I stumbled into a colleague’s classroom on Tuesday and found a chart posted about line breaks. It included a poem by Zoe Ryder White, whose work I was unfamiliar with. (I’m a bit embarrassed by this since she’s from NYC and has done lots of work with the TCRWP. I’m surprised I haven’t been to a Calendar Day with her, but it is what it is.) Here’s the poem I read on this first grade classroom’s Writing Workshop Wall. I simply love the way the line breaks turned an ordinary sentence into something profound.
Ceiling by Zoe Ryder White
The Ceiling
Is the sky
For the classroom.
Poetry Friday is being hosted at Farm School.
Filed under: friday poetry, line breaks, poetry, tcrwp, zoe ryder white
Love this! Am working with a second grade teacher with poetry so will share.
I like this, too! Straightforward and something the kids can understand!
Amazing what you find when stumbling into classrooms, huh? What brilliance. I am a big fan of poetic line breaks. I think I kinda talk that way verbally too.
What a nifty way to teach the very young to turn their own sentences into their own poetry. Thanks, Stacey.
Amazing. Thanks for sharing this! I’ve never seen it before and love it.
I am so happy to hear that people are using this little poem! I am working on a book now, so there will be more poems out there in the world soon.
I teach 4th grade and I am using this poem in conjunction with Calkin’s Poetry: Powerful thoughts in Tiny Packages. Students will find an artifact in the classroom or outside at the park and begin to write about ordinary objects as poets.
Thanks!