I Prefer

Today we worked on having students notice something about a text. We gave the class a copy of two "I Prefer" poems. The class first had to infer which poem was written by me and which one by Ms. Cavallaro. When the students were done, we read our poems aloud. As we read, we asked the class to think about what they noticed. The class as usual noticed some amazing things. They noticed that both of us used the last same three words, that we always used I prefer at the beginning of our lines, that we made each stanza about something we loved, that we did not just say that we prefer bacon we described it, and so much more.

When students can look at a text and figure out what the author did, they can then try to recreate a text that is similar. I know this might sound like cheating or plagiarism, but I really think it is what we all do when we are producing something. If I am going to fix something around the house, I look up videos of experts and then try to mimic what they do. If I am going to play basketball, I am going to watch Lebron James and try to learn from watching his moves. Authors do the same thing. They read other authors and look at how they play with words. Then they try some of the same moves when they are creating a piece.

Here are the two "I Prefer" poems that the class looked at today:

I Prefer

I prefer the sunrise over the sunset

I prefer the freshness and sunlight a new day brings

I prefer the start of a new beginning and all the excitement that comes with it

I prefer the warmth of light streaming through my windows

I prefer the thrill of an adventure

I prefer the mystery and confusion of a different language spoken

I prefer getting lost and finding an unexpected place

I prefer the awe of seeing historical places for the first time

I prefer the warmth of the outdoors over chills of the winter months

I prefer the slight chill in the breeze during the fall time

I prefer sitting on my back deck staring out into the woods

I prefer corn mazes, apple spiced Yankee candles and all Halloween candy

I prefer the suburbs

I prefer the familiarity of the back roads

I prefer a blue-dipped rainbow sprinkle icecream cone from Whippy Dip

I prefer the overwhelming nostalgia for memories made in every place in town

I prefer the reverse breakfast for dinner any day

I prefer vanilla over chocolate anything

I prefer any kind of food that I can douse in hot sauce

I prefer ice cold water over piping hot tea

I prefer our traditions

I prefer Grandma’s homemade lasagna during the holidays

I prefer Dad’s laughter even when his jokes aren’t funny

I prefer the comfort and love of family to anything else

I Prefer

I prefer greasy-spoon holes in the wall and places not found on the map
I prefer gas station coffee burnt black and cake doughnut crumbles
I prefer the company as much as the meal
I prefer the heart of the mom and pops to the machine of a giant chain

I prefer being a fly on your wall 
I prefer sitting in the back
I prefer getting lost in the crowd 
I prefer the silence to the uncomfortable words

I prefer the night sky
I prefer the freedom of windows down
I prefer staying out in the storm
I prefer the cool crisp air to the choking repressive heat

I prefer music that never finds the radio
I prefer the skip of a record needle and the mistakes found
I prefer songs by George not John and Paul 
I prefer album art to the great works at the Met

I prefer the precision and sweat of a pitchers duel
I prefer the old fashion three-point play
I prefer tennis on the grass in the middle of July
I prefer the athlete who realizes his passion to the one who relies on his skill 

I prefer the city
I prefer getting lost in the maze of the streets and the masses
I prefer the sidewalks beaten down by millions
I prefer the hum and music to the dull drab of the suburbs

I prefer our barefoot nights in the backyard chasing each other
I prefer our cool morning walks
I prefer the screaming of your laughter
I prefer our chocolate blueberry flavored tea parties to anything else.

I think if you take a look at our two poems and then look at the poems in the writer's notebooks you will be amazed. You will also see that the students did not steal our work. They just used our work as a guideline to produce something that was entirely all their own.

I hope you are having a great week.