It's been a while since my last post, but I am back with an exciting post! After a year of my grad studies, I am now tutoring. And with that, I have decided to launch a writer's notebook with my students. In my grad school years, I have created a writer's notebook launch along with mini lessons and examples. However, I have been WANTING to create a writer's notebook launch based on the movie "The Greatest Showman". I fell in love with the movie and all the songs in it that I HAD to create this. It's not EXACTLY like the one I created in grad school because it doesn't have all the fancy details like the standards and everything like that, but this just focuses on the launch itself. I focused on creating the what, why, and how explanation of the writer's notebook along with the explanations as to why I choose "The Greatest Showman" and the particular scene from the movie. I included the materials you would need along with this launch as well. This includes the invitations to students (as shown above), the video link, the notebook presentation to students, and questions asked after activity. Again, I just did this for fun because I think "The Greatest Showman" is such an awesome way to get a student seeing and believing that words are powerful! I hope you enjoy and do feel free to use it if you want to incorporate it into your own classroom as well. I created it so that I could SHARE it with other teachers as well. ENJOY! PLEASE do let me know if you have used it in your own classroom or for your own child! I want to know and I would LOVE to see how you did it whether it be my way or your way. I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT! So SHARE! TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT! I'm SO EXCITED! PS. I'm SO proud of myself for working so hard to create the flyer to match the flyer used in The Greatest Showman movie. It's not exactly the same, but I tried to get it as similar as I could to the movies'.
The file below is the TEMPLATE for the invitation. Everything is set for you. All that is missing is your name. Download the file, write your name or a name for your flyer, print, and you're ready to go!
Please do drop a comment to let me know you stopped by! Would LOVE to hear what you think or any suggestions or ideas to add on to this! Thank you!
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My Experiences with PoetryDuring the past months, I have had a pleasure and joy reading, writing, and listening to poetry. As a final post concluding the semester of my Grad work, I decided to write a poem summarizing my experiences with poetry. This is a draft after hours of trying to begin this because I couldn't decide how to exactly tackle this. Discovering Poetry It started with one Then two Then three And then e n d l e s s Amount of it. At first Poetry was like Cotton candy -- Sweet to the tongue And melts to the soul Making you Urge for more. Then The flavors changed. Poetry was like A maze It made Me daze. Why must it rhyme? Why must it take time To be defined? Poetry was like The bitter, Cherry medicine You had to take When sick. Yuck! Instead it should Fly with the wind-- Freely and gracefully. Yet it rippled My mind And wrinkled My nose. It wasn’t until Now that I discovered The gem Within poetry. Now I see That even Poetry Has style. It doesn’t have To rhyme It just has To shine. Poems lifts the heart And eases the soul. Poetry is more refine Then it is to define. It reflects your Experiences NOT Knowledge. Poetry is like A lotus flower-- Blooming Beautifully Amongst the murky waters. Its beauty is DISCOVERED Not PLANTED. Poetry is a lake Reflecting only The vase beauty Within itself And Others. Written by Coua Yang © 2020 I felt proud about this poem, even though I understand that more work might need to be done before it is completely ready; however, right now...this moment...it feels complete to me. I feel like this poem really does reflect what I want to say about how I feel about poetry now. I tried to write about my feelings and experiences with poetry before this, and then blend it in with the "now" feelings and experiences. BEFORE, I would say I didn't really have a full understanding of poetry, and only saw the side that certain teachers made me see. Now as a Grad student, I have learned much more about poetry compared to before. I think the reason for that is because I learned to TEACH poetry, not how to read or decipher them. I learned to accept what was presented to me instead of trying to wrap my mind around each word within a poem. I learned to love them, not read them, and I think that made the most difference between the two experiences. I use to dread poems and always felt not-so-smart when I couldn't understand a poem, which was why I had stopped reading them for a while. Now, I find joy in reading them, and don't feel as bad when I don't understand a poem. Yes, I am a Grad student and I STILL cannot understand every poem I read, but it's OK. Learning more about them and reading more of them will eventually help me to understand its meaning. Also, I am a STRONG believer that your experiences in life will help you make meaning to poems when the time is right. It's not about how SMART you are, but it's about how much EXPERIENCE you have to wrap your heart in a poem. There's a time for everything... Below are five poems I chose to publish and share with you. I wrote these myself from observations and experiences. I hope you enjoy them and find your own touch and understanding of poems. Thank you for reading my blog and my poems. Please feel free to make any friendly suggestions about any of my poems. Or maybe you can even write your own poems. Please share if you would like. I would LOVE