Fledgling wordsmiths

Suzie Harrison

Parents and relatives filled Mary Blanton’s third-grade class at El

Morro Elementary School Tuesday for the Winter Poetry Reading.

One by one each student either recited by memory or read their

original poems to the audience.

Hannah Martin, 9, titled her poem “Christmas.”

“It’s about homeless people on Christmas,” Hannah said. “Christmas

isn’t really about presents it’s about caring for each other.”

Hannah said she thought of the beach and sleeping bags at the

beach and wondered what Christmas was like for the homeless.

“Other people were describing decorations and Santa,” Hannah said.

“After I read my poem, I was the person who thought this is how other

people have their Christmas.”

Anya Miller, 9, said when she first received the assignment she

started writing a lot.

“I just started making up all these poems,” Anya said. “I recited

my first poem because it was the one Mrs. Blanton and the class liked

best. I was really proud of it.”

Anya said she practiced reading her poem and made note cards to

help her rehearse.

“My favorite verse in my poem is ‘Throwing down its icy cape,

winter you cannot escape,’ Anya said.

Blanton’s class has been studying poetry every week.

“We’ve been talking about how illustrative poetry is and how rich

the language is,” Blanton said. “With poetry the words are so

carefully chosen.”

Blanton has the students highlight the words that appeal to them

or the parts of the poem they connect to.

“We brainstormed the idea of what you see, hear, taste and feel in

the winter or during the holidays,” Blanton said. “Instead of using

smells, for example, we thought of words like wafting or more

descriptive words.”

Hannah said she was nervous at first when she started to read her

poem to the large crowd.

“And then the words just came to my head,” Hannah said.