Grandmother and a Bowl of Cherries

                     

What Can You See in a Bowl of Cherries?                                                                                             

          Soon to be published by Prufrock Press, Reflections is a collection of poems and photos intended primarily for use in classrooms . Contributors to this work include students, teachers, and others from all over the country. Foremost among these contributors are students and teachers at Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Illinois. The work will include an introduction by Joe Miller, Ph.D, Director of English Education at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
         One fine example of a poem included in this unique work is LFHS teacher Dr. Mara Dukats' "Grandmother." In addition to this poem and others by the same author, Reflections will include poems by LFHS teachers Amy Lyons and Karen Topham, as well as contributions by seven LFHS students.
         

Grandmother

Your furrowed hands, spotted with the years,

your fingernails, so subtly earthen

your slender, crooked fingers busy,

as we sit at the edge of the grove,

pitting harvested cherries with bobby pins.

Anchored on the stump, you’re poised,

cradling between your knees the metal pot

into which drop, our sour cherries.

The pot fills unexpectedly (for me)

though you have always known

how simply one can fill the years

with marmelade.

                                           -Mara Dukats

We're Still on the Lookout for More Poems

             If you and/or your students  would like to submit poems for possible publication in Reflections, please contact me through this blog with your e-mail address and the word REFLECTIONS in your message.

Where Can You Find Photos?

           If you need photos for inspiration and would like to receive up to three from my files for free, please click on "My Stock Photos" (above, right). Then just let me know the titles of the  photos you want to receive. I'll send you .jpgs you can use for yourself or in the classroom. 

PRUFROCK PRESS AND WRITE WHAT YOU SEE 

      Published by Cottonwood Press in 2009, Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner is now marketed by Prufrock Press. Please visit http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1641 now to order this fine book. This thought-provoking collection contains photographs and a wide variety of inventive writing prompts to motivate students.

     Written by a veteran of the Korean War and retired educator who has served as an English Department supervisor and adjunct associate professor of English at the community college level, Write What you See includes a CD-Rom and a special section telling how teachers nationwide use photos to inspire writing. 118 pages, 8 1/2 X 11, Softbound, ISBN 978-1-877673-83-2, Grades 7-12, $24.95

Photos Copyright © Hank Kellner, 2011

"Grandmother" Copyright © Mara Dukats, 2011

Poetry and Photographs

An Elementary School Student's Poem about Grandmother

      Erick Moore is a student at the South Elementary School, Muhlenberg, Kentucky. We matched his poem, " A Grandmother's Heart," with Cindy Nadal's photo to create an image that is both pleasing and inspirational. This combination will be included in our upcoming anthology, Reflections: A Collection of Photos, Poetry, and More, which will be published by Prufrock Press. If you or your students would like to contribute poetry to this work, please contact me. At this writing, the manuscript is complete, but we can always find room for more poems by students and/or teachers at all levels.

     Together, the poem and accompanying photo are sure to stimulate class discussion that can produce  ideas that will stimulate students' imaginations and trigger many different kinds of writing. Of course, it's also possible to use either the poem or the photo alone to inspire writing. You'll discover more information in earlier entries to this blog.

       A Grandmother's Heart

A grandmother's heart is a special place
You can read what it holds
By the smile on her face.
Within her heart memories are dear:
Memories of grandchildren,
Laughter and cheer.
Within her heart her grandchild will live,
And her heart will not burst
For it holds people dear.
Forever my Grandma,
Forever my friend.
                 -Eric Moore

       Feel free to download this and any other photo you discover in the archives of this blog for use in your classroom. To see even more photos, click on MY PORTFOLIO,  top right. And to read my series of ten articles on using photographs to inspire writing, go to www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/kellner.

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Don't  Miss Tim San Pedro's Poem and Photo!

You Can See Them at Frank Holes' STAR TEACHING Website.

  Frank Holes, Jr. has published Timothy San Pedro's poem "A Full Purple Crown" in STAR TEACHING. To read the poem and see San Pedro's accompanying photo, go to  www.starteaching.com/Features_for_Teachers_7oct2.htm. and  click on "New! Hank Kellner's Using Photography To Inspire Writing."

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PRUFROCK PRESS AND WRITE WHAT YOU SEE 

      Published by Cottonwood Press in 2009, Write What You See: 99 Photos To Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner is now marketed by Prufrock Press. Please visit http://www.prufrock.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1641 now to order this fine book. This thought-provoking collection contains photographs and a wide variety of inventive writing prompts to motivate students.

     Written by a veteran of the Korean War and retired educator who has served as an English Department supervisor and adjunct associate professor of English at the community college level, Write What you See includes a CD-Rom and a special section telling how teachers nationwide use photos to inspire writing. 118 pages, 8 1/2 X 11, Softbound, ISBN 978-1-877673-83-2, Grades 7-12, $24.95

Copyright © Hank Kellner, 2011