"An Art Shiver" With Mr. Newsham

What is an "art shiver"? Read on to find out. We had our fourth of five poetry lessons with Master Poet Mr. Newsham. We started with talking about Imagery and the power of memory. Students were encouraged to think about a powerful memory they have about someone in their life. Next, we read a few poems that helped students remember the connection with people important to them through examples. Then students participated in a "lighting writing exercise" getting their thoughts about someone they care about on paper/ screen.. a word portrait if you will. Then students revisited "personification" and were asked to become a shape-shifter and write a personification poem.

Examples of Poetic Champions Compositing their personification poem:

• Julia F
  Personification
  I am the Ocean,
  Strong, mighty, and proud.
  I can be soft and gentle,
  And softly rock people,
  But you have to remain kind.
  Some people throw things at me,
  And I find it very rude.
  Some people complain about my rocky feet that they step on,
  Well, all I can say is that you stepped there,
  Not me.
  At that point I stomp my feet and throw my hands in the air,
  Out of fury and aggravation.
  I may bring you down,
  And reel you back in to me,
  Whether you want to or not,
  Then I can eat you up,
  Or make you stranded.
  However,
  I am usually nice.
  Just be gentle with me,
  And I will be gentle with you.
  I see people sucking up my insides,
  And with one last wish of hope,
  I send a huge wave,
  But I know that the people have taken part of me as food,
  By standing on the hard wooden pillars,
  Which were placed deeply into my side.
  I am crystal clear and beautiful when humans care about me.
  But when you throw trash around,
  Or drop it into me,
  I become ugly and a mucky green,
  And I am unloved.
  But I am the ocean,
  I am strong and mighty!
  I care for you humans (most of the time),
  And I apologize in advanced for any further temper tantrums.
  But everyone gets them,
  Right?
  So please understand.
  Thank you for your consideration,
  And I am proud to be me!
  
  Today
  
  Delete
  
  
• Shiara C
  Personification Poem
  I am the basketball,
  You shoot through the hoop,
  I am the basketball,
  You dribble down court.
  
  I am nothing but abused,
  And I have been my whole life,
  You guys throw me on the ground,
  And throw me at a loop.
  
  I can barely sleep at night,
  In my lone basketball bag,
  I sit and stare at the zipper,
  Hoping it may never open again.
  
  But the rush is worth it,
  With all the beating I get,
  When I finally do get through the loop,
  The crowd goes wild, literally.
  
  Everyone screams and shouts,
  Like I’m the best thing in the world,
  Like I jumped from the hands of the player,
  And went right through the hoop
  
  They scream many names,
  When I go in the hoop,
  Such as Kobe, Dirk,
  Jason Kid and Lamar Odem
  
  I finally zone back to reality,
  They aren’t talking to me,
  Their talking to the player,
  I’m getting absolutely no credit.
  
  It’s fine though,
  Because when they wake up,
  And want to play with me,
  I will be gone.
  
  I am running away,
  They won’t abuse me anymore,
  I am now half way to Miami,
  But now everyone is talking about the Miami Heat,
  
  Is it hot out there or something?
  
  Today
  
  Delete
  
  
• Alejandro L
  The Poem:
  I am a soccer ball,
  With my pentagons,
  Black and white.
  I start to wonder,
  Why do you kick me?
  Why couldn’t you treat me
  Like a basketball, or a
  Baseball or even a handball?
  But then I realized that I
  Was destined to be a
  Soccer ball.
  Nothing more,
  Nothing less.
  
  Today
  
  Delete
  
  
• zainab r
  Popcorn
  I am here in the pantry,
  And it is Friday night I am excited,
  Because it is movie night,
  The Rangwala’s love a snack,
  While watching a movie,
  I think it is time I am the only one left in the box,
  I hear the advertisements and the kids asking when the movie will start,
  I was waiting for a while straitening my wrapper,
  And the box moved,
  I was on my way,
  I was set in the microwave,
  I started popping,
  Then before I knew I was taken out of the hot room,
  I was opened and then eaten.
  
  Today

Needless to say, an "ART SHIVER" is what I get after reading the amazing poems that the students write after Mr. Newsham teaches and inspires us with his thoughtful poetry lessons. To check out days 1-3 with Mr. Newsham please follow the links:

Day 3: http://datab9.blogspot.com/2012/03/power-of-images-with-mr-newsham.html

Day 2: http://datab9.blogspot.com/2012/03/poetry-today-day-two-with-mr-newsham.html

Day 1: http://datab9.blogspot.com/2012/02/spill-words-onto-page.html