The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I love the start of each new school year, but this year I am more excited than usual. This year, I am making some exciting additions to my curriculum, and I am also creating a whole new course at the school where I work… A poetry course.
The Additions
Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler
This year, I will be testing out a book I haven’t taught before, which I discovered for the first time this summer. It is called Lost on a Mountain in Maine, and it is a true story about ten-year-old Donn Fendler getting lost—you guessed it—on a mountain in Maine. It takes place in the 50’s, so there will be a couple of hurdles for the students to surmount (Donn earnestly uses phrases like, “Christmas!” to express disbelief), but what I love about the book is its expressions of determination, love, and humanity. The last chapter tells the story from the perspective of the adults searching for Donn while he was lost, and I wept over how touching it was.
I’ll be teaching it to my 5th grade class this year, but I would recommend this book as young as 3rd grade depending on the precociousness of the reader… And on their ability to handle a bit of gross stuff (Donn loses part of his toe, for example).
Just David by Eleanor H. Porter
Another discovery for me this summer is the beautiful story called Just David. It is about a little boy who has been sheltered for the first ten years of his life by his father, who wishes David (no last name, hence the title) to know only “the good and the beautiful.” When David must venture into the world on his own, he is confronted for the first time with people who are acquainted with darkness, and the story is about how this innocent, sheltered, gifted boy changes each of them. David is a remarkable violinist, but his true gift is taking the beauty he sees in the world and making it visible to others who don’t notice it.
Just David is by the same author who wrote Pollyanna, and while I was reading it, I found myself thinking, “This is a lot like Pollyanna.” At first I looked at this as a mark against Just David, but upon further reflection, I am ashamed of myself because… What’s wrong with Pollyanna? Literally nothing.
So, I am excited to share it with my 4th grade class this year. I may also share it with the 5th grade if there is time, because I’d hate for them to miss such a beautiful story just because I was late in finding it!
The Poetry Course
To anybody who has been following along with Tending Roses, it will come as no surprise when I say that I am obsessed with poetry. I have spent countless hours thinking about and practicing teaching poetry to children—and not just teaching particular poems, but trying to impart a real love for this oft-neglected art form. Gladly (and at risk of sounding like a bit of a braggart), I can report that I have been very successful. If you ask any of my students, “Do you love poetry?” I guarantee that most of them will answer quickly, confidently, and honestly: “Yes!” And, a good number of them would then go on to quote verse at you without being asked.
Elated with my success, I proposed the idea of teaching a course to the junior high specifically aimed at the appreciation of the art of poetry. After all, it is the oldest art form known to man, besides being the most powerful and efficient form of literature… How could it be wrong to get more of it in front of our students? Happily, I can share that my idea was accepted, and that I will be teaching this course once per week this school year. It gives me such a thrill every time I think about it.
In my poetry course, it will be my goal to impart an earnest love of poetry to my students. I am in the process of developing an approach to appreciating poetry that, if followed, guarantees a fully informed understanding of any given poem. Alongside this approach, I will also be sharing some of the world’s most gorgeous poetic gems. So, my students will not only be armed for life with the ability to unpack any poem they come across, but also with some of the most genius words ever strung together by mankind.
In future posts, I will be sharing more about this approach I am developing, along with the works I have selected for my very own compilation of poems I deem to be essential for a full life. I can’t wait to share with you.
Coming into this school year, I am delighted beyond measure at all the potential for joy that comes from these new changes, but also from the things that remain the same—the beautiful community at our school, the incredible works of literature I get to teach every year, and of course, the opportunity to tend roses so thistles may not grow.
On a personal note, I will be having a baby around Thanksgiving (another joyful thing this year has to offer). For a while, I was writing here once or twice per week, but I can’t promise to keep up that pace, as the delightful demands of motherhood definitely take precedence. Thank you to those of you who have reached out in request of more content during what has been a sizable hiatus from Tending Roses. It is heartwarming to know that the ideas I share here are enjoyed.