Slice of Life 19: Lesson Learned

March 14, 2019 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

I don’t know if it’s because of the time change or because we had parent conferences at the beginning of the week, which altered our schedule or a combination of these and other events, but I feel like I haven’t gotten much accomplished this week. (Check my recent blog posts for confirmation. Oh wait, I haven’t written since Sunday. I rest my case.)

Last night I was planning a lesson on elaboration for a fifth grade class. I had my teaching point, the basic sequence of the lesson, and the mentor text I wanted to use. But I hadn’t written my model. I knew what I was going to write about, but it was after 10:30 and I was just too tired. Knowing I had time to write it in the morning, I headed for bed.

But I couldn’t get the lesson out of my head. Sentences from my unwritten model were swirling around in my head. At 2:00 I told myself to just follow my breath back to sleep. At 2:30 I got up for some water. At 3:00 I gave up and got up to write the model. Then I wrote a possible sequence for future lessons. Then I figured that I was on a roll and might as well write a Slice of Life.

So what’s the lesson? Next time, instead of losing at least four hours of sleep, I’ll make myself a cup of tea and power through another half-hour or so of work. I’ll have a much better chance of getting a good night’s sleep!

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Slice of Life 19: 13 Ways to Eat a Chocolate Chip Cookie

March 10, 2019March 10, 2019 Catherine Flynn15 Comments

13 Ways to Eat a Chocolate Chip Cookie

When my poetry pal and fellow Slicer Molly Hogan posted a poetry prompt to write about “Cookies!!! Christmas cookies, sugar cookies or any sort of cookie,” I had to think for a bit. Like many of you, my family has many cookie traditions to choose from. In the end, I decided to stick with the cookie that’s been part of my memories forever, chocolate chip.

Once I settled on the kind of cookie, I had to come up with a form. I like to play with poems I’m working on in my head as I drive to work. This isn’t always a good idea because I have to actually pay attention to the other cars on the road! But, as sometimes happens, inspiration struck. Wallace Stevens “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” popped into my head. There must be at least 13 ways to look at a chocolate chip cookie. Or, even better, of eating a chocolate chip cookie. So here you have it, my “13 Ways to Eat a Chocolate Chip Cookie.”

Raw*

Sugar dissolves on your tongue
Sweetness fills your mouth
The chocolate chips still crunch.

Warm

Eleven minutes of heat transform
Lumps of dough into a golden brown,
Gooey confection.

With a glass of cold milk

Break the cookie in half
Dunk one end into the milk,
The longer it’s submerged, the softer will be.

At Nana’s House

There is always a tray of my favorite treat
Waiting on the table by the kitchen door.
Nana serves me two cookies on a red and white plate.

In small pieces

Break the cookie into small bits around the chip.
Nibble slowly. The sweetness of the softened
Morsel explodes like a ripe blueberry.

With Breakfast

Instead of pancakes
Both have eggs and flour
Sometimes people add chocolate chips to pancakes.

Crispy

Let them cool completely
They will crunch when you bite down
And leave crumbs at the corner of your mouth.

After school

When I get home, I’m so hungry
Lunch was hours ago
Cookies ease my hunger pangs.

In two bites

This way your entire mouth
Can savor the flavor
But they’re gone faster.

Chewy

If you put a slice of bread
In the tin
Your cookies will become soft and chewy.

After sledding

While my cheeks are still cold
Cookies and hot cocoa
Warm me up in no time.

Before bed

A single cookie
Helps me forget my cares
And sweetens my dreams.

Anytime

Because chocolate chip cookies
make everything better and
Are the most delicious cookie ever!

* I know all about salmonella concerns, but some habits die hard

Draft © Catherine Flynn, 2019

Poetry Friday: Celebrating International Women’s Day

March 7, 2019March 7, 2019 Catherine Flynn43 Comments

“It is always better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Hello, and welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! (Visit Renée LaTulippe at No Water River to learn more about Poetry Friday.)

Two months ago, when I was efficiently filling out my calendar with important dates, I realized I was hosting Poetry Friday on International Women’s Day I never pass up the opportunity for a theme, so I suggested that we share poems celebrating women.

I found this to be a bit more challenging that I anticipated. Right after I posted my idea, astronomer Nancy Grace Roman passed away. After reading about this amazing woman, I thought I might write a poem to honor her. But then I found a post by Maria Papova on BrainPickings about Ellen Harding Baker, an Iowa teacher who lived from 1847-1886. During her short life, she created a quilt depicting our solar system to use during her lessons. Her stunning creation is now part of the collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The National Museum of American History,
Gift of Patricia Hill McCloy and Kathryn Hill Meardon

This confluence of needlework and astronomy drew me to Ellen’s story and made me want to celebrate her life. This poem has proven quite a challenge to write, and I hope it does her justice.

An Ode to Ellen Harding Baker

Silenced by society’s
rules and regulations,
she adhered to its conventions,
fulfilling expectations.

Smiling on her sister,
Minerva granted her a gift:
The skill and creativity
to share her story visually.

Denied the power of the pen,
she embroidered woolen cloth.
Inspired by the spangled sky
and swirling stars above,
she stitched a blazing tapestry
detailing our corner of the galaxy.

