Chalkabration is a favorite in my class, but we haven’t done it in a while. This great way to write and share poetry was created by Betsy Hubbard, one of the Two Writing Teachers’ Team. It usually falls on the last day of the month. I like to have something special happen on Fridays as a reward for a week of hard work. My students have been writing every day. They are reading and working hard, so yesterday I brought in chalk and art paper.
First we had to write poems. On Michelle Barnes’ site Today’s Little Ditty, she interviewed one of our favorite poets, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, about her new book Every Day Birds. Last year we Skyped with Amy on the day she had received the proofs for this book. We had an exclusive sneak peek at the book. Amy’s Ditty of the Month Challenge is to write about something small. (And I just happen to have a treasure box full.)
After we wrote and shared our poems, my students used Sharpie markers to write out their poems on art paper. Here comes the fun part. Into a bucket of water, we scraped chalk, placed the paper in and Viola! marbleized paper! We used Prang Freart Large Drawing Chalk.
Here is a collection of chalked poems.
Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.
Hooray! I just knew you and your class would come up with some treasures for Amy! Your treasure box full of small things is a fabulous idea, Margaret, and now you’ve got a few more poems to tuck inside. 🙂 I can relate to Emily’s “silence is doomed” (I often felt that way at school too), Kaiden’s sunny pencil fills me with joy, Kielan’s bubblegum saga kept me on the edge of my seat, and Erin’s shell poem had me listening for the sound of fish swimming too. Thanks for joining in this month!
I’ll share your sweet comments with these students. It really was a fun and creative day. I wrote a small thing poem, too. I’ll post next week. Thanks!
Looking forward to reading yours too!
Yes, I will be trying out this chalk/poetry project very soon in VA!! Thanks for sharing. I so agree that on Fridays we need to celebrate all the hard work. We took an extra 15 minutes to be outside and play yesterday. I had so much fun just throwing the football with 3rd grade boys!
I love it … the poetry, the crafted paper, the final product … that alliteration just slipped out. I am going to try this.
Each one is a treasure, Margaret, and the idea of the chalk wash is brilliant. They look wonderful.
Margaret, what a splendid idea to bring the joy of learning and writing to your students who rose to the occasion with their brilliance. Please ask Erin if I may keep her piece for the summer gallery. All the poems have a message and a brightness to them. I just love this project.
I love the tie-dyed effects of the marbleized paper. Random and beautiful. That poem of Emily’s captured my school day on Friday.
The paper looks fantastic! What a wonderful way to inspire the writing of poetry. My favorite is the one about the yellow pencil.
Oh, such fun, Margaret – I am going to have to try this with my kiddos now that the weather has warmed up.
Each one a unique masterpiece. Beautiful colors, and each poem held a special appeal.
That seems like such a fun activity. Thanks for sharing your chalk work.
[…] Over at Today’s Little Ditty, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes interviewed Amy Ludwig VanDerwater who set out a challenge this month to write about small things. We wrote our poems on Friday and I posted some student poems here. […]