Dawn Potter visits Nathan Clifford School

 

Dawn is the associate director of the Frost Place Conference for Poetry
and Teaching. Her poetry workshops help students and teachers recognize
that reading and discussing a variety of poems can inspire their own
poetry and increase their understanding of revision and analysis. She
works with K-12 students as well as adult writers and has been a guest
artist at Falmouth High School, Cape Elizabeth High School, Madison
Middle School, and Roger Williams University, among many other schools.
In addition, she has taught classes for Haystack, the Maine Writers and
Publishers Alliance, and the Solstice MFA program at Pine Manor College.

Her Website is: http://dlpotter.blogspot.com/

 

Below are the class poems Dawn helped students do when she visited.

 

Spring
Written by Mrs. Hurd's class - Kindergarten

The wind is pushing the clouds and airplanes to the south.
The wind is blowing two or three leaves in the branches.
The Zoo is open and the giraffe is eating leaves and feels great.
The hippo is sad because he doesn't have enough grass.
Slush is dripping off the roofs.
All of the many colored flowers are pushing hard to get out of the ground.
Cats are rolling in the dirt and worms are tunneling in and out.
A groundhog is eating a Jack-in the Pulpit.

 

Spring is Finally Here!
Written by Ms. Drolet's Class ­ Grade 2

Worms tunnel holes into the soft, crumbly earth.
The frowning grass slowly turns emerald green.
Sleeping plants stretch and wake up again. Apple trees grow buds. The
Crows caw like alarm clocks.
Canadian geese glide in the blue morning sky.
Airplanes zoom through cumulus clouds.

 

Spring
Written by Mrs. Hart's Class ­ Grade 2

Squirrels and chipmunks are funning across the dryish dirt.
Crocuses are blooming purple and white.
Eight year olds are playing tag ad baseball.
Teenagers are texting and listening to music.
Leaf buds on maple trees are waking up.
Robins are chirping.
Seagulls are hanging out in the sky.
Skyscrapers are scraping the clouds.

 

The Plight of the Broken Battery
By students in Mrs. McGhie and Miss Hillman's classes ­ Grade 4

Draft 1

Someone stole my alligator clips
And now my circuit is broken
Maybe I'll get my spark back someday.
I have my positive energy
I also have a friend,
Mr. Gravity
Who can push me downhill
To the Science Fair
Will I ever see my alligator clips again?

The Plight of the Broken Battery
Draft 2

Some kid snatched my shiny alligator clips
And now my circuit is broken.
I still have my positive energy and my wires
So maybe I'll get my spark back someday.
I also have a friend,
Mr. Gravity,
Who can push me downhill
To the Science Fair
Where I heard the kid is using my clips.
I asked Mr. Gravity to give me a push
He wasn't strong enough.
So Mr. Gravity called his friend, Mrs. Wind
And she gave gust so great
It swept me down the hill
Right into the Science Fair.
Dizzy and confused I saw bright lights
And then in the distance something shiny,
Something familiar flashed.
It almost blinded me!
Could it be my alligator clips?


The Plight of the Broken Battery
Draft 3

Some kid snatched my shiny alligator clips
And now my circuit is broken.
I still have my positive energy and my wires
So maybe I'll get my spark back, someday.
I also have a friend,
Mr. Gravity,
Who can push me downhill
To the Science Fair
Where I heard the kid is using my clips.
I asked Mr. Gravity to give me a push
He wasn't strong enough.
So Mr. Gravity called his friend Mrs. Wind
And she gave a gust so great
It swept me down the hill
Right into the Science Fair.
Dizzy and confused I saw
Bright lights
And then
In the distance something shiny
Something familiar flashed.
It almost blinded me!
Could it be my alligator clips?
I need to follow that light, but how?
Ow! What was that?
Suddenly I was rolling
Someone must have kicked me.
I hit rubber.
It was the kid's shoe.
He picked me up,
Said, "That's my battery,"
Then slid me into my circuit.
I felt charged and new
Right in front of me were my alligator clips
And now my circuit is repaired.
The End.


SPRING
Poem by Mrs. Tryzelaar's Class - Kindergarten
Inspired by Dawn Potter

Seagulls are flying high in the sky.
Wind makes clouds into shapes
Like crocodiles, fish and birds.
Leaves on dark brown trees
Will come out.
But flowers are not pretty yet.
Snow is melting off the triangle roofs,
Drip, drip, drip.
Sometimes I see squirrels look at me
And I chase them.
Moms are walking slowly to stores
And children are swinging.
Babies are crawling and falling
And bunnies are jumping.

Spring is Coming
By Mrs. DeWitt's Class - Kindergarten
Inspired by Dawn Potter

The ground is getting drier.
The snow is shrinking fast.
Some places are so muddy.
I see dog footprints in the mud.
The snow is very gray.
It's bumpy like a wave.
Tiny flowers begin to sprout.
Kids ride bikes and scooters.
At recess, they jump rope.
Birds flitter and flutter,
chirp and sing,
eating berries from the trees.
The sun is making it shine,
melting snow on rooftops.
Seagulls drop clamshells
onto rocks at the beach.


SPRING
Written by Mrs. O'Donnell's Class ­ Grade 1

The brown grass is dead.
The soil is warming up.
Like a million purple
crocuses bloomed
in my yard.
Chipmunks scurry down
the road to get acorns.
I see squirrels on my
porch gobbling trash.
My little brother is
stomping in the mud.
Bluejays look for twigs
to make their nests.
The robins are singing.
Oak trees are budding,
and the crows are
waking me up too early.

SCRAMBLES

3:oo o'clock bell.
Children leave.
Paper scrambles
Everywhere.
In chairs,
Cubbies,
Everywhere.
Hear footsteps
Scramble back
In their places.

The Trash-talking Trash
Written by the students of Room 13 (Mrs. Gulezian's class) ­ Grade 5

The trash-talking trash can twisted
into Room 13.
The globe bounced over to the trash-talking
trash can.
"Any more trash and I'll roll you to
the dump!"
The flag is quiet
and doesn't wave.
The water bottle twins start whispering.
The trash can covers his head
with his plastic bag.
He's embarrassed.
The clock ticks to the book:
"Teacher is spinning mad!"