to read your poem. My Published PoetryI Find Peace After Joyce Sidman I find peace in the bright, early mornings and songs from gentle chirping that nudges my eyes to open. I find peace in the little hands that softly places their hands in mine. I find peace in the words of the Bible and the love it fills me up in. I find peace in the shoulders that comforts me and catches the tears of my heart. I find peace in the color of Nature: how it warms your heart, how it feels tickling your toes, how it embraces you with all its surroundings while the wind brushes against your hair. I find peace when I am left alone. I find peace when I empty my heart and fill it with God. I find peace when I pick up my pen and write the words in my heart. Written by: Coua Yang © 2020 Nature Trees within trees never so green. Mountains in trees What a beauty to see. Edges so sharp and bumpy Now clothed with soft, piney greens that disguises oneself Amongst nature. Written by: Coua Yang © 2020 A Night Owt A found poem Dark settled within the forest The ominous feeling of the moonlight, Glistened upon Great ear-like horns Perching on a dead tree branch Patiently Gliding its light sensitive eyes Through the dappled forest floor Pinpointing to the sound Of the prey Then Whoosh! Target Locked. Written by: Coua Yang © 2020 The Hummock A found poem Lurking in the deciduous forest Lapped in wrinkles Within its glass bowl Emerged bright cranberry eyes Slurping slimy worms Peacefully Until it has to form A jaw bridge Armoured in, Is it safe to come out? Written by: Coua Yang © 2020 Creating my Haiku...Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that celebrates nature! The structure of the poem are based on syllables. It's a three verse poem with syllables consisting of 5-7-5 meaning the first line consists of a 5 syllable phrase followed up with a 7 syllable phrase, and concluding with another 5 syllable phrase. The picture above was taken by me on a walk outside one day. I then created a Haiku that reflected how I felt about this image.
Happiness With your bright petals Shining pure, white happiness I can’t help but smile by Coua Yang With all that is going on (the whole Corona-virus deal), I try to enjoy the little moments that I encounter in my everyday life now. Even just these simple, white flowers were enough to brighten my day. I hope it has brightened your day as well. May you, too, continue to enjoy the little things in your life. My Observational Drawing...How it works? You bring an object from nature that you have chosen that makes you wonder, amazes you, or you think is beautiful and write about it. This should be something that has a story, a wonder, or a memory attached to it. My object was more of a living object. I was amazed with the different kinds of birds I discovered just by sitting at my back yard. I listened to them sing and watched as they flew around me as if I was part of their world. I tried to capture the moments, feelings, and actions I felt and discovered during this bird watching experience. A draft of it is provided below. Some things to help when transforming observations to PoemsThese is a way that teachers can get students' observations and turn them into poems with meanings. This will bring their writing and experiences to life! Heard, G. (1999). Awakening the Heart. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann BEFORE Awakening the Heart...My Reflection on PoetryBefore reading the textbook Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School by Georgia Heard, I've always enjoyed reading poetry. To me, it was soothing and made me feel like I could express myself and make connection to it. It was different from reading a story book. Sometimes reading books were confusing because of the language and cultural differences that I couldn't grasp, which made it really hard for me to understand the story, characters, and setting. With this, it made it hard for me to make connections to it, which is how I understand things. However, reading poems were different. I could skip over and not worry about the hard parts or wordings of the poem and read the parts that I understood. And the best part of it was that I could interpret it in any way possible. There's no right or wrong way to understand or make connections to poems, which made me fell in love with them. It made me feel smart and proud when I could understand a poem or relate to it. After reading a good poem, I would sit there and think about each line and how I felt about it and linger on with those thoughts. I was a loud thinker, and still am, which is why I read poems very slowly because I want to make sure I understand every last word and feeling it gives me. It's like savoring every last bite of a really good food. I like to savor poems a lot. As for writing poetry, I also enjoyed that a lot. Because I liked reading poems, it made me want to write my own poems. I started out with writing how other poems made me felt and then branched off from that feeling and went on and on and on. I wrote about love too because I had a lot of crushes at that time, which for a shy girl, expressing was not an option for me. Therefore, I expressed my thoughts and feelings through writing. I later got inspiration from music and would write those lyrics down, and then try to write my own poem using those lyrics. I enjoyed free writing a lot, and that goes the same for writing poems. I started to dislike writing poems when I was taught poetry in school. At first I enjoyed it because it was fun and I wanted to learn more about it, but they drilled it so much with rhyming that I began to dislike it, and whenever I think of poetry now, I think about "rhyming" and it makes me dread it. However, I