National Poetry Month

I have always loved poetry and treasure sharing it with my students, especially in the month of April.  This year it will be shortened because of a week of vacation, so we got started right away today with Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.  Right away Brendan made many connections with Jack, not knowing what to write, not wanting anyone to read what he wrote, not wanting his name on his work, remaining anonymous.  They enjoyed the humor in the book too.  The first year we read it a tenderhearted student broke down and sobbed when it was revealed that the dog had been killed by the blue car.  I will never forget the power of that moment, and how it affected all of us that it meant so much to him, and he related so much to the book.  I loved books that touched me that much as a child.  It has only happened to me recently when I read Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.  I carried that emotion around with me for days.
  We are also reading Charlotte's Web so I am in literary heaven!