Conversation 3

What are we learning this week?

Monday: Observation / Point of View
Tuesday: Slice of Life in Conversation
Wednesday: Conversation of Objects
Thursday: Conversation: Poem in Two Voices

You may have read the poetry book, "Joyful Noise: A Poem for Two Voices," by Paul Fleischman.




Listen to Mrs Mathieson's students read their Poems for Two Voices:



 Poetry, they explain, is a global language of expression, emotion, opinion, and, in two voices, perspectives. You'll hear sports, love & hate, Mother & Daughter, and many more.  Listen to how they spoke separate at times and at other times together, to show compare, contrast, and the strength of each voice and perspective.

It seems like a conversation; it could be. It could be a separate idea thinking to itself, but read together.

So think of two things: people, objects, cause/effect, problem/solution, issues. Compare and contrast the two things you choose. What would they say, to each other or by themselves? Be active and precise in your word choice, as you write what each would say. Then juxtapose your two poems into one poem for two voices.

For example. Yesterday the sun and the coneflower exchanged words in a conversation.

How might I compare and compose two voices based on those two ideas:

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Coneflower and The Sun

Ah.	Oh
I love the streaming	I love
	flinging out my energy
rays warming my petals
Yellow and bright
	bright and piercing
Like I am the sun
shining forever	shining forever
	reaching out onward
	as the circle of planets
but I grow cold
	In the cold
in my place	of my space
as earth’s tilt and turns	as earth’s tilt and turns
lose the warmth	lose the warmth
of Sun’s rays.	of my rays.
	I shine on
My shine dims
My petals fall
My leaves brown
	I shine on
My seeds fall
I live on	I live on
In spring sprouts
	And on
A cycle of life.	A cycle of life.

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Your turn!  What objects carried on a conversation for you yesterday? Use those or another two objects to create your own poem for two voices.

Share the link in the comments below.

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Note: I created the poem in Google Docs in a table for each line. 

I changed the table properties by setting the table border at zero (0). 

I then copied/paste the title and table into my blog. 

Photo: Sheri Edwards 

A resource on Poems for Two Voices: 

Lesson from Northern Nevada Writing Project and WritingFix

Mondays: Shift: Seeing Things in a New Perspective

My mom had an old book of puzzles. I loved it. My favorite puzzles were simple sketches that suggested something. What do you think the above image is?

Is it a bear climbing a tree? A giraffe walking by your window? A snake slithering across your beach towel?

With each question, your eyes shift to see the pattern in a new way. This is important for writers.

My mom could see beyond the obvious, and helped me look at the bigger picture. As a young mother rushed in front of us in the grocery line, mom would say, “She needs to get her back home for baby’s nap.” That might not have been true, but mom always took a step back to see a bigger idea and a step into the shoes of others.

We need to step around to see. Turn things around, and get a different view. Try to think from another’s perspective. Believe in your own!

So on Mondays, try something different. Sit in a different place on the bus or in your classroom or at lunch. Start a conversation with someone new. Really listen to what they say and understand their point of view.

Consider the main character of your favorite movie or book. Put them into another movie or book. Write a scene of the two main characters talking. What would they discuss? plan? do?

Be the characters, not yourself. Adopt their persona, with all their problems and personality traits. Really. What would the really discuss?

Here's a poem where the author took on the persona of Spiderman, except they added a new detail: Spiderman has a speech problem.

How did the author explain Spiderman?
How did the speech change how you feel about Spiderman?
What's the same, but what's different?
Do you hear his voice? his personality? a little tinge of sadness?

Choose your own superhero. Think about what he says and does. Write your poem. Did you add something that others might not know about his personality? What persona did you take?

These ideas shift your mind into another person or character, and then ask you to insert another difference to change the persona even more. Get into the character's personality so you can write as if you are that persona, like an actor would, with that voice.

Another way to shift perspectives is to take the view of another part of the scene. Say you're eating Cheerios.  What if you were the Cheerios in the box, poured out, milk added, and then that spoon? Be the Cheerios.

Or be your shoe!

Here's a reading by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater called "Waiting Room Fish"

You can imagine the fish looking back at you while you wait in the doctor's office: "We peek between the plastic plants." You hear the timid and patient voice of fish tank fish.