Her masterpiece invited
wonderment and awe,
spreading knowledge and delight,
helping imaginations to take flight.

Today’s post is also doing double-duty as my Slice of Life. Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every day in March and each Tuesday throughout the year. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

And now for the Roundup! Please join today’s celebration of poetry by sharing your link.

Slice of Life: What Did You Fall In Love With Today?

March 5, 2019 Catherine Flynn11 Comments

One of my favorite podcasts is Krista Tippett’s On Being. Recently, artist Maira Kalman was Krista’s guest. During their wide-ranging conversation, Kalman explained that “The subject of my work is the normal, daily things that people fall in love with.” Krista then asked “Have you fallen in love with something today?” Kalman had quite a list of items she’d fallen in love with that day. It was quite an uplifting, illuminating moment. It also got me thinking. What have I fallen in love with lately?

We have been renovating and adding on to our house for more than a year. It’s exhausting living in a construction zone, but I’m well aware of the first-world status of this problem and try not to complain. Now the end is in sight. So I went furniture shopping. I had an idea for what I wanted, but I also had an open mind. I found a lovely chair covered in soft, deep blue upholstery with a jacquard floral pattern. You sink into it. There is room to curl up. I fell in love with it the minute I sat down.

I also fell in love with a small flock of robins was darting and diving in and out of the trees that surround our school’s parking lot. They seemed to be dancing in pure joy.

A little later, I fell in love again with the color of the sky at dusk. The horizon was the deep pink of flamingo feathers and gradually lightened to the shade of cotton candy. Who would not fall in love with such sights, which Natalie Babbitt calls “those commonplace marvels” which the world “spreads so carelessly before us everyday?”

What did you fall in love with today?

Slice of Life 19: The Cult of the Cooking Channel

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

This poem, which is partially true, evolved from a story idea I found in my journal. This cheesecake is delicious and has become a holiday tradition in my family. You can find the recipe here.

The Cult of the Cooking Channel

She “got” cooking like
some people “get” religion.
The lure of pristine,
well-stocked kitchens was
impossible to resist.

Her favorite high priestess extolled
the virtues of butter,
so tubs of margarine
were tossed in favor
of sticks of unsalted butter.
Garlic was now purchased in bulbs,
not bottles.

She found herself at the mall,
clutching a recipe for cheesecake
searching for the kitchen supply store.
The saleswoman showed her how
to use a springform pan,
Located the “perfect microplane”
For zesting lemons.

At her next stop, she found
red currant jelly, something
she’d never heard of,
tucked away on the top shelf,
filled her cart with cream cheese,
sour cream, and eggs.

Assembling the batter was
surprisingly easy; she just
followed the recipe,
step by careful step.

After the pan was filled
and safely in the oven,
she ran her finger along
the rim of the bowl and licked.
She’d never tasted anything
so delicious.

Baking this luscious concoction
was tedious, but she never
deviated from her mentor’s
instructions.

When her creation was cool
and topped with raspberries tossed
in the warm melted jelly,
she offered it to her family.

Their mouths dropped open.
They regarded her with new eyes.
Who was this woman who had such
hidden talents?

An acolyte of the cooking channel,
eager to discover new recipes,
new truths about herself.

Slice of Life 19: By the Book

March 3, 2019 Catherine Flynn7 Comments

For the past two years, I’ve done a post modeled on the “By the Book” that runs each week in The New York Times Book Review. This column, subtitled “Writers on literature and the literary life,” interviews authors about what they’re currently reading, which books they love, and other interesting questions related to their reading. The column asks about a dozen questions, but my favorite is always the first: “What books are on your nightstand?”

I always have at least a dozen stacked by my bed and a dozen more by my desk. At the moment Sharon Creech’s new middle grade novel, Saving Winslow is at the top. Creech’s Newbery Award winning Walk Two Moons is one of my favorite books of all time, so I’m really looking forward to reading about “a sickly newborn mini donkey.”

I picked up Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux at the library last week. I’m only on the first chapter, but this book is already full of fascinating information about one of the most influential books in American literature.

A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry by Gregory Orr, who is a professor of English at the University of Virginia, is next. This book is pushing my writing and thinking about poetry in unexpected directions.

There is always at least one book that I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never read. This year, it’s Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives by Peter H. Johnston. Johnston’s message, that through our language, we “construct the classroom worlds for our students and ourselves” and that “the worlds we construct offer opportunities and constraints” is a powerful one. If you haven’t read this book, find it and read it as soon as you can.

What books are on your nightstand?

Slice of Life 19: Pumpkin Bread

March 2, 2019March 2, 2019 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of choice. Sometimes that choice is within a broader topic. This poem is an example of that kind of choice. This month I am also participating in Laura Shovan’s “February” Poetry Project. (Why we’re doing it in March is a long story.) The theme this year is food, and yesterday Laura shared a picture of sourdough bread as a prompt. She also offered the alternative to write about a “bread of your choosing.” Since I don’t have much experience with sourdough bread, and have been baking pumpkin bread every year for almost forty years, this was an obvious substitution. Like the goal of writing a daily slice of life, the goal of Laura’s project “is to practice the habit of writing regularly…so that we can focus on generating ideas.” I may return to this poem to rework the ending, or I may not. I did enjoy the process of writing, and the piece of pumpkin bread (from a loaf hidden in the freezer) I ate to help me write it!

