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Ted Scheu made his annual visit to Chickering School and we were lucky enough to meet and talk with him. Sit back relax and enjoy some facts.
Reported by James and Iris
Tag Archives: poetry
A Visit with Ted Scheu, the Poetry Guy
Do you have a favorite poet? Poem? Well, the fourth grade had an opportunity to work with Ted Scheu, the Poetry Guy, for April, poetry month! For three days, April 29, 30 and May 1, each class met with him three times, and twice as a whole grade. At our first meeting as a whole grade, he told us a little about himself.
“… [I] taught for a bunch of years, grades K through 5, in Shelburne, Vermont. And I loved it…mostly. But I was so busy as a teacher that I wasn’t able to find time to do any writing. So I left my full-time teaching job in 1998, so I could express my kid-voice in my writing.”1
He’s published 5 books of poetry and shared his love of poetry with us.
The first time he visited our classroom, he showed us how couplets work. Couplets are two lines that rhyme. For example,
Lion without teeth
Sword without sheath
or
Clouds without rain
Shots without aim
Below is a poem using couplets by one of our classmates.
Can You Imagine?
A flag without a pole
Soccer without a goal
Stars without night
Sanyah without light
A hamburger without meat
Music without a beat
The sun without being sunny
Easter without a bunny
Lemon without tea
You without me
by Sanyah
On his next visit, we learned about non-rhyming poems. We had all brought things from nature to class with us. Nothing alive or recently alive though. Everyone was going to write a non-rhyming poem about their object. They were “What Am I?” or “What Is It?” poems. Shells were “boats” or “cinnamon rolls”. Rocks were “rocket ships” or “drills driving down into the earth”. For instance, “I am a cinnamon roll melting in your mouth.” Some people thought it was easier not to rhyme, and others thought it was easier to rhyme.
Which am I?
Am I an old man’s mouth?
Or a necklace to royalty?
A speckled slug sluggishly rolling
as slow as a rock.
A fairy earring
A clam
dotted with a leopard coat.
A small sea creature am I,
burdened with the heavy thought of the sea.
I am the feeling of music,
the smell of salt.
The empty spaciousness of everything.
A mouth puckering at
the thought of death.
A disapproving cave with the mouth turned
down.
I am here.
I am there.
Which am I?
Which am I?
by Anissa
The last time Mr. Scheu visited our classroom, he explained to us how descriptive poems give the reader an image of what you are writing about and how you feel. In our writer’s notebooks, he had us write a descriptive poem about a hobby or sport, anything, that you thought you were the best at, far past anybody else. Your poem had some specifications: the first was that the name of the poem had to be “When I…” and the rest would be the subject of your poem. The other thing was that the title had to be one of the lines in the poem. One example is,
When I play the piano,
my hands are limitless and free
This gives the reader an idea of how the writer feels when they play the piano.
When I Play Soccer
When I play soccer, before the game starts, I warm up.
My muscles turn to lions ready to attack.
Before I know it the whistle blows and the game has now begun.
I leap into attack mode and charge after the ball.
I trip, get hurt and fall over but I still do not give up.
Then my muscles feel clumsy, my heart feels strong and that’s when I begin.
The game turns upside down, the opponents are tired and there is nothing they can do.
We both don’t know what is going on as I shoot and pass the ball.
I feel the freedom inside my veins as I come to a one versus one.
My brain is tired, my muscles are tired, but my heart is what I trust.
by Enrique
At the end of his third day, he met with the whole grade again in the library. At least 5 students in each class were invited to share their favorite poem they wrote with him. Following the sharing, he read a poem for two voices with one student. The poem contained an unexpected twist at the end. This is one of many that he’s working on for a new book of poems for two voices. The students enjoyed their time with him, and their newfound love of poetry. And how appropriate for his visit to be during Poetry Month!
Reported by Anissa and Esme
1″About Ted.” < http://www.poetryguy.com/about-ted/#q20> 22 May 2015.
Poetry! Poetry! Poetry!
Do you like poetry? You will after reading and listening to Ted Scheu, the poetry guy! Mr. Scheu met with the entire fourth grade. He introduced himself in a funky laughing way. He shared his favorite poem, “Nancy Cristman Kissed Me” and many others. Mr. Scheu presented the “i-Easel” which promoted a love of poetry.The assembly ended with Mr. Scheu giving us a round of applause, which is clapping in a circle.
Mr. Scheu taught us that there are many ways to write a poem, for example, rhyming, list poems, and “Who Am I.” A list poem is a noun followed by an action verb. The first poem we wrote was a list poem, below is an example.
Patriots
Tom Brady passing
Steven Ridley fumbling
Gronkowski catching
Amendola face planting
Garrett Blunt plowing
Vince Wilfork tackling
Vereen zigzagging
Mayow clobbering
Edelman diving
Gotzkowski launching
Wow, I love New England!
by Beck
The second poem he had us write was “Who Am I?” You take a little object from nature and describe it. You start off broad and get more specific as you go. Below is an example of a “Who Am I Poem?”