do admire poems that rhyme because it does sound good to read it a loud, but I always struggled with it (still do). Which is why I slowly started to stop writing poems because it became harder and harder to write. Now looking back at it, I realized that I wasn't really writing to express myself, but writing to satisfied what my teachers wanted or expected from me. Ever since then, my mind stopped thinking about poetry, and I never really returned back to writing them again. Now many years went by and I am now a graduate student learning to become a better teacher. Thinking about teaching poetry is actually quite scary. I have NEVER taught a poetry lesson before and don't remember seeing a poetry lesson being done. NEVER. Which is why I am saying I don't know how to teach poetry because now, poems are HARD for me to understand, and HARD for me to help students to understand it. I may understand a poem, but how do I get STUDENTS to grasp the poem like I do? So, as for teaching poetry to students, I am not so confident; however, I also feel like starting now is a good experience because poetry is beautiful and it's different from any other literature. When I am reminded of how it made me feel growing up in school, it makes me think that as a teacher, I've got to learn how to teach poetry the right way or the best way possible so that my students can have that opportunity to "savor" poems like I did. Now, I know I mentioned about a "good" poem, and maybe some of you are wondering what makes a good poem "good" to me. In my opinion and experience, I know it's a good poem when I can make connections to it. I think that's one of the most important criteria when determining if a poem is good or not. You have to relate or make connections to it. That is how I draw in to a poem. The next criteria for me is that the poem makes me wonder. By wonder I mean it makes me ask myself questions, and it makes me THINK about new thoughts/perspectives, or ideas that I've never thought about before. In other words, the poem makes me feel curious either about the topic, the wording/imagery, or the feeling that it gives me. I think those are also important aspects to a really good poem. It makes you curious. These are my top criteria on what makes a good poem "good". Now going back to teaching poetry, I think the environment is really important for students. I believe that a warm, inviting environment is needed when learning about poetry. I also believe that it's important to talk about the different kinds of poetry and talk about what makes a poem, a "poem". I believe that's important because you're setting the stage for ALL kinds of possibility of poetry in your classroom. If you don't let students know that it's OK for a poem to not rhyme, they're going to go on thinking that that's poetry. Therefore, I feel like if you open that possibility for students, then they will more likely feel more adventurous in exploring and finding their kind of poetry. Also, the warm, inviting environment is important because we want them to feel safe and feel like they can express themselves because I feel like that's what poetry is about: setting their inner-self free. Most students are also afraid of writing a poem and sharing it because it might not be "good" enough, which is why making sure that their thoughts, opinions, and feelings matter. We have to acknowledge and validate their feelings to make them feel wanted and appreciated when sharing their poems and thoughts/ feelings. That is why setting up the stage for poetry is crucial, in my opinion. You have to let them know that it's OK to write poems that don't rhyme, and to write poems that they may not feel so confident about when sharing. Talking about those feelings are important for students because you are validating and acknowledging their fears and telling them that "Hey, it's OK. It happens to me too." You are letting them know that no judgments is going to be made about their writing, their poem, their style, their wording, or their feelings. That's the beauty of poetry: it's unique and different because of those things. That is how I would set up my poetry environment. After reading Awakening the Heart...After reading the first few chapters from this book, my thoughts and views from before changed. I still feel the same way about reading poetry. It does make me feel soothing and like I can freely express myself. However, I also acknowledge that reading poetry, for the most part, is difficult and does make me feel like I am not intelligent enough to understand it. However, Georgia Heard points out in chapter two that the key to successfully open the door of a difficult poem is to have patience, and reread the poem multiple times (Heard, 1999). It made me realize that poetry is like a sport. In order to be good at it, you have to practice over and over again. Practice makes perfect. I realize now that I didn't practice hard enough or just enough to understand poems. The language and wording were always too difficult for me to decipher, so I gave up. I think that's important to realize as a teacher and as a student learning more about poetry. Students need to know that as well. Reading this chapter has also taught me that poems have layers that we have to pill slowly in order to understand them. The three layers of reading poetry that Georgia Heard discussed about were 1) Choose poems to read that are immediately accessible, nonthreatening, and relevant to students' lives, and encourage reading projects that will invite all students into the world of poetry, 2) Help students connect personally to a poem by guiding them toward finding themselves and their lives inside a poem, and 3) Guide students toward analyzing