The Good Old Days (Ralph Fletcher)

at Two Writing Teachers!

Last weekend, I got to attend the Dublin Literacy Conference, an incredible day of professional learning organized by my district.  I'm so proud that I teach (and that I graduated from) a district that puts on such an exceptional event that people come across Ohio (and even from other states!!!) to attend.  (You may have seen the tweets at #dublit13!)

Last year, I was blown away by the amazing learning I came away with (and the fact that I got to meet Ruth Ayres!)  This year, the highlight was an inspiring keynote from Ralph Fletcher.  My favorite part was that he provided an opportunity for us to experience what it's like to write with a mentor text.  He showed us one of his poems, "The Good Old Days," and then gave us a few minutes to write our own poem, using the first and last stanzas of his.

Since I loved to write poetry, it was really easy for me to create a poem with the same structure and a similar feel.  This is what I came up with: (remember, the first and last stanzas are Ralph's!)

Sometimes I remember

the good old days

tromping through the creek,

muddy and laughing.

Baseball in the backyard

with my daddy's sure pitches,

barefoot in the garden,

my small rake in time with his.

Cutting tomatoes for spaghetti sauce,

my mom's smile hovering over my shoulder.

I still can't imagine 

anything better than that.

Helping Daddy in our old backyard!

After we wrote, Ralph called on a few volunteers to share their poems.  It was so much fun to hear how other people had used the same structure and themes to create something new.  Ralph pointed out how different people borrow different elements of a mentor text depending on who they are as readers and writers.  For example, some writers might just borrow the specified lines, while others might borrow the structure, the tone, the way the lines begin, and even the topics of some of the stanzas (i.e. a "mom" memory in the same place).  I don't think I would have realized that if he hadn't pointed it out, and it's an important idea to keep in mind when we use mentor texts with students!

I can't wait to "see" you all for the March Challenge!!!