Seeing Slowly: Class Poems about an Egg

This is a re-blog from our classroom website.

I have more to say about this project, but I haven’t had the time to let stuff sink in enough to write about it. In the meantime, here’s some poems that we’ve been writing. There will be more to come on our classroom website.

We’ve been having some fun with poetry this year. On many Fridays we’ve read great poems by Valerie Worth, Laura Purdie Salas, Joyce Sidman, and many others. I have also shared some poems that I wrote.

This project started with us looking carefully at a simple object: a photo of an egg on a table. As we looked, we tried to see beneath the surface, to find beauty and meaning in where our minds took us. I’m very impressed with the work the children did, with the care and openness and depth they showed in their writing.

You see, I have this sense that there is a difference between looking and seeing. To me, the difference is time and care. Poets (and scientists) try to really see, which means they have to spend some time with their eyes, mind, and hearts wide open. Which makes writing poetry on the last days of school a really great thing to do. It’s good to spend some time at the end of the year with our hearts wide open.

I have really enjoyed reading what the children saw. As Teagen put it so well: “I see/ an egg/ with powers/ powers that/ make you/ feel/ full.” These poems make me feel full. We hope that you enjoy them, too.

There will be more to come!

4 thoughts on “Seeing Slowly: Class Poems about an Egg

  1. Amazing.

    But then, consider the rich environment in which they’ve stewed their brains all year long, and the leader with the vision who has brought them to this point.

    “Whiter than paper/darker than god”

    Oh, my.

    Can’t wait to hear more about the process that led to these poems!

    • Oh my is right. I was struck by that line, too.

      I was really struck by the poetry the kids wrote this year. Much better than in previous years. I’m trying to figure out what happened. It’s a little older group (being fourth grade and all) but I think there was something else that happened, something that went beyond technique or lesson planning, something that reached just a little farther into the heart…

  2. Love it!! These are such great poems. It is such a gift for these students that in busy school days they have time to reflect!

    • Thank you, Sue! I really do love these last days of school. The tests are over. The Year has exchanged it’s dress shoes for sandals and a t-shirt. These are the days we learn “best”. 🙂

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