the craft of poem, figuring out how a poem is built, interpreting what a poem means, or unlocking the puzzle of a difficult poem. As for writing poems, Georgia has taught me through this book that writing poems is not difficult. We just have to find them, and finding them is part of the process of being a poet (Heard, 1999). Georgia stated that "discovering where poems come from is an essential part of a poet's process" (Heard, 1999); therefore, it's important for us as teachers to help our students realize that and find stories and little seeds tucked away and bring them to life through their poems. Therefore, I think that's a a good way to get students to realize and find their poems. One last thing that I would like to include in my revision process of how I feel about poetry are the ways Georgia Heard included when creating a poetry environment. She listed a few things to keep in mind which are: 1) learning to listen deeply to our own images, thoughts, and feelings and to our students, 2) respecting students and ensuring students that the classroom is a safe place where every voice is respected, 3) presenting poetry into the classroom before formally introducing it, "But on paper, things can live forever. On paper, a butterfly never dies." ~ Jacqueline Woodson This book has truly been inspiring thus far taking my lens further than it ever did before with each read. One of my favorite quotes from this book was what Jacqueline had said about butterflies and how on paper, "things can live forever". As a writer myself, I really resonated with that because we never truly think about the impact the inks in our hand can have later down the road. I feel like that should be obvious, but is it really? Do we really think about how our words can impact the future as we write, or do we write within the moment? I think students are the same. Students don't realize that their words can live forever and that THAT matters. They don't always realize how their words can lift someone up in their darkest moment or start a fire in someone who randomly bumps into their words. THAT IS POWER AND THEY HAVE THAT ABILITY. Which is why I realize after reading that quote how powerful and important it is to not only encourage students to write, but to tell them that their words can live FOREVER, and if that isn't empowering enough I don't know what is! I wanted to take a moment and honor that quote and the meaning it gave to me as I pass it on to you. Image from Google. Small Moment to Personal NarrativeMy small moment from my past previous blog posts have now been extended in forming it into a personal narrative. Here is what I have written so far: Snip! Snip! Snip! ...Thump Thump Thump!...Breathe, Breathe, and Breathe... The silence of the bathroom held lifelessly back as the future of my face was slowly taking into shape with each Snip! Little did I know that I would regret this moment for the rest of my life. My sister, Houa, was the oldest girl in the family. She had long, silky hair with light eye brows and a pair of small brown-black eyes. She'd always take things so serious at times and always complained how I do things around the house like washing the dishes or cooking rice. I mean, she was good at everything. However, there'd be times where she'd sit down with me to dress up my dolls or fix my hair. In other words, she's my second mom, my sister, my enemy, and my very best friend. Whenever I needed something done, she'd be the first person I run to for help and she never disappoint...or so I thought. It wasn't until after I asked her to cut my hair that I realized my sister wasn't as perfect and talented as i thought she'd was. As I stood there in silence and watched my long hair become shortened by the scissors in her hands, no words could urge its way up my throat, through my tonsils, and out in about with my tongue. My thought rushed from "what have you done?" to "what happened to "psh. It's not hard at all"?" and finally back at my sister's crooked smile saying "Opps. I messed up." All I could think about were the laughter and whispers kids at school will say about my messed up hair. The fear of being embarrassed grew bigger and bigger inside me as my heart thumped and thumped and thumped continuously. Everything froze and it was as if my soul was screaming out of my eyes and into my noiseless, opened mouth. After what seemed like hours, words finally came out hopping and jumping about anxiously for my sister to fix my hair. ...And she did. TAKR Inspired writing...One part of this book that really got me thinking was on page 170 in the Midterm Essay section of the book. Amy wrote this: "Tell me: How many more times do I get to cut an apple? How many more times will I put on my shoes? Kiss my mother? Use an ATM? How many more times do I get to toss the salad and ask How much longer 'till the chicken's ready? as Jason pokes at it on the grill? How many more times do I get to lift my head from the pillow to see what time it is? Run inside after getting drenched in the rain? Look for the ping-pong ball? Check my email? Text <3 to the kids? Catch a whiff of jasmine? Use a straw?" As I was sitting down at Wendys in Boone, I stopped and looked up at the busy traffic and the water slowly gliding down on the glass window and wondered, too, How many more times will I get to see Boone traffic or to enjoy the Boone scenery? How many more times will I get to bring homework as a graduate student to work in a public place? The "How many more times" got my mind going on and on that I couldn't stop thinking about it. It made me realize that we don't always appreciate and enjoy the little moments that we have in life. It's those little moments that we feel as if they're