Category Archives: National Poetry Month

I can’t do it – YET!

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Nurturing a Growth Mindset in the Classroom

Hello everyone – happy Monday! I wanted to share my latest poem with you.

Yes, I Can! was inspired by a lot of self-defeating comments I’ve come to hear over the last 18 years teaching. Truthfully, if I had a nickel every time I heard a student say I can’t do it, I’d be off on a yacht somewhere right now (nah, maybe not – I get sea sick). Joking aside, the reality is that none of us are perfect. None of us can do everything. And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we still don’t master various things – and that’s okay, at least we tried.

It’s when students give up before they even try that it’s NOT OKAY. That’s the point I’ve been trying to make with my students last week. Yes, some things are hard. Some tasks will challenge us. But the attitude we have toward challenges is what determines the outcome. It is this mindset, over time, that will shape and condition our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. Our mindset consists of our thoughts and attitudes toward ourselves and the world around us. These beliefs shape how we perceive and handle everyday situations. Do we look at challenges as opportunities to grow or do we fall prey to self-defeating thoughts? 

Yes, I Can! is a poem I wrote that celebrates what children can do, as well as embraces that which they cannot, yet, do. Teaching children to have a “Growth Mindset” is crucial in helping them become better learners. After all, in order to succeed at anything, we must persist and push ourselves forward, despite the challenges. Positive self-talk is what helps children persevere and not give up. Yes, I Can! encourages children to adopt positive self-talk. Instead of focusing on ‘I can’t do it!’, it re-frames their thinking, ‘I can’t do it, yet!’

Along with the poem, I created a follow-up worksheet (rehearsing high-frequency word can) and a mini-book that is co-authored with me (my students were thrilled with the idea). It invites students to fill in a missing high-frequency word, as well as add a skill or task they can complete successfully, as well another skill they aspire to learn, reminding them that their mindset is the only thing in the way.

Yes, I Can! by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on work found at www.lorarozler.com

In all the excitement to teach children that our mindset is not a fixed state, I created a visual anchor for the classroom. Feel free to download a copy for your personal use by clicking on the image below.

To download a copy of the poem, Yes, I Can!  along with the follow-up activities, click on the image below. 

Wishing you a fabulous week ahead!

Lora

We remember you … Maya Angelou

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Today we lost one of literature’s most endearing, inspiring, brilliant leaders, Maya Angelou.

She was known for many things – actress, director, producer, teacher, activist, but perhaps what set her apart was her brilliant contribution to the world of literature as a poet and writer. In her autobiography, “Caged Bird”, Maya Angelou challenged the common structure of writing by producing work that her editor, Robert Loomis called, “high art”.

In honour of her life and the inspiration she has left with us, I’d like to share some of her words. They will continue to enlighten us in her passing.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper.
It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.

 

If you don’t like something, change it.
If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

 

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

 

My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.

 

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

 

There is no greater agony than bearing
an untold story inside you.

 

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.

 

We may encounter many defeats
but we must not be defeated.

 

If you have only one smile in you
give it to the people you love.

 
If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.

 

Life loves the liver of it.

Rest in peace Maya.

Great article remembering Maya Angelou by Jian Ghomeshi

All the Colours in the Sky

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All the Colours in the Sky
Liam, age 5

All the colours in the sky –
Violet, yellow, red and blue.
All the colours in the sky –
Pink and purple too.

All the colours in the sky
Indigo, orange and grey.
All the colours in the sky –
What a spectacular array!

Sky

Note: The poem was inspired by Liam’s inquiry-based learning about the sky. His Kindergarten teacher read the book Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds and invited students to take pictures of the sky at various times of the day. We captured a shot at sunset and decided to take it a step further. His teacher liked the poem very much and wrote it up on chart paper to share with the class.
(Mommy only helped a little bit J)

 

Creative Commons License
All the colours in the sky by Lora Rozler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Pall’s Poem

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Pall’s Poem
By Stan Morris

I don’t pretend I know a lot,
about the world in which you slide.
It’s hard to speak to people, you know
I’d rather go spacing and hide.

But I see it makes you happy,
to hang out with a group.
And I know you never mind,
when the group becomes a troop.

So I stay by your side and wait to see
if your eyes will turn to me.

Poetry is calling …

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“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words”.
Robert Frost

“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks”.
Plutarch

 “A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language”.
W. H. Auden

“Poetry can be dangerous, especially beautiful poetry, because it gives the illusion of having had the experience without actually going through it.”
Rumi

“One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose”.
Voltaire

Hello everyone.  April is National Poetry month – and it so happens, I LOVE poems!  In recognition, I would like to share a couple of poems by two of my favourite authors.

Messy Room
By Shel Silverstein

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater’s been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or–
Huh? You say it’s mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

There is great collection of Shel Silverstein’s work on: http://www.shelsilverstein.com/

My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes

My teacher calls me sweetie cakes.
My classmates think it’s funny
to hear her call me angel face
or pookie bear or honey.

She calls me precious baby doll.
She calls me pumpkin pie
or doodle bug or honey bunch
or darling butterfly.

My class is so embarrassing
I need to find another;
just any class at all
in which the teacher’s not my mother.

Check out Kenn Nesbitt’s website for other great poems: http://www.poetry4kids.com

Here are some other links to cool poetry pages:

http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poemcategories.aspx

http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/classicpoems.htm

http://www.poetryarchive.org/childrensarchive/home.do

http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/

If you have a favourite poem that you’d like to feature on our blog (perhaps even your own), please submit it to us at wordsonalimb@bell.net.  Remember to include the author’s name.

Please note: Words on a Limb does not claim ownership of any of the poems posted.