Small Poets

The CPitS Director of Operations, Tina Areja-Pasquinzo, 
posted this sweet photo to Facebook today. I don't have a lot to say 
about it, other than, here it is. This is why. 

Common Core Standards & California Poets

I hear over and over again that it's hard for teachers to incorporate poetry into their lesson plans because they are hampered by what's in the standards. To help with this problem, Poetry Foundation editors have recently created a (lovely) list of (real) poems from the standards that can be integrated without fear into classrooms everywhere. Okay, teachers, the gauntlet has been thrown down. "Teaching to the test" never sounded sweeter.

My only complaint, is that most of the poems chosen are by dead poets, most of them white. Historically accurate sampling is not always the best teaching tool for the creative arts. There are women and poets of color in the list, but no living poets are represented in the standards until the poems intended for middle and high school grades.

For teachers looking for California poets, I suggest you search the Academy of American Poets site, where they list poets by state. Here are California's representative poets. Many still alive, all colors and sizes. California Teachers of English (CATE) also has a web page devoted to California Authors. A nice list. Not only poets. Dr. Seuss, for example, is happily present.

And because a blog post is boring without a photo, here's a happy one of my favorite California poet, Brenda Hillman. I'm currently reading her newest book, Seasonal Works With Letters on Fire. You can listen to her discuss her last book, Practical Water, in this KCRW interview.

 

None of Hillman's poems are included in the Common Core Standards, but you could make a fine lesson with her poem "Girl Sleuth." A sweet poem about a girl learning to read among cactus and birds. And you don't even have to know who Nancy Drew was to laugh.

Teaching Halloween Poems

The Poetry Foundation has some great lesson ideas for teaching Halloween poems.

The Academy of American Poets has a huge assortment of Halloween poems, some old, some new, some quite startling. The also have lesson plans, with Common Core Standards highlighted.

My favorite Halloween poem is Goblin Market, by Christina Rossetti, which you can read in all its glory here.

Morning and evening
Maids heard the goblins cry:
"Come buy our orchard fruits,
Come buy, come buy..."

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19257#sthash.nvoXrylO.dpuf"

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpecked cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheeked peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy; - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19257#sthash.nvoXrylO.dpuf

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpecked cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheeked peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy; - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19257#sthash.nvoXrylO.dpuf

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpecked cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheeked peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy; - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19257#sthash.nvoXrylO.dpuf

Morning and evening Maids heard the goblins cry: "Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpecked cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheeked peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy; - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19257#sthash.nvoXrylO.dpuf

Mendocino CPitS Anthology

The wonderful Blake More, Area Coordinator for CPitS in Mendocino County, has just completed her editing of a new K-12 anthology, published by the Mendocino County Office of Education. You can follow the Mendo PitS at their website. Blake More also offers her insight as a long-time poet/teacher at her own website. It's a wonderful colorful space.

  

Here is a sample poem, written in Spanish and then translated into English, by a pair of third graders. The poetry alone is lovely, moving, full of life. The opportunity to collaborate as young artists across cultures is the best example of what artist in the schools programs can offer.

IN THE MOON / EN LA LUNA

In the moon
there is a star
In the star
there’s tears
In the tears
sparkles
In the sparkles
there are blossoms
In the blossoms
there are daisies
In the daisies
there are fish
swimming away in the ocean.

En la luna
hay estrellas
En las estrellas
hay lágrimas
En las lágrimas
hay brillo
En el brillo
hay flores floreando
En las flores floreando
hay margaritas
En las margaritas
hay peces
nadando en el mar

by Jocelyn A., Grade 3
trans by Jocelyn and Susana H.

 

Mara Sheade : CPitS Poet Teacher

Lest you (dear reader) think that there are only one or two local poet/teachers, I'd like to direct your attention to some of Mara's work. Here is a great group poem, written by members of Niles Rotary to help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the City of Fremont. Fremont is in Alameda County (not Santa Clara  County), but we won't hold that against either one.

Here's one of the long poem's many stanzas:

Spring always returns me to the Fremont of my youth. White and pink flowers cloak the bare brown skeletons of apricot and cherry trees. Bright yellow mustard flowers cling to plants and lift softly in the bright blue sky while tri-colored black birds fill the air and I breathe in the earthy smell of fresh turned earth.

Any resident of Santa Clara Vally (and the counties that inhabit it) will recognize these lovely sensory images. 

