Official Kids Mag

Aren't these word pictures beautiful and surprising? They were written by kids like you! They help us look at familiar things in a new way through a special tool of language called a simile. Each image compares two very different things using the word "like," and the writers discovered something those images have in common that we recognize too. Similes and other tools of writing make poetry enjoyable to read and create. The first simile was written by 9-year-old Simeon J. and the second, by his sister, Chloe. The third was by Zeke G. They were with other homeschooled students who recently met at Red Oak Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas, for a dynamic and fun poetry workshop led by poet and teacher Suzanne Rhodes of Fayetteville. "When we talk about poetry," Suzanne said, "we're talking about language that sings and words that are charged with meaning and emotion." Then she read two poems. The first was from one of her books and was called "The Way My Grandmother Peeled a Potato." The other, by John Ciardi, was humorous — "Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast." Both poems used imagery, or words that appeal to the senses, and similes and metaphors. Poetry also uses rhythm and words with musical sounds like "twisted piece of wood," as Isabella C. wrote in her poem, "Driftwood." Suzanne let the kids choose an object from several she'd gathered from the beach — a couple of pieces of driftwood, sea glass, sea pottery, a sand dollar, a shell, a yellow rock. The children had to study the objects and record their observations as a scientist might. What color is it? What shape and texture? What markings? Next, they had to reflect on those things, not as scientists, but as poets. What does your object remind you of ? Is there a story with your object? Then they wrote down those ideas. A good way to start a poem is to ask a question, and this is how the students began their object poems. Suzanne gave one more assignment — this one a little on the crazy side. She handed out newspapers, scissors, glue sticks and cardstock. The students paired off to find random words and headlines that spoke to them, then cut the words and letters out and spread them around. They looked for interesting or funny ways to arrange the words to make a poem. Once they came up with something they liked, they glued the words to the paper. The poem written by Ava H. uses many images and a stunning simile (can you spot it?) to describe a shell in the ocean. But she goes even farther and relates the shell to all of us and what we can learn from it. What is it like to be a shell? What is it like to be carried with the waves? It is like dancing I suppose, Seeing the shimmer of the waves above like dancing coins, Beautiful arrays of pink and blue. Things live inside of you, shell, Small creatures needing shelter. You welcome them. You were created for this purpose and you accept it without struggle. You see wonders, As the things inside of your pink walls grow and move away, New things need a home just as the one before. Growth is beautiful. May we all be like shells, Welcoming the good in and guarding things that should not. As you grow older shell, You set an example for the other shells, You teach them wisdom. Homeschoolers write 'Language That Sings' in poetry workshop The Life of a Shell "Clouds move like sauntering snails." "Night fell like a vulture, swift and black." "The braid hung down her back like a rope." 32 • MAY 2020 • Of f icialKidsMag.com

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