I killed my students and revived them with geese!!

So 2 things I tried that ended up very successful: DIE! and Wild Geese!


Die!


We are spending some time working the power of words and being specific with our language. I passed out a sheet of boring nouns and asked my groups of kids to make them more interesting. Then each group sent a representative to the center of the room (in my thrust) with their most interesting choice. They each had to present it to “The Queen” (Yes, me – I do have crown in the room) in a passionate way. If I was not pleased they died! They loved it. We did the same with verbs and adjectives. Good fun!



“Wild Geese”



My students all found a place on the floor to lay down and rest. I asked them to notice their breathing. when they were calm I put on some mellow acoustic guitar (George Winsten) and asked them to allow any emotions or images this invoked to just come up. I read “Wild Geese” aloud. They listened. I read it again. They listened. I asked them to slowly get up, find their journals and a place in the classroom. they journal whatever came up for them. We talked about what came up for them and me and how amazing words are. A woman that doesn’t even know them wrote words that made them think, feel, imagine! I read it again and they listed words, phrases and images that touched or spoke to them. We checked out with our favorite! What a wonderful day! (Kim – thank you for sharing such a wonderful poem!)

-R