I look like a bun without a hot dog,
an old man without his denchers,
I look like a marble counter,
you may accidentally step on me at the beach,
a concave rock,
I am a shell
by Kris
We had the opportunity to have a conversation with Mr. Scheu. He has a unique job and we wondered what he likes about it. “Love” is a better word to describe his feelings about his job, he said. There are two parts to his job, teaching and writing and both parts make him feel like he is playing and juggling with words. While he is writing he focuses on one idea in short bursts of creativity.
Intrigued about his school visits, we asked him what he likes about them. He likes to travel to new places and 
re-visit places he has been before. Reconnecting with students and meeting new people is an aspect of school visits he likes. Teaching and sharing poems with students, helping them acquire an excitement for poetry, and helping students find their “writing voice” are what he likes best about school visits.
Wondering if poets have favorite poems, we asked Mr. Scheu what his were and why. Two poems are his favorite and sometimes a third … the last poem he wrote. One of his favorite poems is ”Nancy Cristman Kissed Me” and the other is “Dirty Words”, which may surprise you when you read it. Nancy Cristman was a friend and classmate in second grade. Every morning they’d walk to school together and one day … “SMACK” … she kissed him. This experience had a lasting impression. Many years later, the memory inspired him to write a poem.
As Mr. Scheu hoped, students found their “writing voice” and wrote several poems. Please click on the link below to listen to some 4th grade poems.
As we uncovered, Ted Scheu is an amusing and appealing poet. He taught us a variety of formats in which to write poems and shared some of his poems and some poems by students. After reading some of Ted Scheu’s work, you may be inspired to become a poet.
Reported by Kris, Beck, and Caden
That Poetry Guy . . . Ted Scheu
Rhyme after rhyme, poem after poem, who’s that guy over there telling poems over and over? Oh yah! That’s Ted Scheu! He’s visiting the fourth grade to teach them his poetry secrets. Wait, maybe we can learn Ted Scheu’s deepest darkest secrets. Let’s find out.
Please listen to our interview with Ted Scheu. We wish to thank Mr. Scheu for his kindness in Skyping with us and his generosity with his time. (Please click on the link below.)
Interview with poet, Ted Scheu, the Poetry Guy – 2012
Also, please listen to some of Mrs. Atkinson’s and Mr. Keohane’s students’ poems. (Please click on the link below.)
Poems from several students in 4th Grade
Working with Ted Scheu was a tremendous experience. Of course, we had seen poetry before, but Mr. Scheu took us on an amazing adventure, including poetry, imagination, literature, and his “iEasel!”. He really opened our eyes to the world around us, and more importantly, the wonders of creativity. Thank you, Ted Scheu!
Reporters: WB, Nathan, Julia and Lindsey
Poetry Slam!
http://www.poetryguy.com/about.php 1 April 2010
In November, Ted Scheu was our Poet in Residence. First, he met with the whole fourth grade, where he shared his poems and told us how he finds his inspiration for his poetry . Mr. Scheu met with each fourth grade class individually. He showed us examples of poems by kids from other schools. Then, he explained what similes were and told us we were going to use them in poems. He handed out mirrors to each student. Looking at the different parts of our face,he wanted us to write a poem using similes. For example, my nose is like an Olympic ski jump. The next day, he came to us and had us write poems about a place that is special to us. The third time he came to us , we wrote noun-verb poems about any subject we wanted. At the end of his visit, he met with the whole grade again. Eight students from each fourth grade class shared their poems. Mr. Scheu taught us a lot. It was a great experience!
Ted Scheu is a poet. He has written over a 1000 poems and he never wants to stop writing. He has a kid’s heart but on the outside a grown-up’s body. He gets ideas from his memories, especially of when he was a kid, in fact, he considers himself “a fourth grader with glasses and gray hair”. He feels that poems are a great way to share one’s feelings. When he writes poems, he likes to end the poem with something funny.
The authors have recorded their poems. The Fourth Grade Chickering Reporters added some sound effects, when appropriate. We hope you enjoy our poems.
http://www.poetryguy.com/
Podcast of poems by some students in Mrs. Haggett’s and Mr. Wadness’ classes:
FinishedPoems-WADNESS
Poems by some students in Mrs. McLaughlin’s class:
POETRY-MCLAUGHLIN
Poetry by students in Mrs. Atkinson’s class:
ATKINSON-POEMS
We want to thank Ted Scheu for allowing us to use these two photographs from his wonderful website:
< http://www.poetryguy.com/index.php >;
for sharing his poetry with us and inspiring us to become poets.
Reported by: Caroline, Elizabeth E., Grace, Katie, KB, Madison, Maggie, Laura, Melanie, and Josie
Celebrate Winter
We love snow and were excited to see the first snowflakes of the season. So out came the poetry books to find poems about snow and winter. Here are a few of our selections and one written by a Chickering Reporter.
Bibliography:
Alex A. “Winter” written November 2009.”
Bodecker, N.M. “When All the World is Full of Snow” The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. New York: Random House, 1983, p.31.
“Snowball” Silverstein, Shel. Falling Up: Poems and Drawings. New York: HarperCollins, 1996, p.11.
“Snowman” McCord, David. One At a Time: His Collected Poems for the Young. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974, p. 140.
Enjoy!
Alex. A., Isabella F., Sara L., Hannah D., and Andriana V.