March Musings 3: Snow Poetry

Winter is a delightful time of year for little ones who live in snowy venues. They look forward to winter fun as soon as the first, soft flake falls. Bundled in snow gear, children roll in the snow creating winter white snow angels, snow forts, and snowmen while parents shovel walkways. In their classrooms, students' imaginations recreate outdoor pleasures. 

Imagine my surprise when not just one but two classes of kindergarten students accepted my invitation to create snow poetry for my upcoming winter gallery, Winter Wonder 17. 

Christie Wyman's class in Massachusetts, Wyman's Wonders, joined a Kindergarten class in Ohio under the guidance of Char Shyrock, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Bay Village Schools, to create winter magic on paper. Proving that even the youngest grade school children can become aspiring poets, two educators who did not know each other, set out to brainstorm winter as a focal point. Twitter handles were exchanged and collaboration began in two separate locations. What follows is the outcome of this joint venture that I was excited to spearhead. 

Snow Poetry from Massachusetts

Teacher Christie Wyman provided her kinders with a template 

to use for creating snow poetry.

Teacher and students noticed and wondered about snow on their day walk.

Their poems were compiled into an Adobe Spark short video.

Click here to view the snow poems.

Hailey's snow poem has a delightful image that she sketched.

Snow Poetry from Ohio

Administrator, Char Shyrock, collaborated with a Kindergarten class in her district to have kinders brainstorm different aspects of winter snow.

Sensory charts were the starting points for exploring snow.

Wonderful thoughts emerged from the conversation.

Char sent me a message that the children brainstormed winter words by senses. She has more to share. Finalized poems will be shared with their new friends from Massachusetts and me.

You will be able to view the kindergarten students poems at the upcoming Winter Wonder 17 Gallery of Artistic Expressions. Offerings are still coming in from around the globe so stay tuned for messages about the grand unveiling. 

Just for fun, I am posting a video read aloud of one of Billy Collins' wonderful poems, Snow Day, a fitting one for this post. Perhaps, teachers will share this with their students to visualize what Billy portrays and create their own snow day poems. 

This post is the third in a series titled March Musings 

for Two Writing Teachers' 

March Slice of Life Challenge. 

Venture over to Heidi Mordhorst's site. Heidi is the host for Poetry Friday this week. She is celebrating Billy Collins' birthday month with a video of a 3 year old reciting one of Collins' poems. This is one that you will not want to miss seeing.  

Winter - A Celebration

Photo via flickr.com under the Creative Commons license. 

"Winter is not a season, it's a celebration."
--Anamika Mishra

Wintertime brings to mind iconic images such as, colds, chicken soup, flannels, and snuggly quilts. While nursing an acute sinus infection these past two weeks, life slowed down. At first, I found it difficult to remain inside drinking soup, switching flannels, and trying out different spots to cuddle up in, but, in retrospect, it was precious time. I was able to recuperate while slowly tucking away Christmas decorations, reorganizing closets and drawers, and celebrating an unusual January winter with fluctuating temperatures, dustings of snow, gray skies, and intermittent rain.

So what does one do when not able to venture outside? I mustered enough energy to bring winter joy inside. With sparkling lights, winter greenery, and flickering candles I created an ambiance to nurture my spirits in what seemed to be endless, boring hours.

Now with one day left on antibiotics, I am starting to feel perkier so, I will continue my pursuit of finding joy in the commonplace marvels of life (hopefully not those that have to do with winter colds).

I am sure that you have experienced the doldrums of winter colds but have you switched the perspective to spend time celebrating?

Each weekend I reflect and celebrate life with Ruth Ayres who creates space for writers to Celebrate This Week with her. This weekend, Ruth posted a unique look at love. Perhaps, you would like to read Ruth's Love is an Apple Core by clicking here.

SPECIAL NOTE:

I invite everyone to look closely at each winter day to find wonder and beauty in nature. If interested, consider creating a digital composition for my latest global gallery of artistic expressions, Winter Wonder 17. You can access the official invitation here.

Path of Joy

As I meander through the beginning of the year, I search for joy in the small and ordinary places of life. Even paperwork and household reorganization take on a new light when being guided by my one word, joy.  

Walking toward a path of joy is a heart-filled exploration of life.

Quiet places for me to find joy: 

-The original piano composition, The Joy of Little Things by Phantom Pianist 91

-Poetry, such as The Joy of Little Things by Robert William Service

It's good the great green earth to roam,

Where sight of awe the soul inspire;

But ho, it's best, the coming home,

The crackle of one's own hearth-fire!

You've hob-nobbed with the solemn Past;

You've seen the pageantry of kings:

Yet oh, how sweet to gain at last

The peace and rest of Little Things!

You can read the rest of the poem here.

-Quotations like "Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach

-Writing, in this case, a Golden Shovel poem inspired by the above quote

Walking the road to learning,
I reflect on a lesson: to
find time to live
mindfully in
the world, to uncover the
brilliance of the present,
the sparkle of a moment-
a single quest that is
accomplished in part
as I feel the breath of
nature and richness of the
seasons traveling a path,
discovering the power of
one limitless word: joy!
©CV, 2017

-Receiving poetry postcards from from Linda Baie, Diane Mayr, Brenda Davis Harsham, and Bridget Magee at the #postcardXchange, initiative created by Jone MacCulloch

postcard poetry
peaceful words on writers' wings
tranquil messages
©CV, 2017

-Inviting all who are interested in creating digital poetry for my newest gallery, Winter Wonder 17, to access the invitation here.

Today, the Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by my poetry friend,

Violet Nesdoly. I'm off to find joy at Violet's blog,

Violet Nesdoly / poems. Will you join me?  

Thanks Linda Baie for the snowy Poetry Friday logo.

May your path be filled with joy.

Next week, please join me as I joyfully host Poetry Friday.

Invitation to Winter Wonder 17

When winter white blankets unfurl from the sky, a hush settles over the land. Photographers capture stilled wonders. Artists choose mediums and poets quietly blend words to accompany what is seen through the lens. Artistry in white is christened and moments in time frozen for all to witness.  

In the quiet of the winter season, I invite you to find nature's artistry during January and February, whether the earth is covered in white blankets or warmed by the sun's brilliance in your locale. 

Adults, students, and classes across the globe are

Cordially Invited 

to contribute to my newest 

Reflect With Me Gallery of Artistic Expressions-

Winter Wonder 17

-Be inspired to find the beauty of the season.

-Capture your perspective of the winter season in photographs, videos, digital slide shows, songs, musical compositions, artistic renderings, collages, illustrations, image poems, digital inspirations, inspirational quotes, or hand-drawn pictures.

-Send a thumbnail (jpeg or png) of your offering to my gmail account (cvarsalona at gmail dot com). You can also send your winter wonder to my Google +, Facebook, and Twitter accounts (@cvarsalona). The preferred size of the image should be 450 pixels or no larger than a 3 by 5 image.

-A digital repository for the gallery's offerings can be found on Twitter under a custom hashtag #WinterWonder17. Please post your work there for all to see during the winter months. 

-All digital compositions must have proper credit for work displayed with the name of the author and location of photographic image embedded at the bottom of the image. 

-Deadline for submissions is February 28, 2017.

-Examples of past winter galleries can be accessed at: Winter Wanderings and Winter Whisperings. 

Thank you to Lester Laminack for suggesting the title of this gallery. 

Be encouraged to look closely at each winter day to find wonder and beauty in nature. Let your creative spirit move you to create an individual interpretation of what you have witnessed.

How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose,

If there were no winter in our year!"

-Thomas Wentworth Higginson