To celebrate the beginning of the end of the year (snow days this winter made the end last a good, long time!), our school had a celebration of poetry (dubbed a chalk-a-bration by teacher Betsy Hubbard). Our building principal contacted business owners who agreed to allow children to write poems on the sidewalk in front of their businesses.
It was a lot of fun!
Several business owners came out to greet us, smile, and take photos of the children at work. The children had a wonderful time, too.
As you can see, it was a beautiful, sunny day.
We decided that the children could either write poems themselves, or find some in books that I showed them this year. These poems really reflect their varied interests, but all show just a little part of their heart.
Many, many chose to write poems of their own creation.
What fun.
How fabulous that your students’ chalking is more than just the sidewalk in front of the school! Our building is surrounded on two sides by apartment/condos, on the third by the OSU Sheep Evaluation Station, and blocked in by a major road with no pedestrian amenities. (It’s such a crazy mix of urban/suburban/rural…the OSU airport is across the road from us, but blocks away it is strip mall central!) Needless to say, I’m a little jealous of a neighborhood school in a TOWN.
We really are lucky to be in a town, small though it may be. The business owners loved having the kids visit. I so much believe that school has to be more than what happens within the walls; it was fun to share the writing with the community and for the kids to “leave their mark” in a positive way.