 

This beautiful photo was taken in 1952 by Charles W. Cushman, who described it in his notebook as "Orchard + yellow flowers near Niles."  There may not be many places in Santa Clara Valley that look like this in 2013, but many of us still hold these trees and flowers in our memories. 

Another Poem by CPitS Teacher Amanda Chiado

Complete with a very funny photo of her.

Congratulations to Amanda who's getting her work done. 

CPitS Poet Teacher Amanda Chiado

One of the currently active Santa Clara County CPitS poet/teachers is Amanda Chiado. She has just had a poem published in Dressing Room Poetry Journal.

You can read her poem, "Honey in Fur," here. I particularly like her line, "The argument of love is / somewhere in the middle." It makes me think of some ambiguous place between people, between any pair of beings, a place where the desperate and necessary battle between egos takes place.

Amanda lives and works in San Benito County, immediately to the south of Santa Clara County, where she is on the staff of the San Benito County Arts Council.

The more poetry the better in as many counties as possible.

That's Madame Laureate!

 

This summer, in a fit of loose-mindedness, I applied for the two-year honorary position of Cupertino Poet Laureate. They picked me! It's rather alarming to toot one's own horn, but any horn-tooting for poetry is always worthwhile. I will have many unofficial and official tasks. Right now I'm planning my events for the next two years and deciding on poems to read at my "inauguration" -- actually "just" an official welcome reception to be held in November. Watch this space for more information about that.

If you're interested in learning more about the position, you can read the city's press release here. And, you can see the actual video of the city council interrogating me about my plans, and hear me read a poem, here. I also include the poem, for those who like to see poetry on a poetry blog.

Birthday With Horses

How do the horses know
where to stand
so the bay shimmers behind them exactly
and Mt. Diablo rises above the watery basin
precisely centered like a waiting wedding cake? 

Cresting Page Mill Road, 10 a.m.,
I come this way every day. 

How do they know, dozens of horses,
where to stand – the sky
widest there.
They are all the colors
of Santa Clara Valley in September.

For your birthday, I notice them
and tell you.
You have lived here all your life
and you know, too,
where to stand. 

Hello, love.  
 ----------------------------

I am very grateful to the City of Cupertino, The Cupertino Library Commission, The Friends of the Cupertino Library, and the Cupertino Library Foundation for this opportunity.  

I am also grateful to walk in the great comfortable footsteps of David Denny, Cupertino's first poet laureate, who is also a great comfortable friend. You can buy his first book of poems on Amazon.com. 

Up-to-date events of interest to the Cupertino (and greater Santa Clara County) poetry-loving community can be found on our Facebook page "Cupertino Poet Laureate."

Poetry Crossing

A wonderful lady, fellow-CPitS poet/teacher, and awesome Emily Dickinson impersonator, Phyllis Meshulam, has a fun fun fun and colorful blog called "Poetry Crossing: Thoughts on poetry lesson plan book for K-12." Check it out for wonderful ideas about poetry teaching. 

Phyllis, a poet from Sonoma County, has contributed multiple lesson plans to CPitS anthologies over the years. This poem of hers, published in the 2002 CPitS Statewide Anthology, attempts to put in writing the movements of a poet performing in American Sign Language. Poetry is not all on the page or in the ear, it can also be performed by the body without sound. 

The Angel of Muscular Wings

Impressions of an American Sign Language Poem by John Roades

The poet is a skyscraper of a man,
          but flexible,
portraying the New York skyline,
          one humming tower at a time.

His hands take flight like airplanes
          with their fragile cargo;
his body, receiving the blow,
          explodes, and reconfigures

as the Angel of Muscular Wings
          that catches the couples jumping,
          the incinerating ants.
But, in reality, he is just human

sprouting feathers before our eyes
crocheting keratin
into fire-retardant sings
so as to represent those

who know to run
toward disaster:
          earthbound gestures
          eternally generous. 

Phyllis H. Meshulam 

There are lovely videos of deaf poets on YouTube. For example, here's "The United States of Poetry" by Peter Cook. This video includes a spoken rendition of the poem. There are also videos of poetry signed but not spoken. Your students might find the experience of seeing a poem in ASL quite astounding, if they've never known a deaf person or seen ASL performed. 

Enjoy!

Rattle to Publish Children's Poetry

Reach about it here and here.

