Write Now. Write Here.

Scraps are often discarded by tailors, cooks, and writers– but sometimes they are transformed by possibility. An unused basil leaf from tonight’s dinner can add flavor to tomorrow’s scrambled eggs; left over pieces of velveteen from a costume can add texture to a pillow; and the tiniest scrap of memory can be expanded into a personal story.

This week we will read The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Pollaco. She transforms scraps of fabric into memoir as she shows how her family turned the same scraps into a quilt that has been the backdrop of tradition in her family. Perhaps there is a scrap of fabric at your house that holds a story for you to tell.

Last week we decorated our writer’s notebooks. Some people might look at the covers and see scraps. We saw collage! Quilts and Collage provide the perfect metaphor for writing; they demonstrate composition in its most basic form. I loved watching children place and reposition “scraps” until they were just right. They are learning that writers do the same thing with memories, words, and ideas.

Do you ever come across a piece of poetry—a line or rhyme that you learned long ago and seems to bubble out of nowhere? This will happen to our students more and more as they learn to recite poetry this year. No one is ever forced to memorize or recite a poem, but it is amazing how many children choose to do it. Bits and pieces of poetry will be incorporated into a collage for the second notebook later in the year.

This week we will learn our first poem: Autumn by Emily Dickinson. I memorized it long ago, and I’m never surprised when a line surfaces in my mind at this time of year. I walked though the woods this weekend and couldn’t help but notice:

The morns are meeker than they were
The nuts are getting brown,
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town…

Emily Dickinson is a good place to start. She wrote the words that best name my experience as a teacher: “I dwell in possibility.”

It is Sunday Morning. It was on a Sunday that I had my first sweet taste of democracy. After church my brother, sister and I played hide and seek in the maze of boxwood that was the Bishop’s garden at the National Cathedral. Afterwards we piled in the back of the family station wagon. My father drove us by the White House, the United States Capitol, and the Supreme Court on the way home. He explained how these buildings represented the three branches of government – and how they were the building blocks of democracy. He would have us recite the branches with him. The day that I was able to name the three branches of government by myself, I was immediately taken for my first (and only) three-scoop ice cream cone. I was told I could choose any flavor I wanted for each branch of government. I chose mint chocolate chip for the executive branch; I chose chocolate swirl for the legislative branch; and I chose a scoop of coffee for the judicial branch. My love of government and ice cream remain intact to this day!

This week we will begin our study of ancient Greece and Rome. In addition to learning about the geography, the many ways people adapted, and the contributions of these ancient civilizations, we will learn about the architecture that inspired the buildings that are key to our own government. We will learn that democracy was born in Greece and fine-tuned in ancient Rome. We will also learn that each of us has a role in the way democracy develops now.

Of course, this is not the only introduction to democracy these children will have. When you register to vote or take your child with you to vote, you are teaching about democracy. When you talk about two sides of an issue, you are teaching about democracy. When you talk about protecting the rights of others, you are teaching about democracy. And we are teaching when we don’t know that we are teaching. Children listen carefully when they hear their parents and teachers discuss politics, and this is where we need to be the most careful. I remind myself how grateful I am for the way my own introduction to democracy was dished up: three scoops—hold the cynicism! Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday night.

I love baseball movies and one of my favorites is Field of Dreams. “Build it and they will come” is a refrain that runs though the movie and through my head in the late days of August and early days of September. In the movie, Ray Kinsella transforms a cornfield into a baseball diamond and steps back to await the miraculous.

In August I come into the classroom. The echo of emptiness is the only sound as I get to work. I have my own “cornfield” to transform! By the first day of school the pencils are sharpened, the room is filled with books on every level, and stacks of clean paper await new writers. Each name tag is a promise. “Build it and they will come.” Like Ray Kinsella, I stand back and await the miraculous.

On September 2 they came! We have had a great first week. I feel so lucky to be with such a group of wonderful children and enjoyed meeting you! We are all extremely fortunate in our student teacher, Ms. Abbie Radcliffe. She adds talent and warmth to our classroom.

This year on September 2, I was reminded once again that “it” is not really built yet. The real building has just begun– the children will build this experience with Ms. Radcliffe and me. What we build will be rich and transforming. Like Ray Kinsella, I know there will be miracles. Stand back and watch with me as these children take their place in a community of readers, writers, poets, scientists, and problem solvers. It won’t always be easy. The leap from second grade to third grade is huge, but they are well prepared and will adjust to the rigor. It is on this field that they will learn to step up to the plate while we coach and cheer them on.