"Write Like the Wind" (Second Friday with Mr. Newsham)

Today students "cut away" extra words in the poem "Some Advice to Young Poets" by Nicanor Parra. It was fun to watch students cut/ edit and delete a published work. It allowed the students to "cut away the chatter and get to the main message".
Then we focused on similes and metaphors, which helped us to see two things at once.
The goal today was make an unusual connection.
Students looked at a series of masks on the white board and read a few poems titled "The Mask Speaks".

Students chose their own mask, then made a poem as if their mask had a voice using first person. Students wrote with "vivid picture taking" in mind including many metaphors and similes.
Courtney C
Sometimes I wake up,
Gazing at the burning sun
The heat burning my skin,
The desert dry and waterless
I stare until my eyes are storm clouds,
Rain tears of joy
My nose houses the many,
Secret of the Sioux
Thunder clouds electrifying my face,
Trying to uncover my secrets
But I will never tell
My forehead holds,
The sweet songs of the mountain birds
My cheeks holding,
The footprints of mankind
My mouth are two fishes,
Just squirming to speak
And though they shoot arrows at me,
And I have cuts in my face
I never fail
My eyebrows are thunder bolts,
Scaring my enemies away
My chin,
The flower of life


To read about our first day with Poet Newsham follow the link here:
http://datab9.blogspot.com/2012/02/spill-words-onto-page.html