Strange Dreams

Have you ever had a strange dream that made you wish you had a pen and paper to record it?

The mind can be a strange playground!

wandering in the darkness of sleep,

moving silently through unwalked corridors,

holding court with people never met,

engaging in unknown happenings-

The mind can be a strange playground!

bringing waking to a startled moment,

a wrestled, unfinished, lingering thought,

opening daylight with uncharted waters,

that float in the midst of unfinished business.

The mind can be a strange playground!

©CVarsalona, 2017

Thank you to two colleagues who set the stage for this flight of the mind poem that really was lurking in the clutches of a recent dream. Kevin Hodgson's response, "The mind can be a strange playground," to Fran Haley's slice, Song of Invisibility, set my mind thinking. While not remembering all the details of a dream (probably set off by my post, Whoosh), I quickly wrote back to Fran and Kevin.

After my frustrating experience with computer glitches and my vanishing work, I tried to fall asleep. Yoga breathing was one of my remedies but it took a long time to enter dreamland that was filled with all sorts of weird happenings. I wake rested but am trying to remember bits and pieces of what transpired. 

From this crazy experience, a Wonder Bundle Learning Experience on dreams evolved. That ELA lesson plan for 5th grade, using Wonderopolis' Wonder of the Day, #988, Have You Ever Had Crazy Dreams?, is found at the Wonder Ground. 

It is time for this week's Poetry Friday. Buffy Silverman is hosting at Buffy's Blog. 

SPECIAL NOTE: I am collecting poetry for my spring gallery, Springsations, this weekend. Please send in your offering if you have not done so yet. Come celebrate springtime with me.

Wonder Bundle

As a Wonder Lead Ambassador, I am in the process of creating a Wonder Bundle of five literacy learning experiences for teachers to use. This 3rd post, entitled, "Uninspired", provides ideas on how to help students find inspiration around them so that they are inspired to write and share their ideas with each other. 

I thank my colleague and friend, Holly Mueller, and her student Connor for providing mentor texts for this learning experience. Please click on the link below to see Wonder Bundle #3.

Carol Varsalona: Wonder Bundle #3: Uninspired? | Wonder Ground.

You can access the two other Wonder Bundles I created at:

• Wonder Bundle #2, Choice Leads to Amplified Voice, can be found here.
• Wonder Bundle #1, How Can You Make Earth a Better Place? is here and linked to Celebrating Earth, here. 

I am centering the learning experiences around the acts of noticing and wondering to inspire all to write from the heart. 

Wonderopolis

 

Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease. 

wonderopolis.org

Celebrating the Earth

Each Earth Day, citizens gather together to find ways to protect our beautiful earth. Think Green is a popular mantra!

URGENT MESSAGE:
As residents of the earth, we need to take on the role of stewards, keep watch over the bountiful creation provided us, and teach students about the challenges of climate change and other local environmental concerns. Adults can model the slogan, Reduce-Recycle-Reuse, to take a small step forward in Earth Day efforts to save Mother Earth. 

Children can also help, as evidenced by the HBO documentary, Saving My Tomorrow, that aired last night at the close of Earth Day. You can view the clip below.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY:
Classrooms can promote "Earth Day Everyday" by planting trees, recycling, reading about Earth Day at Wonderopolis' Wonder of the Day 1675, How Can You Make Earth a Better Place, and reflecting. To broaden the after-reading experience, 4th to 6th grade students can engage in a writing activity focusing on 10 of the highlighted words in the Wonderopolis text, i.e., earth, public consciousness, future, protection, legislation, global, recycling, rally, action, conserve, plant, trash. Using these words as prompts, students work in pairs to create poems that either celebrate the beauty of Mother Earth or provide insight into ways to save the earth. Recitation of the pair-created poem with another pair enhances the oral reading experience. Asking for feedback allows students to refine their poem. Students create Illustrations, posters, or videos of the class poems to publicize a celebration event.

POETIC FORMAT:
The example I provide below is an adaptation of the Golden Shovel poetic format featured by Writer's Digest. While I enjoy creating this type of poem, I admit that it is challenging.

-Find a quote that appeals to you about your subject.

-Use each word in the quote as an end word in your poem.

-Keep the end words in order.

-Give credit to the person who wrote the quote.

QUOTE:

The earth is what we all have in common. 

- Wendell Berry

MY RESPONSE:

There is beauty in fragile flowers, the

turn of light upon the grass. The earth

wrapped in shades of vibrant hues is

resplendent in springtime, but what 

if we neglect our mighty land?  Will we

deplete earth of its riches or of all

it has bestowed on mankind. Have

we forgotten what is necessary in

our haste to have superfluous interests in common?
©Carol Varsalona, 2017

Yesterday was Earth Day 2017 

but 

EVERYDAY should be Earth Day! 

Let's band together to honor the earth through advocacy and simple steps to focus on becoming faithful stewards of the environment.

The image poem and inspirational message above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

Thank you, Margaret Simon for suggesting the topic for #DigiLitSunday and creating the digital flyer below.

Thank you, Ruth Ayres for providing space each weekend to Celebrate This Week with fellow bloggers.

This post is also part of my Wonder Bundle of activities that I am creating for Wonderopolis as part of my commitment to being a Wonder Lead Ambassador. Do you often wonder how you can help protect the earth?