Nature As Seen by a Young Boy

        Here are a poem and photo I received for possible inclusion in my upcoming anthology, Reflections: 99 Photos and Poems To Inspire Writing. I added the quotation by John Keats. The poem is by nine-year-old Erick Moore, a student at Muhlenberg South Elementary School, Beechmont, Kentucky. Angela Todd is Erick’s teacher. The photo is by sixteen-year-old Taylor Dennhy. Taylor is a student at Horizon High School, Scottsdale, Arizona.

       It’s easy to see that you can use the quotation, poem, and photo together to inspire class discussion that leads to writing assignments. But that’s not all. You could use just the quotation, the poem, or the image individually to motivate your students. Or you could use any combination of two of the items for the same purpose.

       Feel free to download the poem, photo, and quotation for use in your classroom. If you do, I’d be delighted to read samples of the results. You can contact me at hankpix(at)yahoo(dot)com.

 “The poetry of the earth is never dead.”  John Keats

                            

In the Wild I See

In the wild I see, I see a great blue sky hanging over  me.

With clouds as white as snow, at night I see a soft glow.

In the wild I see, I see cute little birds singing to me.

With beautiful songs they sing with glee.

In the wild I see, I see a fawn and its mother dancing around a tree.

With gentle grace so lovely.

In the wild I see, I see……….Nature

                              

                                                         Erick Moore

Write What You See

Write What You See by Hank Kellner (Cottonwood Press, 2009) is a collection of photographs and writing prompts for the classroom. Written by a successful photographer and former teacher of English, this book presents 99 black and white photographs accompanied by a wide variety of writing prompts to motivate students. The author gives his own suggestions for using photography and also shares ideas from real teachers across the country who have successfully used photography in the teaching of writing. Includes a CD-Rom. $24.95. Available from the publisher, at bookstores, and on the Internet.