saying poems together. It is fun and joyous learning. And when we have wonderful poems like yours to share with them, it is all the better.

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  22. I love this idea -- learning poetry as a group! Two thumbs up! Thanks, Janet :-)

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  23. Thanks, Tabatha. It really works. Year after year I get the same response. Kids love it, can do it, want to do it and when we perform our poems at our Poetry Night the parents and friends are amazed and say so. I probably love it more than anyone because I am so proud of the kids, though honestly, it is not a ton of effort because they know the poems so well.....I would love for more kids to be able to do this, so that is why I speak at conferences and want to get into schools to show teachers how easy it is to accomplish.
    Janet F.

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