Poetry Break with a Poem Written by a Child

Poetry Break with “Pictures” by Lori Herrell

Nye, Naomi Shihab, ed. 2000. Salting the Ocean: 100 Poems by Young Poets. Ill. by Ashley Bryan. New York: Greenwillow Books, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Introduction: Ask students to think of what is outside of the window(s) in their rooms, and allow students to respond. Explain to the students that the following poem was written by a young person, just like them, from any grade between Kindergarten and 12th (the book did not specify). Read “Pictures” at least twice.

Pictures

There are three windows in my room.
Nobody understands
my windows unless they
see them.

One holds
the entire upper floor
of my mother’s
scarlet Japanese maple
tree.
And some of the backyard
and the snow-white
garden gate
wedged between the overly
abundant green hedge.

Another window frames
the tightrope
where my bushy-tailed
acrobat friends
scurry along,
giving no thought to the fact
that down below awaits
not a circus net,
but a sidewalk.

My third window
can be my favorite
when I look down to see
my father
and mother
in the early morning sun
sitting on the patio
with their cups
of coffee.

Extension: Project the poem on an overhead or document projector so that the students can read the words themselves. On a sheet of drawing paper, ask each student to draw the following: one or more pictures of what is seen from the windows in the poem; as a follow-up exercise, if time permits, have the students draw what is seen from their own windows. Place a copy of the poem, along with the illustrations, in a classroom book for all to enjoy.