childhood memory poem lessons at the i-lead charter school.

here are eye-scenes of childhood memory poem lessons we focused on last week in a creative writing class which is a part of the wednesday mentoring program at the i-lead charter school in the city of reading in berks county. and this served as the last day of the year where learners studied at the hands of visiting mentors from the community. this particular class had the wonderful word-loving fortune of working with marian wolbers who does such delicious food writing for berks county living magazine that you could almost grow so desperate as to eat the page of one of her restaurant reviews. if you don't know marian in real life, this might seem like an exaggeration, but if you read her food writing, you'll suddenly understand in a quick brain-click.

the best way to explore childhood memories is to start sharing stories via some good old talking, so that's what we did with some sample poems by good friends i've interviewed about what they remember from when they were kids in the 1940s. and those poems thankfully nudged old memories to the surface of classroom time. relating is everything, in life.

some poems from the learners are shown below. be sure to check them out before you scour the internet elsewhere. =) their poems may whisk some of your own childhood memories into thinking-minutes.

photography credits: jennifer hetrick & marian wolbers

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building forts at home

with blankets & couches

By Ashley R.

being 6 years old,

I remember building

forts with my older

sister. I loved building

huge forts with just

blankets, pillows, & 

the sofa.

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this next poem took its inspiration from a similar story in a poem by sam traten in my class called "the pull of poems." here is a quick scene of the words in sam's poem before this new poem by an i-lead charter school learner named angelina.

angelina's poem, whirled to life by the childhood memory poem pictured above, incorporates an example of neologism, which we discussed in class last week. neologism tends to be something students across all ages seem to become fascinated with for its beautiful creative freedom, from my experience. above, sam's poem of inspiration uses the neologism of "bobber-fling" in writing about action in fishing. several of the people i've mentioned this new word to get all excited about its sound while donning eyes of glee mixed with fresh love. that means it's good poetry in just two smushed together words.

angelina, who once lived in utah, came up with the new word of "mountain-thrill" to give meaning to a more specific concept which wouldn't have been in typical vocabulary and is a great way to express a more unique, particular idea and feeling while being anywhere but near flat land.

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Rivers Rush

By Angelina C.

A summer's weekend reunion

with cousins I never met

and aunts who last saw my baby face

with adventure on my mind

and the mountain-thrill on my back

I followed my closest uncles

behind them on a hike

the sound of a river danced into my ears

and the child of curiosity came out to play

with my uncle calling up fish

they hopped to the surface

daring for a closer look

I leaned over too far and with a splash

the current forces to take me away

but the arms of my uncle pull me first

and the horror of rivers now tense

that curious child

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i am hoping a few more poems from learners may be available to post and supplement soon, too. a sample poem we went over from the life of gloria sands, about her pet chicken named mary, reminded a student named darlin of a pet turkey he had during his childhood at a time when he lived in mexico. the turkey goes MIA, unfortunately, temporarily. and in talks of blanket forts, he mentioned constructing forts on the beach in his early days. beach forts just naturally sound like oodles of fun and seem like they'd lead to hug-worthy poetry.