So many of our students believe that their lives are so uninteresting that there is nothing to write about. But so often, those small moments are some of the most important moments. Kaylie, one of my former eighth graders, shows us just how special a certain moment is when she describes a night walk with her dad.
Read Kaylie’s poem “Night Walks” out loud to your students while they have copies in front of them. Tell them you will read it a second time and ask them to underline any phrase or line that feels important or holds significance for them.
Night Walks
by Kaylie M. (8th grade)
When I was little
The sky danced with new stars
My dad bundled me up
And took me out for night walks
Cradled in his arms
He pointed out the Big Dipper
The Little Dipper
The North Star
Beetlejuice
I don’t remember the story of Beetlejuice
But I remember it was significant
Because my dad pointed it out to me
Beetlejuice is yellow
Far away from Earth
And I know that the older you get
The more distant you become
Farther and farther away from those
Who captured you in their warm embrace
Never reluctant to offer comfort
When it was needed most
The stars
Glistened in the bright sky
Elegant
Full of life’s greatest secrets
Cradled in his arms
Protected by his warm embrace
His breath cool against my cheek
We watched the stars spin
Above the earth and life as we knew it
After reading the poem twice, and underlining any lines or phrases, you can try this:
Write out anything Kaylie’s poem brings to mind for you.
Borrow any line that you underlined and write as fast as you can for two to three minutes, letting the line lead your thinking.
Think about the “small moments” that might have happened while you have been “sheltering-in-place” at home: Write as fast as you can for three to five minutes to capture the essence of that moment.
After finishing this first draft writing, go back to see if there is some line or phrase you want to slow down and develop. Write more. Or simply take some time to extend what you said in only two to five minutes.
Further Reading:
Linda is an instructor in the University of New Hampshire's Summer Literacy Institute and a national and international presenter on issues of adolescent literacy. She is the author of The Quickwrite Handbook, Read Write Teach, Inside the Writer's-Reader's Notebook and forthcoming from Heinemann Heartfelt Transitions: Using Poetry to Inspire & Deepen Reading & Writing. In 2020 she received the Kent Williamson Exemplary Leader Award from the Conference on English Leadership, in recognition of outstanding leadership in the English Language Arts. Twitter handle is @LindaMRief.
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