CPITS Campaign A Success Despite Missing the Mark

The CPITS indigogo campaign to raise $15,000 for poets in the schools is done. What an experience! I didn't know how hard it would be to ask for money, to keep asking for money, to remember to ask for money. And even though we fell short of our goal, we still raised a lot of money and even more awareness. I had fun pestering so many people. They were so nice about it!

As Karen Lewis, current CPITS Board Member and Secretary, wrote:

Your tax-deductible* contribution will help students learn to write poems like this:

PEARL

White as snow

as smooth as a knife

crying for its own

like ice cream melting in your mouth

hiding deep down waiting to open up and be free

crisp sugar like crystals in the bright sky

You're not all alone in this small world

~Charlene Neo, Grade 5
Marshall Pomeroy Elementary, Santa Clara County
Mara Sheade, poet-teacher

from Sing to the Heart of the Forest, 2013 Student Poetry Anthology

You can continue to contribute, order a copy of the anthology, find a teacher, and enjoy other student work at our website: www.cpits.org. Thank you!

Poetry for 1500 More Kids

For every $10 you donate to California Poets in the School (“CPitS”), one child can be exposed to the art of poetry, given the opportunity to learn from a published poet, and enabled to find their own inner voice to produce their own poems and share them with the world.

Here's the link to support CPitS!  http://igg.me/at/CPitS/x/4047592 

CPitS is a 501(c)3 organization that has provided K-12 students across more than 30 counties in California the opportunity to appreciate poetry and learn how to write their own poetry for the past 49 years.

CPitS works with published poets across California to place the poets into classrooms to work directly with students and open those students’ minds and hearts to the world of poetry.

Every year, the CPitS program enriches the lives of more than 25,000 students because:

• The academic curriculum is enhanced by teaching students about poetic forms, grammar, and literary tools like metaphors and personification (CPitS meets arts education standards adopted by the California Department of Education);
• Students are able to express their dreams and concerns in a constructive, nonjudgmental environment;
• Students realize their uniqueness and importance and build self confidence.

CPitS applies uncompromising standards to the poets it brings into each classroom, using only published poets who have undergone a rigorous training regimen.  Each “in-class” session is an hour long, and a poet will usually spend at least 5 sessions over several weeks with a particular classroom.  It costs CPitS around $75 to make each session happen.

Over the past few years, funding for CPitS has dropped, and CPitS has had to make tough decisions to pull out of classrooms in counties across the State.  Humboldt, Madera, Yolo, San Diego, and San Mateo counties have been hit particularly hard, losing CPitS poets in more than half of the schools in those counties that had been historically served.

This Campaign will put CPitS poets back into classrooms across the State.  If you can help us reach our campaign goal of $15,000, we will be able to reach 1,500 more students next year. 

Here's the link to support CPitS!  http://igg.me/at/CPitS/x/4047592 

And, thank you!!

Welcome to SCC-PitS!

Santa Clara County Poets in the Schools is the Santa Clara County home of California Poets in the Schools. 

Since its start in 1964, CPitS has grown to become one of the largest writers-in-the-schools programs in the nation, serving students K-12 in over 30 California counties, stretching from Humboldt and Siskiyou to Inyo, Mono and San Diego, in districts both urban and rural. Each year CPitS reaches thousands of classrooms, teaching in public and private schools, juvenile halls, after-school programs, hospitals and in other community settings. CPitS proudly taught its 1,000,000th student in 2011.

Our goal is to make curriculum-enriching poetry workshops available to every student in California.

• Currently CPitS reach includes 30,000 students served by 102 active poet-teachers, ranging from new MFA graduates to poets with over 25 years classroom experience.
• Our visiting poet/teachers are professional published writers who are trained in the art of teaching poetry at different age-appropriate levels. 
• Our poet/teachers affirm the cultural diversity of California by sharing its multicultural literary heritage with K-12 students. 
•  Poet/teachers are living models of an artist’s commitment to creative and imaginative use of language. 
• CPitS poet/teachers leverage new technology to reach more classroom teachers, young poets and new audiences. 
• CPitS poet/teachers reach and represent the diversity of each local community, including multilingual students.

Poetry workshops and residencies are funded by a variety of sources, including PTAs, school districts, foundations and locally-sourced community and business funds. The statewide office supports the independent contractor poet/teachers by organizing grants, providing training and technical support, networking, hosting literary events and meetings, and sharing best-practices creative writing pedagogy. Statewide poet/teachers submit exemplary student work to be published in annual poetry anthologies, beautifully edited and printed to showcase the talents, voices and diversity of today’s Californian youth.