Go ahead -- be something different, a shift in perspective and write a story or poem. Let their voice shine through.

Slice of Life Writing

What is a slice of life story?  

A slice of life story is a realistic SHORT story, a slice of your life retold as fiction. It’s just a “snippet” that tells a moment in your everyday life.  That moment is like a snapshot. When you look at it, you remember and write what happened just before, then you describe your snapshot experience with as much realism and details as possible— as if it’s happening right now. 

Write so your reader can feel what you feel, see what you see, do what you do, and think what you do. It is not a list of things you did in one day— it is one moment of time that you capture step by step. It does not contain personal information, just a story. Remember to change the names to protect the innocent and the guilty.

Click here for an annotated example of a slice of life story. Notice all the specific details and descriptions and dialogue -- lots of sights and sounds-- taking you moment by moment through the story. Each word, chosen so carefully, engages the imagination of the reader. This is "word choice."

Remember, your moment is one others can learn from — or laugh or cry because the reader has experienced something similar. Our lives in their everyday moments are special, because it is the journey that is important; let’s share that slice of our days. 

Read another example here.  

Why write a slice of life?

• You will have readers hearing your voice because you have written using sensory details [sights, sounds, smells, tastes, emotions] and action.

• You will discover new topics, turn the ordinary into extraordinary, and become better with each slice.

• You can try out new techniques taught in lessons, and share some of your own.

• You will begin to notice that stories are everywhere.

• You will also be a member of a writing community.

• You will learn how to give positive and constructive feedback.

Enjoy discovering your own and others’ new stories.  I look forward to reading them soon.

Get Started

Open your Google Docs. Name it Slice of Life and your first name.  You can draft all your "slices" on this document each week. Make a list of memories, animal stories, little brother or sister stories, fun times, silly times, etc.  Choose one that's school appropriate. Example

1. Quickly write about that slice for a few minutes, just to get the idea down.
2. Now, jump down a few spaces, and start over -- this time, write it like it's happening now.  Describe the setting and the feelings just before it happened.  Then describe the event with details, sights, sounds, and dialogue. Let us live it too. Put your voice into it.
3. End with how you felt, and a question for us.
4. Edit your spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar.
5. While editing, think of a good title.
6. Below your post, share the excellent writing you did. For example, in this practice and this blog:

• I described the setting:  "The wind blew through the cracks in the window sill of the older home, and the furnace creaked, both keeping me awake the whole night."

• I included descriptions:

• Sights: "We built a snowman, rolling and pressing the crisp snow into huge balls. We placed rocks for eyes, nose, and mouth, and stood back to look at our creation, pushing our scarves up over our noses"

• Sounds: "the furnace creaked"

• I included details [5WH]: "I ran back to the front door, but it was still locked. A tear welled up in my eye, but I brushed it away. I rocked back and forth from foot to foot to keep the cold from holding onto them. I walked in circles around the house for what seemed like hours."

• I included dialogue:

"Tag -- you're it!"I caught her right away -- I was a fast kid.Sandy pouted, "Not fair!"

     7. Copy and paste your Slice of Life and writing skills into a new blog post. Title it "SOL + your topic/title".  Write Slice of Life as a label so you can find all your posts for Tuesdays. Download the orange "Slice of Life" image at the top of this post and upload it to your blog, if you want. Add another Creative Commons or Public Domain image to your blog too. 

Note about Images:

Go here for more information on images: How to find Creative Commons images. 

Go here for how to search for images in Google Docs and Slides [see slide 8].

Remember to cite the source of your image.

Remember to only use Creative Commons or Public Domain images.

Respect the copyright of others-- -- you wouldn't want someone else to steal your images.

8.  Publish. Here are more examples of  Slice of Life with Writing Strategies blogposts.

9. Read and comment on two of your peers' Slice of Life.  If you want a professional and linked URL, click here to learn how to do this.  Go here to see two comments — one just pasting the URL, and the other using this code.

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Next Steps

We will continue to write SLICE posts and reflect on our growth as writers as well as connect with other SLICErs. 

On another day, I will post a reflection piece for you to choose your best SLICE and explain why you think so with explanations of the research and writing strategies you used for your SLICE to make it good.

Look for other classrooms writing for Slice of Life too.  

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