Pumpkin Bread

In November,
After the geese have flown south
And only brown oak leaves
Still cling to tree limbs,
It’s time to make pumpkin bread.

The cookbook falls open
To the recipe,
Spattered and stained
From thirty years of use.
The heady scent of cinnamon
And cloves fills the kitchen
As ingredients mix and meld
Into honey-colored batter.

I fill the pans, like a bee
Filling honeycombs.
Then into the oven, where
The golden glop transforms
Into loaves of amber sweetness
That we will devour
When they cool.

Slice of Life 19: Thoughts About My Writing Life

March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 Catherine Flynn15 Comments

For the past three days, I have been part of a team of teachers visiting a neighboring district to learn more about this district’s English/Language Arts curriculum and its implementation. This was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I will be thinking about everything I learned there for days and weeks to come.

One of the questions we asked the teachers we visited was “What is the writing life of a student here?” I’ve been thinking about how I would answer this question for students in my district, as well as how I would answer it for myself. This seemed like a good place to begin the 12th annual Slice of Life Challenge.

I can honestly say that I owe my current writing life to the Slice of Life challenge. Late one Friday night seven years ago, I wrote my first slice more on a whim than anything else. That post led to more posts, and eventually I began attending conferences, meeting authors, and ultimately, publishing poems of my own and of my students.

So what is it about Slice of Life that enabled me to build a rich, rewarding writing life? Being part of a community of supportive writers is perhaps the most important thing slicing has given me. From the beginning, the encouraging comments and feedback have nurtured me as a writer and given me the confidence to continue writing. I think about this every day when I confer with my students about their writing.

Another critical quality of slicing is that, in terms of what to write about, the sky is the limit. Writers are free to write about whatever they want, using whatever genre or format that suits their topic. Just as I appreciate being able to make my own choices, I know students want this freedom also. That being said, I also appreciate the suggestions the Two Writing Teacher team members provide throughout the month. Sometimes it’s just hard to face a blank page without any guidelines. This is true for our students as well.

I also appreciate the many mentor texts shared by all slicers. Whether its a line of text that launches a dive into childhood memories, or a poem that provides a structure for a poem of my own, mentor texts are an essential component of any writing life.

These are just my initial thoughts about this question, but I’ll be returning to it over the course of the month. As John Ciardi said, “a good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of ideas.” I look forward to watching the “greening of the landscape” with you.

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Kelsey, Melanie, and Lanny for creating this community and providing this space for teachers and others to share their stories every Tuesday. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Poetry Friday: Robins

March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 Catherine Flynn10 Comments

As I left school one afternoon last week, snow had just started falling and an icy wind was picking up. Suddenly, six or seven robins flew across the parking lot, landing in a tree at the edge of the playground. The sight filled me with hope that spring will be here soon. Here is a poem those robins inspired.

Robins,
plump and ruffled
against the snow,
swoop,
perch;
a maple tree
bursts into bloom.

Valerie Worth’s poem, “Robins,” also expresses the delight of the return of these harbingers of spring.

Look how
Last year’s
Leaves, faded
So gray
And brown,

Blunder
Along
Like flimsy
Flightless
Birds,

Stumbling
Beak over
Tail
Before
The wind.

But no,
Wait:
Today
They right
Themselves,

And turn
To the
Stout slate
And ruddy
Rust

Of robins,
Running
On steady
Stems across
The ground.

Don’t forget that next Friday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day. I’ll be hosting the Roundup that day and would love it if people help to celebrate the day by sharing poems that honor women. You can read more here. Please be sure to visit Linda at Teacher Dance for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

Poetry Friday: “For You”

February 22, 2019 Catherine Flynn14 Comments

Like many of you, I was deeply saddened to learn of Paul B. Janeczko’s death earlier this week. Although I never met Mr. Janeczko, I feel like he was an old friend. His books have been a staple in my classroom since I began teaching and have guided and inspired my own writing. Last night, I spent the evening poring over favorite titles, trying to decide what would be a fitting tribute. In the end, I chose “For You,” by Karla Kuskin, which is included in Poetry From A to Z: A Guide for Young Writers (Simon & Schuster, 1994). This poem is especially poignant for me because my sweet orange cat Noodles passed away just a few weeks ago.

For You
by Karla Kuskin

Here is a building
I have built for you.
The bricks are butter yellow.
Every window shines.
And at each an orange cat is curled,
lulled by summer sun.
The door invites you in.
The mat is warm.
Inside there is a chair
so soft and blue
the pillows look like sky.
In all the world
no one but you
may sit in that cloud chair.
I’ll sit near by.

There are just two more weeks until March 8th, International Women’s Day. I’ll be hosting the Roundup that day and would love it if people help to celebrate the day by sharing poems that honor women. You can read more here. In the meantime, please be sure to visit Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge for the Poetry Friday Roundup.

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Author: Catherine Flynn