A Lesson in Flexibility and Pride

 It's National Poetry Month, and many of my poet friends are pulling out all the stops to celebrate.  I volunteered to add a line in the Progressive Poem, and offered to give a poetry program for school-aged children at my library.  Today I report on that adventure.

The librarian told me they weren't getting many school-aged children. Sad news. I called the day before the program. No one was signed up. I decided to show up anyway. When I arrived she said that two children were signed up, ages 7 and 4.

My plan was to engage in conversation about poetry, elicit some poems they might know and build on that. So... we started... yes, they knew several simple poems. I read some more and shared a poem or two of mine.

The four-year-old stayed with us for a while, then went to the lego table. His sister and I talked and read, enjoying especially some poems for two-voices. She is an excellent reader already at 7.  At some point I shared a photo from Margaret Simon's blog and elicited her reactions to it:

Then I read my poem:

Yes, yes!

Yes, I did!

I caught this fish

Myself!

I did!

Mama's proud

Daddy too

I caught this fish!!!

I'm over the moon

    © Karen Eastlund

I had promised to send each child home with a poem in their pocket.  

My young friend, Fatima, chose the paper with the butterfly and bow, and we used my poem as a starting place to write her original poem:

Yes, yes!

Yes, I did!

I read this book

Myself

I did!

Amma's proud

Abba's proud too

I read this book

I'm over the moon!

    - Fatima

Fatima was proud of her poem, and she chose to stand up and read it to her mom, brother, the librarian and me. Of course we all clapped and congratulated her.

(An aside: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater had graciously offered to let me use one of her poems as a mentor text, but because of the age of the child, I used my own. Thanks, Amy.)

It's been some years since I've given a library program, and although I had hoped for an older group, and at least 4 children, I felt that sharing with one child helped me learn what worked and what didn't. The younger brother didn't care to make a poem for his pocket, and I didn't feel that a 4-year-old was ready for my offering, so that was okay. 

Just as David L. Harrison wrote this week after no one showed up for a poetry reading, we poets can be flexible... and proud. In retrospect, I'm happy with the outcome. One little girl went home with a poem in her pocket.  I'm proud of that.

Today's Poetry Friday gathering is hosted by Jone Ruth MacCulloch. Click HERE. Jone is hosting a collection of poems found in classic books. What a fun idea!  Be sure to check it out.