always going to be there that we don't realize that they, too, will eventually disappear. ...I will never get to be an undergrad student ever again. Those experiences of late night up, walking all over campus in sweats, crying because of exams, and living in small dorms with a complete stranger. Those are the last time I'm ever going to experience something like that, and the funny thing is I hated some of those moments. Yet here I am...reminiscing about them and wishing I had enjoyed it better. So it made me wonder, how many more times will I get to write inspiring words that come from my heart? How many more times will I get to write in WHATEVER way I want to about WHATEVER I want it to be? ...How many more times will you get to read my posts? How many...How many...Oh how many more times... I don't know, but I know now that I want to TRY and enjoy every little moments of these little things in life. Do you have any "How many more times" thoughts? If you had to describe yourself, your life, or something in SIX words, what would it be? Current Status: Trump, WE still Matter.No explanation needed. I am just going to leave it at that. Other six word memoir that I came up with: Smile. People are always watching you. Cua. Silent but Powerful. Always listening. Lost and Not Found: Self, Confidence. Identity. It does not define US. Poem inspired amidst the sorrows of my people...Draft of a lesson plan that can magnify students' writing using mentor texts"EVERY kid has a story – many stories, in fact" |
memoirs_autobiographies_and_first-_‐person_narratives_in_children’s_literature.pdf | |
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I am from Salvation Army,
from old sneakers and worn jeans I am from paved roads that glided with me as my foot danced in the rain I am from rough hands that held me only to let me go and fall The hands that smelt like menthol and herbs I am from a hidden world that crossed rivers and mountains carrying baskets of hope on their backs |
from needles and threads of
indigo, fuscia pink, and cotton stitched up with memories I am from "Ca sab rua yus tsevneeg" (have faith in your family) to "Ca sab rua Vaajtswv" (have faith in God) from "I once was lost" to "but now I'm found" I'm from braided hair cuffs, from straightened, cut hair and letting the wind blow it in every direction |
I am from
"this is impossible" to "I'm possible!" Within the words scribbled down and piles of notebooks inked inside I am from those pages – marked and plain and simple yet so Bold, Powerful, and Undiscovered. |
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I'm from several generations of mountaineers who've crossed the Mekong river into freedom in Thailand
From mountains of white walls packed with king size beds that squeezed about ten people in it I'm from sticky rice to papaya mixed in chili pepper sauce and herbal boiled chicken that you only get when you're really sick I'm from khaub tshias, khuab tshias, and many more khaub tshias from "you're a girl you can't go out with your friends", "you must wake up early to cook everyday", "you must learn to be a good daughter who won't shame your parents" to "be who you are" and "keep the Lord in your heart" I'm from ai, au, aw, ee, ia, ua, oo to a, e, i, o, u from generations of stories about tigers, dragons, and ghosts that roamed within the mountainous villages and "don't answer if someone calls your name in the wilderness " to "scaring them back if they scare you because chances are, they are scared of you too" I'm from paj ntaub consisted of stitches from a needle and thread and when you look at it from afar you will realize the beauty and value of those moments stitched in That is where I'm from: a story cloth. |
My first heart map was about things that matters to me. I really enjoyed writing my first heart map, and I think it's a great, fun, unique way for students to brainstorm ideas and topics when writing. This can also be a unique way to do a quick write response on what they feel and think about something they read, heard, or experienced. Chapter two of the Mentor Text suggested that students use this quick write in their journals and then do a group discussion or have a sharing time for those that want to share (Dorfman, 2017). Therefore, with those two thoughts combined, I think it could be a good experience for students since it's not in a formal way. This would be good for students who like visuals or prefer jotting down their thoughts and feelings using words. My overall experience with this was fun and I really enjoyed it. What I like most about this blank canvas heart map is that "an empty canvas means possibilities and a little bit of mystery" (Heard, 2016). I like the sound of that because there's no limits to what can be written or filled in the heart. |
I find this book to be really interesting and unique compared to other books that I have read in the past. It's not like any other book I have read. To me, it's like Amy Krouse Rosenthal's book. It's not in a form of a chapter book, which I really like that. I feel like I am reading journal entries instead of chapters about their life/journey thus far. One part I really like about this book was the importance of name. On page 6, Jacqueline talks about her name and how it came to be. She also included other people's memories of her being born and getting her name. I really like how she included the details and dialogue of how her parents fought over to come up with her name. This lead me to write a journal entry about my name and the things that connects with it. |
I enjoy to write a lot during my free time. Writing is a stress reliever for me.
May 2021
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January 2020