In the middle of our work time in writing workshop today, I walked over to the rug area, where two of my students were sitting by the window. We have windows that go almost to the floor on our walls. They were the two lucky students who were allowed to sit next to the window and make observations through the window.
During the mini-lesson, I was discussing with them where we could find ideas for poetry topics. One of the suggestions a student had was to look at nature and the world around us. So I had two students sitting by the window recording observations and collecting ideas for possible poems.
“How’s it going? Did you collect a lot of ideas?” I asked.
“This is a magical place. ” She replied.
“What did you say?” I thought I had misheard her.
“It’s a magical place. I’ve collected so many ideas. I saw cars, trees, the playground. I think I might write a poem about global warming.” She confidently told me.
I love magical places. Sometimes, we can nurture the magic. It sounds like that’s what happened in your writing workshop.
Kevin
I’m hoping for some magical words in their writing! 🙂
Oh…what a great line from a student, “a magical place”. I tried to set up a viewing station by my little windows but we look out on a trash receptacle and our windows are made of Plexiglas so everything is blurry. In the warmer Spring we will try to go outside and view. Great idea to give the job to two students to report back!
Thanks! Hopefully the weather will get warmer soon so we can go outside and make observations.
I hope she used that line in her poem. It too was magical. Your windows sound wonderful, good for so many lessons. Long ago I had a classroom in an old school – no air conditioning, but huge windows where the students could sit on the window sills and observe and write. I missed that when we moved to a new building. We now need to go outside to make our observations.
Oooh, huge windows always liven the classroom.
I hope she used that line in her poem. It too was magical. Your windows sound wonderful, good for so many lessons. It is a good idea to have students report back; what a big responsibility.
LOVE!!! i wanna go visit and meet this student. 🙂
Come visit me!! 🙂
Nature can be a magical place. I’m sure that you are eagerly awaiting the poem inspired by this magical space.
I definitely am!
“Magical” could be the starting point for your next mini-lesson. Maybe they can go outside into the magical world for more inspiration. It’s clear that you have set up a great environment for learning.
That’s a great idea! I usually also have the students go on nature walks during my poetry unit. We have a mountain behind our school and a small river as well that we can walk along. It’s always so interesting to see the ideas they get for poems after our walks outside! 🙂
Jee Young,
What a nice reminder of the power of place. I remember taking a class in college where our homework was to pick a spot on campus and write there three times a week. We were to attend to the changes and the sense of relationship that built over time. By the end I felt that place was truly magical. It was like a good friend.
Thanks for sharing,
Erin