Precise Language (Day 22/31 #sol22)

I offered my young poets a little good news and a little bad news today.

Of course they chose to hear the bad news first. That’s how it goes, right?

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Bad news: We only have two more days of our poetry unit.

** insert moans and groans and “can’t we just…”s **

Good news: That means we really get to dive in and put all of our best work on the page this week.

** quizzical looks as they wonder if their teacher is trying to pull a fast one on them **

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Today’s lesson was about using precise language to write about feelings. They started with a simple feelings sentence, like “I feel happy today” or “I feel sad”. It didn’t have to be how they were feeling right then at that very moment – it could have been a feeling that they’d experienced at some other time in their lives.

Then we wrote a poem together to try to explore using precise language to describe feelings. Here is our joint creation:

Okay. Good start.

But THEN?

Once they tapped deeper into how certain feelings felt in their brains, in their hearts, and in their bodies? Once they sat quietly with their own thoughts and words?

Holy bagumba.

They really did put all of their best work on the page today.

Check these out…

“I feel lonely today. It’s like I’m invisible. It feels greyish. It’s like… I’m a blade of grass alone in a patch of dirt.”

“I am happy. My bucket is filled and my heart is put together. Yellow, red, lime green. I feel like I can touch the moon.”

“I do not feel like the sun. I feel like a rain cloud with tears. I hope someone notices me.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you…

My first and second grade poets. They feel their feelings deeply. They can identify and describe their feelings to communicate with others. They’re comfortable with sharing the range of human emotions that we all feel (yet rarely, as adults, have the time to precisely unpack).

First and second grade.

Yep.

We’re going to be okay.

❤️